Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 11 home sweet home

Chapter 11 home sweet home

I didn't get yelled at when I got home. I got home to a very quiet home. Mam was silently watching the telly and it seemed as though dad was off at work again. Mam smiled as I walked in. "Good evening. Thank you for your note." I smiled back and nodded before sitting down.

"Yeah, I thought it would be best to let you know where I was." She reached to the remote just next to her and turned the volume down. "I was at the forest, where Aiden Was a few days ago." She chuckled and shook her head at me. I looked around and tried to play spot the difference. It had become rather easy now, I reached over and shook a can, hearing nothing, I sighed.

"He left about twenty minutes ago." Mam always knew what I was thinking about, "You'd best hope you don't run into him much the next few days. He is extremely frustrated." It was at times like this when I see who good mam is. She didn't really have much of a choice but to put up with dad's habits. I know that there is a love there, they had a good relationship. I just wished that it was like it used to be instead of what it was now. "There's dinner in the fridge I believe, middle shelf. Feel free to not eat it and have some crumpets instead." I chuckled as I opened up my bag and took my bottle of water out.

"Was it really that bad?" I joked lightly which caused her to chuckle and nod. I huffed lightly before standing up and clapping my hands together. "Alright, time for Chef Harlow to use the toaster." I then moved into the kitchen. The tea which was left didn't seem too bad, however it included chicken, something dad was notorious for messing up. I returned in a few moments with two crumpets and some cheese on a plate. "The cheese will make everything better."

She chuckled as she watched some home-purchasing television programme. "Unless it's your father." I choked lightly and laughed. She wasn't wrong with that fact but we would never say it to his face. "Don't dare tell him I said that." I placed my hand to my heart.

"Me? Telling gossip and secrets? Mother you don't know me at all it seems." Even though I was joking she sent me a little knowing look. "I am a very good secret keeper, believe it or not." She puffed out some air and shook her head at me, she did that rather often it seems.

"Then I shall not believe it." She then started to cough. It was something which made me flinch every time but she was getting used to it. It was saddening for her to get used to something like that. I hated seeing her in this condition, I know I sound like a broken record. "How was school?"

There we go back to our regularly scheduled program. "It was alright, nothing happened today." I then took another bite out of my crumpet. "Nothing of interest anyway. We mainly just worked. It was the same as usual." She looked at me with narrowed eyes for a few moments before going with it.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." She shifted slightly in her bed. "Have you phoned Aiden like you said you would?" I froze slightly before looking up at the ceiling and groaning "I guess that's a no." She chuckled lightly. I nodded and continued to eat with a small frown on my face.

"I forgot." I muttered under my breath. I didn't know what I was going to tell him, other than what the doctor said. "Anyone phoned?" I raised an eyebrow. It's odd for there to be no phone calls. Mam was rather popular, she had a lot of friends to talk to. There was also the possibility of spam calls which annoy us at least three times a day.

"Nothing but dead ends today unfortunatly." She sighed but she had a small smile on her face. "Gave them a right mouthful." I chuckled and nodded, feeling slightly sorry for the person on the other end of the phone. "They get what's coming to them." I nodded and stood up, empty plate in hand.

"I'm going to clean up and then phone Aiden before he heads to sleep." She nodded and turned her attention back to the television. I didn't get a chance to phone Aiden that night. I had opened my laptop to continue working when something caught my eye. I had known that my father was rather angry yesterday and I didn't quite understand why. I was faced with the reason as soon as I opened my laptop. Being angry was not uncharacteristic of him, I tended to avoid him during those times. That's probably why I didn't pick up on why he was angry.

I had seen this yesterday, it was a petition which Aiden had signed. It was to save the forest which I had been to just today. My face went pale. I wasn't sure if father still checked his social media, it would make a lot of sense that he would be royally angry about it. I was rather interested in it and I was all on board with it before today. Sure, it would be nice to save the wolves, but nobody knows that they're there. I still think that Aiden is hiding something, something to do with them.

That would be one argument to support that they're werewolves I suppose. I didn't want to offer that thought any more attention. Yet, it just kept returning to me. I don't believe in werewolves. I did when I was younger but that was before my concept of reality settled in.

I sighed as I heard the door open and slam loudly. I had frozen where I was on the bed and moved closer to the door. "I can't believe it!" I heard my father shout from the passage. It was as though he had been waiting for the moment the door shut to let out his anger. "That boy will get what's coming to him!" I wondered if he was talking about Aiden, or me, or someone that he worked with. I was a little scared by his words and his tone, I had a rather bad feeling.

It took me about twenty minutes to get the courage to phone Aiden, I could still hear my father shouting downstairs. I knew that it had something to do with him. My father usually stopped shouting by now if it was towards a colleague or something. I scrolled down to his name and clicked the 'call' button.

"Hello?"