the park bench

e l e v e n

e l e v e n

"jo?"

"yes, jojo?" joseph replied, his eyes not straying from his bedroom window.

his sister sighed, shuffling over the edge of the bed to sit next to him. "joseph gibson. look away from the pain pane."

"just call it a window or a window pane, jojo," joseph murmured, still unwilling to glance over at his sister.

"look away from the god damn window, joseph." joanne demanded, flinching when her brother swiveled his head around suddenly, his eyes bloodshot and teeth bared.

"is this what you want to see? leave me alone, jojo, leave me the heck alone." joseph hissed, tears leaked over his already tear stained cheeks, "let me be in pain alone."

joanne wrapped an arm around his shoulder, letting him bury his head in hers and soak her hoodie in his tears. "what's wrong, jo?" his sister whispered, "would you like me to call heather?"

he shook his head.

"jo?" he let out a rough hum of acknowledgement. "does this have something to do with what you said when they told us about the divorce?"

he waited a beat. "what did i say?" his voice came out throaty, joseph lifted his head up, brown hair falling over his eyes.

she eased the two of them further onto the bed, leaning against the white wall. "you said that the divorce wasn't a surprise. why? they never fought, at least, i didn't hear any fighting, and they never gave any clues or anything."

joseph didn't utter a single word for five minutes, the crying died down. "i... left the house at night to meet up with heather," he managed to say, his voice still thick, "and i saw mother in her car."

his sister silently urged him to continue. "kissing another guy." he started silently sobbing again, clinging onto his sheets with his shoulders shaking and chest heaving. "i fucking hate her."

joanne didn't say anything, not a noise, not a word.

"i fucking hate her," he repeated between hiccups.

she sluggishly draped an arm across his trembling back and joined him in tears.