The New Kid

Chapter 1: I'm Glad Jordan Isn't Here For This

The unfamiliar woman's voice piqued my curiosity.

At first, I assumed it was just someone who was trying to sell my dad stuff or maybe it was a Jehovah's Witness. I would have taken either one of those rather than the woman who came into my home.

"Are you sure she won't find out?" the woman whispered.

The only thing good about this house was that since it was old, the walls were thin. You could hear even the slightest whisper.

"She won't. She's at work until three," my dad assured.

This 'she' they were referring to was my mom. What was this thing my mom couldn't find out about, and why?

I heard my dad walk up the stairs. There were the small clicks of high heels that followed. Then there was the sound of my parents' bedroom door slamming and sensual laughter. I felt a little sick to my stomach.

Then the woman moaned. My heart slowly breaking from their infidelity followed. I held my hands against my mouth and began to cry. No way! No fucking way!, I thought to myself. I wanted to run upstairs and yell at my father for what he was doing, but I was too shocked to even move. I began to wonder why my father was having an affair. More importantly, why was he having it in our own home?

My heart was about to explode out of my chest when I heard my mom's car pull up. I looked at my wall clock. It was two-thirty. She walked inside, and heard the commotion upstairs. She dropped everything and ran upstairs, making every step pronounced. The door opened and I heard a scream. It had to have come from the other woman. It was too high-pitched to be my mother's.

I slowly walked into the living room. As soon as I did, there was a half-naked red-headed woman that came tumbling down the stairs. My mom jumped from the top step and pounced on the woman. She punched her, and slammed her head into the floor multiple times. The woman stumbled out of our house. She was dripping blood from her nose, which left a trail from the stairs to the door. She covered her face when she saw me. The woman looked awfully familiar. If I could've seen her face, I would've known who she was.

"Jeanine, please!" my dad yelled.

My mom slapped him and continued up the stairs. My dad didn't follow. He was partially dressed in a black t-shirt and boxer shorts. My mom held the vase of unity sand.

"This clearly doesn't mean shit!" she screamed.

She threw the vase at my dad. The vase shattered against him. Shards of glass and sand flew all over the living room. She broke every picture of them from their wedding. My dad tried to continue explaining himself, but it was futile. She had grabbed her purse which she had left on the floor and went out to her car. She came back and went upstairs once again. She came down with two suitcases.

"Pack up everything, Scott. We're going to Valerie's," my mom said, choking on tears.

"You aren't taking him," my dad interjected.

"Tyler, shut the hell up," I said, using my dad's first name.

He looked at me with genuine surprise. I returned to my room and began to pack up my clothes, my Xbox, and my pictures.

The only good thing about this situation was that it gave me a reason to look through my nightstand. Inside, I found the last picture of me and my brother Jordan. I was 11; he was 19 and was headed for Iraq. Sadly it was his last destination.

I was just glad he wasn't here to see all of this happening.

I put everything into my mom's somewhat beat-up Dodge Ram. I went back inside for one more bag, where I found my dad. His hands were over his eyes and a bottle of beer was on the coffee table in front of him. I grabbed my bag and made my way towards the door.

"Scott," my dad said.

I looked at him.

"Here kid, catch." He threw me something silver and round, which turned out to be his wedding ring.

"My dumbass won't need it anymore. Marry yourself a good lady in the future, okay?" he said.

I put the ring in my pocket.

"You're such a piece of shit. I hope that ginger bitch was worth it. I hope I never see you again. I hope you die alone. Goodbye, Tyler," I spat.

My dad, or Tyler looked at me with disappointment and anger. We sped out of the driveway towards my sister Valerie's house.

Valerie was outside working on her Mustang when we pulled in. She was a small girl, about 5'1, twenty-four, and was cloaked in tattoos. She had a very warm, and magnetic personality which made it hard to dislike her.

She peeked her head around from the blue hood and smiled. It turned into a frown when Mom got out of the car.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Valerie asked.

"I caught your dad in bed with someone else," my mom said, still crying.

Immediately, Valerie wrapped her arms around my mom, and my mom did the same. She directed us inside her house, where I was greeted by one of the coolest things ever: my sister's basset hound, Stumpy. I'll admit, it was a weird name for a dog, but it made sense. Using his dinky little legs, he ran over to me, barking in a low pitch; his massive ears flopping around as he runs.

"Hey there buddy," I said to him. I sat down, and he curled up on my legs, begging me to rub his belly, and so I did, his left hind leg thumping the air in pleasure. Valerie sat next to me.

"He seems to love ya kid," Valerie said.

I nodded.

"You guys can stay here for as long as you need. If dad comes around, Josh and I will handle him," Valerie offered.

Mom was crying into a tissue. She waved her hand at Valerie as to say thank you. Valerie went into the kitchen and poured two glasses of red chardonnay. They sipped the chardonnay and talked about what had happened earlier that day.

Tyler never did come around to Valerie's. I assumed he was either happily in bed with that ginger woman again or he was blackout drunk from Budweiser.

"It's so weird to think how fast life can change," I stated to Valerie later that night.

"How're you holding up, baby brother?" she asked.

I shook my hand, "I'm alright, I guess. I'm glad Jordan isn't here for this."

Jordan's name brought a wistful look onto Valerie's face. It had been about 6 years since he'd been gone but the pain was still very fresh. Now I had to deal with my father's infidelity on top of that. I didn't know how much more my heart could take.

"I'm glad, too," she agreed.

She leaned over the couch to hug me, "I love you, Scotty."

"You too, sis," I replied.

I had loved people before. After Tyler's betrayal, I wasn't so sure if I had meant those words to Valerie.