chapter one;
His fingers danced along the strings, his head bounced to the music in the background, he could hear the cheers in his head, could hear the girls scream his name, the shake of hands that brought him to a whole new lifestyle.
"Calum! Turn it down!" He heard the faint sound of his mother calling his name, and he broke his dreams, those thoughts and wishes floating away to the back of his head as he sighed in defeat and took the strap off his shoulder and set his bass on the stand. He glared at the door, brows furrowed in anger as he waited for his mom to stomp up the stairs and yell at him again for no reason.
She didn't like him playing, he bought his bass with his own damn money, she wanted him reading books and sitting up straight at the dinner table. But he seemed to be the total opposite child.
And there it was, the soft, padded sound of her socked feet stomping up the stairs. He rolled his eyes and moved to his bed, settling himself down on it and huffing, waiting patiently for the storm.
"Calum Thomas Hood, I cook for you, clean for you, and I gave fucking birth to, raised you to be the man you are, and you treat me like a piece of shit by playing that god awful instrument!" His mother was overreacting, and he wanted to yell back at her saying 'but mom, you were barely there for me during childhood, when dad died you fucked off doing drugs. And when you finally get yourself decent again, you blame everything on me.'
But he knew he shouldn't, he's yelled at her one time a year ago, and she decided that calling the police would be the best way to fix it. Thankfully the policemen had a brain, and said that he had no reason to go to jail, but he did give him a long speech on how he should "treat his mother right."
"Are you even listening to me?!" She screamed, moving forward and leaning down so she was right up in his face, her face was scrunched up in anger, she looked so miserable.
"Yes." He mumbled, staring down at his shoes, where was his sister? She should he here any minute from collage, getting back from her long classes to sit up in her room.
"What?!" She yelled in his face, making his ears ring.
"Yes!" He yelled back, and he held his breath, seeing her pull back, her face falling and her expression becoming unreadable, her breathing was picking up, her face was getting redder. It looked like she was about to explode.
He let out a small whimper as suddenly a hand flew back and smacked him harshly on the cheek, his head whipped to one side, the sting making him cringe and his eyes water.
She leaned forward again, and he leaned away from her, tears were starting to silently fall down his cheeks, but he held an angry expression, determined to show her he wasn't scared.
She gritted her teeth, bottom lip curling back like she was ready to snarl, "don't you ever, yell at me." She spat that out, spit flying into his face making him flinch and hide his face into his shoulder. He waited silently as she slowly walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
And once the door closed, he started to cry, maybe just a few minutes, trying to hold back the sobs. But after that, he was done, tears wiped away, shoulders squared up, he was done with his mothers bullshit. But every time he said that, he'd just be in the same situation again.
He got up from his bed and quickly grabbed his red hoodie, throwing it over himself and then rushed down the hallway and down the stairs. Getting a small glimpse of his mother drowning herself in alcohol in the living room. He then opened the door to the house and rushed out, the warm air hitting his face, soothing his swollen, red cheek.
He didn't really know where he was going, maybe to the skatepark where he didn't even skate, just to sit and watch the many teenaged boys laugh with their friends and do tricks. Or, he could sneak himself into one of the bars downtown, most played live music, and he loved watching the bands play, in envy and wishing he was the one up there with his own band.
He decided to take a right, which took him down to the bars.
-x-
He easily snuck into the back of the bar, maneuvering past half drunk adults who swayed to the slow rock music. It was loud and the beat shook his ribs. It was the sound that made his ears ring when he would leave the bar, and that's what he loved.
Once he saw the stage, he froze in awe, he always was amazed by the bands that played, no matter how many times he's seen the same ones play, or if he'd see one not as good as the ones he's seen before. He treated every single one like they were his first ever concert, and he never stopped moving and bobbing his head until they said goodnight and packed their things.
After the band did leave, he just stood staring at the now empty stage, wishing he could just run up there with his bass and play his heart out. But no one wanted to hear just one instrument and no singer, and he was too anti-social to talk to anyone else, to get to know lads like him that wanted the same dreams.
"Hey! How old are you? I need to see some I.D." A man suddenly came out from the crowd of people, big and bulky, glaring down at him. Calum froze, his mind becoming a scramble of worry on what he should do.
And instead of staying, he ran.
"Hey, get back here!" The man yelled behind him as he zoomed past the crowd of people and threw himself out into the streets. He ran down the sidewalk, down alleyways and back streets. He finally got home after a few minutes, and had to place his hands on his knees and take deep breaths as he got onto the porch.
-x-
He was worried his mom would yell at him again, but all he saw when he walked in, was his mother passed out on the couch, head laid back, mouth opened, small snores leaving it.
"Where the hell were you?" He heard, and looked up the steps, seeing his sister staring down at him from the top of the steps, arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow raised.
"Uhm," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "Out," he said simply, moving to the kitchen to grab something to drink, which was really only water since his mother didn't bother to go grocery shopping.
He heard his sister descending the rest of the steps and soon she was leaning against the door frame, still looking unamused as he sipped his water quietly, leaning against the counter.
"You go 'out' almost every night. Are you fucking some girl I don't know about? Started up in some gang?" She asked, and Calum blushed and immediately shook his head, he'd never join a gang, and a girlfriend was just another dream he'd never get to fulfill.
"Then what is it? Cause I know you don't want to tell mom." His sister wasn't going to leave him alone until he told her, and he sighed in frustration. Setting the now half-empty cup of water on the counter.
"She doesn't let me play my bass in the house, she hit me today, I can't, I'm not going to deal with that. So I just, go out to bars-not to drink-just to, get loose and listen to good music." He admitted, and was waiting for his sister to look disappointed, but instead, she just smiled and moved towards him. Pulling him in for a hug.
"I'm sorry she hit you bro, and I believe you don't want anything to do with the alcohol, you love the bass and rock music. It's a pity mom has to be like this." His sister pulled back and gave him a sad smile before picking up his glass and taking it for herself.
Once she was about to leave the kitchen, she stopped and looked over her shoulder, giving him a stiff smile.
"You've got a strong mind, keep using it, Cal." She said simply, and then disappeared out of the kitchen.
