Prompt- Jer's backstory/how he met Alexis
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"Jericho!"
Jer felt himself being scooped up by his mother. "I saw you trying to run away from me!" she said.
He giggled and wrapped his arms around her neck. "Let's play tag, mommy!" he said.
"It's getting late, bud," his dad said. "I think it's time for five year olds to go to bed!"
"I'm not tired," Jer said. "I wanna play tag!"
He father lifted him out of his mother's arms, setting him down. Jer took off running, and his father gave chase, smiling at Jer's squeals of laughter.
After running around the house for a little, he finally caught Jer around the waist, lifting him up and spinning him around.
"Now it's time for bed!" he said.
They carried Jer up to his bedroom, laying him down and pulling the covers over him. The both kissed Jer goodnight.
"Sleep tight, Jer," his father said.
"See you in the morning," his mother said.
"Night mommy. Night daddy," Jer said, closing his eyes. He would just have to play tag with them again in the morning.
***
Jer had watched it happen gradually. It started out with his parents getting high off of weed around him more and more often. He'd get off the bus from school, and his mom would be waiting for him in the driveway, smelling strongly of it.
But by the time he was six years old, they were doing heavier drugs. Jer didn't understand, but he heard his teachers whispering about it in school sometimes.
"That poor boy," they'd say.
"I always thought his parents were so good to him," they'd say.
"He's so sweet. I hope he doesn't turn out like them," they'd say.
Jer was eight years old now, and he knew what to flush down the toilet if cops ever showed up at his house. He knew what he was supposed to say if anyone ever asked him questions. He knew what drawers he was supposed to keep closed. He knew to check for lit cigarettes so the house didn't catch on fire.
"Mom," he called, going into the living room. "Mom, do you know where my snacks are? I'm hungry!"
"Oh, shit," his mom said, rubbing at her nose. "Shit, Jericho, I ate them. I forgot. Shit. Just have your dinner. It's in the cupboard."
Jer went back into the kitchen, opening up the cupboard and pulling out Easy Mac. He added the water and stuck it in the microwave, setting the time and waiting.
His dad stumbled into the room and coughed a few times. He smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, and he held a pack of pills in his hands.
"Dinner?" he guessed.
"Dinner," Jer said.
He watched his dad stumble over to the table and collapse into a chair, staring around the room in fascination. Jer wondered what he was hallucinating.
He wanted to play tag with his dad like he used to. He wanted his parents to be sober. He wanted his teachers to stop talking about him and his parents. He wanted the other kids and their parents to stop looking at him like he'd done something wrong.
