✔️ 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐀𝐋 | ᴀᴅᴀᴍ ʙᴀɴᴋꜱ ¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

❝ 𝖎 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖎𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖇𝖊, 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊, 𝖒𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖞 ❞

"I'M SO GLAD SUMMER'S FINALLY HERE."

     "What do you wanna do first?"

     "We need to go watch that movie," said Averman from across the table. "That one with Johnny Depp in it."

     I sighed. "So you're telling me that even more of a chance that we're gonna go out in public and people will think we're dating?"

     "Please?" he asked. "Its all I wanna do for the rest of my life."

     I laughed. "Alright, Movie Boy. That's our summer."

    Years ago, when Lester and I first brought up the idea of spending our summers together, my parents resented it. They thought we would end up dating even despite the fact that Averman was basically my brother.

     When I asked my dad why he hated me playing hockey and hanging out with boys, he said it had something to do with the fact that he didn't want me to end up on the wrong side of life. I guess that after everything my father had been through, he never really felt like he could raise me the right way, especially when my mom died.

     The irony was, now that he went AWOL and left me in the care of my brothers, it was true—he couldn't raise me the right way, not even at all.

     He showed up every once in a while, repeatedly and with the flimsiest of excuses; made shockingly incorrect changes; even forgot to pay rent on purpose, leaving every important parental duty to Bryan and Alex. Rarely had he worked so hard at anything, and yet no matter how incompetent he pretended to be, I still missed him more than anything.

     Let me reword that. My father never really talked to us a lot, he would usually take walks around the house. He would do this until the anger bottled up inside took hold of him. Then he'd hit.

     Now, my mother, she never really cried a lot. She would take his punches and she would never fight back. Until one day, she said she was leaving, and she would be taking her kids. So she did.

     My parents are just the ones who gave me life.

     "Hey, Les," I laughed, my hands on the ice cream in my hands, ready to get up and go. "I told Alex and Bryan that I'd meet them at the park once your break was over."

     Averman looked over to me, not amused. "But I don't wanna go back to work. They put me on door today!"

     I stood up to toss my bowl away. "I'll see you later."

     My mind came to life in a cloud of smoke. As I left the parking lot and walked past strip malls towards the park, I began to worry about what this summer would hold. Worst case scenarios included my dad coming back, wielding some kind of present for me, foaming at the mouth on the front lawn, or lying in wait with an envelope of cash in his hand. Anything was possible.