Enough Said

A short story about a child dealing with his father and step mother's arguing.

This wasn’t where he wanted to be, once again, sitting underneath the blankets of his bed. The room was dark as he peeked through his blankets and out of the crack of his door.

            In the living room, his stepmother was standing with her hands on her hips; his father was out of view, but his voice was piercing the boy’s ears. He was screaming, cursing at the child’s stepmother.

            “You always do this, Melissa,” his father scream. “Over and over again, no matter how many times I tell you.”

            “Oh, please David. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” she replied.

            “It was a big deal to me. This is my child we are talking about. Something could have happened.”

            “He was fine. You know I love Kevin as if he were my own,” she said assertively.

            “Then start showing it,” his father said as he grabbed the keys to his truck and left. The boy, Kevin, got up from the bed and went to the circular window. His father’s headlights shown through the window, then slowly faded as he sped away.  He got back into his bed when he heard his stepmother coming closer to his doorway. She cracked open the door, letting the light sneak in through the widening crack. It illuminated Kevin’s face, and he tried not to squint.

            “Are you awake?” she said.

Nothing.

            Kevin un-squinted his eyes, sensing that his stepmom was shutting the door as his eyes were becoming less blinded by the overhead lighting from the hallway. He felt something coming over him, an urge to speak. “I hate you,” he whispered just quiet enough that his stepmother wouldn’t hear him.

            But on the other side of the door, Melissa felt her heart sank into her stomach. She had heard Kevin and his reply. With that, she shut the bedroom door, grabbed her car keys and left him by himself again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Is this realistic? Does it work?