Leaving the house, I dribbled the basketball while walking down the driveway, which only had one car parked, the green Camry, and it was Mom's. Dad's old red pick-up truck, which seemed to be on its last wheels, wasn't inside the garage either, as he was currently working at his job in Manhattan. Unlike Mom, who had an office job at Lexcorp thanks to her doctor's degree, since Dad didn't even have a high school degree, his options for getting a job were incredibly limited; it was not like having a high school degree would open that many more doors for him, but at least it would better than nothing.
Dad worked in Manhattan as a bouncer for clubs, raves, and occasionally a strip club, though he rarely did gigs for strip clubs since Mom wasn't fond of it, which is understandable; I mean, I damn sure wouldn't want my wife working at a male strip club either, hell, even a normal strip club wouldn't be okay with me.
'For what Dad does, he gets paid pretty good money, although I do think he should change jobs; Manhattan isn't exactly the best place to work, especially since his job is close to Hell's Kitchen, also known as criminal city. Heh, it might even be this world's Gotham.' Mused Pharaoh with a smirk as he walked down the street, bouncing the basketball between his legs with every step.
Giving a nod of acknowledgment to some of the passing neighbors, I walked to the other side of the street once I started approaching Jean's house; looking over, I spotted Jean sitting on the porch just outside her house, and she seemed slightly depressed.
Seeing Jean depressed was a rarity, and not the good kind; with her bubbly personality, she was kinda like a dog in some ways; just her mere presence would uplift anyone's mood, and have you ever seen someone who doesn't smile at the sight of a happy dog?
"Nope, it doesn't exist; they're called Man's best friend for a reason." Muttered Pharaoh as he rested the basketball between his arm and his side.
As I walked up the stairs to Jean's house, she did notice me, but other than flashing me a slight smile, she hardly reacted, causing me to frown as I didn't like seeing Jean of all people depressed, since it usually meant something awful was happening; just as I was about to ask her what's wrong, I heard shouting coming inside her house.
"Answer your Father's question, Sara! Are you doing Drugs!?" Yelled Elaine in a seemingly pained voice as she and John glared at their eldest daughter, Sara.
"Tch, no, why do you even think so?" Replied Sara dismissively as she practically ignored her parents, angering them even more, but they stayed calm.
"Then tell us, what was this bag doing inside your draw?" Said John calmly yet authoritatively as he reached into his pocket and showed a ziplock full of white powder, causing Sara to gnash her teeth.
"The hell were you two doing in my room!? That's my room you can't just snoop around!" Yelled Sara angrily as she snatched the bag out of John's.
"Don't change the subject, Sara; answer us, are these drugs?" Asked John with a slightly pained expression as he squinted his eyes and stared at Sara, who was stuffing the ziploc in her pocket.
"I don't know, why don't you just snoop around my room until you find more!? Cause apparently you love doing that, Dad!" Stated Sara angrily, as she defiantly eyed both John and Elaine.
"Dammit, Sara, don't switch this on us; we're your parents; we can snoop around your room if we so feel like it. Now answer the question!" Yelled John in a burst of anger as he slammed his fist onto the table, causing Sara to be taken aback since John was usually calm-natured.
"Hmph, I don't need to answer your question; I'm 15, I'm practically a grown adult! And since I'm an adult, I can do whatever I want!" Declared Sara as she stood up and headed towards the door, pushing Elaine to the ground, who tried to stop her.
"Sara, get back here right now, or you're grounded for 3 months!" Yelled John as he quickly helped Elaine up before running towards the door after Sara.
"Fuck off!" Replied Sara as she turned around and flipped John off before glancing at Jean and Tut.
"Tch, the hell you two looking at?" Added Sara angrily as she glared at Jean and Tut on the porch.
"Um, you?" Remarked Pharaoh, looking at Sara, tilting his head in slight confusion while Jean just stayed quiet.
Watching Sara turn around before running off, I understood now why Jean was depressed; it seemed Sara was fighting with Mr. and Mrs. Grey. I don't know if this is their first time fighting, but it looks pretty intense.
'Looks like I came at a bad time.' Thought Pharaoh as he saw Sara running down the street before glancing at John and Elaine, who wordlessly watched her.
"Dear, did we do something wrong? Did we fail as parents?" Asked Elaine in uncertainty as she watched Sara with pain in her eyes.
