Superstition {On hold}

Chapter 1

Chapter I

Reece

“You be good to Jane,” a tall bearded dark-haired man said, before clapping his son on the back. “Tell Jane I said hi,” he added with a smile. “Will do, Dad” Reece replied sombrely as he got himself ready to board the plane. “And I’ll be sure to do a better job than you did,” he added acidly. His father sighed, his grey eyes troubled. “Reece, let’s not go through this again. I’ve already told you, I’m sorry for what I did. What else do you want me to do?!” he scolded. Reece flung his bag over his shoulder while glaring into his father’s eyes. This topic always upset him. He could feel the tears coming up but he wasn’t going to shed a single one. Not this time anyway. It took everything in his power to fight them back. “Bye, Dad,” he sneered. His father simply nodded him goodbye, clearly not wanting to say anything that may make the situation worse than it already was. And then Reece boarded the plane, without another look at his father, found his seat, pulled out his Mp3, plugged in his earphones and turned up the volume until it hurt. He needed to block out reality. Just for a moment. At least until the plane took off. Reece scratched his scalp that was hidden under his dark brown hair and took in a deep breath as the plane’s engines roared to life. He shuffled a little in his seat. Right, he thought to himself, let’s get this flight over with.    

It was three hours before the plane touched down at the airport in Albrook. Three uncomfortable hours of creeping paranoia on Reece’s part. Slightly dizzy, Reece made his way down the steps of the plane and onto the runway. “Thank God that’s over with,” he said to himself.

Shortly afterwards, Reece was in the car with Jane, his mum. They were just driving out of the airport gates when she exclaimed, “welcome to Albrook!” for the hundredth time. It was clear that she didn’t know what else to say and found the atmosphere just as awkward as Reece did. “Thanks, Mum…again!” Reece said, slightly amused and irritated. “That’s the like the hundredth time you welcomed me home.” Jane chuckled as she pushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear. “Sorry, Reece,” she apologized, “I’m just so happy that you’re back home.” Jane reached out to give Reece’s knee a gentle squeeze. “Two months is a long time for me.” she muttered.

“Dad said hi,” Reece murmured, looking out the window.

“Oh, all right. How is he?”

“He’s all right, I guess…” Reece replied as he pulled out his earphones. His ears were sore from all the loud music. “He brought the thing up,” he added, slightly upset. “He told me that he was sorry for what he did to you,” he paused. “To us…” A sudden twinge of anger surged through his body as he said that. “Doubt he meant a thing, though.” Jane’s brow creased, catching the slight anger in his voice. “You shouldn’t be so hard on, Joshua—I mean, your Dad.” She quickly corrected herself. Sometimes, it was just so easy for Jane to call Reece’s father by his name; probably because they haven’t been under the same roof for quite some time now. “But what he did was unforgivable. You said so yourself, that night when you kicked him out!” Reece retaliated.

“I know, but I’m sure he’s sorry. He’s already apologized to me and I forgave him. I’ve known your Dad for years and I know when he means something.” Reece could feel her eyes on him. He simply kept his eyes on the window, watching the scenery pass by. They were now driving through the small town of Albrook. Buildings which rose on both sides of the wall flickered by like a quick slide show. “He’s really sorry for what he did. It hurts him every time you refuse to reason with him…” she sighed. There was a long silence. The essence of the conversation was still in the air, and as the silence lengthened, it brought up a tinge of awkwardness that was now starting to seep into Reece.