BURN ; phan

n i n e

This was Phil's second suspension in a semester. If he were to be suspended again, he would either get expelled or serve time in Out of School Suspension. Kathryn wasted no time taking Phil's phone, computer, anything else that could be pulled in that wasn't his alarm clock. When she yelled at him and he didn't say a word - per usual - she threatened to take away his paints, that's when Phil ticked.

She stood three feet away from Phil, her hair tied back into a sloppy mess that just barley kept all of the hairs in place. She wore her work scrubs, only fuzzy socks on her feet. The suspension letter was sat just inches away from her hand as she leaned across the kitchen island. 

She hated getting mad at Phil.

"What the hell has gotten into you? Suspended, twice? What is going on? You never talk to me, I don't know how your day has been or what you ate for lunch. And they expect me to know everything about my kids - because god help them do anything without me knowing - but I'm not like that, you know this! I don't want to know what Martyn ate for lunch or what he shit up earlier. I don't go through your phones or your laptops or your rooms, you have your space. But God damn it, Phil, you are really gonna make me into one of those moms. The moms who download phone trackers and don't let you have girlfriends!"

Her neck and face grew red and blotchy, Phil could feel the coldness in his bones. He shook his leg, his mother stretched her arm. Poor circulation, all of them are cold, skeletons just drifting in and out of this home disguised as perfect.

Despite the miles and miles of water Phil swam to avoid his mother, all of the oceans and kilometers of water seemed to close up when he noticed how much he was like his mother. They both had the shaggy red/brown/blonde hair, light eyebrows, the slight bump in their crooked noses. Not only did Phil have his mothers hips, and her spine - both of theirs had which suffered from a slight curve that did cause sleepless nights - he had her qualities. She was polite and quiet, but loud when needed to be. She didn't raise her hand to answer the question on the board, but she always had the answer just in case. 

She turned back to him, sucking on her teeth. She held her palm out toward him. "Phone. Now."

Phil rolled his eyes, slipping the device out of his back pocket and handing it over to the woman in front of him. She took it from his grasp, eyes widening when she saw his torn and tattered knuckles. 

"What is that?" She grabbed his wrist, the phone neglected onto the counter. The boy winced at her iron grip, she didn't loosen. Flipping his hand over, he tried to pull away when she touched the scabs. "You're fighting? Again. You already hit that Nathan kid - his mom could have pressed charges!" 

She dropped his hand, limb falling loosely by his side. He retracted his wrist against his chest, holding his hand over the bruised knuckles to shield it from her mother's eyes. And then he could see the match thrown over the fire and the flames burst as she removed herself from the island, pushing past him and storming up the stairs. 

"That is it! I am taking EVERYTHING!"  But she was already up the stairs before Phil could even curse.

Stood in his own doorway, he watched her unplug everything in his room. Laptop, phone charger, lamps, lights, anything that needed electricity. Holding multiple large objects in her hands, she stormed past him, out of his door and dumped everything into the hallway. Martyn peaked his head out, making eye contact with his little brother and mumbling a soft, 'sucks to suck' before retreating back behind his door of safety.

Meanwhile, the small confines of Phil's room were being torn in half, including Phil's mother as she seriously invades his safe space. She crosses her arms across her chest at her youngest son, standing in the middle of his bedroom while he stood in the doorway still. He hadn't said one word, he hadn't hinted at any emotions in his face or movements. He was still.