(18+) The Punishment (Complete)

Ch. 2: The fireplace

My bed was a mattress in the corner of Patrick's room. The room itself was small but clean, but honestly. Four weeks without any kind of privacy was going to be hard in several ways. But I bit my tongue and started to unpack my clothes, when suddenly Mr. Hillbilly jr. snatched my Walkman from my bed. He studied it closely and started to push on the buttons.

"Hey! Give it back!"

I reached for it, but he blocked every attempt and snickered.

"Give it back," I threatened slowly and emphasized every word.

"Relax, man. I'm just curious about how these things are working. I never had one," he explained innocently, but the way he was smirking told me that he mostly did it to provoke me.

"Oh. In that case, you can borrow it. The batteries are almost out anyway," I retorted, pretending to play along with his fake attempt of bonding. In reality, I couldn't care less and continued unpacking.

"So I can borrow it, when it's not working?" he asked sarcastically and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Wow. What a nice gesture."

I rolled my eyes for the second time in a few minutes and suppressed the urge to snap at him.

"I didn't mean it like that, dumbass."

"Oh, do I sense a little attitude there?" Patrick grinned and crossed his arms while he gave me a challenging glare, which made me extremely uncomfortable. He looked a lot stronger than me, and he was taller too.

"No..." I mumbled and stared at the carpet. I was annoyed at myself for acting like a coward in front of him.

"Just tell me where to buy new batteries and I'll change them."

"The store isn't open until Monday. Dad can buy some for you then if you'd like."

On Monday? That's three days ahead! So I have to go the whole weekend without music?

"What kind of shit place is this to not have an open store?" I mumbled in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" Patrick asked, and I forced a smile upon my face.

"Thanks, that would be great."

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Dinner was good. I guess I was hungry after a whole day of travelling, and Mary-Lou was a great cook. Jack was a pain in the ass, though. He interrogated me about pretty much everything during the whole meal, and he was more thorough than an investigator in the FBI. He asked about what I liked to eat, who my friends were, why I got rid of my big afro and how my siblings were like. Then he begged me to teach him some dance routines and for an autograph on a wrinkly cover of 'Going back to Indiana'.

"Give him a break now, kiddo," Paul chuckled and shook his head. He gave me a short pat on my shoulder to make me follow them into the living room, which I hesitantly did.

"Come on, and let's play a game. Jack rocks at Checkers."

Jack grinned from ear to ear and hurried ahead of us, while Mary-Lou and Leah stayed in the kitchen to do the dishes.

Crackling sounds from the fireplace were the only sounds surrounding us, next to Jack's eruptions of triumph during the game. I didn't want to join them, so I dumped down in an armchair between the window and the fireplace. I couldn't see anything outside. Only darkness and the reflection of Mary-Lou and Leah in the window. They worked in silence, but with a pleasant energy between them, and I felt the calm atmosphere gradually rubbed over on me as well. And not long after, Mary-Lou joined the game and started discussing the rules that obviously were set by Jack. I had to smile at his loud objections towards his mother.