"Don't touch me!" Mrs. Hamilton shouted as her husband reached for her arm.
"Sandy, please," Mr. Hamilton pleaded. "Don't leave us. Think of the kids."
"I'm done," Mrs. Hamilton snatched her suitcases and hurtled towards the door. "Don't try to call me, don't send the bloody kids after me, either."
Molly shuddered on the stairs as her own mother called her and her siblings the "bloody kids". What had Dad done to do this? She hugged her knees and choked back a sob as her father chased his wife out the front door.
"Molly," Petie said quietly, his voice cracking. "What's going on? Where's mom going?"
Molly stood and walked up the stairs to her little brother, embracing him. "Mom's going away for a while," she ran her fingers through his shaggy blonde hair. "It'll be okay." Petie was only nine when their mom left them, and he didn't understand that she wasn't coming back.
Mr. Hamilton stomped back into the house and slammed the front door behind him in a combination of anger, humiliation, and sadness. He loved his wife with all of his heart and now, there was nothing left but the "bloody kids".
"Get your brother in bed." He barked up the wooden stairs at Molly. "Make sure Delilah is sleeping too," he grabbed his coat out of the hall closet and headed back to the door. "I'm going out, be back soon."
He didn't come back for four days and when he did come back, he was accompanied by a police officer who had found him drunk on the sidewalk, wailing about his wife. After that night, he spent all of his time in his office, ignoring Molly, Delilah, and Petie. The apathetic adult that was supposed to be their father and leader left them to survive on their own.
*
"Molly, are you even listening?" Adam interrupted Molly's daydreaming, nudging her arm.
"Sorry, I-" Molly started, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Continue."
"As I was saying," he resumed as he lifted grocery bags into the trunk of his car. "A bunch of juniors and seniors are coming over tonight for the end of the schoolyear barbecue. You think you're gonna come?"
"I'll have to think about it," Molly put the last bag in and shut the door. "I mean, I wouldn't know anyone but you."
"Don't worry about it!" Adam opened the passenger door for her. "Besides, it's not like you have to go... I just thought it'd be cool if you did."
"Thanks Adam," Molly smiled, sliding into the car. "I'll see what I can do about Delilah and Petie tonight."
Adam made a fist-pump motion as in "YES!" and shut the door after her.
After Molly's mom left, Adam Mariner their nextdoor neighbor offered to help them as much as he possibly could, mostly with groceries and driving Petie to lacrosse practice. He was a sweet kid, always trying to help, never expecting anything in return.
Adam leaned forward and put a Sublime CD into the stereo. "So how's Petie holding up?"
"It's been a while since he talked to me about anything, really," Molly relaxed on the leather seat. Adam had a really, really nice car - so nice, that he rarely let people take food in it. "He's been shutting me out lately. Same with D."
"They'll be okay."
"It's been four years since Mom left, Adam," Molly threw her hands up in exasperation. "I just- it took me several months to get over it. But several years? It's not like she died. I mean, she left us."
"You say that like she wasn't even your mom," Adam speculated.
Molly averted her eyes, turning towards her window. "Yeah, sometimes it feels like that."
