A/n
I ended up deciding to split this chapter in half, for anyone who was wondering. I have big plans for next chapter, just you guys wait. (I realized I messed up a detail on this and had to go back and change it days after writing it, so if you noticed, no you didn't.)
Kenneth had been in a sour mood ever since Travis had returned from the apartments. Surprisingly enough, he hadn't laid a finger on his son, just a few verbal strikes. Tensions were high, so, to avoid the uncomfortable energy, Travis sought refuge in his room. His solitude didn't last long, raucous knocking disturbed his peace soon after hiding away.
"I won't be here tomorrow. I will return Monday afternoon, I expect you to uphold our household rules while I am away." He turned to exit, but was stopped by Travis calling out after him.
"What's going on?"
He spun back around to face Travis. "We've had major setbacks at the Ministry, it requires my full attention."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Travis didn't really want to help, but was offering out of courtesy.
Kenneth thought for a moment, "That boy you're friends with, the freak that wears the mask? What has he asked you?"
"What do you mean, Father?" He had to be careful not to ask too many questions, Kenneth was unpredictable.
The Minister sighed in aggravation, "What has he asked you about the Church? He clearly wasn't interested before and now he is, I want to know what you've been talking about."
"Well, he asked me what time the services were and what we did there. He also asked me what he should wear, that's all I can remember." Travis was lying through his teeth. He had no idea what Sal was looking into or why, but he did know that the consequences would be dire if his Father found out about Sal's research.
"I need you to be absolutely certain, Travis, is that everything?" Kenneth stepped closer to Travis in a threatening manner.
"Yes, that's all he asked me, I'm sure. I'm sorry I don't know more, sir." Kenneth stood less than a foot away from Travis, slightly bent over to reach his eye level.
"Give me your phone." Travis couldn't force any words out of his mouth, paralyzed. His mind immediately went back to the last text Sal had sent him, 'can't wait 2 see you ;)'.
"I'm not going to ask you again, Travis." Tears itched the backs of his eyes, but he fought them back. There was nothing he could do, he either gave his phone to his Father, or he would take it from him. Travis pulled the small, silver device from his back pocket with a trembling hand, preparing himself for his Father's inescapable, unbridled rage.
"See, that wasn't very hard." The man's derisive tone made the hairs on the back of Travis' neck stand up. Kenneth reached towards the phone, but abruptly stopped as the sound of knocking at the front door broke the silence.
"Stay here." Travis scrambled to delete the messages as soon as Kenneth disappeared from view, though he knew he had no hope. There was far too much evidence, he would never be able to sweep all of it under the rug. The indistinctive chatter from down the hall was seeming to grow more intense, giving Travis the faint belief that he may have time to discard the proof of his sins. His fingers were becoming numb as he deleted more incriminating texts, but he pushed on, willing to sacrifice his own physical well-being to protect his secret. After finally scrolling through the entirety of their chats and expunging anything that could betray himself or Sal's mission against his Father, Travis advanced to the entry way.
"You saw him?" The figure was hidden behind Kenneth's body, and was speaking in a hushed whisper, just loud enough for Travis to overhear.
"Yes, that's what I said. We need to act fast, we can discuss this further at the meeting tomorrow." Kenneth sounded almost panicked, something Travis had never seen before.
"I thought he was dead, I thought you-"
"Yes, we all thought that. This isn't a secure place to speak, you can bring up your concerns tomorrow." Soft footsteps tapped along the concrete pathway leading from their house to the street, his Father shut the door soon after the other person retreated. Kenneth pivoted to face Travis, pinching the bridge of his nose out of stress.
"Travis? I thought I told you to stay in your room." If he wasn't mad before, he certainly was then.
"Y-you did, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay, I'm sorry, sir." Travis tightened his grip around the phone, drawing his Father's attention to it.
"Forget it, give me your phone." He heeded the request, still somewhat nervous that he may have missed something in his frantic decimation of conversations. Kenneth squinted his eyes to better read through Travis' personal chats, but his expression never faltered. After many draught, anxiety inducing minutes, Kenneth handed it back to Travis.
"Very well, you can go back to your room." He sighed in defeat.
