Chapter Six

I sat at the edge of the grave, staring at the tombstone. “James McIntyre. 1991-2005” I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds. I never cry. Not when I'm here at the edge of my brothers grave, I never cry. I will myself not to. He never liked it when I cried. “Hi James,” I said slowly. “Dad's back. He's as horrible as ever. I hate him. I mean, he hasn't done anything bad yet, but I can feel it. He smokes all the time, b*****d.” I looked around the rest of the cemetery. An old man stood at the foot of another grave, placing a bundle of pink flowers to rest on the top. I turned back to James. “School is awful, too. But oh well. I'll survive, right?” I stood up, breathing deeply. “Goodbye,” I whispered. “You miss him, huh?” I was startled when the deep voice spoke. “What?” I said, shakily. The voice belonged to a boy, not much older than I was. He was standing by the polished rock, watching me. “James McIntyre. Who was he?” I swallowed hard, hoping my eyes didn't look too puffy. “My older brother.” The boy nodded slowly. “How'd he die?” This guy definitely didn't seem to care in the least about sensitivity, but I tried my best to shake it off. “He... committed suicide. After my father left us.” The boy stared at me, making me uncomfortable. His jeans looked old and tatty, his hair was windswept and brown. He nodded again, slowly. “That's a pretty depressive back story you got there,” he said. “Well you're nice, aren't you?” I replied snarkily. “Wow, a girl with attitude. Nice.” I rolled my eyes and began walking away. “No, Jess, wait!” I stopped walking, not because he had called me, but because he knew my name. “How do you-” “Eric. Eric Green,” he interrupted. I frowned at him, he seemed unaware of how uneasy I felt. “I guess you already know who I am,” I replied, and with that I left the cemetery.

Instead of looking for Mum and him, instead I made my way home. I was surprised to see shadows already moving inside the house, so I went inside. “You stupid, stupid woman!” I hadn't even reached the handle before I could hear the shouts coming from the bedroom. “How can you do this?” my eyes slowly widened. Dad. “I'm sorry, Howard, I am! But you know how hard this is on Jess.”

“Jess? Jess? What, you mean the daughter you kept from me for eight years?”

“I'm glad I did! You would probably set the house on fire with all those butts you're constantly smoking!”

“I got addicted, so what? It's not your business anyway!”

After that the voices just seemed to grow louder and louder and then �" bam. The sound of a punch hit me like a knife. Silence. I heard footsteps nearing the door so I made a run for it. I managed to escape to the kitchen just before I saw the door slam open and him walk out. His face was red, his fists pulsing with anger. I took in a sharp breath, trying not to make eye contact. “Stupid,” He muttered a few expletives before going out for a smoke on the porch. For a few moments I couldn't breath. All I could focus on was the open door, leading to the bedroom where my mum was. I ran toward it. “Mum?” I whispered. I saw her, sitting on the edge of the bed, crying. I couldn't bear it anymore. I ran out, up the stairs and shut myself in my room. My stomach felt heavy with anxiety as I sat on the floor. I pulled out an old notebook from underneath my bed and began writing. 'I should really make up some names for him. Like a huge idiot, for example. But really I need something easier. He's a monster is what he is. There, from now on HE is known as Monster. The worst hairiest ugliest monster ever.' After furiously stabbing the page and filling it with curses, I tried my best to relax. I returned the notebook to its rightful place under the bed, until the next time I needed it.

Author's Note

the ending isn't great sorry :L