It all seemed to happen at once. A huge crack of sound ruptured David's ears, like a whip cracking in a particularly kinky bedroom. Of all the sound, the gunshot was the loudest, and shortly after, David found himself covered in blood. Frankie's skull was burst open by the bullet, brain matter coating the alley. His finger was still twitching. Pedestrians stopped their movements and looked at the scene. David knew what their minds were thinking and responded quickly, "I-I didn't do this!" He pointed down at the body and someone pulled out their phone. Realizing he was in deep trouble, he took off as fast as he could.
David didn't stop running until he arrived at his home. Not wanting anyone to see the blood, he didn't knock on the apartment door. Seth kept the door locked, to keep burglars out and his wife in. Down the hall, a neighbor keeps a small lock pick kit behind the potted plant as he lost his key a year ago (he was too paranoid to get another key so he just picks the lock everyday... Fucking psycho) . Retrieving the kit, David got to work on the lock.
After getting the door open, David made his way down the hall to his room. Seth and Gavin were home, but they were in Gavin's room, across the hall from David's own room. Creeping along slowly, creating as little noise as humanly possible, David made his way to his room. The hall was only a few feet long, but it felt like a mile of walking, no, sneaking along to reach the safety of his closet. After making it to the door, he opened it, entered, and shut the door in one smooth motion, and did it fairly quietly, to his own surprise.
David's room was messy, cans of soda and beer littering the floor around his desk. In the left center of the room, a stack of two twin mattresses lays on the floor, acting as David's place of sleep. To the left of that is his desk, with a laptop and three empty cans of Pepsi littering the surface, and opposite the bed is a wardrobe. The area to the right of the bed is much cleaner than the left, as it is only used to gather clothes to wear for the day.
After removing his clothes with haste, David flopped down on his bed, mainly to think about the past half hour but also to catch his breath. He was exhausted and genuinely considering just forgetting about it and falling to sleep, but he couldn't bring his eyelids to a close. He had a duty to fulfill and that duty was Gavin. After rehearsing the conversation and thinking of an excuse for the quick retreat to his room, David applied clothes to his body and exited the room.
After exiting the room David saw Seth staring at him, waiting. David smiled, "Hey, sorry I'm late?" David scratched the back of his neck as innocently as possible eating for Seth's reply. "He's been waiting for you," Seth stated in the most plain voice he could muster and opened the door behind him.
David entered Gavin's room and saw the kid sitting upright in his bed. A smile spread across his face at the sight of David and moved his arms from beneath his blanket. "Hey bud," David moved closer to the bed and sat down by Gavin's feet, "how you holdin' up?" Gavin responded quickly, as if he had rehearsed the conversation as well, "I have a fever but other than that I feel okay!" David's response was simpler and most of it was delivered with a smile, "That's good, glad to hear it lil' guy!" Gavin seemed happy, despite his situation. See, I forgot to mention one important thing about David's nephew, and that is the fact that he was born without the use of his lower body.
"So... where've you been?" Gavin asked. "Oh, th-there was a mixup at the coffee shop. Had to wait a while for my mocha latte." David replied, trying to sound normal. Gavin shifted slightly as Seth reentered the room, "Hey David, can I talk to you a minute?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Are you okay?" The question made David jump, which made Seth harden his glare. "Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?" David answered quickly, albeit a little too quickly."You seem jumpy. You rush to your room without saying hi and when you come out you act like nothing's wrong." Seth was trying to stay quiet as to not alert Gavin, but David could tell he was struggling. "And frankly, I can't deal with the added pressure." Seth was breaking, and David needed to do something.
"Hey, look at me. It's nothing. I swear. I just had to get over quickly and change, my clothes smelt like we-"
"Jenna got out again." Seth was at the verge of tears and David couldn't do anything. "Wait, what?" David questioned him, but he knew what he meant. "Jenna figured out the new locks and now I can't find her, and Gavin's sick, and your out smoking or whatever the fuck you do and I can't do it anymore!" Seth was nearly yelling and his hands were shaking. "Hey, hey calm down bro. I'll stay here with Gav, you go looking for Jenna okay? Just go eat something first. You'll survive." David spoke in a soft tone, keeping calm. Seth sighed, and after a moment spoke again, "That's what I'm afraid of. I know I'll survive, but what about Jenna? With her, it's either keep her here and wait until she gets killed by a car, or move her to an out of state medical center. And what about Gav? It's the third day of school and he's already being bullied. How long until it gets to him and starts blaming it o-" David interrupted his little brother with an embrace. "You'll make it through this. Jenna will. I'll get a job soon to start helping with bills and payments so you can spend more time with Jen. And if bullies get to Gav, he'll tell me, and when he does I'll beat the shit out of em'. Don't worry. Be strong."
The two stood there in hallway for a minute, Seth's tears sinking into David's t-shirt. When they broke away Seth walked out of the hall to find his wife, and before he closed the front door he turned to look back at David.
"Thanks."
*authors note*
Hey! I finished this pretty late, but I'll upload it once someone reads the second chapter *sigh*. Whelp, I'm halfway done with the next chapter so I'll get back on that! Have a nice day!
