Tacit ; Stanlon

II

effort

mike finished writing his daily entry well before he left the house for school, he just had so much on his mind and the pen didn't seem to stop moving, when he snapped the book shut he had wrote at least three pages worth. he pulled the football flyer out from the front cover, looking it over and swallowing thickly. i at the bottom of the page, signed in small print was the name of the coach, a name that made his stomach pinch and twist.

𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠

oscar 'butch' bowers, was the father of the narcissistic son, henry bowers. if you thought henry was a pain in the ass, his father was ten times worse, only you couldn't talk back to him. michael felt that nauseous feeling once again as he tucked the flyer back into his journal cover as if it was a top secret confidential file.

"michael avery hanlon , get down here and get some breakfast boy!," the sound of his mother's voice filled up the walls of the cozy farmhouse, this caused him to shove his worn book into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and walking downstairs. the smell of ginger and honey filled his nose as he set his bag beside his usual chair at the breakfast table.

his mother was at the stove, flipping a few more gingerbread waffles, one of mike's favorites. beside that was a pot of oatmeal, and a container of fresh peaches from the farm. in the background, aretha franklin, 'day dreaming' was playing at a gentle hum.

"mornin' ma," mike grinned as he stepped behind his mother and kissed her cheek, squeezing her shoulder firmly as she chuckled.

his mother was about a foot shorter than him, kind in the face as he was, and managed to grow only a few gray hairs. she looked young, way much younger than she actually was.

"glad one of you decided to come down, go on and sit at the table."

he nodded, going to take his seat at the six seater, wooden table. his father was reading the morning paper, sipping at his...what smelled like mint tea.

"mornin' son."

"hey dad," he grinned over at the man who had set the paper down.

as his mother set the table, making up both mike's and her husband's plates before making her own and an extra one for beverly, his father gave him the run down of the chores.

"until you get settled in your classes, i'll give you until next week, i'll allow you to handle all your farm work after school. after that, it's back to morning chores. understood?"

his father was a pretty strict man but he was easy going as long as you respected him and did as he said. that was a pretty simple task for mike and at this age he was done with trying to get out of farm chores. they were inevitable at this point, besides he loved working with the animals...hence why he was vegan. his favorite animals had to be the lambs and cows, there was just something about their gentle nature that mike could really sit down and appreciate.

the stairs creaked as beverly walked down, a long sleeved crop top on and a pair of ripped skinny jeans tucked into a pair of combat boots. she had changed her nose ring to a emerald green stud and her hair was pushed from her face with a thick head band.

jessica hanlon tutted and pointed directly at the girl's stomach, "by the time you leave this house that will be covered. you know how i feel about that little belly poking out."