One true love | Eddie Munson

25 : S T E V E

. . .

It was a Sunday afternoon, I was supposed to be at Hailey's to welcome her back home, but instead I was helping my mom clean out the attic. She said it was getting too cluttered for her liking, and she knew my dad wouldn't help her, cause he's a lazy dick.

We took a break around dinner time which is normally when my dad showed up from work. I was sitting with my mom as she was showing me photo albums that we had found. I caught myself staring at a picture. A picture of my dad and mom, but it didn't look like my mom at all, her hair lighter than it was in any other pictures so were her eyes. They were leaning against his old car, his arm around her and her hair covering most of her face as she kissed his cheek. It was a strange picture to look at since it's the complete opposite of how they act now.

He slammed the door when he got home. I jumped, my mom rushed up to go see what was wrong. I pulled the picture out of the sleeve, folding it and pocketing it before he saw and flipped to the next page.

They came back. My mom walked in front of him going over to the kitchen to pull the casserole out of the oven. My dad took a seat next to me, throwing the mail in front of me making me flinch.

"Letter from colleges you applied to came in," His voice rough and pushy, "You gonna open them or should I?"

I simply nodded and opened them all and laid them flat in front of me, there were five. I only applied to five places. I read them each, aloud because he wanted to hear. I didn't get into any of them.

I cleared my throat to try to cover the shakiness, "I could always get a job her-"

My voice was cut off, by his clammy grip to my hair lifting me out of my chair, and pushing me into the wall. I tried to avoid it, but his fist too fast, meeting my eye and drawing blood. My mom came in from the other room. Her eyes wide, when she saw him.

"Richard! Get off of him!" She yelled and he refrained from punching me again.

He looked at me and grabbed me by the collar, "You're never going to get anywhere in life, ya hear?!" I clenched my jaw, tears forming in my eyes, "Gonna end up exactly like your mother." He yelled and I pushed him off.

"Mom ended up fine!" I yelled, "She's the secretary for the mayor, I'd rather end up like her than you."

Richard scoffed, "Sharron isn't your mother."

I looked at her and then back at him confused, "What?"

"Your mother works at the diner, she's pathetic." Richard walked over to the beer fridge and got himself one downing it almost instantly followed by another, "Her daughter's the town slut with Nancy."

Steve threw a punch which was stupid on his part because a stronger one went straight to the side of his face.

"Enough!!!" Sharron yelled and looked at Steve, "I think maybe we should all sit down and have dinner as a family."

I shook my head and walked off and grabbed my keys and walked out with tears streaming down my face. I didn't know where I was going; I didn't know what was going on.

. . .

I knocked on her window. The lights were off, but I knew she was in there because there was a bluish glow in her curtains coming from her tv.

"Steve? What are you doing here?"

"It's Sunday. I always come over on Sunday's, and I knew you were coming back from the hospital, so now I'm here."

She sighed, opening the window wider, so I could climb on in, and walking over to the light switch. Once I was in and the lights were on, she got a good look at my face.