Broken Words

Chapter 7- 27/10/18

Joe glanced around his room for the last time. It all seemed so small. Maybe it was because he'd grown up, his head now just scraping the ceiling.

He barely fit in the bed now, his feet sticking out of the covers, inviting any demons that lived under the bed to pull him down to hell.

The wardrobe was probably the part that had changed the most. It had gone from being filled with brightly coloured cartoon shirts and drawings on the back wall when he'd first arrived. When he was twelve, it had been painted over and was filled with tracksuits, just baggy sweatpants as far as the eye could see. And now that he was eighteen, he was a bit smarter about what he bought and wore, only buying things he knew looked good on him. He'd started drawing on the back of the wardrobe again, random song lyrics and phone numbers.

He wasn't really sure why he did. It was most likely because of the prying eyes of everyone in this house, all suspicious if they saw him writing something, even if it was just a shopping list.

He hated it here, he'd hated it ever since he arrived at seven years old after that awful day at the carnival.

"Joe, are you nearly done?" Mike called up the stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute," He replied.

For the last time in his life, he fixed the ugly green curtains, opening them just enough to allow a small degree of sunlight to stream onto the bed. The covers were nostalgia inducing, covered in superheroes and cars. Mike had no idea what he liked when he was originally dropped there, so he'd gone out and gotten them handmade with anything that seven year old boys liked. It'd been really nice at the time, it showed Joe that someone still cared.

"Bye," He mumbled, his shaking hand finding the doorknob.

Behind him, the door shut. The end of a miserable chapter in his life, the hopeful beginning of a new one.

Mike was sat in his office, papers spread out in front of him. He looked solemn and forlorn, though Joe doubted it was because of him, he'd done nothing but cause trouble for Mike. No, Gina had probably eaten his favourite donut again.

"Hey Joey," He said when Joe walked in, flashing him a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hi Mike."

"I just need you to fill out some of these and then you can be on your way."

Joe sat down in silence and began to fill out the forms, painfully aware that Mike's eyes bore into him like spotlights.

"Have you got a place to stay?" Mike asked after a while, breaking the silence.

"Not really. I think I'm just gonna check into a hotel,"Joe replied, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Can I ask you a question?"

Mike nodded.

"Why did my mother leave me?"

For so long, that question had been burning on his lips, the cause of his frustration and his restlessness. Often times he'd wondered that if he knew why, he'd maybe understand.

Mike took a long moment before saying anything, staring at Joe as if trying to figure out whether it was right to tell him.

"Mike, just tell me."

"Ok, ok. We're not really sure. I'm being serious Joey, no one knows. I don't understand as to why she left, I never do when it comes to this kind of thing."

Tears began to well up in Joe's eyes. Of course Mike wouldn't understand, he'd never had kids. Neither Mike nor Joe would understand what Joe had done for his mother to choose to leave him behind.