Snow Space

Melee

"Fucking mental, though, innit?" Gaz was saying as Khamil unlocked his door, walking through into the kitchen where he threw his hoodie onto the sofa, and then collapsed next to it. Gaz kicked the door shut behind them, following Khamil inside. 

"What, the thing we were just talking about or Lampard's disallowed goal?"

Gaz grinned sheepishly as he made his way to Khamil's fridge, scanning the shelves as if he were at his own house. 

"Lampard's disallowed goal. Nothing on your Ronnie situation though."

"Oi -" Khamil said, clicking his fingers as Gaz took a swig from a carton of orange juice. "You might wanna check the date on that."

Gaz paused, scanning the bottom of the carton for the sell-by date. When he found it, his mouth upturned in brief disgust, though after, he merely shrugged and took another gulp, relishing in its coolness. Khamil let his head fall back onto the sofa, suddenly letting out a deep, unsettled groan - like some sort of animal war cry. 

"Fuck SAKE."

"Don't worry man, I doubt she's serious about keeping it."

Khamil looked at Gaz, raising his head from where he'd been leaning with a wry, cheeky smile.

"I was groaning about Lampard's disallowed goal. That world cup was ours."

Gaz grinned, screwing the cap back onto the juice, just as the door opened again, and Khamil looked over, before dropping his head back in irritation as Rob came in whistling, utter disregard for the boys' presence. Gaz glanced at Khamil before putting the juice back into the fridge and closing the door, coughing to distill the sudden quietness. Finally, after hanging up his coat, Rob acknowledged the two with a quick nod and raised eyebrows, walking over to the beer cupboard, still whistling. 

"Aight, Rob," Gaz said, nodding back, though Khamil refused to greet him, keeping his head lolled back on the sofa. 

"Alright, Gaz," came the response, and Rob stood up from the beer cupboard, turning a bottle around in his hand to read the label before twisting off the lid with his teeth, and dropping it onto the floor casually. "You lads want a bottle of anything?"

"Nah," Gaz said, filling Khamil's silence. 

"Good, this is expensive beer," Rob chuckled, taking a swig from the bottle. He looked at Khamil, who was still refusing to respond, his eyes concentrated on the ceiling.

"What's up with you, then?"

Khamil didn't reply, and Rob looked at him wryly, licking his bottom lip. Again, Gaz jumped in. 

"What line of work you in now, Rob?"

Rob was now blatantly ignoring Gaz's peace attempts, his eyes set on Khamil, beer bottle dangling from his fingers. 

"I'm talking to you, Khamil."

Ever so slightly and almost invisibly, Khamil shook his head, keeping his eyes on the white paint above him. 

"What are you, a fucking mute? Get some words out, Christ."

Rob took another sip from his beer bottle, but as he did so he kept his eyes trained on the boy on the sofa. This was a game now - his alpha power had been compromised with Khamil's refusal to speak to him, or even acknowledge him. Upon realising the futility of this exercise, Rob just let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head and walking back over to the kitchen area. As he continued to drink from his beer bottle, he dumped the dirty dishes from the side straight into the sink, before looking up and seeing Gaz looking at his friend.

"Oi, Gaz, mate. You live here now or what?"

Rob let out a laugh, as Gaz turned back to face him.

"Nah - I should probably get back now." 

There wasn't really another answer to a question like that, and with a 'see you, bro' Gaz held out his knuckles for Khamil to half-heartedly fist bump, before shooting another look at Rob, and leaving. The door gently closed behind him, clicking into place, and Rob went back to dumping the dishes into the metal sink. Outside, there was the brief exchanging of words, as if two friends were greeting each other, and then a couple of seconds later, Khamil's mum walked through the door, ushering Agnes in. In her hand she held several of Agnes' schoolwork pages, her face tired.

"Hey Agnes!" Rob greeted, the face so previously mocking, now transformed into one of those patronising smiles adults give kids. He bent down to say hello to the girl, who happily reacted in accordance, though only briefly before she came jumping over to Khamil. Khamil pulled his head up from the sofa to smile at her, immediately bombarded by a stream of words about her day; usually he would have listened intently, though her excitement was a mere echo to him as he focused on his mum putting down the bags. He studied her briefly, frowning slightly. At first he'd thought it was just a shadow, or a huge bag under her eye - but now she was in the light he could see clearly. His eyes flicked back to Rob who was saying hello to her now, and the two met with a hug. If it weren't for the bruise on her eye, they'd look like a happy couple. 

"Agnes,  remember you promised to tidy your room for the magic stars?"

Agnes's face screwed up unhappily at her mum's words, but she obliged, and slid off the sofa. Khamil handed her back the drawings she'd been passionately sharing, and watched as she went into her room, the door shutting behind her. Khamil was still looking between Rob and his mum, who were acting perfectly natural, speaking as if the black eye was non-existent.

"What's that?"

The two adults looked across at him, the corner of Rob's mouth almost twitching into a smile at the fact he'd broken his silence, his mum looking a little more apprehensive.

"What's what?"

"That, there," Khamil said, standing up to cross the room and examine his mum's eye.

"Oh, that's nothing," she laughed breezily, shaking her head. "I fell doing the washing, and smacked my head on the table - it was stupid."

The way she laughed meant she was lying. Khamil turned to Rob, a rising temper in his gut. Rob looked back at him, putting his beer down on the counter.

"She just said she fell over, what you looking at me for?"

"You're a fucking liar."

Something switched on Rob's face, and his casual air suddenly dissipated into a glint that looked far more dangerous. 

"You what?"

"Rob, just leave it. Khamil, it wasn't him."

"Fuck all, it wasn't him."

"You want to stop using that language right now," Rob warned, his tone menacing. 

"Do I, Rob? Really? Or what, you're gonna give me a black eye too?" 

Khamil had walked closer to Rob, inches away from him, with a sardonic smile playing on his face - void of fear or concern. Rob held his look darkly, and then he began to laugh weirdly. Perhaps that had been an attempt to throw Khamil off, for five seconds later, he'd been shoved by Rob, just hard enough to make him stumble - just hard enough to establish some dominance.

"Khamil, leave!" 

Refusing to back down, Khamil kept his eyes on Rob, as he felt himself pushed out of the now open door - then it slammed shut, leaving him outside in the stairway. It was his mum who had pushed him out, in the midst of her shouting, for Rob had resorted to hurling abuse until the door closed. Khamil slammed his fist on the door, before kicking it with his shoe, though there was no response from the other side, just a low murmuring. Khamil pressed his ear against the door, listening for any further disruption, but any unsettlement seemed to have calmed now, resolved at his banishment. After a couple more minutes of listening through the door, Khamil decided it was calm enough inside to get out his phone and dial in a number.

"Yo, Gaz. Can I chill at yours for a bit?"