Beyond The Know

Pack It In

They had half an hour, at most, before either one of their parents returned to the house. Parker was locked in his bedroom, she could hear him pacing; Alexa had never seen him like that before; it scared her. She couldn’t shed any tears, she was numb. She paced in her room, trying to piece up the events that had led to Clara’s death. She had showered and cleaned the living room. She kept all of Clara’s make up on her dresser, and her cap was hung on Alexa's coat stand. But Parker was slamming the wall and shouting in anger. He was finally quiet, and he fell asleep a few minutes before his father arrived.

Their father, although he wasn’t Alexa’s dad by blood, cared for her as much as he did for Parker. Alexa had been confused when she had realised that she had been birthed after Parker, yet with another man. When she mentioned this however, her mother had burst into tears and locked herself in her room for days. Parker’s dad, Jules, had explained how her mother had been attacked in the most brutal of manners, by a man unknown, and she had conceived and given birth to Alexa. From that day on, Alexa had always believed that her mother remembered that night every time she laid eyes on her, but Jules had assured her that it was not so.

He arrived at around nine o’clock at night. He took off his shoes and entered the room, surprised to find no Alexa, or Parker, slouched on the settee watching their action movies.

“Parker? Alexa!” He called out. He heard the locks turn in Alexa’s bedroom, and she walked out in her dressing gown. She ran straight over to him, giving him a huge hug.

“Thank god it’s you! I’ve missed you. We’ve missed you!”

“Whoa, calm down. What is going on? Where’s your mother? She left so soon, with your friend, Lottie…” Alexa scowled nastily, and Jules was taken aback.

“Okay, something is definitely not right here,” he walked her over to the sofa, “Explain.”

So she did. His pearl grey eyes watched her as she told him everything; Clara, Lottie, her mother. She “forgot” to mention Lance, and how she’d let him go just after Parker had slammed his bedroom door shut. He just stumbled out in a daze, and he probably threw up in the garden somewhere too. Jules took it all in, and nodded.

“Your mother shouldn’t have treated the Artisan girl like that, that’s for certain,” he ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair, just like Parker had done at the Cliff, “and that charge was definitely not necessary…”

Alexa sighed and got up slowly.

“I want to be in bed when mother gets back, I can’t face her. Parker’s shouted and bashed his way to sleep-”

“What?”

“Parker...he let it out for about twenty minutes. He just stopped.” Jules’ eyes widened visibly.

“Parker hasn’t ever let his anger show…My god…This must be awful.” He breathed. He got up at once and went into Parker’s room. Alexa followed him in; she walked in as the lights were switched on. Parker was in his bed, asleep and facing them. He had red eye bags, and his cheeks were pink and flushed. His eyelashes were wet with tears of frustration, and he’d snuggled into his duvet so that it stopped beneath his nose. His silky hair was all over the place.

Jules sat down beside him on the edge of the bed, and he gently shook Parker awake. Parker moaned in his sleep, but he didn’t wake up until almost a minute of shaking. He opened one eye, saw his father, and sat up immediately.

“Are you alright? Alexa told me…everything.” Parker glanced at her, but he didn’t say anything.

“It was my fault,” he whispered, staring down at his hands, “I should have listened to you, Alexa. I shouldn’t have made you agree. I was being stupid, and now Clara’s dead…” his bottom lip trembled, but he sucked it in.