Control (Evak & Philkas)

Chapter seventeen: A bad news never comes alone

''It's very kind of you to invite me for dinner, Mrs Torrance. You didn't have to, I just came here to see my boys.''

''It's nothing,'' Helen brushed off, forcing a smile on her lips. She set another plate on the small table while Gabe went to get another chair. She wasn't happy with the idea of Anne Shea being on her property, in her house but kicking her out would cause a scene and that's very unnecessary.

''It's a lovely house you have, Mrs Torrance,'' Anne noticed as she looked around, amazed. The house isn't anyhting you see in magazines; it's badly decorated and the furniture doesn't match but to Anne, this is a fucking mansion compared to where she lives. ''Philip told me you have a barn and all that.''

''Yeah. Yeah, we do.''

Before the conversation could go further, Gabe walked in, a folding chair under his arm. ''You can sit on this end of the table, between Philip and Isak.'' Gabe opened the chair and placed it by the table.

Anne smiled at the mention of Philip and Isak. ''Talking about my boys, where are they?''

Gabe glanced at Helen, not knowing what to tell her. After forcing a smile to his mom, Isak went inside, dodging her hug and slipping past her into the house. He said he had to pee really badly but they all knew it was an excuse to not talk to his mom - well, all except Anne.

''I'm not staying here,'' Isak said, dropping his bag on the floor and grabbing a jacket, about to leave. ''Just text me when dinner's over, I'm going back to-''

Philip gripped Isak's sleeve, stopping him from leaving. ''No. You're not.''

Knitting his eyebrows and looking down at his brother's grip on him, Isak tried to free his arm. ''Let go of me.''

Philip obliged. ''I know you don't want to see her but she came all the way here to see you.''

''Bullshit. She came here to see you, not me,'' he retorted. ''She hates me because, like you said, it's my fault the social services took us from her. And, I don't want to see her. My life is so much better without her.''

Isak's words were harsh and lucky for him, his mom didn't hear him because it would break her heart to hear Isak say that. ''Don't say things like that.''

''It's true though. I have friends that cares about me and a social life. People wants to hang out with me at school, I'm no longer the weirdo with a junkie mom. I sleep on an actual bed, not a mattress on the floor. My clothes don't smells like cigarette. Even my grades are getting better,'' Isak explained. ''I'm so much happier here, Philip.''

Isak wanted to add that he found a nice boyfriend that makes him happy but decided against it, not quite ready to come out.

"You're happier here?"

Isak nodded. "You're not?" he asked back.

Is he? Philip chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. "I don't know... I mean, this house is much better - there's no mice here or water dripping from the roof whenever it rains - and we don't go to bed with an empty stomach anymore."

''You're right, I took so much weight since we moved here,'' laughed Isak. 

''Certainly not thanks to Helen's cooking,'' Philip added, laughing along. 

After a few minutes of talking, Philip succeeded and Isak came out of their bedroom. He tried to sit as far as possible to his mom but his plan failed when Helen took the seat next to Gabe, forcing Isak to sit next to his mom. He reluctantly sat down and filled his plate with food, following his second plan: stuffing himself to avoid questions from his mom. If his mouth is full, she won't ask him questions, right?