Warning: Graphic content
I stood in the parking area, half annoyed, and half in awe, wondering whether what I was seeing(or rather what I was not seeing) was real. The car was gone.
My first thought was obviously Tyrone and Jason, but then again, how did they even get the key without me noticing? Well that did not matter now, all that mattered was me getting the car back, and that meant I had to call Tyrone .
"TY-"
"Before you say anything, we have the car, drop by at my house to pick it up whenever."
Then he hung up. If this was their way of getting back at me, I'd take it any day. It was much better than the scenarios I had played over and over in my head.
Thankfully, the bus stop wasn't far from the school,or so I thought. Apparently, distances seem much shorter when you're in a car because I felt I had been walking for ages when I finally approached the place.
To make matters worse, not a single public transport vehicle was in sight when I got there. (In hindsight, I should have probably ordered a taxi from my phone). I stood there for what felt like ages before a bus stopped right in front of me. The doors opened and someone got down as I stepped inside. Then there was that awkward couple of seconds where I tried to find a place to sit and felt like all eyes were upon me, because they were.
I finally made myself comfortable by some old lady who had dozed off,but had jostled awake the second I sat next to her. She looked at me, blinked a few times, and went back to sleep.
To kill a little time, I decided to scroll through my phone, which believe me, was not much. I only had four numbers put in, and my social media consisted of meme pages. Lots and lots of meme pages. Eventually, I also dozed off.
My eyes opened again when the bus stopped. I was going to get off here. Tyrone's house was just around the corner.
The short walk from the stop to Ty's house was a really interesting one. This neighborhood was completely different from what I was used to. The houses were similar in design. Each house shared a fence with the one next to it, and each one had a front yard so neatly kept you wondered whether they were having a neighborhood gardening challenge. Apart from that, the houses seemed to have a common theme of bright painting, with colors ranging from yellow to sky blue.
Within minutes, I was at Tyrone's doorstep, and I saw the car parked in the exact same spot I had stopped when I picked them up this morning. I texted Tyrone I was here, but I knocked on the door anyways. Whiles I waited, I began to wonder if Jason lived close by. Obviously he did, but I wondered if he lived in this particular neighborhood because I always imagined he lived in a place with a more serious undertone. Like one of those mansions in horror movies, for example.
As these thoughts were going through my head, someone opened the door. I thought it was Tyrone, but it turned out to be his mother. She had an apron on, so she clearly must have been cooking. "Well, what are you standing there for? Come in," she beckoned.
I felt I should tell her I wasn't paying a visit, but I decided against it. The look on Ty's face when he realized I was in his house talking to his mother would be ample reward for the journey I had made here.
With this in mind, I said a thank you and went inside. Tyrone's mother, who from here on will be referred to as Mrs. Ty( because I did not bother knowing her name) asked me to make myself comfortable as she went to get her son.
After making myself at home in the couch in their living room, I decided to take a tour of the house with my eyes. The interior of the house was as bright as its exterior. Once again the predominant colour schemes ranged from sunlight yellow to sky blue. I wondered if every other house in this neighborhood was this bright on the inside. They probably were. The living room seemed to be one of two rooms downstairs. The other one was the kitchen, which one could see from the living room courtesy of a comically large window that stretched from the kitchen door to the end of the wall. Why bother having a door if nothing is gonna be between the kitchen and the living room anyways?
I felt a light tap on my shoulder. A little girl was facing me. In one hand she had a little brown teddy bear, which she hugged to her chest. Her other hand was clenched tightly into a fist. She stared at me, not blinking even once. "Hi there. I'm here to see Tyrone ." No response. She just blinked. It was beginning to get uncomfortable for me. I felt like the protagonist in a poorly written horror movie. The one who ends up with a family of psychos who try to kill him in every scene.
Thankfully though, Tyrone appeared just at the right moment.
"I see you've met Judith," he said.
"Yeah, where are my keys?" He tossed the keys at my head, and I caught them. I stood up to leave. "It was nice meeting you, Judith." Again, nothing. She just blinked. "Ty, your sister is creepy," I informed him.
"I'm standing right here."
Shit, she talks too. I smiled at her and made my way to the door, but not before Mrs. Ty asked me to stay for dinner. I told her I needed to take a rain check tonight.
The drive home was a short one, and I was glad. All that walking had worn me out, and all I could think of was a warm bath and some food. In fact, I practically jumped out the car the second I had the chance,eagerly anticipating what my sister had made for dinner.
