Runaway Man

Chapter 9: Breaking the News

Chapter 9: Breaking The News

With my head down, I dug out my own key from my school bag and unlocked the front door. School in general was emotionally draining but today it was heart drenching. I tried to process what had happened to feed my thoughts. Linda was a bitch. We had a fight. I got excluded for a week. Putting it into words like that made it seem so minor but then the thought of being yelled at loomed over me.

Fortunately, both of my parents were still at work so only my older brother was at home when I got in. Dirk had a job himself as a life guard that meant his shifts were generally flexible like he could book when he wanted to and stuff like that. His favourite thing was children's parties because more action would go on. Like kids putting floats on their heads and on the odd occasion, a child drowning because they tried to jump on the huge inflatable that they shouldn't have. He told me that one minute he could be having a normal conversation and the next he could be soaked in a pool full of people, chlorine and water.

I heard him blasting away on his Xbox in the living room like he always did when I came home. I could see his medium-brown mop popping out from above the couch. Knowing him, he was probably only wearing his underwear halfway down his hips.

I sighed and dropped my school bag in the hallway before going upstairs. My legs were stiff as I climbed the stairs so every creak they make echoed through the entire house. It wouldn't be long before my parents would come home and get the dreaded news fed to them.

I was lying on my back in my bed now. I raised my hand to the ceiling and examined it then punched it held tight into the mattress. It bounced two or three times before I noticed that Dirk was perched onto the end of my bed. His blue eyes were staring at me in distress and I was grateful that he was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt and not just his underwear.

"Why are you home so early?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just am," My words were really dry, "Okay?"

"You're meant to be at school for like another hour. What happened? You PMSed all over your chair and ruined your jeans?" He was trying his best to act serious but I could see how desperate he wanted to laugh.

"No... I-I..." I mumbled.

"You what?"

"I'm excluded!" I blurted out. I made eye contact with him and he was quite taken aback from my answer. He ruffled his hair and stretched his back

"Why?"

"I got into a fight... with Linda." I went on to tell him the entire story, well not all of it. Instead of mentioning Joey, I just said 'something instead'. I expected him to be mad at me by the end of it but he was completely the opposite.

"The bitch deserved it, yeah?" He smiled evilly as he cracked his knuckles against the palm of his hand. Why? Then I remembered why. Linda's sister was his ex-girlfriend that he dated for like a year. He often went over to her house for dinner and stuff and Linda got on his nerves too many times. Sometimes she'd come to ours but the difference was that unlike Linda, her sister was kind and caring. She’d always a bitch for breaking his heart though.

"Do you think mum and dad will be really angry?" I gulped as reality hit back onto me.

"Yeah but they'll get over it like they did when I was banned from football training after I kicked that guy in the nuts. It's crazy because he has a kid now and he's my age." I couldn't help but smile at the story and neither could he. That would always be a classic one. Dirk was only twelve at the time so he was worried that the guy would never be able to have kids when he was older as he kicked him so hard in the groin with studs on. A few years on, he'd apparently knocked up a girl. I never saw any evidence though but it was funny as hell.

"So how are we gonna make sure they're in a good mood?" Our conversation went back to serious. With the stressful life as a business man and a waitress, our parents wouldn't always come home like they'd been on holiday. Sometimes, they'd be grouchy as anything so we needed to make sure that the news came down well.

"The only way possible," Dirk had an even bigger smile plastered on his face now, "I still have a bottle of unopened whiskey in my room." He hopped off of the bed and left the room only to return with a medium sized bottle. Now, he wasn't particularly an alcoholic or a drinker at that but he was into parties and so that he didn't look like a wuss, he'd drink some alcohol. However, sometimes I was pretty sure he'd bring water with a tint of vodka in a bottle to make himself look mega hard. Typical Dirk.

He was just in time too because I heard the front door open. I bit my lip. They were home... well at least one of them. I ran down the stairs to see my mum unloading some carrier bags into the hallway. Her copper brown hair was curled so it looked shoulder length and her waitress' uniform was beyond too short. I rolled my eyes at her revealing appearance.

"Oh you're home early, Flo," she kissed my cheek and pulled me into a brief hug, "I usually beat you home."

"Yeah, I had a free period last," I lied. I glanced over at Dirk, who was standing at the top of the stairs, to see he was staring at me nervously. I faintly smiled at him. For someone two or three years older, he acted too mature sometimes that it was scary. But it sure did work the other way around a lot.

I watched my mum enter the living room and flick off her shoes. She whined that her feet were in agony because she had walked way too much so a great idea sprung into my mind.

"Would you like a cup of tea then?" I asked sweetly.

"That would be amazing, I need it." She put her feet up onto the foot rest and titled her head onto the back of the sofa.

Maybe too eagerly, I skipped into the kitchen and pressed the on switch on the kettle. As expected, Dirk was already in there with the whiskey clutched in his hands. I took a mug from the rack and signalled for him to pour a bit of the maple coloured substance into it.

After that, the boiling water from the kettle filled the rest of the cup as did a teabag. With the sugar blended in, it looked exactly like a normal cup of tea. It's not like a mother would expect her own daughter to drug her up so everything seemed convincing. I handed it to her, sweating a bit.

"This is the best tea I've ever tasted," she finished her drink within a gulp; "You must have a secret ingredient. Can you make me another?" I heard a snort from the kitchen at the phrase' secret ingredient'. Stupid Dirk. He almost cost us the entire scandal!

So a few delicious tea drinks later, obviously she was out of her mind. She'd have an awful hangover in the morning by the looks of it but as of the moment, I think she was meeting all of the Disney Princesses so anything I said probably wouldn't hit her.

Well I hoped, anyway. When she's drunk, she's always giggly. When she’s giggly, nothing is taken seriously.