choke ↣ joshler ✓

9. Slap

When Josh came home from school the next day, he was in utter shock at the scene in front of him.

His mom looked sober and his dad was home.

This was a rare occurrence but when it did occur, it never ended good.

"You're a low life, good for nothin', deadbeat!" His father shouted as he walked into his bedroom that was on the first floor.

"You made me like this, you asshole!" His mother yelled back. "I was a person before I met ya 'nd then ya broke me! Ya fuckin' broke me, Bill!" She continued, following him into the bedroom. The door slammed shut but Josh could still hear the volume of their voices, although the words were muffled.

Josh stood by his front door for a few moments before he saw Jordan walking down the steps, tears running down his face. His little brother was always too emotional for his own good. Josh sighed when he saw him. "Ya okay, bud?"

"No," Jordan's lip quivered and he wiped the tears on his cheeks with the back of his hand. He walked a little bit towards Josh but stopped, standing there in defeat.

Josh frowned, about to say something when his parents' door opened back up. Bill stormed out, rolling their only suitcase behind them. "Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me?" Laura shouted, walking out behind him. "You're leavin' to move in with that blonde bitch you've been fuckin'?"

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Bill turned around and slapped their mom. She gasped and stumbled back, holding her now bright red cheek. "Don' ya dare talk about her like that," he growled.

"Don' touch her!" Jordan shouted, tears still clinging to his cheeks.

"You wanna run your mouth like your mama, boy?" Bill began heading towards Jordan and that's when Josh snapped. He didn't care about a lot of things but he did care about his siblings and his friends.

"Hey, asshole!" Josh shouted, gaining his dad's attention. Bill turned around and Josh punched him in the face, hearing his nose crack as he did so.

Bill staggered ever so slightly and Josh smirked when he saw the blood gushing from his nose. "Ya fucker..." Bill muttered and advanced towards Josh this time.

"What the hell is goin' on— Josh!"

He heard Ashley come down but before he could even register it, his own father had punched him back. Right in the jaw over where his bruise from Frank had finally almost healed up. It wasn't completely healed though so it hurt like a bitch. "Oh, fuck you," Josh grumbled before tackling him to the ground and landing punch after punch to his face.

"Josh! Josh! You're goin' kill 'im!" Ashley yelled, attempting to pull him off of their father. The word "kill" triggered something in his mind and he quickly scrambled off the man. He couldn't get caught. He'd die before he got caught.

The pink haired watched as his dad stood up, wiping the blood flowing from his nose. He spit blood on to their already heavily stained carpet. Josh took this as an opportunity to settle things. "Grab your shit and leave. If ya ever— and I mean ever —come back into this house again, I'll kill ya with my own damn hands. Ya understand?"

Bill did nothing except spit blood out one last time, making sure it landed on Josh's shirt, before grabbing his suitcase and exiting the house. He even made sure to slam the door behind him for added effect.

"God damn, I need a drink," Laura mumbled as she walked into the kitchen.

"Are ya serious right now?" Ashley scoffed loudly so their mother could hear. "Josh just beat his own dad's ass to save yours and ya goin' go drink yaself unconscious?"

"Pretty much."

It was silent after that. Ashley shook her head and went back upstairs and Jordan burst into tears again. Josh rubbed his jaw from before, bringing his other arm out in an invitation for Jordan to hug him. The thirteen year old accepted it and hugged Josh tightly. The older removed his hand from his face so he could hug his brother properly.

The stood like that for a few moments before pulling back. "Go upstairs. After mom passes out I'll make dinner."

"Okay," Jordan sniffled as he nodded, turning and walking up the stairs.

All Josh knew was that he officially had plans for tonight.

---

"That fucker!" Josh yelled, landing another punch to the pillow on Dallon's couch. It was the only thing he could do as of now while they waited for Ashley to get here. She had to steal her mom's car because there was no way in hell Josh was going to wait for her and pick her up. He was already pissed.

"Do ya know where he's stayin'?" Brendon asked from where he sat on the chair, attempting to solve a Rubik's Cube.

"No. He's stayin' with some young blonde bitch."

"It wouldn't be hard to find," Dallon pointed out. "The town's not big it would only take about an hour if we searched each individual street and that's only if she lives on the last one. Do you know your dad's license plate number?"

"Yeah," Josh nodded.

Suddenly the door opened and Ashley entered, looking frazzled. "Hi, sorry," she breathed out as she shut the door behind her. "I hurried as fast as I could. What happened?" She asked worriedly when her eyes met the bruise reforming on Josh's face.

"Bill," he grumbled, not using the word 'dad' or 'father.' He hadn't used those words since he was 14– three years ago —when he started realizing his dad was a piece of shit. He had been cheating on his mom a lot longer than that but that's when she broke and began doing drugs and drinking. He didn't blame her for getting hurt but he was pissed as hell that she decided to hurt her kids as well in the process.

"He hit ya?" Ashley's eye widened.

"Ya should see him," Josh smiled weakly. Ashley approached him and gently rubbed her thumb over the bruise before pressing a light kiss to Josh's cheek. They had always been close even if the actions they did could be considered romantic they were always platonic.

When Ashley pulled back, Josh saw her face get slightly red from anger. "What were you talkin' about before I walked in?"

"How we'd probably be able to find where he was staying if we looked around town," Dallon explained.

Ashley walked back over to the door and threw it open before looking back at her friends. "Let's go," she told them. "He better hope we don' find him. I'm goin' kill that fucker."