AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glowers at her. “Just come eat this cake, will you?”
She stands and then snatches the grocery bag from him. Once she’s in the kitchen and can’t see us, Brody leans closer and lowers his voice. “I have something for you, too,” he says. “Finally came in the mail.”
“Doesn’t have to be. I bought it a few weeks ago. Go check my nightstand while I start our chicken dinner.” His hand brushes mine before he leaves.
A gift? For me? Why? I’ve never gotten a gift outside of my birthday or Christmas. I chew on my hair as I go to his room. Fading light from outside streams through the open vertical blinds, creating a soft gray haze. Brody’s room is minimalistic, but everything is done with precision. The king-sized bed rests in the middle, covered with a simple white comforter. There’s a walnut-brown dresser with a few family photos on top, two matching nightstands with small lamps, and a slim display cabinet that houses bodybuilding trophies, medals, and framed newspaper clippings. Of course, there’s also a pair of dumbbells on the floor next to the bed. When doesn’t he take an opportunity to work in a few reps?
I walk to the nightstand on the right—the side of the bed he sleeps on—and open the drawer. X-Men comics. I lift the small stack and sink onto his bed. There’s a Dark Phoenix and Wolverine from the eighties, a few from the nineties, and one I never had in my collection. The stack is small but easily worth $200.
I pinch one corner of a plastic sleeve, almost swallowing my hair because I’m gnawing it so much. He said he bought these a few weeks ago, which was before we even kissed. Why would he do that? I haven’t paid rent. I eat his food and use his electricity and we’re not having sex. It’s not a ‘thank you for a good lay’ gift. We’re friends, I think, but Amber doesn’t give me gifts. Only on my birthday and Christmas.
You give gifts when there’s a reason. Despite his kind words the other night, all I’ve done is mooch off him. Take up space. Stain his carpet. I don’t deserve a gift this nice and expensive.
I put the comics back into his nightstand drawer. I can’t accept these.
I push the uneasiness from my mind. Right now is about Amber. I change into my normal outfit, leaving the makeup and styled hair since it makes Brody stare at me, and then join them in the kitchen.
After chicken and cake, Amber and Brody sit on the couch while I hug Bamsy on the recliner.
“That one looks good,” Amber says, pointing at a movie selection on the screen.
“Can we take a break from zombies?” Brody responds. “Jesus, all week it’s been zombies.”
“I like when people come back from the dead and eat everyone who pissed them off.”
“Most zombies are stupid and don’t do that.”
“I would do that. I’d keep my wits about me and eat some of my ex-boyfriends. There’s a soccer coach that’s been on my list for years.”
Brody sighs. “How about a documentary? You’ve already poisoned your body. Can you at least not let your brain go to mush?”
“Sure, Mom. Like you’re a saint. All your brain does is think about T and A.”
“Not all the time. I think about taxes once a year.”
Amber laughs and shakes her head. “Give me the damn remote. I’ll pick something actually worth our time.”
They continue to argue over what to watch, and I smile. I never knew families could be this fun. I’ve seen TV families, but I never knew what it felt like to be among them. What it’s like to greet someone when they come home and they smile at you instead of scowl. To talk during dinner without screaming or fighting. To argue, but in a friendly way, not violently. To tease and joke but never worry about anyone hitting you or locking you in your room or cussing you out.
Even before my mom married him two years ago, most of her boyfriends weren’t friendly. There was one I liked, Isamu, who has the coolest name ever. Isamu Sato. He dated my mom when I was still completing high school courses at home. He took time to get to know me, and he even tried teaching me Japanese, but I couldn’t figure out how to get my AAC device at the time to pronounce the words correctly. I can still read kanji and hiragana. Kind of.
Isamu was around for eight months and then my mom cheated, so I never saw him again.
After being with Brody and Amber—their little family—it’ll hurt like a million Hulk punches to the face when I have to leave. I’ve stayed too long, much longer than I originally planned. When Amber first suggested I live with her, I was so relieved to be out of the hospital and away from him that I got lost in the freedom. Living in the moment. Going out with no one’s permission. I’ve had so many new life experiences since coming here.
Even all the trouble with Troy and Candy was exciting, in a way. It was stressful and scary, but now I can say I got in a chick fight. Me. I fought back and stood up for myself when confronted by a bully. I’m a little stronger than I was before.
But this taste of freedom comes with consequences. Every day I’m away from home, I can feel that man’s anger and my mom’s sadness growing. I sent her an unmarked letter telling her I was okay and that I’d come back soon, but I don’t know if it was enough. I don’t know how long ‘soon’ will become. What if she never got the letter and is sick with worry?
I know it’s impossible, but what if they both let me go? Maybe I’ll fail at being on my own—fail at adulthood—but lately, I’ve been thinking that I’d like an opportunity to try. Mom’s married now and he hates me, so why can’t they live their lives without me?
“What do you think?”
I snap out of my thoughts to find Brody smiling warmly at me. I smile back.
“This movie sound good?” He points at the screen. Looks like an action movie with lots of explosions.
