Shining Star

Chapter 3

Jolene's perspective

I was sure that today would be no different to the previous days. The morning started as usual. I was woken from my sleep by a loud noise outside my door. My eyes widened as I sat up in bed and looked perplexedly in the direction of my bedroom door. I wondered what it was. The next moment I heard someone banging madly on my door before I heard my father shouting from the dining room, which was on the first floor of our house.

"Mike, stop that right now. I don't want to have to repeat myself! And come downstairs right now."

"Dad, I only woke Jolene," I heard my brother's voice call back.

"Mike, did I say I wanted to hear anything from you. If you don't shut your cheeky mouth right now, you'll regret it. And come down now!" my father shouted angrily.

After that, there was silence, at least for a moment. I briefly recovered from the shock that both my brother and my father had given me. After a few moments, I heard someone walking up the stairs to the second floor. Just a few seconds later, I heard a soft knock on my door before the door opened. My mother appeared at the door and turned on the light.

"Good morning Jolene. I see you're already awake. Get ready and then come downstairs. Breakfast will be ready in a minute."

A smile appeared on her face. I replied with a smile and nodded.

Before my mother closed the door and went back downstairs, she said, "And try to hurry. As you've noticed, your father isn't in a particularly good mood today and you know what happens when you make him angry."

She closed the door and a few seconds later I heard her going back down the wooden stairs. I took my mother's advice seriously. My father wasn't someone you wanted to mess with, especially when he was in a bad mood. The last few times I had annoyed him, I had regretted it deeply. I wanted to avoid those experiences as far as possible. I jumped out of bed and headed to my closet to pick out my clothes for the day. Just a few moments later, I was standing in my room all dressed up. I quickly ran back to my desk and picked up my cell phone, which I had plugged in to charge, before leaving my room and making a detour to the bathroom, where I did my morning routine. I then walked briskly down the stairs to the dining room. My father and brother were already sitting at the table when I entered the room. For a few moments, my father looked at me and away from the newspaper he was reading every morning. He looked at me for a brief moment before his gaze returned to his newspaper. I had learned not to speak before he asked me to say something.

So I sat down quietly and unobtrusively. Mike sat opposite me and looked silently at the table in front of him. His right cheek was slightly red and his look was worth a thousand words. I looked at my brother for a brief moment before averting my gaze and looking at the table in front of me, just like him. I knew exactly what had happened moments before I had arrived in the dining room. It wasn't the first time it had happened and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Mike, unfortunately, challenged it often enough. I already knew that the day wasn't necessarily going to be a good one. Every time something like this happened in the morning, I knew that Mike would take out the anger he felt for our father on someone. Moments later, Mom came walking into the dining room with a plate of freshly baked bacon and eggs. My mother's and my eyes met briefly. A smile appeared briefly on her face before disappearing as quickly as it came. She sat down silently on the empty chair next to my father. Dad was silent the whole time and put his newspaper aside. For the second time that morning, I heard his voice as we said our morning prayers. The whole time during breakfast there was a dead silence. No one dared to say anything.

After breakfast, Dad left the dining room without saying a word and a few seconds later you could hear the front door lock slam. The silence continued as I helped my mother clear the table while Mike got ready for school. As Mike and I left the house together to go to school, our mother walked us to the door and wished us a good day. There was a smile on her face as she watched us walk down the street together on our way to school. During the time we walked to school, which wasn't very long, Mike and I only exchanged a few words. When we arrived at school, we parted ways and Mike joined his friends. I watched him for a moment as he greeted his friends and started chatting. I was torn from my thoughts when I felt someone jump lightly on my shoulder from behind. I knew immediately who it was.