Weird and Weirder

CH13. Josh's POV - Waiting On A Friend

Chapter 13 – Josh's POV

Waiting On A Friend

Here I am, sitting at the dinning table at my parents' house once again, wishing I could be anywhere else but here.

I wish I could be in bed, not sleeping but with my eyes closed, recalling how it felt to kiss Flea Market Girl, how soft her skin was, and what I could have done if she stopped leaving, if I had her all to myself in an actual room, with an actual door.

I wish it could be the weekend right now.

I wish my father could stop glaring at me. "Do you make it your life's purpose to humiliate me?"

Here we go again... "Huh?"

"Harold told me about the meeting for the art project," my father explains, still glaring at me. Everyone is very quiet around the room. Catherine is staring at her plate. My step-mother gets up to go grab butter for the rolls. I'm pretty sure there's already butter somewhere.

I hate being here.

I sigh, already exhausted by this and I haven't even had the time to take one bite from my mushroom risotto. "What do you want from me Dad?"

"I want you to do something significant with yourself. You dropped out. No. Dropped out is not even the right term, sat in one class, stood up and said I'm too old for this shit and just left. You had so much potential, so many opportunities and you're just spitting on it, spitting on everything I did to help you make a life for yourself. You humiliate me any time I try to help you. You're a disgrace."

I'm done. I'm fucking done. "Jesus Christ Scott, you crack backs for a living. You contribute nothing significant to society. You're another useless charlatan. You couldn't even take care of your kid alone so you dumped him on your friend's footsteps."

Unsurprisingly, my father gets up, furious. He points to the door. "Get out. GET OUT of my house. You ungrateful spoiled useless bum. Your mother would be ashamed of you. She would be ashamed."

This isn't the first argument we've had. It's not the first time we've said these things. They hurt just the same every time. "Fuck off Scott, she'd be pissed at you for being a prick with a stick up his ass."

Still furious. "OUT!" he yells.

I get up. Whatever. I wave at him, blowing him a kiss. "Bye Felicia."

He starts yelling again, but I ignore it.

I feel bad about leaving my sister and mother to deal with this, but I just can't anymore. Not today. I don't want to deal with it today.

Catherine catches up with me before I'm done putting my shoes on. "Why do you keep antagonizing him?"

It always stings, any time she takes his side. I know she doesn't mean anything bad by it. Still sucks that my sister isn't defending me, but him.

"Why does he keep trying to turn me into something I'm not?" I ask her.

"He just wants you to have a life he thinks is good."

"Not for me."

"Why can't you two just have a normal conversation?"

"Because I'm not normal and he always looks for a fight."

"You're looking for a fight too. You're mad at him. You'll always be mad at him, because of Mom. You hurt her every time you say that abandoning shit to him."