The Boy in Black

T W E N T Y - O N E

He looked at himself in the mirror before he left for Mattie's recital.

It was six o'clock, and his old tux was snug, so snug that it practically forced him to stand up straight instead of slightly slouched like usual. He wore it to funerals mostly, since it seemed that he attended those more than Sunday church sessions.

He also found his old hair gel in his bathroom cabinets. The top was dusty and it was half empty, however he managed to scoop out just enough to keep his hair out of his eyes entirely.

Jaxson looked at himself for longer than he ever has, for his appearance was almost unrecognizable to how he usually looked.

He looked at his own eyes, noticing that they were larger without his dark locks constantly covering them.

And his hair, how it was slicked back to his own definition of what he thought was perfection.

His large fingers moved across his bathroom counter top that had black hair dye stained all across it, and he couldn't help but think back to that day.

"Jax, stop!" His uncle yelled at him as he stomped up the stairs and into his bathroom with a few new boxes of cheap hair dye.

"Do you really expect to not get punished after sneaking out so late at night with fucking red lipstick all over your neck! I know where you've been-"

"God just shut up!" Jaxson snapped, feeling dizzy from all of the alcohol he consumed just thirty minutes before.

He opened a box of dye, ignoring the instructions before moving his head down to the sink and squirting the bottle into his light brown hair carelessly.

"What the hell?" His uncle Jared hissed, watching his nephew falling apart mentally and physically right in front of him.

"I need a change." Jaxson said, stumbling upon his words as he began rubbing the dye into his hair and scalp, ignoring how the jet black color was dripping from his hands and onto the sink.

"How about changing for the fucking better Jaxson? How about changing by seeing your mother every once in a while, how about changing your drinking habits? What about those things?" Jared shouted, tearing up at the sight of the broken boy before him, the boy that used to smile and make wishes at the sight of shooting stars.

Jaxson ignored him and stumbled to the shower, turning it on and sticking his head beneath the cold running water.

He watched as the trail of black swam towards the drain, disappearing before his eyes just as his uncle disappeared from the bathroom, finally finished with him.

"I'm done with this, with you." Jared yelled angrily from his room across the hall just as Jaxson finished washing his hair out.

He neglected to reply, for he was too busy looking at his new reflection in the mirror.

His hair was jet black, just the way he envisioned it would be.

"I'll send you rent and food money Jaxson, just like I promised your mother, but I refuse to put up with you for any longer." Jared said with pure disappointment lacing in his voice.