Fully dressed, Cage slid down into the dry bathtub as electronic music buzzed quietly on the radio next to him. The sixteen-year-old lit a cigarette and closed his eyes, submersing himself in thoughts. 'I can't take much more of this shit' he thought to himself. 'This shit' as he referred to was the constant depression and anger he felt. This all couldn't be contributed to just fucked up chemicals of a developing teen brain neither. Poor as dirt and broken like a crashed freight train, his family plummeted into disaster. He seemed to be the only one who carried the ache of the situations in his heart where ever he went.
He sat up as the cigarette came close to being finished. 'Damn, my last one.' he thought. 'I'll have to steal more from my mom. Dammit!' While being able to steal and lie well had its benefits, the acts still left dark spots on his soul. "Oh well. You gotta do what you gotta do." he spoke audibly for the first time all day. His voice had a certain southern drawl to it; hardly noticeable, but yet distinguished. A trait brought forth from the deep south of Alabama.
Cage was far from being a redneck though. He found a more modern and civilized approach on life suited him best. He got out of the tub and walked out of the bathroom into the hallway of the run down trailer that he had to call home. After making something to drink, he settled on the couch and began watching television.
Hours later, his mom came home. She didn't work, but she usually spent the Majority of the day at Cage's grandmothers home.
"Why in the hell is it so filthy in here?" she screamed at Cage as she looked around.
"I don't know. Why don't you ask the ones who made the mess?" Cage said, referring to his brothers. He had three, each one larger than him, each one sloppy as pigs. They left the place in filth, then rode off to their friend's houses, leaving the mess to fall on Cage to clean.He looked back to see his mom standing out.beside the trailer with a fierce look on her face.
Cage rode out of the trailer park to a fence lining the woods beside it. After hiding his bike in some bushes, he climbed the fence and walked a short ways to a small clearing. The clearing was his place of comfort, an escape from life when he needed one. His clearing was sacred; nobody else in the world could know about it. It was his place. Though the trees he could see clouds reflect magnificent colors as the sun set. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled. He felt relaxed as he laid against a tree, gazing upward. 'Why can't life always be this relaxed and nice? Well, minus the bugs.' he thought to himself as he swatted a mosquito from his arm. Thinking about the day, stealing from his mom didn't seem as bad anymore to him.
It started to get dark, so Cage made his way back over the fence and rode his bike back home. He walked in and saw his mom laying on the couch watching one of her shows on the T.V. He stood in the doorway and stared at her for a moment.
"What do you want?" She said harshly.
"Nothing." Cage said quietly, then made his way to his room. She hadn't always been this way. Before, Cage and his mom had been pretty close. That all changed when his dad died. His dad had always had a way of keeping everyone settle, and kept the family all together nicely. After the tragedy, his family had slowly began to fall apart. First his brothers and him started fighting mercilessly, then his mother and him drifted apart.
Cage walked into his room and closed his door. The room was small, almost closet sized. Only a bed and two dressers fit with little walk space in between.
He laid back on his bed and fell asleep.
At school the next day, Cage sat alone at break quietly on his laptop. A he caught up on work, he felt someone staring at him. He looked up and saw a girl he didn't recognize sitting at a bench a few yards in front of him. 'My hair must be messed up or something.' He thought nervously as he glanced back down at the screen. Cage was socially awkward. He couldn’t talk to most people, even if he wanted to. Anxiety took over and he made himself look like a fool. Most people avoided him anyways. Pretty girls like that didn't look at him unless something was wrong with his appearance. He had mahogany hair, cut in a short fashion. His eyes were a blue-green color, and he was tall and lanky. Taller than most people he knew even. Although, he didn't look half as bad as he thought. The bell rang, and Cage hurried to his next class, avoiding the girl who had continued to look at him.
