I looked down at the body of the man in our trunk in amazement. "Can I kill him?" I ask my 'dad' he looks at me sternly. "No." Before picking the small man up and carrying him to our front door before dropping him lightly onto the ground to grab his keys. I look at how his body is slouched and imagined how he could be like that forever. "Just a little bit?" He turns around and grabs my wrist. "We can't kill him, he is important." I look back at the slumped man and wondered what was so important about him. "So I can't kill him but can I hurt him?" I just see the look on his face and shake the idea out of my head. "Only if I say so but for now, no!" He shouts the last bit and I shake it off. "Alright I get it, no hurting the man." He nods and picks up the body and lift him over his shoulder. "Now open the door will you." I nod and open the door straight away not wanting him to get madder then he probably already was. "Now our guest is going to stay in the basement." Joel says not even seeming as if he was struggling under the weight of this man. "So the other person has been taken away I guess." He nods staying silent; something he does when he is mad at me.
"Joel, I'm hungry." I moan walking out of my room and straight into the living room where he is collapsed on the sofa. All he did was point to the fridge the my bedroom door not even turning his head from the T.V. "Okay then Joel." I say sarcastically opening the fridge. "I love our conversations." I say finding some food and making myself a cup of juice before walking into my room again. I eat my food before laying down on my bed, still hearing the light sound of T.V from the living room and my head seems to calm with it. "Hey!" Joel shouts making me open my eyes again. "What do you want?" I shout back at him. "Come here before I grab you!" I get up quickly to avoid a punishment. "What did you want?" I say leaning against my bedroom door. "Check on the man, give him this." Joel says passing me a plate with a sandwich on. "So you don't make me food but you make the man in the basement some, shows how much you love me." I say, before storming off he stops me. "Just remember who saved you from that orphanage." His grip on my arm was tight but his eyes shows his care for me. "Now bring that down and I'll see if we can find something for your efforts."
The basement was never a place I liked, when I first started living with Joel, when I was seven, he told me to never go down there and I understand why. "Don't hurt me." The man says curled up in the dusty corner of the dark room. "I'm not going to hurt you, I've been told I am not allowed to." He looks up finally and sees me, a skinny sixteen year old looking back with a plate in his hand. "This is for you and don't sniff it thinking it is poisoned because he wants you alive." I say dropping the plate in front of the man before turning to leave. "Thanks." The man says croakily due to his lack of water. "He might bring water down later." I say knowing not to say Joel's name in front of him.
"The deed is done, I'm going to go sleep now." I say as I walk up the stairs from the basement. "Wait one more thing." Joel says quickly and I sigh turning around, shoving my hands in my hoodie. "You did good today Bud." He says making me sigh. "This is why you adopted me, to do your dirty work." I say walking away and into my room. Sadly he wouldn't accept that. "Bud, listen to me." I not going to let him in. "Bud open the door." He knocks on the door with his palm. "My name isn't Bud but you wouldn't know my real one would you as I am only here so you don't get arrested!" I shout out and I see the door handle move. "Bud unlock the door." I didn't respond to him, if he wasn't going to call me my real name I wouldn't respond. "Evan please." He says hitting the door with his palm again. I walk over slowly and hold my hand on the lock contemplating whether I should or not. "Evan I'm sorry." He says and I unlock the door stepping back.
"Bud what's wrong?" He says walking into the room, I stepped back a bit and he noticed. "I'm sorry if I haven't been taking the best care of you." I scoff at him crossing my arms over my chest. "You just realised that." I say steeping backwards from him again. "Come on bud I'm sorry, I'm trying to be better it's just I have a lot on my plate."
"Yeah like killing innocent people." I shout and he presses his hand over my mouth. "Shut up the neighbours will hear." I pull his hand from my mouth and shake my head "There you go again. I don't matter to you do I?" He sighs moving closer a little bit as I stepped back. "Bud you know you matter to me, that's why I saved you from that orphanage."
"Well if you care so much then tell me why that guy in the basement is so important." I shrug him away from me as I stand my ground. "That man in the basement... well he is your father." I had to hold onto my bedside table for support. "Get out of my room." I say through gritted teeth. "Bud..." He put his hand out but I hit it away. "Get out."
