Self Inflicted

Chapter 6: Wet Clothes and A New Home

When Billie and I went back upstairs, I got dressed into my old clothes and hugged him goodbye. I went downstairs, said goodbye to Ollie and thanked her before walking out.

Walking down the street, I watched the trees move in the breeze. It looked like they were happy trees, like they were dancing.

I loved this weather. It was just warm enough to feel the warmth of the sun on my back, just cold enough to keep me from sweating.

I turned onto the the driveway to our house, kicking the door to help open it and jumping when I saw my mom.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" She screamed, getting in my face. I saw my sister on the stairs, watching with wide eyes.

"I was at Billie's, not that you would care." I grumbled, looking up at her. She said noting, but I felt a sharp stinging pain and she slapped me across the face.

I hated my mom sometimes, and I know she hated me too sometimes. But she'd never hit me.

I turned my face away from the direction of the slap and everything was silent until I ran upstairs.

"Mike. Michael!" She yelled, coming to the bottom of the stairs. I ran around my 'room', gathering everything I needed. Until I came to my bass and my guitar.

I loved them both, but I had only just started to play bass. Guitar was my first love. And I could only bring one.

My guitar was an old crappy one i'd saved up for, and the bass was a gift from Billie. How was I supposed to pick?

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I lay with Billie, both of us high already as we smoked together. He'd been teaching me guitar, I'd learnt 'Crazy Train'. Wait a minute, he was talking.

"Huh?" I responded, taking another drag of my joint.

"I said, I want to be in a band. I want to play guitar, and I want to teach you bass. You'd be great on bass." He breathed, blowing smoke at the wall.

I smiled lazily, letting the fuzziness in my brain take over. "Okay."

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Smiling briefly at the memory before snapping back into reality, I grabbed my bass and packed it up before picking my other bag up and running downstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" My mom asked, eyeing me.

"Away from you. And your shitty excuse of parenting. Ollie has been a better Mom than you will ever be. So go, move away if you can't handle the bills. Here's one less mouth to attempt to feed." I walked out, slamming the door.

I ran down the street with my guitar case smacking off my back with every step, the added weight of the backpack not helping. I stopped when I got to our tree, Billie and I's tree, climbing up with instinct. I sat down and knelt against the tree, looking at the sky as the first star appeared.

I squeezed my eyes shut and wished for Billie to be here. He always made everything alright.

I looked up as it started raining, so forcefully it felt like little BB gun pellets on my skin. I hugged my hoodie closer, finally letting myself cry. I didn't have a home to go to anymore. My tears melted into the rain on my face, making it feel more natural. My face stung from the earlier slap.

My heart lurched as I heard a small voice. "Hey?" I looked down and saw Billie, looking rather ridiculous in a rain coat. "Get down from there." He said.

I did so, willingly. I jumped down and adjusted my bags on my back. "Your mom said you ran away because you guys are moving." Billie frowned, watching me.

"No, I ran away because she hit me. I told her she can go."

"Are you shit crazy? You don't have a home now Mike." He said, watching me.

I stayed silent for a while. "I know."

He tugged on my hand and started walking me back to his house.

When we got there, Ollie took my bags from me and wrapped a fluffy towel around me, drying my hair off and muttering how silly I was. I avoided eye contact, looking at my feet.

"Billie, go and get Michael some clothes." She said, watching me. He nodded and walked upstairs and she suddenly hugged me tight.

I don't know what it was that made me cry. Maybe I hadn't finished crying from earlier, or maybe I'd missed mom hugs. But I was crying and I couldn't stop.

"Oh Mike." She sighed and rocked me gently, rubbing circles onto my back. "It'll be alright now."

Billie came downstairs and frowned. "What's wrong with Mike?" He asked, dumping a pile of clothes onto the couch.

"He just needs some love." Ollie said, holding me tighter until I started to quiet down.

"But he doesn't have a home to love him anymore." Billie frowned more, watching his Mom.

"Not that they loved him enough anyway. And yes he does have a home. He belongs here." Ollie said, pulling away to look at me. "Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

When I had dried off and changed my clothes, Billie helped me get settled into his room. "Where's your guitar?" He asked.

I shrugged. "At home. I wanna play bass."

His face broke into a huge smile. "Great."

Once we had set a spare mattress up, I lay on it and he got into bed. This only lasted for a few seconds before I had crawled into bed with him.

Legs tangled together and chests pressed apart, he kissed my head in the dark, whispering 'welcome home' as we both started to fall asleep.