MILES
"Mum!" I call out and hear no response except my voice rebounding back to me. I start towards the stairs "Mum?", still nothing. I hurry to their room and find the bed all rumpled but there's no Mum. I shrug and head for my room, I guess no juice for me then. I've told her to put the juice pack where I can reach it anyway, but she says I have to "regulate my intake of sugar". Whatever that is. She also stopped getting energy drinks recently and she and Dad drink blended juice. That's for them old people, I guess. I tried it once and decided never again.
I shove my duffel on my bed, dropping it on the bed beside it. "Wonder where they went", I mutter resting an arm on my face. It's been a pretty hectic week, and for the first time, I appreciate that I got into a school close to home. I definitely wouldn't be coming over just to rest on the weekend if I was in faraway Michigan where I wanted to go at first. Nobody prepared me for the crazy hostel situation. But then, I should have expected that after years of using my room alone and living with just my parents, suddenly living with a bunch of strangers would be a pain in the ass.
Just the other day, Justin had this crazy girl over. I knew from the moment I met the guy that he would attract a lot of crazy personalities but Aimee or whatever her name was, was a different ballgame. First, she froze on seeing me when Justin was introducing us, then she kept on glancing over at me when she thought I wouldn't notice. I think Justin started to notice so I had to leave the room when I wasn't even done with my chore. That was after the Aimee girl had been able to slip in some pretty invasive questions about my parentage and stuff. Creepy, to put it simply.
By the time I open my eyes again, the atmosphere has changed considerably and I lumber over to my window to pull it shut. There's a crick in my neck from resting against my bag and I feel a slight throbbing beneath my eyes. The house is just as quiet as it was when I came in and a slight panic stirs in my head. "Where could they have gone without locking the door? The door was simply shut when I got back and it's very unlike Mum to leave the door open on a whim.
I stand up heavily and walk to their bedroom and meet it in the state it was earlier. Now, warning bells are going off in my head. I head back to my room and pick up my cell phone. As I start to dial her number, the front door opens and I hurry out and down. I can hear Mum's phone ringing at the door so I hang up and go to meet her, relief seeping through my body. Then I set my eyes on my mum, I go from shock to disbelief to wonder in a few seconds.
She's in indoor clothes, which would explain the unlocked door, but she's unhinged from drinking too much. which is where my disbelief comes in because it's my mum's job to nag I and Dad whenever we come home drunk and nurse us when we're hungover. Mum never drinks more than a few glasses of mild red wine, so to see her stumbling home drunk stirs the worry that had gone down in my mind before.
I hurry to steady her as she almost stumbles over a wooden stool close to the door and she jerks in my arms "Hey, how'd you get in my house?" she yells or attempts to yell in her slurry state and I almost chuckle at the humor of the situation. I tuck her beneath my arm to guide her while she beats the air with a frail hand in protest.
"It's Miles, Mum", I say with a shake of my head, herding her towards the sofa where she drops heavily. I start to go upstairs to bring her a duvet so she can sleep off her drunkenness but she holds on to my wrist. "Miles huh, darling Miles, whatever am I going to do about Miles?" At this, I turn around to face her fully, my head inclined to the side. Something tells me I might regret getting information from her when she's so inebriated but my curiosity wins and I sit back beside her. "What do you mean, Mum?" I ask with bated breath. I guess she's not that drunk though because she just shakes her head. "We're not worrying Miles, so shouldn't tell Miles, Shouln't even tell Lisa," she says with a drunken grin and if I wasn't so worried about what this big secret is, I would be mighty amused at her grin. She reaches for my face and holds it in her hands like she loved to do when I was much younger "My precious Miles. My gift", she says, her eyes filling with tears. Mum's an emotional drunk, who would have thought?
All my attempts at getting any more useful information from her fall flat so I disengage from her embrace and go to their room to grab a duvet that seems thick enough from the drawers.
"Where did you drink, Mum?" I ask as I drape the thick piece of clothing over her and she points at the ceiling "At Lisa's" she says, shaking her finger. I should have known she'd be there since the door was shut but not locked. I urge her towards the cushions "Get some sleep, Mum" and thankfully she obliges. Once I make sure she's all comfortable, I head to the fridge and grab a bottle of water that I drop next to her on a wooden stool. She'll be needing that. I glance at the clock and my eyes widen in surprise at the time. Dad should be getting back soon.
I head back to my room, slipping back to my thoughts. Did Mum drink because of me? A thought jumps to my head and I screen through my recent actions to see if I did anything that gave it away. "There's nothing, I haven't even been home a lot" I mutter as I sit heavily on my bed and throw my face in my hand. Images flash in my head, bloodied paws and crunching bones and dreadful howls and I jump abruptly from my bed. I need a bottle of water myself. "Get it together, Miles", I say to myself, smacking my cheeks. There's no way she knows, I made sure of that.
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I'm playing Call of duty in my room when I hear the door open downstairs. I throw some of the peanuts in the bowl in my mouth and slurp loudly from the third box of my juice. I eventually found them next to the pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room. I should consider a side job in detective duty. After a few minutes, he knocks on my door and walks in, "Hey Dad", I greet and he walks in.
"Figured you were here when I saw the toolbox in the garage", he says, dropping into the second beanbag by my side. "Have you seen your Mum?" he asks and I chuckle, getting his question at once. "She got wasted at Miss Rains so I just helped her settle in and rest." I reach for the little box beneath my table for an extra console and I almost miss the look on Dad's face at my words.
Instead of the surprise, I expected to find on his face, all he does is sigh and motion for me to switch to multi-player. I do, waiting for him to say something but he just starts the game and sits up, ignoring my stare.
Is anything up?" I finally asked, looking at him from the corner of my eye but he just throws a smile in my direction. "There's nothing special going on. She and her friend probably had one too many while gisting. You know ladies. How's school though?"
I sigh "School is alright. The usual." He nods and we get into the game. I'm sure now that there's a problem. I'm also the only one out of the loop.
"Have you had anything to eat?" he asks after whopping my ass a few times and I shake my head. Normally I would be all over the place, trying to beat him, but I'm a bit preoccupied with everything in my head.
"Pizza?"
"And chicken" I reply.
"Of course", he replies mockingly and we both laugh. According to my parents, I've always liked meat, especially chicken.
In an hour, we've abandoned the game and we're eating ravenously. "Mum is so going to have our heads," I say, tearing into a drumstick with a laugh.
Dad laughs along "Don't worry. What she doesn't know won't hurt her"
"How's it at work, Dad?" I ask, realizing I haven't had a moment to talk to him personally in a while.
"Same old, same old. Everybody is quivering at the economy and showing up at work every day, hoping it won't be their last day at work."
"Sorry Dad, I had no idea it was all so stressful."
"That's alright Miles. At least I get to come home to a family that loves me, not everyone can boast of that."
I smile and continue eating, just enjoying the moment.