Strangers In A Dangerous World (Frikey)

Chapter Four: Never Going Home

Ray gave me my hoodie back and it looked great. I knew that I could always count on Ray to do this for me. I watched as he went into the blanket closet in the hallway and grabbed three blankets and two pillows. I already knew the drill. I helped Ray put the first two blanketa down and stack the pillows where my head would be. Then, the last blanket would actually be the one I used to cover up. I could hear Ray's mom cooking in the kitchen and I just smiled and looked around. His room hadn't changed a bit. Ray had a nice room and nice things. He had a TV in his room with his own DVD player, game consoles, comic books, a guitar, and his very own movie collection. Ray was busy doing his homework from school because he was a nerd while I pulled out his guitar and played it.

I had a guitar once. That was until Mason walked into our lives when I was nine. He had come to my house drunk with my mother. She passed out on the couch while he went exploring through the house. I was playing my guitar in my room when I heard something break. I hastily jumped up and out of my bed to see Mason stealing money from my mother's wallet. I quickly went over to my mother and tried to wake her up, but she was passed out and wouldn't wake up. She didn't even move as I shook her body repeatedly. Mason just grinned like the Cheshire cat and started hitting me right there in the same room. It was then that he left me alone crying on the floor and went into our kitchen. I could hear him slamming the cabinets and I only hoped that he wasn't going to drunkenly kill me. He raced back towards me and picked me up by my arm. He dragged me into the bathroom and pulled out one of our kitchen knives from his pocket. He held my left wrist and cut deeply two times before calling me a baby and leaving me in the restroom. On his way out he threw the knife at me and it barely missed my stomach. He had stormed into my room while I was collecting myself and drunkenly smashed my guitar to bits on the floor. Then he left and never came back.

I snapped out of the memory and Ray was standing in front of me and snapping his fingers. I realized that he had finished his homework and I was holding his guitar like it could be used as a weapon. I smiled sheepishly before I set it down and blushed. I hid my shaking hands in my lap while Ray looked at me worriedly and I tried to avoid his gaze. The less people who knew the better it was for me. We sat there in silence until Ray jumped up and slid his comic book rack out from underneath his bed. I could feel my eyes light up and I smiled. Ray told me all about the new series he was into and let me read the first issus he bought. We sat in silence and devoured our comic books when I realized that this was what I loved most about Ray. I loved that he could stay silent but it wasn't awkward. Ray was that type of guy who cared for you. He was like the father I had never known, but it was sometimes a bad thing. Sometimes I shared too much with Ray. Sometimes I couldn't help but feel like he would understand and it scared me. I didn't want someone to understand me. I set the comic book aside and I could smell the food coming from the kitchen. I couldn't even remember the last time my mom cooked for me. I barely ate anything that didn't have precise instructions on it. Sometimes we went weeks without having enough money to buy food because of my mothers alcohol addiction. I compared my life to Ray's and I felt bad. He had it so easy while I had to pretend to have it good. I never complained to my friends and I said thank you for everything that was given to me.

I was interrupted again when Ray's mother called out to us from the kitchen, "Dinner, boys!"

I gave Ray his comic and I heard my stomach grumble. I hadn't eaten all day and I was starving. Plus, it was hard eating at my house as a vegetarian when all of the douche bags she brought home were animal killers and people abusers. We walked into the cramped kitchen and our plates were overflowing with pasta. I sat down shyly, but I didn't pick up my fork. I had no idea if there was meat in it or not. I had told Ray's mom long ago that I was a vegetarian, but she could've forgotten. I looked up questioningly at her and I couldn't help but flinch when she rested her hand lovingly on my back and pat it affectionately. The cuts were stinging through my shirt from her touch and I had to try my hardest not to squirm away from her touch. I didn't want to hurt her feelings. She never did anything except show kindness to me every time I showed up unannounced. She was the mother that I wished I had.