Taste of Poison

Chapter Fourteen: Nobody is Home

Thrown down onto the floor/ So battered, bruised and sore/ Thrown down onto the bed/ And thrash until you break your neck/ Hell's where I was born! Hell's where I was raised/ This hell is where I'm from and this hell is where I'll stay – Hush by Hellyeah

I woke up the next morning sitting on a fucking toilet. I don't really remember much from last night. All I know is that I got in a fight with Jason, and my stomach is sore. I feel like my skin is stretching and tightening.

I haven't been in a fight like that in a while.

I use to all the time especially at bars. I liked beating the fuck out of people, but I didn't stab them over and over in the face at the end.

Then again, the people I fought didn't know shit about my past.

Pia was here, but I don't see her anymore. I remember her hearing her voice, but that's it. Other than that, I really don't remember shit.

Slowly, I move off the toilet and step out of the bathroom slowly with my hand over my bandaged area near my belly button.

The house was pretty. Hard wood floors, coffee-colored painted walls, and fake plant decorations, but they're nice. They make the place look like it's straight out of a magazine. She grew up in a really nice house...

Shockingly, the house that I grew up in is actually nicer than this; the decorator (my mom) has horrible fucking taste. She can't decorate worth a shit.

My parents have this shit green carpet in their bedroom, but I guess it suits them because they're assholes.

My parents' house is bigger than this, and it's nicer looking on the outside. Nice front yard, and there's a fucking pool in the backyard too. All that good stuff, but so many bad things happened there.

My phone rings in my back pocket, and I pull it out quickly to see that it's Garret. My body tenses up slightly. I know Garret is probably trying to get me in trouble in some way. He's probably trying to kill me or trying to get me in prison.

So answering this phone call... That's not a good idea.

I decline the call, and just when I was about to put my phone in my back pocket, I see that I have a missed call from my mom.

My eyes narrow as I call her up real quick and wait for her to answer as I stand in Pia's living room.

By the third ring, Mom answers my call.

"Hey, sugar plum, what are you doing?" she asks me.

Her choice of her tone of voice makes me want to vomit. "Don't call me that," I snap. "Why did you call?"

"Oh, well, since your father's last day on vacation is today, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner tonight. Revy and her boyfriend will be there, and we wanted you to be there as well." She pauses. "You can bring... That girl if you want."

If there was one person Mom didn't like it was Scout. Mom hated how Scout tried to get all cozy with her right off the bat. I thought it was hilarious.

My eyes narrow. "I'm done with Scout. I've been done with her. I got someone else now."

Mom pauses. "You have someone else? What do you mean?" she asks me.

"A girl," I tell her with a frown.

I don't know why I tell Mom so much. I hate her, but it's like she has a way of getting shit out of me. Once I start talking, I can't stop. She just has a way of getting shit out of me, and I think she knows that.