"Haa, I don't know; I'll go chase after her." Said John with a sigh as he affectionally patted Elaine's shoulder before turning around to enter the house, only to finally notice Pharaoh.
"Yo, how's it going, Mr. and Mrs. Grey?" Asked Pharaoh with an awkward smile.
"Haa, I'm sorry you had to see that, Pharaoh; Sara's not been herself lately. You occasionally hang out with Sara. Do you know why she may be acting strange?" Replied John with another sigh before looking at Pharaoh with slight hope, only for it to be dashed when he saw him shake his head.
"Sorry, Mr. Grey, I haven't hung out with Sara in some time, which I suspect must be related to her new behavior; however, I don't think you two need to worry too much. Sara's at that age where she will be rebellious and disobedient, right?" Stated Pharaoh with a shake of his head before trying to uplift John, Elaine, and Jean's mood, which slightly worked.
"Yeah, I just hope this is just a phase; I don't want her going down the wrong path in life, thanks." Said John with a slight smile as he patted Pharaoh's shoulder before entering the house, only to return outside a few moments later with his car keys.
"Stay here in case Sara returns; I'll be back." Said John as he kissed Elaine on the cheek before quickly walking to his car and getting inside.
The three of us quietly stood there and watched as Mr. Grey drove down the street, following the same path Sara had taken, though it's been a few minutes since then, so she could have definitely gotten a good distance away if she jumped through neighbors yards.
'Hope everything turns out okay.' Thought Pharaoh with a sigh as he sat down next to Jean while Elaine entered the house.
"So want to play something, Jean?" Asked Pharaoh, though he already had an idea what her answer would be.
"No thanks, Tut, I'm good." Replied Jean with a shake of her head as she continued looking down.
Nodding, the two of us sat in silence for a couple of minutes before I leaned forward and poked Jean in the cheek, causing her to glance at me, but by then, I was already looking away, prompting her to return to sulking. Smirking, I kept repeating the same thing, poking her in the face and quickly acting like I did nothing, and although she might not have noticed it, we had turned it into a little game in which she would try to actively catch me poking her face.
Seeing her body twitch, I didn't bother retracing my finger and continued to poke her, but before I could, Jean was looking at me with a small smile while grabbing my finger in victory.
"Hmph, caught you, Tut." Said Jean with a slight smile while firmly holding Tut's hand a few inches away from her face, causing him to smirk despite being defeated.
"Did you catch me, or did I allow you to catch me?" Asked Tut with a sly smirk as he retracted his hand while Jean continued smiling.
"Heh, it doesn't matter; I caught you; whether you let me do it or not makes no difference since I still won." Remarked Jean with a happy smile, seemingly forgetting the fight with family that had just recently occurred.
"True, you're not wrong, Jean." Replied Tut with a nod as he suddenly ignored Jean and looked away.
I waited for a few seconds before suddenly looking at Jean, only to notice her outstretched hand moving towards me at a snail's pace, though that was because I had upped my perception of time, which is something you can do when you've got super speed.
'Heh, now this is the Jean I know.' Mused Pharaoh with a smirk as he eyed Jean's slightly mischievous grin, utterly oblivious to the fact that Pharaoh had caught her.
Returning to my previous position, I lowered my perception, causing everything around me to return to moving normally, followed by a soft finger poking me right in the cheek. Waiting a split second, I looked at Jean, only to spot her sulking again, though the large smile I could see on her face said otherwise.
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"Haha; you should've seen Pete, Jean; I'm telling you it was hilarious. Watching him trying to impress a girl on the monkey bars, only to fail, is hilarious!" Said Tut with a laugh as he looked over at Jean, who was laughing her heart out.
"Hahaha, d-did he really do that, Tut?" Asked Jean as she wiped her tears, finding it too funny to believe.
"Yeah, it happened when we were seven; it was when you were on vacation, and Gwen was busy, so it was just Pete and I. I promised him I wouldn't tell you, but it's been four years, and I don't think he'll care anymore." Remarked Pharaoh as he and Jean began to calm down, taking large breaths from the sheer amount of laughing.
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Alright, now that we've gotten to ten chapters, I'll start posting only one chapter a day; of course, if I'm given enough incentive(💎), I'll post two chapters a day.