Life Changes » Marcus Armstrong

Fourtytwo.

It was Friday evening, Marcus, his family and his friends were enjoying the barbecue. Marcus' friends knew his family, it was just a while ago since they saw each other for the last time.

"Does someone wants a hamburger?" Rick asked and was standing next to the table with a plate with hamburgers on it.

"Yes, please," Paris said.

"Yes," Luna said.

"Is there chicken?" Marcus asked.

His dad looked at the barbecue. "I don't think it's cooked yet, you should take a look."

Marcus nodded and got up, checking the chicken on the barbecue. He also turned around some things and looked at it.

"Can you pass me one of the..." Moses started to yawn mid-sentence. "...the bread?" Callum passed him the bowl with bread. "Thanks."

"Are you tired?" His mother asked,

"I barely can keep my eyes open," he mumbled.

She nodded. "We will leave soon, okay?" The family was still fighting against the jet leg.

"I'm just wondering," Robert started. "I don't know why I want to know this, but are you a morning or night person?"

"Morning," Robert answered.

Callum was thinking about it. "It depends. Sometimes I'm a morning person, something a night person."

"Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit," Luna said on the same tone as Callum did.

Cate burst into laughter. "I was just gonna say that," she laughed. "But I'm a night person."

"Same," Luna said.

"I'm not an early bird or a night owl, I'm some sort of permanently exhausted pigeon," Marcus emotionlessly said.

Everybody began to laugh. "Ah, that actually sounded so depressive," Mick said.

"Those three weeks, bloody exhausting."

"I agree with that," Callum said. "And we've another triple-header on its way."

"Silverstone and Barcelona, right?" Marcus' mum asked. The four drivers all nodded. "Right... Intense, but you can do it! We will be at the first race at Silverstone and then fly back to New Zealand."

"I really can't imagine how it feels like to fly to Italy from New Zealand. I already struggle at flights of three hours," Cate mentioned, showing respect to the family. "It is literally the other side of the world."

Paris nodded. "It is. And it's intense, but that's the only way to see something from the world. However, I would not recommend it. I do, but also not," she said doubtfully.

"After 26 hours of flying, you get to the most beautiful place called home," Marcus said and warmly smiled. He served the chicken tenders and sat down on his chair again.

"Period," Moses added.

»

The barbecue evening slowly came to an end. The group of six people were still sitting outside in the garden. Candles were being lit on, people put on a hoodie and got something to drink. His family just left. Callum, Cate, Robert, Luna and Mick were still there.

"Is Jane still coming?" Mick started to wonder where Jane stayed. "The food is cold... And finished."

"I haven't heard anything from her yet," Marcus breathed. "She said she would text me when she would leave the twins."