For some reason he could never explain, home was a conflicting place for Tyrone. It was never the building for him, perhaps a consequence of having moved around a lot. It was his family; wherever they were, was home, and moving never left him or his siblings with the grudge teenagers would normally have.
Home was the place where he felt the most himself, he could express himself most openly but still not without restraint. He'd quickly learned that getting misunderstood at home hurt more than by a stranger, so he learned to hide parts of himself that could be misunderstood.
Tyrone could never claim to have a perfect relationship with his family; in fact, he was always getting into conflict with his mother. But he loved her, it was perhaps the most fundamental truth of his life. He loved her.
So when he got home that night, his concern was his mother. Was she worried about him? Did the money she received scare her? After all, there was no accompanying explanation for it.
Knocking on the door, he waited patiently for it to be opened. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long before his younger brother opened up. Niel was two years younger than Tyrone, but he had a hardened face and mostly wore a tired expression at home. There was no greeting between them, but they both understood that Niel was as happy Tyrone was back as Tyrone was relieved to finally be home.
"Where is my Mom?" he asked, his voice low as usual but with a detectable urgency. His reference to their mother was one many always misunderstood and sometimes teased him for. Sometimes, he was embarrassed about it, but it felt natural to him; it was possessive, and it was expressive at the same time. Most of the time, when he said those words, 'My Mom,' it made him feel the full reality of having someone he cared for and someone who cared for him.
"We were waiting for you in my room" Niel replied as he continued locking the door. He finished and turned around to Tyrone; there was a question in his eyes; Tyrone could see it, but Niel was sometimes sufficiently restrained, other times annoyingly so.
He walked ahead with Niel behind him towards his brother's room. Theirs was a three-bedroom apartment where Tyrone had a room to himself, Niel shared a room with the youngest, and their mother shared a room with their stepfather.
The youngest, a girl in her mid-teens, was already asleep as it was sufficiently late, and she still had school. She was the most pampered in the household except by their mother. Her three older siblings pampered her to the extreme.
"Tyrone, what happened?" he heard his mother ask even before he crossed the doorway.
"Good evening, Ma'am," he greeted in his unusual way and made to sit on the floor by the corner of the room. His back resting on the wall and his head on the left wall. He was mentally drained.
"I saw something on my phone. Niel was saying it's real but I think it's another scam. I don't know anyone with wealth and I didn't get involved in anything recently." his mother started. Her once beautiful hair, now dry and full of greys, was tied in a bun with a strand falling over her creased forehead. She was tired and stressed. This much was obvious from the wrinkles on her face, and it wrenched Tyrone's heart like a knife to his psyche.
Neil simply stared at him with a smile on his lips. Tyrone felt amused as he wondered what would have happened if Miranda had met Niel instead of him. As well as he knew his younger brother, he still couldn't predict. Perhaps Niel would take her to her destination and ignore everything else? Perhaps he would get involved and take her to safety. But Neil certainly would not put her in danger like he did.
Like himself, Neil was a survivor, he learned that from Tyrone but would rather pretend that he became that way all on his own. Tyrone was fine with that, he could still remember the past when Neil was naive and how frustrated he was over his younger brother's lacking survival instinct.
The expression on Neil's face said a lot. He knew the money their mother received had something to do with Tyrone, so he stared at him, waiting for Tyrone to say something.
"I may have had something to do with that" Tyrone started.
"I met someone today. It's a long story, but they recognized me. Apparently, they've been a repeat passenger over the past few weeks, and she needed a private driver, so..." he didn't continue. Saying less in a lie was the key to being believable.
"She paid me to work on the car and get my affairs in order since she might be going to another city for a while and I'll have to go with her. But the money will be deducted from my salary until it's paid off, then the salary will go back to normal." he has long thought about an explanation. The reality would make his mother worry and although she wouldn't admit it, she would never be at peace with him getting into something dangerous.
Noticing the doubt still in her eyes, Tyrone first sent Niel to purchase ingredients for a good meal and some drinks before he settled down to convince their mother.
It took most of the night while Niel made dinner, but she finally stopped asking questions as they ate.
After a long convincing, his mother transferred a hundred thousand to his account to 'fix the car' while she kept the rest. She didn't want to, but their family situation left her no choice. When she counted all their debts, Tyrone realized that while the money would pay off their debts, it still would not improve their lives. Meaning, they still had to worry about where they would get their next meal. As for his stepdad. . .
The next morning, Tyrone woke up early and swaggered into the kitchen. He looked around and noticed the food that would have been his dinner last night well covered on the kitchen table. Without hesitation, he dug in and, after eating, picked up his keys and headed out.
Nothing has changed except some peace of mind over no longer being debtors. His life was still the same but he would enjoy driving better now since he could work on his car with the hundred thousand with him. And pay off some money he owed the bank for the car. His mother was blissfully unaware of his personal bank debt.
With life continuing as normal, January passed with Tyrone losing a bit of himself every day as he reflected on all he could be if he let loose.