Not Good Enough

Two

I drift off and wake to the sounds of screaming downstairs. It sounds like its Mom and Dad fighting. I try to go back to sleep when I hear one of them come upstairs. They storm right past my room and bang on Adam's door. I press my ear against the door to try and hear what's being said.

"Open the damn door Adam! We need to talk right now!" Dad screams. I hear the door open and they both go past my door and down the stairs. I heard a loud thud. I crept open the door and saw Adam laying at the bottom of the stairs. I feel so bad for him. I looked around and saw the coast is clear. I dared myself to go to the edge of the stairs and watch. He slowly got up and faced our parents.

"Son, you were late to get home today and that is not okay," Dad says and pops him right on the side of the head.

"Dad, I can explain. I was finishing up a test. It took longer than I thought. I'm sorry." Adam pleaded.

"You should have studied more. That way you could've finished earlier and be home on time. This is unacceptable and this will not happen again, hear me?"

"Yes sir." He said and turned to walk away. Uh-oh, big mistake. Dad goes after him and kicks him behind his kneecap. He grimaces and falls to his knees.

"Your father didn't dismiss you," Mom said, "and you haven't received your punishment." She walks by him toward the kitchen and smacks him in the head. "I thought I raised you better."

"I'm sorry sir, what's my punishment?" he says through gritted teeth.

"Your punishment is that you can't go anywhere tomorrow except school and you're going to come straight home and study so you don't have to stay and finish a stupid test. Now you are dismissed. Be down for dinner at six sharp. Don't be late this time. He pushed him and kicks him again as he walks to Mom in the kitchen. Before he can see me a dash to my room and wait until I hear Adam's door close. Then I look around and I walk to his room. I open the door to see him sitting on his bed, with his head in his hands. He doesn't look up. I sit beside him and rap my arms around him.

"Hey, I saw what happened, are you okay?" I said as I tried to comfort him.

"How could I be so stupid? Walking away before I was dismissed, stupid." He finally looked up at me. His eyes were red from crying. It must be bad since he tries not to cry in front of me. "I'm so sorry. I made things worse for the both of us."

"It's okay. We're going to get through this, just like we always do. It's not your fault. He is always going to do things, but we'll get through it. Plus, no matter what you do, I'll still love you."

"Thanks, I love you too." We sat in silence for a few minutes. "I should probably get ready for dinner. I'll try to bring you something too." He got up and changed into different clothes. They were the clothes Dad recently got him. "You should probably go back to your room. It's almost six, he'll be up here soon."

We walked out his door and I went back to my room. I decided I didn't want to listen. I laid on my bed and I drifted off into a restless night.