The Grieving

Chapter One

"Move along, move along" droned the loud speaker with an occasional deafening squeal. People were pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line. I tried to stand my ground but it's hard when your small 5"1 figure gets pushed around like a paper bag. An especially tall figure rammed past my shoulder and the force shoved me to the ground. Dirt flew into my eyes and my hands stung. I felt anger rise up from the pit of my stomach and into my throat. "Hey! Hey!" I yelled over the crowd. I rose up to my tippy toes and could just barely see the back of his head disappear from my limited vision. I cursed under my breath and brushed off my patchwork jacket. I continued on to the front of the line. I needed to get home before it was too late. I huffed impatiently and attempted to clean out my disgusting fingernails.

After almost an hour, I could finally see the community food stand. I reached into my back pocket and felt the food tickets just to make sure they were still there. Ever since my mother lost her job, the food tickets were our only chance for food. The line slowly crept closer to the front when I saw the man who pushed me over before. I mean, who is this guy? Why does he think it's ok for him to do that? I opened my mouth to say something when the monotone voice came to life through the speakers. "There is no more food today. Please try again tomorrow." He sounded so unapologetic, which didn't help anything. For the last three day the stand have run out of food early. My poor little brother peter couldn't get skinnier. I could feel the tears of pure anger and regret about to spill out of my eyes. I clenched my fists and dug my nails into my skin. I searched the crowds and saw him. He was at the very front of the line and he had received the last package of food.

That was it. I put my hand on the shoulder of the person in front of me and shoved them to the ground. I was surprised at my own strength when I was angry. She yelped in pain, but I continued on shoving and elbowing everyone out of my way leaving a path of fallen people in my wake. I kept my stare on him and didn't look away. As I made my way over  he glanced around and his eyes locked on mine. He hid his emotions well, but I could see the fear behind his eyes. He then started to briskly walk away effortlessly because of his long legs. I started to jog after him to keep up. He sped up, but so did I until I was sprinting full speed. He ran his way down paths my family and I learned to avoid. The streets got narrower and rougher as we ran on. My hair stuck to my neck and sweat made my vision blurry. I forced air into my lungs and could feel the cramps in my calfs that I knew would soon make their way to the rest of me, but I kept running after him when all of a sudden, he disappeared into the woods. I slowed to a stop and bent down to catch my breath, when I saw the sun sinking.
S***

Fear filled my chest and I dashed back the way I came. If father finds out... I'm done. My legs carried me faster than I ever thought they could. My hair strayed from it's pony tail holder and it whipped behind me. I turned corner after corner and finally saw our small concrete home. It was a simple square with two small square windows and a simple wooden door. I jogged up the walkway and whipped open the door to see father standing there with a bottle of beer in his hand. A beer the same price as a dinner. Anger and fear filled my whole body and I froze on the spot in the doorway.
"Where you been girl?" He slurred while taking another drink of beer that dribbled down his unshaven face. His eyes looked foggy and his hoodie was wrinkled and stained. I looked over his shoulder to try to find mother and Peter, but I didn't see them.
"I said, where you been girl?"

"Where's mama?" I whispered, giving him a glare.

"Don't you worry about that. Now I'm not gonna ask again, Where you been?" His tone harshened and he attempted to take a step forward but had to lean against the wall.

"The food line." I croaked while looking at my feet.

"And?! Did you get anything?" He said while jabbing  a finger at me.

"No. T-they ran out again." I looked up to look at him.

He paused and took in a deep breath. His sneer turned to into an evil smile. He laughed and slowly sunk to the ground. His head leaned against the wall and his eyes closed.

"Shut that door." He said with sudden calmness. My eyes stayed on him, but my hand moved behind me and pulled the door shut. The moment the door creaked closed, he slammed his beer bottle against the floor and shattered glass flew everywhere. I covered my eyes with my arm and ducked down.
"Where's mama!" I shout with sudden confidence.

He slowly turned his head to look at me and pointed lazily out the window. I scrambled to my feet and yanked the door open slamming it closed behind me as I ran out. I rushed out behind the house and relief flooded me. Peter and mama were playing with sticks in the dirt. I ran to them and hugged them both tightly.