I woke up the next morning, early of course but decided to lie in a few hours, I picked up a book from my bedside table and started reading. It was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and although I had read it at least 50 times it was still my favourite. After about 2 hours I got a text message from my mum asking to skype in an hour so I replied with a yes. i got out of bed, had my shower and did my hair and makeup and when I was all ready I sat down at my computer to skype my parents.
They came online, and the first thing I noticed was their tan! My mum never tans she just goes pink like a lobster yet here in front of me she was a beautiful golden brown, her dark hair complimented her face and together they made her look healthy and happy too. Im glad for that, home recently had been tense. My parents had had this holiday booked for nearly a year but the last 3 months before their departure had been awful.
Flashback about 5 years and you meet my 17 year old brother Joey. He had always been a good brother; he always looked out for me especially when dad was ill. He would stay up late with me just holding me while I cryed my eyes out, scared to see whether or not my dad made the night. Soon enough he started being around the house less and less and eventually he moved out saying it was better for him to stay with his friends. He stopped contacting us completely, the last thing I heard from him was a text message saying: "sorry for not being around anymore, but I really can't take it, you're a strong girl so just take care of yourself." The text had come from a pay as you go phone that was found in the lost property bin at the library, that's it. Joey had removed himself from my life. I was left to deal with my ill dad and my stressed mum and missing brother, I was 15.
3 months ago, Joey turned up at home. Completely out of the blue, he had grown his hair long and didn't look like he had had a shower or a shave in while. He had bloodshot eyes and he was shaking; obviously the effects from whatever drug it was he smoking or inhaling these days. Mum was ready to cry and dad was consoling her, I stormed into the living room shoving past my dad who was trying to stop me. "What the FUCK do you think you're doing here? Huh?" I screamed, he stood there, staring at me and then burst out laughing. I walked up to him and slapped him, hard in the face, which stopped him laughing.
"Don't do this to me Ally, come on. You know you can't do this to me... im your big brother Joey. Go on. Up to your room and I'll just have a quick chat with mum and dad and be on my way." He said, he used this horrible voice patronising me. My hands balled up into fists by my side and I felt my dad pull me away. He stood up looked Joey right in the face and said "get out" before pushing him through the door and slamming it shut in his face.
For the next two months Joey had been round a few times, begging for money and my parents had told them the same thing every time. If he wants their money, he lives under their roof, and by their rules. And every time Joey had got aggressive and dad had pushed him through the door. Luckily we hadn't seen him for about 5 weeks now which is the only reason my parents had gone on their holiday. They promised to Skype me every other day to make sure I was safe and hadn't managed to fall down the stairs and kill myself; I can be so clumsy at times!
Dad came into view on the laptop too, and like mum he too had caught the sun. he was darker then mum was but with large red patches on his shoulders, he always refused sun cream claiming his skin could handle it and mum always had to force him to apply it.
"Hey sweetheart! Your alive!! How you doing?" he asked
"Im great thanks, how's the Maldives? You enjoying yourselves?"
"Oh my goodness, Alison! You are definitely coming with us next time! We went to the this underwater restaurant, it's like a tunnel and you can see all the fish and sharks around you as you eat. It's phenomenal!" mum said. I looked at her with a wary expression on my face. I had never been a fan of water, I wasn't a confident swimmer and I often had a recurring nightmare where someone threw me into the water and I drowned and died.
"Alison, your completely safe, there is nothing to worry about! Anyway, what have you been upto since we last chatted? I hope you haven't been in bed all day everyday." I hesitated, unsure as whether or not I should mention my date with Josh. I decided to go for it.
"well actually mum, I went out last night... on a date" I said. She stared at me and started grinning, waiting for me to tell her more details. "he was really nice and the date was lovely."
"You bore, Ally! Come on, tell me his name, what does he look like? Where did he take you?" I still wasn't completely sure what was happening between us, we had only had the one date after all.
"umm... im not mentioning names because it's still very early days... he looks, well... gorgeous! He has lovely chocolatey brown hair with blue eyes,and he is tall. he took me to dinner on a cruise boat, and then we danced. In the moonlight. On the top deck of the boat." I finished, I was trying really hard not to hide my smile but just thinking about last night, it was impossible. My mum started laughing as the smile broke through and I bit the inside of my cheeks to stop myself laughing with her. My dad's face just stayed staring at mine. "Okay Ally, im trusting you to be sensible though, you obviously like him and I definitely don't want to hear anything about the two of you but be careful okay hun?"
It must be scary for dads, right? The day their little girl turns around and tells him that they like a boy, they want to protect their girl but they dont want to impose on the relationship either and have their girl push them away.
I looked at my dad and said "I promise, I'll be good. And if there is any problems I will tell you or mum, okay? But the doorbell is ringing, so im gonna go now, have fun, enjoy your holiday. I love you"
"I love you too, darling, byee" and I shut the laptop. I jumped up to answer the door and very nearly slammed it shut again, horrified at what I was seeing. Joey slumped on the doorstep, a bottle of vodka smashed on the ground, halfway up the driveway. His face was pale and his breathing was really irregular. He looked up at me, his eyes struggling to focus before they rolled in to the back of his head and his head fell forward. I raced up the stairs and straight to my mobile, ringing for an ambulance while sprinting down the stairs. I put Joey into the recovery position as instructed and sat holding his hand until the ambulance arrived. I told the paramedics what I had seen, the bottle smashed in the driveway and the moment where he lost consciousness. They put him on a stretcher and wheeled him into the ambulance. I climbed in and we raced to the hospital.
