The Medium Kid

Chapter 17

After their immensely successful date, Alfie asked if they could go back to Koda's house. He said that the connection there might be stronger and more comfortable for him to hold.

Koda agreed, surprised by how he forgot about his mother, even if it was only for an hour.

They were sitting on a bus a few stops away from Koda's house, and Alfie was trying not to feel too giddy. Koda sat right next to him, and their arms and legs were touching. Every bump in the road seemed to push them closer together, not that Alfie minded. All he thought about was when he turned his head, and Koda kissed him on the cheek instead.

He wondered how those lips would feel if they were pressed firmly against his mouth, and the thought was enough to send a shiver down his spine. At least now he knew that Koda did like him, and unlocking that information was worth the sacrifice of a kiss. The kiss on the cheek was good enough, for now.

"Is your dad in?" Alfie asked after they stepped off the bus and it trudged down the street, old and tired. It looked like it was about to fall apart and felt that way throughout the whole journey.

"His car's here," Koda replied, staring at the black vehicle parked wonky on their drive.

Alfie looked at the house in front of him. It was a cute little bungalow with a row of dying flowers in plant pots along the path. Alfie wondered if Enya used to do the gardening before passing away. He often cogitated whether Koda had noticed, or would notice small changes in the house where only his mother would touch up, or fret over specific things.

At his house, Tom, his father, was a very neat and tidy person, but Molly would follow him, neatening things up her way like folding the blankets with the patterned side up or arranging the couch cushions in a particular order, or moving stuff around even though they had their own space.

Alfie frowned to himself when he remembered that his dad no longer lived with them, but at least he could still visit whenever he wanted. Koda would never see his mother again, and the realisation washed over him. His parents might have split, but at least they were still in his life.

"Dad?" Koda yelled into the hallway after unlocking the door.

"Do you have an attic?" Alfie asked after hearing nothing but the birds chirping in the tree outside the front window.

"Yes."

"Does it have stairs or a ladder because if it has stairs, doesn't that defeat the point of your house being a bungalow?"

Koda paused, midway through pulling off a shoe. He stared quizzically at Alfie. "Um-"

"Actually, don't answer that," Alfie sighed, slipping off his own shoes with a simple wobble of each leg. He swallowed hard and pursed his lips into a thin line.

"Are you okay?" Koda asked, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Alfie stood very still as if he was focusing on his touch. "I know you've already met my dad. Was he really that bad?"

"It's not that." Alfie looked around. Even though it was daytime, everything around him seemed dull and meaningless and dark. The moment he stepped through the door, a weight pressed on his head like he was holding something heavier than himself. All the sorrow, despair, sadness, every distraught emotion poured over him like a waterfall that threatened to knock him off his feet. "Your house has never felt like home to you, has it?" The way Koda's eyes latched onto his gave a clear answer.

"How did you know?" Koda was shocked.

"It was never home to your mother either." Alfie felt the weight of Koda's hand slip away as he lowered his arm, replaced by a cold feeling in his throat like he had swallowed a large ice cube. "Your house. It just feels so... cold." He didn't mean temperature wise. It held little to no character despite photos on the wall, a purple rug to match the frame around the mirror hanging above a row of three hooks for door keys, each with a name underneath: Enya, Koda, Morlen.