Together Under The Stars

Nightfall

Jim walked quietly beside his older brother Sam as they followed Frank back to the farmhouse from the car. Frank was loudly complaining about the towns newest residents. In fact, he hadn't shut up about it all the way home. His words were slurred, and his steps wobbly from the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

"Those green blooded, pointy eared, goody two shoes, morons have no business being in Riverside! What is all of Vulcan not good enough for them?! They have an entire perfectly good planet! Why do they gotta invade us like this?! Fucking Vulcans! They think they're so much better than us, walking around like they got sticks up their asses!"

Jim clenched his teeth to keep from arguing against the idiocy that poured from his stepfathers mouth. To remind him that humans had also spread out from Earth. That there were many human settlements on different planets, and it was hypocritical to judge Vulcans for doing the same.

It would do no good. He knew that. All that would happen is that he'd get a beating. Again. The bruising from his last beating were barely healed, and he was not looking forward to the next one. So he walked in silence. One foot in front of the other, trying unsuccessfully to block out Frank's drunken rant.

They hadn't even met the Vulcans yet. They had simply heard that a Vulcan family had moved into one of the houses in the area. Jim sighed inwardly. He hated Frank. Why his mother had married him was beyond him.

Frank was an abusive bigoted close minded drunk. But his mom was never around to see any of it. She was always off on some starship or spacestation or planet doing research or something. He didn't even really know what she did, it's not like she ever told them. She never had any time for her boys. Especially not for Jim.

Jim always suspected that she didn't like him too much. With his wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes he looked too much like his father. The husband that she had so tragically lost on the day of his birth.

Frank also hated Jim. For while Sam kept his head down and his mouth shut, Jim was more likely to stand up to him. To call him on his shit. A trait that Frank dispised. So Sam, who was just a few months shy of eighteen was mostly ignored, and fifteenth year old Jim took the brunt of Frank's anger and cruelty.

As soon as the front door closed behind them and Frank's back was turned, Jim headed up the stairs to his room. He was careful to make as little noise as possible, not wanting to draw Frank's attention to himself. It was always best to stay out of Frank's way whenever possible, but especially when he was in a mood like this. To this end, when he reached his room, he shut the door quietly. That done, he splayed himself out on his bed with a book and tried his best to forget the shitty day.

Jim stayed in his room a long time. The sun slipped lower and lower in the heavens. Evening began to cast its shadows across his room as the sun sank below the horizon. Its last rays lighting the sky up in pinks and oranges that faded to purples and deep blues further up into the stratosphere.

Jim was drawn out of his book by the lengthening shadows making it hard to read. He watched from the window as the colors of the sunset painted themselves across the sky. He sighed heavily. As much as he loved reading, he hated being cooped up in his room.

Slowly climbing off of the bed, he made his way over to the door. He put his ear against it and listened intently. After a few minutes of hearing no noise outside of it, he carefully opened the door and stepped out.

All was quiet in the house. He crept his way back down the stairs to the kitchen. On the way, he saw the passed out body of Frank on the couch. He had obviously drunk himself unconscious again. Jim moved on. Finding Frank passed out somewhere was a frequent occurrence. Once in the kitchen, he made himself a sandwich as quietly as possible. Then, sandwich in one hand, binoculars in the other, he snuck out the back door into the backyard.