The Blue Boy

Dad, Please.

Larry and I lounge around in his room for a while. Both of us seem comfortable without talking, seeing as we have his radio on.

I almost fall asleep a couple times, but I manage to stay awake.

After my shower, Larry had let me wear some of his clothes. I was wearing an old pair of jeans that don't fit him anymore, a baggy white t-shirt, and his sweatshirt.

Something was wrong with the heater and Lisa hasn't had time to fix it yet, so it's chilly in his room.

"Larbear?" I say, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" He turns to look at me, "What's up?"

"Can you sing?" The question is weird but it just popped into my head and I want to start conversation.

He thinks for a second, "Dunno, never really tried," he smiles, "Mom can, though, it's really pretty,"

I smile, too, as I imagine Lisa singing. Larry could've gotten some skills from her. "Could you sing something?"

"Like what?" He turns the radio volume down.

I shrug and continue to stare at the ceiling from his bed, "Something...like pop but not pop, 'cus that normally sucks,"

He laughs and thinks of something.

He starts singing a song that I recognize: Galaway Girl by Ed Sheeran.

His singing voice is pretty deep, somewhere between a tenor and a baritone. The lyrics roll off his tongue smoothly and he makes it sound like a lullaby.

I push my prosthetic up and start singing along softly.

Soon, we're singing in a good harmony, my voice is more of a tenor.

We finish the song out and we're both smiling. "You got a good singing voice, dude," he gives me a high five and turns up the radio again.

We sit in silence again for a while.

"Larbear?" I ask again, some tension in my voice this time.

"Yeah, Sally Face?" He looks at me again. His eyes are curious and attentive.

I fiddle around with my fingers, "Remember when I asked about taking my dad somewhere?"

He hesitates, "Mhm,"

"Could we...?" I sit up on the edge of his bed, "Try that today?"

He stands up and hugs me, grasping the back of my shirt. "Yeah, of course," He backs away and heads for the door, waiting for me.

I grab my bag and get some stuff out since I have everything in there--like my phone, wallet, and apartment key cards. Larry just sticks his phone in his pocket.

"You'll be going in with me, right?" I ask, my voice sounds small even though I try to sound big.

He smiles confidently, "Of course I will,"

This boosts my mood and we head upstairs.

When we get to my apartment, I move my hand up to put my card in. I hold my hand in the air for a minute while I start to get flashbacks.

I hold my stomach as if it would help. He puts a hand on my shoulder and I turn to look at him.

"You got this, Sally dude," Again, he gives me a confident grin. He doesn't know what happens.

I breathe out and slide my card in, opening the door. The smells are the first thing that hit me: Alcohol, piss, and sweat.

Larry covers his mouth and nose while he steps inside.

Gizmo runs over to me and hides behind my legs, meowing. His hair is standing on edge.

Soon, we see my dad slowly make his way to us--drunk off his ass. Hell, he still has a bottle of vodka in his hand.

"That fucking cat scratched me," He takes another step towards us, "I want it gone,"

I flinch and back up a step.

"I want you gone, too," He tries to take a swing at me, but he has no coordination, "you and your pothead boyfriend," He seems to just now notice Larry.

Larry steps between me and my dad.

"Why don't we get you some water, sir?" He asks, trying to sound respectful.

My dad snarls, "Fuck off,"

Larry looks more annoyed, but he keeps being kind. "Let's get you some water, sir," He takes my dad by the shoulder and guides him into the kitchen.

He sneakily eases the bottle out of his hand and hands it to me.

Dad seems sort of calm as he chugs a bottle of water.

I pick up Gizmo and calm him down, still staying a good distance away from Dad. He nuzzles into my hair and purrs.

"Psst, Sal," Larry waves me over.

Dad has gone into a daze, and he's just staring off into space.

"Help me carry him out to my car," He whispers. I nod promptly and set Gizmo down on the couch.

I rest his arms over my shoulders and we get him outside--slowly but surely. Thankfully, nobody is in the halls to question us.

I remembered to grab all of my money. The money that I had been saving up for a skin graft. I hope I can save up again.

We lay him in the back seat of Larry's Subaru Outback. It seems like an older model, maybe 2001? It doesn't really matter, if it drives, we're fine.

"Shotgun," I say and laugh. He gives me a toothy smirk.

"So where is this place?" He starts the engine up and everything comes to life.

I read off the directions as we come to them. One left, another left, we come to a fork--we go straight for a long time, a right, and we're there.

A thought comes to mind, "Fuck!" I exclaim, grabbing Larry's phone, seeing as he's still driving.

"What is it?" He seems worried.

"We didn't let Lisa know we were leaving," I rapidly text out a message for her while he parks.

"Shit," He parks close to the front, "You did text her, right?"

I nod and we struggle to get my dad out of the back seat. An employee taking a smoke break notices us and helps us get him inside.

"Sit him right here, sir, and someone will help you at the front desk," they go back out and finish their break.

Larry stays with him while I go talk to the receptionist.

She has short brown hair that was styled in a pixie cut. A pair of small, rectangle glasses sits on the end of her nose. She seems very motherly, even though she's pretty young.

"How can I help you..sir?" She says questioningly. I nod.

"Hey, so I brought my dad here, hoping you could help him," I pause, "do I need an ID?"

"No, sir, but how old are you and what's your name?" She smiles warmly at me and looks behind me at my dad.

"Sal Fisher, and I'm 15," She types that into her computer. "My friend Larry Johnson drove me here, he's 16, dunno if you need that, too,"

"Thank you," She types that in, too. "And your father's name?"

"Henry Fisher,"

"A nurse will call you back shortly for more personal questions," She smiles warmly at me.

"Thank you so much," I take a seat next to Larry and do my breathing exercises. This situation is pretty stressful.

"Hey, hey, you're okay, dude," Larry puts his hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "Your dad seems like he's just sleeping now,"

I smile and lean into him.

Thank god he's here with me.

Hey so i realized that i messed up a little with the timeline, i acted like this was a weekend instead of a weekday. my apologies if that annoyed any of you guys