Hand-Cuffed to My Enemy

Hank Philips

I shouldn't care. I just shouldn't but this is so wrong. This is a perfect family and I know what's gonna happen. I just know it. I take one look at Joseph and I realize what I need to do. I can't let this family suffer because of me and him. "No," I say, "You guys aren't gonna get married." "Why's that?" Joseph's mom asks. She wasn't mad or annoyed at me. She was just curious. "Because Dad couldn't care less if he left you. He just wants your money." I reply. I never spoke up like this because if I did, I'd be dead. But I don't care anymore. That man destroyed my family and he won't destroy the one I've admired. "I'll tell you the whole story in full detail. And what I'm gonna say to you is true." I say. Dad gives me an "Are you really going to do it" look. And I am. I'm tired of his ways. I'm tired of worrying about what'll happen next that keeps me awake. I'm tired of it all. "When I was 11, my dad lost his job because he yelled at people for no reason. Stupid, right? Being said, after my mom left him and Shank, my brother, ran away, he needed money. And the easiest way to get that was marriage and divorce," I announce, "Ms. Hallows, my dad, the one you love and the one who doesn't know what family truly means, is a con-man." Then, nothing. No reaction. Nothing. Not anything. "Daniel... is this true?" Joseph's mom asks after a few moments of silence. I'd expect Dad to have hit me right now but no. Instead, he looks up at me and says, "You've decided to fess up and turn me in, right?" I nod. He gets up and does the one thing he's never done in my life. He hugs me. But I don't hug back. Because if I do, I'll take it all back and it wouldn't matter. I push back and tell him, "Don't give me that. You never even loved me anyways. Not me. Not Mom. Definitely not Shank. No one." He just stares at me. Then, he walks away. Away to nowhere. And I realize that the hug he tried to give me was a goodbye. A goodbye meaning I'm on my own. And he won't come back to me. I'm the only one left. Joseph and his family get up and I sit on the picnic blanket, not knowing what to do. "Come on, Hank. You're family, too." Joseph says. The words hit me. I stare at the family to see if they're joking and I'm really alone. Joseph's mom smiles and says, "You are a part of our family, son." But I wasn't her son. Was I? I simply stare at them. And I get up, and follow them, only a phantom of my past with me in this summer heat. When we drove back to the beach house, the four of us sit around the campfire. While Joseph's mom, or my mom, since she adopted me, teaches Harry how to roast a marshmallow, I swipe through my phone for the latest updates I've missed. Soon, a headline on the news catches my eyes: 'Daniel Philips finally arrested. Sentenced to prison for ten years.' I immediately turn it off and look up at the blue sky. "Ah! Mom! It's on fire! What should I do!?" Harry exclaims, panicking. "Blow it out, doofus." Joseph mutters and I laugh a bit. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. "I'll get it." I say. I get up from my chair and Joseph follows me. I assumed Dad had escaped jail and came back to claim me but when I open the door, something else surprises me. Instead of whatever I was thinking, I get greeted with a flash of red dyed hair and a shout of, "SURPRISE, KIDS!"