"Thank you, Father." Travis felt like he could cry tears of happiness. As soon as the door shut behind him, Travis immediately whipped out his phone.
"Hey, Sal. Father's is going to be out all day tomorrow, not returning until the next afternoon. Can we hang out?"
"YES OFC! do u wanna sleep over?" His face started to burn up, sleep over? What did that entail?
"I would love to, but we have school the next morning, how would that work?"
"simple, bring a bag with sum clothes n stuff for school the nxt day!" Travis smiled, looking at the message.
"Alright, let's do it." He pushed away the fears of his Father finding out about his shenanigans, and focused on his goal, what he really wanted. His true desire, a proper kiss. For the first time that week, Travis retrieved his journal from it's hiding place under his mattress.
"I don't know how you do it, but you make me happy. You make me excited to go to school, you make me want to try. You're such an amazing person, and I just hope you know that. I'm so excited to spend the night with you, I can't even feel worried anymore. Normally I would be too horrified of Father to even dream of doing this, but I love you too much to care. You've shown me what it's like to love myself, to love someone else, and nothing can take that away from me now."
-Travis.P
He tossed the journal into his desk, reaching for his phone.
"omg im so excited! i can teach u how 2 play space invaders!"
Nothing would be able to ruin this for him.
"Packing my stuff now, I can be over in about 20 minutes." Travis shoved his favourite purple sweater into his bag, alongside his other clothes, toothbrush and school books.
"Larry can pick u up if u want!" If this was just a month earlier, Travis would've vomited at the thought of being in the same car as that greasy-haired miscreant, but he'd actually grown rather fond of Larry over the time he'd spent with Sal and his posse.
"I wouldn't want to bother anyone."
"Lar dont mind! plus we can lisen 2 more sanitys fall" Travis was repulsed by that devil worshipping blasphemy, but the way Sal was texting made it sound like he'd also be present.
"Will you also be there?"
"yes ofc i would never leave u and larry in a car 2gether lol"
"In that case, I'd really appreciate the ride, Thank you."
"address?"
"3072 21st Ave NE."
"C u in 5!" The blonde hoisted his backpack over his shoulders, walking into the common area of his house. Kenneth had already taken his leave earlier that morning, leaving Travis alone. The building was oddly quiet, a refreshing change from his Father's constant mumbling. Kenneth had a peculiar habit of quietly speaking to himself, almost as if he was arguing with another person. Travis slipped his shoes on, and opened the front door, locking it behind him. Summer was almost upon them, the wind less frigid than before; the sun's warmth was enough to maintain a healthy temperature, no jacket required. He sat on the front step of his porch, enjoying the sweet songs of birds perched in nearby trees, leaf buds had begun to form. A beat up, gray, Cadillac Catera pulled up, honking it's horn and disrupting the serenity.
"Get in, loser!" Larry's voice shouted from the window of the driver's side of the car. Travis hopped up, jogging towards the vehicle. The passenger side window rolled down, revealing Sal's prosthetic.
"Just jump in the back!" He had to yell over the death metal that was already playing. Travis opened the car door to the back seat, empty takeout bags, soda cans and cigarette butts were scattered everywhere, he fought back the urge to gag and slid into the seat.
"Uh, thanks for driving me."
"Yeah, don't even worry about it, bro." Larry waved his hand dismissively, not hesitating to hit the gas. He was an extremely reckless driver, as Travis quickly learned.
Travis staggered out of the vehicle, gasping for air. Not only did it reek of body odor and weed, but he was also fearing for his life the entire time Larry was behind the wheel. He was swerving into lanes without signaling, speeding and running red lights; Sal was too busy headbanging to the cacophonous music to take notice that his life was at stake.
"You okay there, Travy? Lookin' a bit pale." Larry was grinning, clearly amused by Travis' fear and discomfort. The slightly taller boy didn't respond, staring daggers into Larry.
"Here, Trav!" Sal handed Travis the bag he'd left in the backseat when he struggled to escape the coffin of stench that Larry called his car.
"Thanks, Sal." He took the bag into his hands, following Larry and Sal to the front door.
Word count: 1626