Off Balance

Chapter 2

"Come on in, y'all," Jill calls out as we climbed out of my dad's truck.

He told me to ride with him and when I was done with my chores at Jill's he would come back and get me. I protested at first but he threatened to tell Jill that I had my phone. That caused me to give in quickly in order to avoid the tongue lashing that I was sure to receive from Jill if she found out that I had my phone. I think Dad wanted to avoid Jill too but that didn't stop him from threatening me with her. She was constantly on him about enforcing rules and consequences to provide a structured environment for me. It was very annoying.

"Hey Jill, we brought juice," Jill hugged Dad then came to hug me.

"I hope y'all are hungry. I made biscuits and gravy, sausage, and eggs," Jill stated as she led us through the house to the back room.

"Sounds fantastic, Mrs. Jill," I replied.

I had decided that I was going to be on my very best behavior today. I was not going to give Jill any reason to extend my grounding. I was really looking forward to seeing Rose. She and I had a lot in common from what I had gathered after snapping her the past week or so. Even if we didn't end up matching, maybe she would at least be a good fuck.

We got to the back room and Jill turned to me, "Drew, would you go get Charlie from the shop please? I called him when y'all pulled up but I guess he didn't hear me. Make it quick please."

"Yes ma'am," I nodded and went out the back door to get her husband.

I assumed she wanted some time alone with my dad to talk about my behavior as of late. She was not as subtle as she seemed to think. It was a short walk to the shop and I was there in just a few moments.

"Drew! So good to see you, kiddo!" he called as he spotted me coming up on him.

"Hey Charlie," I smiled.

"Come give me a hug, young man. I think you've grown half a foot since the last time I saw you," he opened his arms wide for me.

I stepped into them, "You seen me just last week."

"That's too long without seeing my favorite boy," he replied seriously.

I just grinned. The Harts always had a way of making me feel special. They were always so kind and caring toward me and I didn't get that from many other people. They were the closest thing that I had to family besides my dad and even then he and I had our times where we couldn't stand to be in the same room. I was lucky to have them.

"Come here, I want to show you something," Charlie said.

"Breakfast is ready," I reminded him.

"It can wait," was his response.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, leading me down trail behind the shop. He led me down the hill to the south field which held their cattle. In the barn, he took me to the back corner where a new calf was laying. The little thing was brown with big eyes.

"This is our new bottle calf. She was born a few nights ago, but unfortunately, mama didn't make it," Charlie informed me.

"Aww, that's so sad," I replied as I squatted down to pet it.

"Yes, it was. Daisy here is a tough cookie though. She'll be just fine," he petted Daisy affectionately, "I reckon we better get up there for breakfast before Jill finds a switch to take to us."

"What is that?" I asked.

"You ain't ever had a switchin'?" he asked, a little stunned.

"No, I don't know what you are talking about," I told him.

"Actually that makes sense. It's no wonder you act like a hoodlum so much," he mumbled to himself but I caught it.

I gave him an offended look as I decided to drop the subject. It seemed like some sort of behavior reformation and I really did not want to get into that with Charlie. We made it back to the house pretty quick. Jill was waiting on the porch with her arms crossed.

"Uh oh," Charlie said to me.

"Andrew, did I not tell you to hurry?" she questioned.

"Yes ma'am," I replied.

"So what was the hold up?"

I looked to Charlie for help.

"I took him down to the south field to see Daisy," Charlie explained.

"Well breakfast is cold now, so thank you both," with that she turned around and went inside.

"You didn't tell me she had told you to hurry," Charlie turned to me.

"I forgot and you wanted to show me something," I shrugged.

He sighed and ruffled my hair, "What are we going to do with you, boy?"

"Feed me, I hope. I'm starving," I gave him a cheeky grin.

"Let's go get some food for your tummy. You need to get some meat on your bones."

I rolled my eyes but followed him to the sink to wash up.

We all sat down and Charlie blessed the food before we dug in. Before coming to the Hart's for the first time, I did not even know what blessing the food meant. I didn't grow up with prayer and church the way that most kids around here did. I had parents who were either too out of their mind to even remember they had a kid or they were in jail. I always wished that I was the kid who knew exactly what they were going home to, but that was never the case. I won't say that I am happy that my mom died, but I would not be the same person if she hadn't. I don't even know that I would be on the earth.

Prayer and church still is not part of my life. I attend with the Harts on occasion when Jill persists and I bow my head when the food is being blessed but beyond that, it has no part in my life. God and Jesus sound like a bunch of made up pricks that have way too high of standards that are impossible to meet and they want you to remember that you are unworthy and deserve death. It just seems like insanity to me.

Breakfast was full of casual conversation that I did not contribute to much. I was way too busy stuffing my face full of the breakfast that Jill had cooked for us. It was the best meal that I was going to have this week. When breakfast was over, Dad left, leaving me at Jill's mercy.

"Alright, Andrew, help me clear the dishes and I get your chore list for you," Jill said.

"On that note, I am out of here," Charlie stated, "Be good for her today. Especially if you don't want to find out what a switchin' is."

"Yes sir," he hugged me and kissed Jill before leaving out the back door again.

After Jill and I finished stacking the dishwasher, she handed me a piece of notebook paper with a list of chores written on it. I held back a sigh. This day was going to suck and I was going to be lucky to be ungrounded tomorrow.