Freaks: Year Two

An Owl Fight

Mentioned abuse.

Toby, in fact, was not doing okay.

Had it only been a few days since Jasper left? Yes. Nevertheless, it was extremely stressful for Toby. Their mother had finally found a job after being in a rut for a long while so she had already left the house and their dad was who knows where (not that Toby cared where he was, he was no help and only made their lives hell) so that left Toby to ensure the three younger ones were fed and ready for the first day of school.

"Ethan, where is your school bag?" Toby asked.

Ethan threw a blanket out from under his bed. "I don't know!"

Toby sighed frustrated and it was not even eight in the morning. "You just had it yesterday." He was staring at Ethan who threw a bunch of stashes of bandages, cotton balls and an old stuffed giraffe from under his bed. "Why would you think your bag is under your bed?"

Ethan got up and dusted off his trousers. "I swear I put it under there last night."

Toby sighed and went out of the room to see if he could find another bag Ethan could use for the first day of school. "Keep looking!" he called.

"I will!" Ethan waited until he was sure Toby was gone and turned back to the giraffe on the floor. He smiled and picked it up. "Twiggy! I found you. I thought you were lost forever." He hugged the old stuffed giraffe to his chest. He looked back at the door to ensure no one could see him and he looked back to Twiggy. "We won't speak of this," and he hid Twiggy behind his pillow.

The whole reason he had lost Twiggy was when their father was in one of his rages. He had come home drunk and when he saw Ethan hugging Twiggy (as the giraffe had always helped him in horrible, overwhelming situations) his father had screamed at him and had forcefully ripped Twiggy out of his arms.

Ethan was sure Twiggy was gone for good.

He was about to exit the bedroom when he looked back. He just wanted to make sure Twiggy was still there. He went back to his pillow and peeked behind it. The old giraffe was still there. Ethan felt calmer at that and whispered, "I'll see you after school," and he ran out of the bedroom.

Toby was at the front closet and looked for something that was a rucksack or was like one. He just needed to be sure that all his brothers were dressed, fed and ready for school on time.

Toby bit his lip and he pulled out Jasper's old rucksack from the back of the closet. This will do, Toby thought and he grabbed a spare pencil and a rubber that was lying around the house.

He went back to his and Ethan's room and he saw the mess Ethan had made, the bandages and cotton balls and other random odds and ends scattered across the floor. Toby closed his eyes and sighed. "Ethan!"

Ethan's footsteps were heard (his footsteps were very quick and hoppy) and he almost banged into the door. He quickly regained his balance and he saw his brother's unimpressed face. "What?"

"You need to clean this up," Toby told him.

"I'll just shove it all under the bed," Ethan muttered.

Toby rolled his eyes and threw him the rucksack "Here you go!" He walked out of the bedroom. "Get food for yourself!"

Toby walked to Francis' and Edgar's room to check if they were up and dressed and he opened the door. "Are you both up yet – WHAT THE HELL!"

Edgar was sleeping on top of the wardrobe and the whole room was a huge mess. There was furniture all out of their respective places. Their beds had been moved from their respective corners and it looked like a hurricane had passed through the room as there were books and small toys all over the floor.