✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

99. His Story

"A passport," Tess said. "You mentioned that before, right?"

"Yeah. Want to look?"

Tess told herself that she was eager to know what her best friend found so exciting, and she was determined to support him in whatever it was. Because that's what friends do. But she couldn't deny the sudden excitement when Spike's fingertips brushed hers, or how much the slightest contact always made her feel like she was the luckiest woman in the world. She'd missed him so much while she was away, and she wanted to be close to him in every way possible now; even if she didn't really know what half of those ways were. She pushed down those rebellious thoughts, putting them down to a demon on her shoulder whispering in a language she didn't know. Today was all about Spike.

She carefully opened the passport, and saw Spike's picture. He looked as cute as ever, and she found herself blushing just from meeting the eyes of his photo. But then she saw the name, and surprise joined attraction fighting to be at the forefront of her mind.

"Spike... Luger?"

"That's my name," he said with a smile.

"But..."

"That's Dad's name," he answered, fiddling with the bracelet again. She already knew that his dad meant an awful lot to him, and the bracelet was a reminder of that. "Should I start from the beginning? Make sure that you've heard the whole story."

Tess nodded, and Spike looked sad for a moment, and then he started to speak. When Spike was younger, he'd lived with a family just like all his friends. Mum, Dad, and two boys. They did normal family things, and had normal quarrels that might have been a little rough, but never turned into a major problem, and no animosity was ever allowed to fester below the surface.

Then there had been a house fire. A neighbour, somebody they had seen around but didn't know that well. A strict woman who yelled at Spike and Brad if they ever dared set foot on her lawn, and considered her flower beds to be the pride of the neighbourhood. She wasn't strict that day, she was staring at a blazing building and screaming that the twins were still inside. The fire service had been called, and everybody prayed that they would be there fast enough. Until a ground-floor window burst open, and Mr Luger rolled out with two young girls in his arms, wrapped in wet blankets to protect against the heat. He was a hero, and everybody wanted to buy him a drink. Everybody cheered him, and sent gifts to the house. But he wasn't okay. He was injured in his rescue attempts. The damage from smoke inhalation got worse instead of better, and six weeks later he was dead.

Everybody dealt with it in a different way. Spike resolved to be like his father, so it was as if he was still there. Brad started drinking, though they never figured out who would sell booze to a kid his age. Mrs Luger – Shawna – stayed home and cried. She yelled at Spike, terrified that he was going to take after his father and sacrifice himself for some stranger.

Spike did the chores, got a part time job to make ends meet, and sorted out the bills while his mother just cried and tried to ignore the world. Brad became a bully, thinking that everyone was disrespecting his family now, and went from alcohol to drugs. Shawna tried to stop him, but there was nothing she could do. Not long after promising that she would restore their family's pride, she announced that the boys would have a father again. She was marrying Duke Torrance, the jerk who'd been selling drugs to her son. And for all his promises, he never supported them. Duke expected Shawna to cook and clean, but rarely paid any attention to her. He was a tyrant, and getting money out of him to pay the bills was so tough that Spike still needed his part-time jobs as often as not.

"I'm sorry," Tess said as the story paused. She put her arms around Spike, and there was no distance between them today. No excitement from his touch, either, just a well of sympathy. All she could think of was comforting him now.