Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 12 - Four Rights and a Wrong

CHAPTER 12

LUKE

Luke sat pouting on the steps of the patio, watching his dad and uncle playing football in the backyard. He wanted to play with them, but when he went over there and tried to get his dad's attention, his dad merely shooed him away insisting that he was too little to play and that he was going to get himself hurt.

He didn't understand why his dad didn't want to play with him. Was his dad mad at him for talking too loud earlier in the car while he was on the phone? He was on the phone for so long though, and Luke really needed to pee!

His mama didn't like him using his diaper anymore for pees, only poos, but his dad didn't stop the car so they could use the bathroom and he really, really had to go. He ended up peeing in his diaper by accident. Was he mad because of that?

He didn't understand, but he did know one thing: he didn't like it here.

His grandma and grandpa talked to him sometimes, but they were so busy talking to all of the older people at the party. Luke wished there could be other kids to play with so that he wouldn't feel so alone. He wanted to play with Adam again.

"Daddy, can I go play with Adam?" Luke called out.

"What's that, kiddo?" his dad answered distractedly, throwing the football with all of his strength and aiming right for Luke's uncle's head.

"What the fuck was that?" Luke's uncle Joey yelled, almost getting a football to the face.

"It's your problem you can't catch a fucking football, damn pussy," his dad yelled back.

Luke frowned. His mama didn't like it when people swore around him either. Amanda said a bad word by accident once when he was in the room and she got really mad. His dad and his uncle were yelling a lot of bad words and Luke didn't like it very much.

"Dad," Luke attempted again to get his dad's attention.

"Later, Luke, okay? I'm busy right now. We'll hang out later," James snapped.

Luke sighed, got to his feet and struggled to get the screen door open.

"Grandma, can I come in?" he called out.

He waited quietly for an answer, but after about a minute all he heard were muffled voices and laughter from the living room.

He really didn't like it here. Nobody liked him and nobody wanted to spend any time with him. He thought that maybe the weekend with his dad would be a lot of fun, but so far it wasn't. He wanted to go see mama and ask her if they could go spend Easter with Nick and his family again.

Maybe he could go to Milwaukee and see if Aunt Hannah wanted to play with him.

Glancing over his shoulder at his dad and uncle, he realized they weren't paying any attention to him at all. If he wanted to, he could try and open the gate to go to the other side of the yard. He didn't have a driver's licence because he was too little still, but he went on walks all the time with mama so he was probably smart enough to get home by himself.

His mama said he was the smartest little man she knew.

He glanced around once more to make sure no one was looking and then he climbed down the steps on the side of the deck, toward the little gate that led to the front yard. He had to drag a chair over in order to reach the latch, but it was a piece of cake after that. He pushed open the door and ran straight for the street ahead.

"I wish I had a map," he murmured thoughtfully, glancing to his left and then to his right. He decided to go to the right and started to walk, occasionally watching over his shoulder to make sure his grandparents weren't out on the front porch. Sometimes, his granddad liked to go there to smoke a cigarette. His grandma didn't like the smell, so she made him go outside.

He walked for a few minutes until he reached the street corner. It was getting dark, but underneath the street lamp he was able to see pretty well. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Since he wasn't allowed to cross the street all by himself, he'd have to turn right.

He started walking again, right up until he reached the street corner. He turned right once again, doing that twice more. By then, he was absolutely exhausted and he was pretty sure he was lost. He should've gone back inside and packed a few juice boxes and his teddy bear, because now he was pretty sure he'd have to sleep outside.

Once, when they were at the bus station in the city, Luke and his mama saw a homeless man sleeping on a bench. Maybe he could find a bench too and sleep there.

He continued to walk, his path illuminated by a pair of headlights coming from behind him. They were coming closer, and soon enough a car came to a slow halt beside him. Luke stared for a moment as the passenger door was swung open.

"Hey! What are you doing out here?" the man asked.

"I want to go home," Luke said with a pout, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Come on, get in the car right now. Somebody needs to pay closer attention to you, huh?" the man said with a small smile. Luke hesitated for a moment and then climbed in.

"There's no car seat," he pointed out.

"Don't worry, just get in," the man chuckled.