Curled Hair, Blue Eyes

Chapter Twenty Nine // Alex Hall

- Alex's POV -

"Where are we going James?" I asked my brother as he threw me into the back of the car, I sat up and tried to stay as still as possible because my head was spinning. 

"Dad needs to see you" James replied when he turned on the engine, he glanced back at me and flashed an evil grin. I instantly knew what that meant, I knew why dad needed to have a word with me. It was happening, the moment I've been dreading since I was fourteen years old when dad sat me down and told me I'd join his business one day. 

"James, I can't start working today. Do you see the mess I am in?" I said while pointing at my skin that was partly blue, the red heavy bags under my eyes, my shaky hands and the fact that I could barely see what was in front of me, James laughed and shook his head. 

"You're always like this Alex, it's now or never. I can tell you're gonna be great at this job, I can teach you everything it'll be great!" James told me while smiling into the mirror, I sighed loudly and nodded. 

"Do you really want to be dealing drugs for the rest of your life?" I asked my brother, he went silent and focused on his driving. 

"I remember you told me that you wanted to be a mechanic, you used to talk about it all day when you were younger" I said with a smile on my face as I thought back to when I was actually close to my brothers. James began to laugh nervously.

"I like this job, it gets me a lot of money" He commented, I sat back in the seat and crossed my arms. Why does he only care about money? James used to be the most driven and inspirational guy, he pushed me to do my school work and he is the only reason I got into college. Now he is brain dead, he thinks he is happy with selling drugs but I know he is incredibly unhappy. 

"And I think you're confusing me with Max, he is the smart one in the family" James said before glancing back at me for a second. 

"No, Max only cares about himself. He is very smart, I know that but he never gave a shit about us. I doubt we will ever see him again" I told James while shutting my eyes to avoid the dizzy feeling. I had my eyes shut for one moment until my stomach began to growl loudly and I felt weird, I opened my eyes and suddenly threw up all over the back of the car. 

"ALEX! WHAT THE FUCK!" James screamed as I continued to choke on my sick, he stopped the car and jumped out. The car door next to me opened and James grabbed me by my shirt before pulling me out of the car and throwing me onto the concrete. He slammed the car door and groaned loudly at the mess I had made. 

"You couldn't have waited until we got here?!" James shouted while glaring down at me, I looked up at him before flipping him off and spitting out the rest of the sick that was left in my mouth. James helped me up a minute later and then we stumbled across the busy car park outside the nightclub that our dad owns. There were still lines forming at the doors even though it was 3:00am, the bouncers took one look at James before smiling and letting him in. 

The club was absolutely packed, there were pole dancers being smothered by sweaty old men and the DJ was jumping up and down while screaming at the top of his lungs. I covered my ears as the music was too loud for my thumping headache. James dragged me through the crowds and to the hidden door which brought us to the basement. I stumbled down the wooden stairs that were broken in many places, James rolled his eyes and groaned at how unstable I was.

"Welcome back James!" A girl who was half naked shouted, she ran towards us and jumped on James before kissing him. I stared at them in horror before glancing around the room at the many people who were stoned, the air was filled with smoke. There were pool tables in the middle of the room and sofas in the corners for people to chill out, that's when I spotted my dad with his arm around two middle aged women while smoking with them. I looked back at James who still had his tongue down a girls throat, I rolled my eyes and decided to approach dad alone. He noticed me walking towards him, he jumped off the sofa and ran towards me.

"Alex! How was your trip to the hospital?" He asked me with a grin on his face, I stared in anger before shrugging my shoulders. Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me across the room to a more quieter part, I sighed quietly to myself as he sat down in front of me. 

"So.. It's your eighteenth birthday in a few weeks which only means one thing.." Dad said while smirking, I crossed my arms and looked away from him for a minute.

"Um, I'm officially an adult?" I answered, knowing it was the wrong reply. Dad laughed and shook his head.

"You're joining the business! Me, you, James and Mike.. The family business I've always dreamt of" He shouted excitedly, I could feel my stomach turning once again- but this time it wasn't because of the alcohol poisoning. I glanced around the room again to look for my other brother Mike, but he was no where to be seen. 

"Where is Mike?" I asked my dad, trying to change the topic of conversation.

"He is doing the house runs tonight" Dad replied, I widened my eyes in shock.

"House runs?"

"Delivering to houses? We don't just sell under the club Alex.." Dad said while staring at me weirdly, I covered my face with my hands before turning away from him and rushing to the exit. I pushed passed the people who were socialising and smoking together. 

"Alex, where are you going?" James asked as I grabbed onto the banister next to the wooden stairs which brought me back up to the club. I could barely see what was in front of me at this point, I was on the verge of passing out. I glared at my brother before stumbling up the stairs and waiting for the loud music to hit me once again. 

After exiting the nightclub I made my way to the car, I wasn't planning to take the car because I could smell my own sick from across the car park. James never locks the car so I knew I would be able to rummage through the boot without needing a key, I pressed the button on the back of the car and the boot opened. It was filled with empty beer cans, random items of clothing and also my skateboard- just what I was looking for. I closed the car boot and carefully balanced myself on the skateboard before getting as far away as possible from my dads club. 

I don't want to go into my twenties selling drugs to people who are practically already dead, I want to make the most of my future. I know I spend my days drinking and smoking but that's what most teenagers do these days, I know when I'm older that I'll clean up my act and I'll be successful. 

I continued to skate down the empty streets while thinking about my dad and how angry he makes me, how my brothers just want to make him proud by selling more dope than each other. Isn't there more to life than pleasing the people around you? I want to make myself proud- nobody else. 

Suddenly I spotted a person staring straight at me in the distance, I immediately stopped skating and froze in fear. They began to approach me and it was impossible for me to know who it was because my vision was so blurred.

"Hey Alex" A familiar voice said, as they approached me I sighed in relief once I realised it was Maggie. She was also out skateboarding, she looked like she had been crying too.

Maggie is a sixteen year old girl who lives on the same street as me, her mum doesn't have a lot of money so Maggie now works in the local supermarket to keep her family afloat.

"Why are you out here so late?" I asked her with a worried expression, she looked up and down at me and clearly knew I was in a state. 

"Mum got drunk, she was angry so I had to get out" She explained with a nervous laugh, I nodded and sighed. Maggie walked closer to me slowly, she lifted my arm up before studying it carefully.

"Alex.. Why is your skin turning blue?" She asked in fear, I began to laugh loudly.

"I'm guessing it's the alcohol poisoning? Who knows" I replied like I didn't care at all, because I didn't. Maggie pouted as she watched me pull a cigarette out of my pocket and try to light it with my lighter that was practically broken. She began to tie her long curly hair back before jumping onto her skateboard again. 

"Wanna come with me? I'm thinking of heading into town to watch all of the wasted teenagers crying and getting into fights" Maggie asked with an evil grin, I nodded to accept her invite. Knowing she was out this late made me anxious, she looks much younger than her age and I know that she's not good at defending herself- anything could happen to her at this time of night. I've known Maggie for a while, she's always been one of my neighbours and we have a lot in common. I see her like a little sister (not like I need anymore siblings). 

"Let's go then!" Maggie shouted before speeding ahead of me, I followed after her with a smile on my face.