Fallen From Grace

Strength In Numbers

I turned up to Mom and Dad's house seeing Thomas in this thick royal blue waterproof coat. I picked him up because I was asked to at the time but what was alarming to me was because of the fabric of his coat (it was like that slippy waterproof puffer coat) and I felt like he was slipping out of my hands so I put him back down and because Thomas could walk, (I think he did it very early on because I remember hearing through phonecalls with my Mom how he'd developed quickly) and the front door was open and he was going to run out in his socks.

"Stop him!" Dad shouted.

So I picked him up briefly. I could do it briefly and l said to Thomas over his shoulder.

"You were going to run out in your socks! Silly billy."

Once the door was shut again I popped to the toilet and there was a little gap in the middle of the door as I peed and Thomas was walking around and I hear him repeatedly saying "silly billy." I grinned thinking how much he copied me. When I was done it wasn't long before Annie was strapping him into his baby chair for the car.

So, Mom and Dad travelled with Annie and Ricky. Mom and Annie were in the back with Thomas and I was shocked to find out that Ricky was the driver of my Dad's car.

"What are you doing?"

Dad tapped me on the shoulder as he just appeared from somewhere behind me.

"He's the driver."

And he knew about it?

"Dad, it's your car!"

I found in my personal experience how Ricky was allowed to drive my Dad's car. It felt wrong Ricky was behind the wheel in a car that was my Dad's.

"Keep your nose out of it," he said good naturedly.

Yet, there was that signal on his face to leave it so for him I left it but I trusted my gut to stop Ricky from doing something he perhaps shouldn't that I felt that my Dad wouldn't like. I'd be willing to take on Ricky if he was pursuing something that Dad or even Annie was uncomfortable with him doing. I could and would call others out for inappropriate behaviour and I wasn't scared of doing so.

Even so, I liked travelling with Andy anyway. I wouldn't have wanted to travel with my parents they just gave uncomfortable and annoying lectures over just about anything to the colour of my top and how it didn't suit me to pre warning me how to behave. I wasn't a fricking child but they often treated and reminded me they often thought of me as one. Plus, I could listen to whatever music I wanted through an app on Andy's phone and all he had to do was select Bluetooth over his touch screen dashboard and it would come through the radio. Andy and I would have a laugh together and have our windows down without anyone complaining the drumming of the wind is affecting their ears. I came to the conclusion a long time ago we were more fun to be around.

Obviously we stopped at a mini break at the opposite end of the road to go to the loo and to eat our prepacked sandwiches we made for the ride. I remember taking out my sandwich and Mom scornfully scoffed over the table.

"We're not eating anything like that!"

Annie held Thomas up on the seats and started agreeing.

"We'll get kicked out if they see us eating!"

The words were cutting and had edge. I didn't feel anyone was trying to genuinely be helpful by looking out for me by not getting caught if I wasn't meant to then because there was a real difference in communicating out of some one who was thinking of everything or someone who enjoyed putting me in my place.

"Yeah Kim," Annie seconded Mom. "We're not supposed to be eating anything."

"They want you to buy their food," Mom says.