Prodigal ▷ Gecko Brothers (rewriting)

CHAPTER ONE

"No one warns you about
the amount of mourning in growth."

       GRACE WANTED NOTHING MORE THAN to go to college so she could escape the watchful eye of her father. He had expectations of her, of the woman she should be and she worked very hard to live up to them. She went through all the motions, but she was never sure if the person her dad wanted her to be was the person she truly was. She loved her family more than anything, but she was miserable. The life was being drained from her every second she spent in that house and it only got worse after her mother passed away.

Jacob Fuller was an excellent father and he would never say it, but she could tell he was disappointed in her. That he wished she was more like her little sister, Kate.

Kate believed, she had faith. Grace had doubt and lots of it. And no matter how hard she tired to express those doubts with her sister, she just didn't understand.

Scott did though, since he was adopted he too at times felt like an outsider. Kids would use to harass him for how he looked, often coming home in tears. And as always her father's response was to quote scripture.

"Love your enemies," he preached, with his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Do good to those who hate you, pray for those who abuse you."

And when their prayers weren't answered Grace took it upon herself to do God's work, she earned herself bloody knuckles and a two week suspension much to her father's displeasure. It was the only time she ever seen him lose his temper. And when he finally stopped yelling for her to get a word in, she too quoted the good book, "Ecclesiastes 3:8," was all she said, storming to her room.

There is a time for war and a time for peace.

He didn't speak to her for a week, her mom had to threaten him for the silent treatment to finally end. Things between the two of them have been rocky ever since and her mom is no longer around to be the buffer.

It was their parents' date night, the three of them were at a stupid bonfire that Sadie, a girl from their youth group dragged them to when their nebeighbor Mrs. Jenkins showed up to retrieve them. She was half listening to Sadie go on about how clothing today was too tight and revealing, that no self respecting girl should wear such a thing. Grace bit her tongue to stop from telling the other girl exactly what she thought, settling for a hum of acknowledgement which Sadie took as a sign to keep talking.

"Grace." Mrs. Jenkins interjected, "please come with me."

She raised a brow at the odd request, "Why?"

"There's been an accident." She said, "where are Scott and Kate?"

"What kind of accident? What's going on?" She felt Sadie place a hand on her shoulder and she shook it off.

"Your father is at the hospital."

The way she said your father, the pity in her eyes, why their mother wasn't the one picking them up. "And our mother?" Grace choked, needing to hear her say it.

The older woman shakes her head, "She didn't make it, dear."

Since the accident Grace took up the role of mother, looking after Scott and Kate, cleaning, cooking dinner, even going as far as postponing college for a year until her father got back on his feet. But as time went on she had a feeling her dad expected her to fill her mom's shoes permanently, especially when he took to the bottle.

At first she thought it was nothing. He lost the love his life after all, drinking while grieving was normal. But coming home to find him passed out in his own vomit was becoming a daily occurrence. She fought with herself for days on how to approach him the last thing she wanted was to make things worse, but she did not take a gap year for him to just completely fall apart. It still hurt to think of her mom, but she was doing her best to live because that is what she would have wanted.

So she gave it another week and when nothing changed she forced his hand. Gathering all the liquor that was in the house she dumped it all down the drain and waited for her dad to be moderately functional. She gave him a glass of water and aspirin, when his bloodshot eyes focused on her she braced herself for his inevitable outburst.

"I got rid of your crutch."

He blinks, not speaking for several minutes, "what?"

Grace rolls her eyes, shaking the trash bag full of bottles.

He surges to his feet, swaying. "The hell you do?" He slurs.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that?"

"I'm your father you will show me respect."

She can't help but laugh at the demand, but her father doesn't find it funny if the stinging in her cheek is any indicator. Grace can't decide which one of them is more stunned. Swallowing back the tears that are minutes from falling, with her hand clenched around the bag of booze she crosses the distance between them. The horrid smell of alcohol burns her nose as she stares him down.

"Get your shit together or so help me God I will make sure you live to regret it."

an: this is awful