Not Good Enough

Eight

I woke up to a headache from thinking so much throughout the night. The bright sun didn't help much either.

Last day of the weekend. Might as well make the most of it. Probably my last one, I thought as I stumbled down the stairs. I walked to the kitchen and was surprised to see Adam, who has never touched a cooking utensil in his life, making something.

"Good Morning! Sleep well?" He asked me as he put some plates down on the table.

"Fine," I answered hesitantly. "What's going on? What happened? Do you even know how to cook?" He set everything down and walked up close to me.

"Listen," his eyes turned from cheery to cold, "Mom and Dad will be home tomorrow now. So, this is our last day to try and enjoy ourselves. And I'm trying to be a good person and make you something because this could be the last thing you might eat for a while. So if you could just please go with it today and don't question me, I will try and make this day a good day for you because it will probably be our last for a while. You know this stuff doesn't happen very often. Are we on the same page?" He said in a serious that I never quite seen in him before.

He is really serious about this.

"Yes. Sorry," I said before taking a step back from him. His eyes turned back to its original cheer.

"Good!" He shouted, making me jump a little. "Well then, I made you a breakfast. I know you don't eat it but I thought you might want to give it a try because I worked hard on this and I wanted to surprise you." He put something that looked like eggs and pancakes on my plate and pulled out the chair for me. I sat down on it and he pushed me into the table. He looked in anticipation as I put some of what I thought was pancakes into my mouth. It wasn't the best, but at least it was edible.

"Well!" He blurted.

"It's a lot better than I expected," I stated as cheerful as I could.

"Excellent!" He announces as he walks back to the kitchen to shut the fire off. "I'm going to leave for a walk and maybe talk to some friends if I see them. Bye. I'll be back soon to help you with your situation." Before I could ask any questions, he swiftly walks out the front door and leaves. He never acts like that.

Something is definitely wrong.

I walked out a few steps out the door and looked around. He was out of sight, but his car was still home so he didn't go too far. I decided not to follow him. I walked back in the house and went to my room. I was about to sit, when my curiosity hits and I walk down to his room. I look around for anything out of order when I see a folded paper on his bed. I pick it up and open it. My heart started beating faster as I saw it was addressed to me.

Amanda, I know I will not be
right as I expect you to notice.
Yes, something is up and
I will explain once I come back
home. See you later. Adam

I wonder what it is, I think as I walked back to room. I decide to spend my last day of peace drawing in my sketchbook. I flip to the butterfly page and look at it. It's so pretty. I go to a blank page and work on another one. This time I'm making it in more detail and more in the background. Not a meadow this time. I drew it at a Lake. With all of its friends flying around, carefree. I look out the window.

This is my last chance. I walk to the window and crawl out to the ledge again. I walk out and sit on the edge, my legs dangling over the edge. I look up at the sky and let my mind wander over everything. I think about my family. We used to be this perfect family, then it all went downhill. All I want to do is change it. I would do anything to change it. To put it back to where it was. To when we were all happy. Then Adam and I can live in a happy home for our last year's here.

I can't leave Adam. I couldn't do that to him. I grab my sketchbook and work on my drawing instead.

I continue sketching until I hear the door open downstairs. I rush downstairs to find Adam slowly approaching me. I inspect him and I don't see anything on the outside of him that happened. Before I could think of anything else he sat down and motioned for me to join him. We sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm guessing you got the note while snooping through my room?" He asked calmly.

"Yes. But what's going on?" He took a deep breath before explaining.

"Well, you see, Mom and dad are coming home tomorrow, and to be honest with you, I am scared of what Dad is going to do to you. So what I did was a lot of thinking and I decided that I needed to get us some protection from him. So I went out and got this," he slowly pulled out a black metal box from the other side of him and sets it down on my lap. I stare at it for a moment before opening it slowly to reveal a small hand gun. I closed the box quickly in shock as I stared at Adam in wide eyes. Before I could do anything else he took the box and set it back on the other side of him.

"Where did you get that? What happens if Dad sees that? Why would you keep it here? What if—"

"Slow down," he cuts me off. "I thought about this in full detail. I got it at the gun shop on the other side of town. I'm eighteen now so I can legally buy it without a parents consent. I will only use it in extreme cases and I'll hide it in a safe place in my room where Mom or Dad won't be able to see it. There is absolutely nothing you need to worry about. I got this taken care of."

"You really think he's going to do something that bad?" I ask, tears starting to form in my eyes.

"I really hope not. But just in case, I wanted to be prepared because one day he may go too far." He pulls me in for a hug. "I need to go find a place to put it. Then we can have some dinner and off to bed, tomorrow will be a long day." He let's go and runs upstairs with the box in his hands. I let my tears flow as I watch him disappear upstairs. I look at the kitchen, then back upstairs.

I don't think I can eat anything tonight, I thought as I go upstairs to my room. I lay on my bed and instantly became overwhelm with tiredness. Before I could think of anything, I fell into a restless sleep.