Then it hit me. My sister. All of a sudden I began to dread going upstairs to our apartment,but I knew I couldn't hide from her forever. I braced myself for the worst as I began the ascent of three flights of stairs,courtesy of the lift being broken. When I finally reached our door, I contemplated just turning around and spending the night in the car, but decided against it.
I slowly turned the doorknob, praying it would be locked, a signal she had not been home yet,but I, of course, had no such luck. The door swung open, and I hesitantly stepped inside. Surprisingly, the lights were still off. Maybe, I forgot to lock it this morning, I thought.
I flipped the switch and there she was, sitting quietly in the sofa, facing me. I opened my mouth to say something, but she shot me a glare that kept my mouth shut. I knew I was in trouble, there was no escaping this. Well there was one way, but I wasn't prepared to explore that option just yet.
She slowly got up from her seat and wobbled towards me. She was clearly drunk.
"Anne I -"
"Shut up! Did I ask you a question?"
I felt her hand land on my cheeks, and even though I was expecting it, it stung more than ever. She must have had a rough day, and I had given her an excuse to use me as her punching bag.
"Where were you?"
I was not about to tell her I had spent the afternoon going to get her car from Tyrone .
"I was -"
This time it was a blow right in the eye. Then another one in the stomach. That one had me on my knees, looking up at her. She was much angrier than normal today. I even began to wonder if this was it for me. She had beaten me up before, but this time it felt like she was trying to finish me off once and for all.
"Answer me!"
This time it was a mop stick that came crashing down on my face. I felt blood oozing from my forehead as it mixed with the tears that had begun an all too familiar journey down my face.
"I'm sorry," was all I managed to say before the beer bottle made contact with the back of my head and I was out cold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up with the most severe headache. The pain seemed to start at the back of my head and spread throughout. Slowly, I tried to sit up without hurting my head even more. Someone had put me in my bed and bandaged me up quite neatly. When I say someone, I mean my sister. This was a recurring theme in my life at this point. She'd hurt me and then take care of me as if nothing happened. She obviously could not take me to a hospital, because she would be asked questions she did not want to answer. It certainly helped that she was a doctor. She could take care of me all by herself and make up excuses if I ever missed a couple days of school.
The irony of my situation suddenly hit me, and I began to laugh bitterly. Someone who's profession was solely based on saving lives was slowly and painfully destroying my life.
She wasn't always like this, though. This all started when she began drinking, and somehow, I believed that was my fault.
I had never known our parents. They both died the night I was born. Our grandmother raised us, and she had ideas about how to raise children that most people today would consider extreme,but we loved her anyways, because she was all we had.
I remember how she always used to tell Anne, "You study hard and become a doctor. Money don't grow on trees, and I'm spending a lot of mine on your expensive books."
Anne would always tell her she was going to make sure she repay every penny by having honors on her degree. Of course, grandma did not live long enough to see Anne get her degree. Maybe if she had, my sister wouldn't be the monster she is today.
I heard a gentle knock on my door. I don't know why she bothered knocking because she let herself in even before I had a chance to respond. In her hands was a tray with a bowl on it.
"I'm sorry."
Here we go.
"You were supposed to pick me up after my shift, and when you didn't come I was worried."
She sat at the foot of my bed and set the tray down next to her.
"It's just that I don't wanna lose you. You're all I have left."
Well you have a funny way of showing it, I thought. Imagine if we all showed our affection towards other by beating them to within an inch of death.
"You aren't ready to speak to me, huh? It's okay. I just want you to know I love you."
With that, she left the tray there and got up to leave, shooting me a smile in the process.
She had done this a million times, and each time she always ended with an" I love you, bro. " At this point, I did not know whether I believed her or not, but at least she said she loved me. And in my world, those were the most precious words.
Hi guys. Writing this chapter really hurt, so I post-poned it for as long as I could, but I felt it was needed to understand the context in which the main plot is going to take place. Hopefully, it was not as painful to read as it was to write.
Also, I felt the need to write this chapter and put it at the beginning so my readers(you guys) would know Rhian is not your typical fictional male character with no weaknesses. He's meant to be the imperfect human with the imperfect life we all are/have.
Anyways if you liked this chapter, smash that star and share with your friends. As always, I love an interactive audience, so if you have anything on your mind, feel free to put it in the comments section. Till next time...