desertion

38

I wake up and I immediately look at the clock. 9:45 AM. It's been a few days since Christmas and our family has finally returned to Texas. Thank the lord.

I stand up before walking out of my room. I walk into the kitchen and Carla's there. "Good morning." She says. "Morning." I say.

I walk over to the couch then take a seat and turning on the tv. Chris comes into the room and sits beside me.

"Are you okay?" He asks. "I'm okay, buddy." I say, ruffling his hair. "Are you sure? You look sad." Chris says. "I promise." I say. "Okay." Chris says, leaning his head on my shoulder.

My phone dings and I take it out of my pocket. "Hey! All of us are hanging out at my house, Nathaniel included, you should come along!" The text from Miles reads. I look over at Chris. "What do you say about a play date with Dahlia?" I ask. "Sure!" Chris says with a smile. "Let me go ask Carla." I say, standing up and going to the kitchen.

"Hey Carla?" I say. "Hey." She says, turning around. "Could me and Chris go to Hen and Karen's house? My friends are going to be there and Chris is going to play with Dahlia and Denny." I ask. "Sure. Just be sure to watch him." Carla says.

"I will." I say before going to my room and grabbing my keys.

***********

I pull into Hen and Karen's driveway before parking my car and turning it off. I get out of the car and help Chris out before leading him to the doorway. I knock on the door and we stand there and wait for a few seconds before the door opens.

"Come in." Karen says with a small smile. "Hey buddy." She says as Chris walks past him. "There she is!" Nathaniel says. I smile softly before turning to Chris. "Come on Chris! I think Denny's in his room." Dahlia says before leading Chris away.

"How are you doing?" Miles asks as I take a seat on the couch. "Fine." I say. "Yeah, you say that with a bandage on your hand." Isabelle says.

I still have the bandage on, my hand is still hurting. "I just cut myself with some glass. It's not big deal." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Okay.." Miles says before turning a movie on.

*********

Dahlia runs around the corner as we're halfway through the movie. Christopher is behind her as they laugh. "Be careful guys." Miles says. "We will!" Dahlia says. My phone rings and I look down at it. "Grandma." Chris says, seeing the phone.

"Do you want to talk to her?" I ask with a small smile. He nods and I hand him the phone. "Hi Grandma!" Chris says. "Hey Buddy. Is Lydia around?" Grandma asks. "She's right here." Chris says, handing me the phone. "Where are you guys?" Grandma asks. "Miles' house." I say.

"Why aren't you two at home?" Grandma asks. "Because we wanted out of the house." I say as Chris and Dahlia start playing in the living room again. "Well, I need to talk to you about something. It has to be privately." Grandma says.

I scoff before standing up and walking out the front door. I close the door before turning back to the phone. "What?" I ask. "I wanted to apologize to you. Even though, I wasn't in the wrong to be mad, I shouldn't have yelled at you." Grandma says.

"It's fine." I say, taking a seat on the step. "But what do you really want? You don't apologize unless you want something." I ask. "Excuse me?" Grandma asks. "It's the truth." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Ridiculous. Next time I won't apologize to your ungrateful self." Grandma says. "Mom!" I hear Aunt Sophia say in the background before the call drops.

That one was on me. I should've just taken the apology. I hate myself. I hate how I get so mad when I'm around them. I put my hands into my hair and pull slightly.

I'm the one causing everything. I'm causing our family to break into two sides because I can't keep my mouth shut and I can't stop being clumsy!

It'd be better if I didn't exist.

I walk back into the house about ten minutes later. Dahlia and Chris are nowhere to be seen and the others are still watching the movie. I sit back in my spot and lean against the couch, closing my eyes.

"You alright?" Miles whispers. "Fine." I whisper back, still keeping my eyes closed. "Okay.. Chris is wanting to go home by the way, he says he's hungry." Miles says. "Okay. I'll take him home." I say, starting to stand up. Miles grabs my hand. "Wait." He says. "What?" I whisper. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks. "I'm fine." I say before pulling away from his hold and walking towards Denny's room.

"Come on, bud." I say as I lean against the doorway. "Okay!" He says, getting up. "Bye Lydia, Bye Chris." Denny says as he gets up as well. "Bye." I say with a small smile. Dahlia runs over to me and jumps into my arms. I pick her up and hug her before setting her back down.

Me and Chris then walk to the front door and he goes outside. "See you guys later." I say. "Bye Lyds!" Isabelle says. "Bye." I say before walking out the door and following my brother.