Before I fall

Chapter 2 : You make me miserable

Shawn

I quietly watched her rush back home, limping despite her best efforts to hide it. Honestly, she wasn't half bad at it, though she'd need more experience, because she was going against a master. She was intriguing, though. Rather fiery and defiant, certainly a lot of nerve. If someone were to give her a dagger, she would probably thank them by stabbing them with it, damn the consequences. She could've been scarier if she was any taller, or didn't have a baby face. As I walked back to my own house, I couldn't help but chew one of the cupcakes.

It... tasted good. Way better than what I had had in the past years. I scarfed the rest down, unwilling to let anyone steal it from me. Using my elbow, I opened the front door. I tried not to sigh at the sight of dirty laundry strewn about the floor, or the cockroaches that skittled from little dark corners. I couldn't bring myself to pick them up. I hurried to my bedroom, the box still clutched in my hands. The cupcakes were done with, but the box wasn't one I would pass up.

Breaking glass from my father's room, and a piercing scream ringing through the house. I flinched, dropping the box with clammy hands. Of course Father was drinking, he never did anything else. Worthless waste of space, no wonder Mother left him. The thought occurred to me that I should be checking up on him. Groaning, I walked over to his room, trying not to trip over the spilled boxes of broken toys and taken-apart appliances. I opened his door hesitantly. The first thing I registered was the smell of cigarettes and spilled alcohol.

The second was the blood dripping from Father's hand.

My breath hitched as I stared at it. Drip, drip. I ran to grab one of the shirts laying around, and covered the wound. I pressed down as hard as I could.

Drip, drip.

The blood soaked through the shirt. Fear welled up in my chest as I sprinted into the hall. The first aid kit had to be around here somewhere.

Drip, drip.

Pushing through all the trash and blowing away dust, I found it hidden in one of the cabinets. I grabbed and started running back to the room.

Drip, drip.

I all but burst into the room, grabbing the shirt I'd left earlier and pressed down again.

Drip, drip.

Harder. It was soaked with blood.

Drip, drip.

I grabbed a pair of shorts and pressed that one down too.

Drip.

The bleeding went down. I grabbed a bulky pad from the kit and replaced the dirty clothes with it.

Drip.

I bandaged up the hand sloppily. I leaned back into a chair next to his bed and breathed. "Why are you like this? Why can't I have a normal family? Why are you so stupid?" I asked, not really caring how I sounded. I didn't really know what I was feeling anyway.

No response, other than a mumbled "baboon". Then a snore came after. Of course he was sleeping. Dude nearly bled out and was just fine to nap. I went to grab a broom to clean up the mess of shards and dust on the floor. The blood would always stay, though. Staining the wood.

When I had finished, I looked helplessly at the man I called Father. A crumpled form with stained clothes and bandages on his hands, beard growing because he was too lazy to shave it off. Useless, he was thrown away by the goodwills of the universe and didn't fight against the demons. He just let himself rot away, and left me on my own. Probably to fight my own demons.

And it hurt, it hurt so bad. It hurt like a knife carving into me, taking away any love and replacing it with the hate I held. I forgot my mother's face, and I filled that hole with poison, to kill anyone I tried to get close to again.

I sighed, and left to get ready for work. Because somebody needed to pay the bills.

I pulled on a dark gray hoodie and some black pants. I walked out of my house to get to my work at the convenience store. As I walked down the street, I noticed two girls walking out of the house across from mine. One taller, with a younger face. One shorter, the girl from before. I pulled my hood to cover my face and kept walking. I was not in the mood for another shouting session. I wondered who it could've been next to her as I pushed the store doors open. I went over to greet the manager, a kindly 60 year old man who was nice enough to give me a job.

The two girls entered the store. The taller one seemed interested, in a prankster kind of way, in me, while the shorter looked annoyed. Honestly, I felt the same to her. Puffing a breath, I got to doing my work. It was simple, really, only checking expiration dates, restocking stock, cleaning the store and being the cashier of sorts. I saw the girls ready to pay at the counter and readied myself for a potential screaming session.

They were buying yogurt, snacks and a sanitary pad. Pretty standard stuff, people buy it all the time. "That'll be 51.90," I said, putting on my customer service voice.

The shorter girl raised her eyebrows. "51? Are you out of your mind?" She asked bitingly.

I checked the register again, and wanted to jump off the building from embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry, 15.90." I ignored the remark she'd said at the end. I was too used to people like her, honestly. Just get it done and over it, that was my motto for working here.

The taller one cleared her throat. "So. D'ya stay around here?" The shorter one jabbed her with her elbow, glaring with a 'shut up right now' look on her face.

I shrugged. "Not that far from here, anyway."

"Address?"

"Uh... Blue Street, house closest to the woods."

The taller one gasped. "Iva, that's in front of ours, I think!" She shook the shorter one excitedly.

The shorter one groaned, in what was undoubtedly annoyance. "Shut up, Ivy, no one cares! He's just some guy, it's not like he's a celebrity or anything!" She slapped down some bills and coins on the counter, before dragging the taller one—Ivy?— out the door.

"Ivanna! Let me go—!"

"Come on, young lady, or I'm telling Mom that you're not behaving!"

Even when they were outside, I could hear them bicker. All the way down the street. They were going to get a noise complaint just from existing, honestly.

I went about to close the store, and start cleaning. I was pretty much alone, so my mind drifted, seizing random topics to turn over. Finally, it clutched onto the two girls. Ivanna, the presumably younger one called the shorter girl. That wasn't half bad of a name. Something in my mind told me it was the name of the God of Grace, or something along those lines. Too bad she wasted it by being snappy and rude all the time.