Friend and Foe

Chapter Fourteen

He was dead.

I had put a bullet in his head.

I had watched the light leave his eyes as his blood pooled.

I mean, I hadn't taken his pulse; he had looked dead.

It wasn't medical but...

Why did I feel worse knowing Magnet was alive?

***

The knife in my hand slipped, sinking into my pinkie effortlessly. Swearing, I dropped the knife into the sink, the sharp grate of the blade sliding against the sink alerting. Mum looked over as I ran cold water over the cut, watching as it washed away the spilling blood.

"Jesus Parker," Mum sighed, pulling my hand out from under the tap and wrapping it in a paper towel, "Where the hell has your head been today?"

"Just today?" Dad inquired from the stove, "What about the past two and a half weeks?"

I just sighed in response.

"Parker!"

"Yes?" I snapped my gaze towards her, wincing as she applied pressure to the cut, "What?"

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened?"

"I cut myself."

"Parker," Dad said but Mum just sighed, again.

I contemplated briefly, telling them... not everything, but enough. I was getting tired of all the secrets and lies. But I couldn't tell them because the truth was buried under two years' worth of secrets and lies. That was too much dirt to dig through.

Mum took the paper towel away to see just how much it was still bleeding. The blood slowly leaked out. Mum put the paper towel back on and asked me to hold it for her.

"I'm getting a band-aid," she said simply and left.

I looked to Dad, still at the stove, "Is it right to kill a bad person?"

Dad took his frypan off the heat, asking, "How do you define 'a bad person?'"

"Traitor. Thief."

"Death is pretty steep."

Sure. I asked, "What if they were working for a person who was known for murder?"

"An eye for an eye?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"The person associates with murderers but hasn't crossed the line?"

"No."

"Association shouldn't cost them their lives, Parker."

"But-."

"No buts. A co-worker of mine, David, is going through a divorce because his wife caught him cheating. I associate with him so should your mother divorce me because he's the cheater?"

"Well, no."

"Then that's your answer isn't it?"

Mum came back in with a band-aid, "What are we talking about?"

Dad grinned. "Parker is trying to justify murder."

Mum wrapped my finger in two band-aids and gave me a look, "Why are we talking about murder?"

"It's fascinating."

"Parker," I was getting sick of hearing them say my name like that. "A friend gave me the number for their therapist. I want you to see them for at least one session."

"Why?"

"Because you're not talking to me. You need to talk to somebody."

"I don't want to talk to a stranger," I told her.

"Talk to me then."

"When I'm ready."

"When will you be ready?"

"You can't put a time limit on the truth."

"For fucks sake."

"Alright." Dad set drinks between Mum and I. "Time out."

***

We took time out. We finished making dinner in silence. And then proceeded to eat in silence. Mum's eyes heavy on me all the while. Afterwards as Dad and I were cleaning up, Mum going up to her home office, was when the silence was finally broken.

"So," he said causally, eyes hawk-like on me though, "lets talk about the boxes in your room?"

I turned away from him, focusing on the dishes I was rinsing, "I'm packing."

"Obviously. Where are you moving?"

"We all are, aren't we?"

He stacked a few dishes slowly in the dishwasher before responding. "Why would you think that?"

"Mum's office burnt down. I remember what you told me about our finances," I told him.

"Mum's office burnt down," he echoed with a sigh, raking hands through his black and grey hair. "We were going to tell you but then you went into your room and didn't come out. We didn't want to add to whatever you were going through. That wasn't what-."

"No. I didn't lock myself in my room for a fortnight in a bid to stop us moving."

"Yes, we are moving. Your mother and I are currently looking for something new. Its not going to be easy, your mother has some pretty particular ideas about what's good enough for us."

"Can I ask how you knew the office burnt down?"

"News?"

"Really?"

"Yes... Are we bankrupt?"

"Not yet. We are trying to mitigate by selling and moving now, saving what money we do have."

"Are we going to have to sell your car?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault."

I was and it wasn't. I could have stopped it... I wanted whoever had done it to pay.

"I'll get a job."

"Focus on school." He grinned as he said, "Once you're a hotshot in Parliament you can lift us out of debt."

"Okay Dad."