I'm Sorry • Lashton

Chapter 6

In my life, 
why do I give valuable time,
to people who don't care if I live or die,
...
In my life,
why do I smile,
at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye

-Heaven knows I'm miserable now // The Smiths

When Ashton came home the following day after school, he immediately knew that something was wrong. There were three men overalls in his driveway, talking amongst themselves, and his front door was wide open. He walked up the driveway and into his house, dropping his school bag in the hallway, before going to look for his mother. It wasn't hard to find her- a frantic mess in the kitchen, talking to one of the overalled men. Her head immediately shot up when she saw her eldest son and ran over, as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Mum? What's going on?" Ashton asked, trying not to let the worry be heard in his voice.

"Our pipe it's... it's broken. The water one. Outside. Apparently it's been like this for years, but apparently also no-one else wanted to fix it. This morning I went outside to hang out the washing and my foot went right through the ground. We can't use the toilets or the bathroom sinks or the shower-here, come here"

Ashton followed his mother outside, and into their huge garden. The garden consisted of a raised patio, followed by a small stream- a few rocks dotted on either end. The pathway continued to the bottom of the garden, and both sides of it were layered with grass. Anne-Marie had promised her children that she would put a mini cricket ground on the right end of the garden, and a trampoline and swing set on the left. She had already started planting flowers around the edge of the garden, and Ashton could see empty seed packets and compost sacks strewn on the grass, where she had started her work, and abandoned it in an obvious hurry.

Mrs Irwin lead her son over to a place on the patio, where the wooden planks had been taken off and  her other son was crouched over, peering inside the hole,

"Ash!" He called eagerly, "Look at this! Everyone's poo is in here!" He giggled, and Ashton suddenly stopped, his eyes widening. That was not something that he wanted to see.

"Don't be ridiculous, Harry" His mother snapped "It's earth and water and... stuff. Don't listen to him, Ashton"

Ashton came reluctantly closer, until he was also crouched next to his brother and peering into the opening. It was like a swamp of mud and grime making a weird gurgling noise and hell did it stink.

"I put bleach and duck down there, but it hasn't had much of an effect yet"

"Obviously" Ashton replied, standing up again.

He moved away from the hole before talking to his mum "So, what toilet do we use?"

Ann-Marie sighed and shook her head, standing up also,

"Well because we don't have much of a choice, then we've been restricted to only use the second floor bathroom, but don't waste any more water than necessary, because this leak is just getting worse any way"

Ashton nodded before turning to go back into the house. All this commotion had made him hungry.

The hazel-eyed stopped in the doorway of his kitchen, when he saw a few workers standing in there. Honestly, he wasn't sure why there were so many of them, considering they weren't exactly going to start working on anything just yet, but even so, they all seemed to be swarming the bottom floor of his house. He lingered unnoticed by the door for a while, listening in on the conversation they were having,

"I think it's worse than it looks" A tall, tanned man said. He seemed to be the boss of them all, which could be visualised due to the way they looked at him, and allowed him to speak with authority.

"How bad?" Another asked,

"Well, it's bad. For now, they can restrict themselves to one. But once we've dug- and if we find something... worse, there might have to be a relocation."

Ashton's stomach churned. A relocation? But they'd only just moved in. His thoughts were disrupted by the workers addressing him,

"Sorry, are we in the way?" Mr 'There Might Have To Be A Relocation' asked politely. Ashton shook his head, turning away and grabbing his school bag as he headed upstairs.

He wasn't feeling so hungry any more.

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Heyya, I'm so sorry this is short, but I've been kinda busy today packing and stuff because I go on holiday soon? Anywayyy I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to vote and comment and all that fun stuff,
I hope you have a good week, and I'll see (?) you guys next Wednesday

-J.x