Broken Home

7 | Beautiful Boy

The drive to the high school is silent. Charles doesn't like it at all. It isn't like his dad to keep this quiet around him.

"I'm sorry," Charles apologizes once again. "I know what I did was wrong. Mom grounded me."

"Is it because of me?"

"What?"

"I know I've been asking for too much with the baby. I'm so sorry."

"No, she's my sister. I don't mind helping you with her."

"You can be honest with me. I won't get mad."

"I don't mind, dad. I know you could use the help. Things are a lot harder now."

"You won't have to worry about that anymore. I'm figuring it out. You'll just enjoy being a kid, as long as you're responsible about it."

"Are you sure? I can ask mom if I can stay with you a little more. You know, at least until Jellybean settles in more. She doesn't need to know why."

"She knows Gladys left, son."

"Oh," Charles already knew that. "So is that a yes?"

"Charlie, enjoy being young. Don't worry about me. I've got it."

"Okay," Charles nods.

FP sees the frown on his face. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the help and love having you around, but you should also have that with your mom. I'll survive. I promise."

"Bye," Charles hops out the car right as they get to the high school.

"I'll check in with you later."

+

FP sits down with Fred for lunch. What happened with Charles has been on his mind all morning.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Fred says.

"Charles had Jingle Jangle on him last night. It took me and Alice by surprise."

"Charles?" Fred couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I don't understand what happened. Did we do something wrong? This isn't our boy."

"You haven't done anything wrong. Maybe he's just at that age where he's getting curious. He's not a little boy anymore. We can't protect him from everything in this world. It's not like we weren't experimenting with Fizzle Rocks at his age." Fred says. "All you can do now is guide him to make good choices on his own."

"He said he didn't have any."

"Do you believe him?"

"Am I a fool for believing he's telling the truth?"

Fred shakes his head. "We can always trust a gut feeling. He's a good kid. Even if he did, I believe he'll always make a good choice in the end."

"I believe him. I don't have a reason to think he would lie to me. But ever since Alice told me she's picked up on him acting strange, I can't help but to think if something is up."

"There's been a lot of changes in his life. Maybe he's just adjusting like you are."

"I suppose so."

+

Charles lifts his shirt in front of the bathroom mirror. He presses two fingers against his ribcage. He winced at the touch. His torso is covered in bruises; some fresh, some healing.

He drops his shirt and gets stiff when the bathroom door creaks open. A boy from the football team comes in.

"Hey," Chic glances over at him. He looks around and Charles shakes his head no. There's no one else in the bathroom. He goes over to his boyfriend and offers him a kiss. Charles doesn't react. "What's wrong?"