Crippled Inside

Chapter 2: Julian

Sean was sitting on the couch as he heard his mother open the door for someone. Julian appeared in Sean's eyesight standing in the doorframe of the room. He had always gotten the impression that Julian despised him though he never knew why. Yoko walked past Julian and into the room kissing Sean on the cheek.
"I will see you this afternoon."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to work. Be nice." She said before leaving the room and the house.

When the door behind Yoko closed Julian walked into the room and sat next to Sean on the couch, Sean did not look at him. Julians eyes were burrowing a hole into his left cheek.
"Where do you want to go today?"
"I know why you're here." 
"You do?"
"It's because my parents are getting divorced."
"You are exactly right."
"I don't know why my mom called you."
"Well it's probably because we have similar experiences."
Sean wondered what he meant by that but stayed quiet. Julian broke the silence.
"Hey, how about we go to the arcade?"
"Sure."
They got into Julians car. Sean stared out the window though he was oblivious to what was actually happening outside. Julian's stereo loudly blared ABBA though Sean didn't recognize the songs. When they got to the arcade Julian got a small cup of coins for Sean. They found a booth and sat down. Sean stared at the cup of coins intensively, like looking at it would help him discover the great cause of his misfortune.
"What's on your mind kiddo?"
Sean looked up from the coins and at Julian.
"Nothing, I guess."
"You were staring down those coins."
"I feel like it's my fault."
"Like what's your fault?"
"Everything with my parents."
"It's not your fault, your father- our father sometimes makes choices without considering who it will hurt."
"You think this is my Dad's fault? Why?"
"I have a hunch also don't tell your mother that."
"Oh okay. Why?"
"It would cause more trouble than it's worth."
"Okay."
The day went on normally they avoided the subject altogether and for a brief moment Sean forgot about everything. At 2 pm though the illusion was broken and he was in a house without his father. His mom asked about his day before she retreated into her office. Sean didn't mind since he wanted to be by himself anyway.

______

It was 11 pm when Sean made a choice. He got out of bed and walked to the door. He turned the knob to the right and gingerly made his way into his mother's office. He carefully moved objects around making sure to remember where things were. He found her phone book under a stack of papers. He flipped through until he got to J finding his father's new phone number. He grabbed a blank sheet of paper, from the stack his mother always kept for their mutual use, and wrote down the number.

He put the objects back in their respective places and left the room. He gripped the paper as he walked by slowly placing one foot at a time on the light tan wooden floors, until the tiles changed to checkers. He wrapped his hand around the phone and nestled it against his ear. Looking at the paper he dialed the number. He could hear the sound of his own heart beating and the gentle telephone noises in his ear. Sean was greeted by the robotic voicemail greeting.
"Dad... I know you're probably asleep. Mom told me about the divorce. Can you call me back?" His voice was barely audible to anything but the transmitter. He put the phone down and carefully walked back to his room hiding the number in a drawer. He lied in bed getting in as slowly as he had left it. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes but he did not let them spill over.