It wasn't much of a home, but it had a bed, a T.V., a fridge with food in it, and no drug crazed mother in sight. To me, it was perfect. I raced into that room so fast and jumped straight onto the bed like it was a trampoline. I think in a way, what had been happening at home, what we were going through then, it wasn't clear to me yet. I was a kid, I didn't get it and when I opened up that door and saw that hotel room, I felt like Blake and I were on this brothers only exclusive holiday. I had no idea what was really going on.
The first thing I wanted to do was jump up and down on the bed and watch some T.V. but Blake gave me a fresh change of clothes and told me to wash up before I did anything. We'd packed a few things with us, a few sets of clothes, deodorant, the bare essentials, that kind of thing. When I came out of the bathroom Blake came after me with a jumper and hounded me to put it on. I wasn't cold because I had a fever so I fought him on it for a while until he won me over with a chocolate bar from the bar fridge. He bundled me up in a blanket, put me into bed and felt at my forehead. He asked me how I felt and honestly, I felt great. I was in a warm bed, eating my favourite food, had the T.V. on, how could I not feel great? He told me to stay in bed and watch whatever I wanted while he had a shower and cleaned himself up a bit. When he came out, he kept obsessively touching my forehead and worrying about me so he went on a crusade to find some Panadol for me. I really didn't think I needed it, I was a bit warm but I just had a cough and a sniffle, that was all. He just always worried about me so much, too much.
He was out for a little while, probably talking to Charlie or the girl at the bar, I dunno'. When he came back he gave me two tablets to take which I only took so he'd get out of the way of the T.V. When that was taken care of he came and lied down in bed. I was talking to him about the car racing that was on, chewing his ear off about it, I was probably babbling for a good hour or so before I realised he was dead asleep. Poor bastard was so exhausted, don't think he'd slept a wink while we were on the streets. Knowing Blake he would've kept one eye open so he could watch over me all night, he'd probably been awake for four days straight. I know he was beyond exhausted because when one of the waitresses from the Pub came up with food for us he didn't even flinch, he was completely out to it. Once I'd wolfed down my dinner I lied down next to Blake and that's when the exhaustion hit. The excitement of staying in the hotel room had worn off and I became very tired and nervous. I just remember lying there thinking we were in a strange bed, a strange place, with strangers downstairs, and boy I hated that thought. I tried to move Blake's arm up so I could tuck myself under it, it was how we'd slept on the streets, but his arm was so heavy it was like trying to move a car. I shook him and prodded at his side until he woke up enough to ask if I was alright. I grabbed his arm and tugged at it and it was enough to get Blake to roll over and fold his arm over me. When I knew I was safe under his arm I closed my eyes and it took all of two seconds for me to fall asleep.
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Relatively Dependent
General FictionA story of two brothers who have nothing in life but each other. The story is told through the main character, Joel, as he recalls events from his childhood and how he and his brother, Blake, escaped the nightmare of their Mother's drug fuelled abus...
