Chapter 16

I woke up to the sound of the noisy birds chirping outside my window I left wide open from the night before.

I chuckled to myself and flopped over to my side to look at the time- 5:46.

Although it was much earlier than I usually got up, I hopped out my bed, the springs bouncing up and down, and faltered down the wooden steps to the kitchen. 

This wasn't my usual morning. Usually I would wake up to my beeping alarm clock, which I punched every morning, or Phil yelling from his chair to get him some food or a beer. But this time, the morning was alarm-beeping free, and Phil was no where in sight. 

I searched through the chunky yellow refrigerator to see if there was any food of some sort that seemed appealing to my taste buds. Of course, nothing seemed good to eat, so I walked over to the kitchen cabinets to see if it had any cereal. Sure enough, a box of bran flakes laid in the back of the shelf behind the soups, herbs, and a pack of old cigarettes. Curious, I checked the expiration date on the cereal box- August 13, 2006. That was only one month ago; I was sure it wouldn't do any harm. 

It was nice to have peace and quiet for once. Although, it was almost /too/ quiet. I ran up the stairs with the whole box of bran flakes in my hand and slowly opened Phil's bedroom door. The door made a loud screech as it hovered over the wood floor. Phil was not there and not even a note to be found. Confused, I walked back down the slippery steps and leaped over the last five without spilling the expired brown cereal everywhere. 

Too take my mind off the confusion running through my brain, I decided to flick on the geezer T.V. For the first few seconds, the screen was fuzzy with black and white shaking lines, but then it went back to normal which was dull color and terrible sound. Plus, there were only three channels. There was the news, although Phil didn't care about what was happening in the world, ESPN, which never was the best quality because of the quick movement, and the religious channel (religious people don't even watch that one.) Loosing interest, I used the remote, which definitely needed some new double A batteries, and switched to the news channel. 

“There are clear skies here in Columbia, South Carolina, and warm breezes coming from the Atlantic,” Tom the weather man stated. “Up next, a man goes to jail for child abuse. Keep watching.” 

Just then, my heart dropped what seemed like six inches, and I froze, all the bran flakes pouring out of the box. There was a grainy mug shot of Phil on the lower right part of the T.V. screen. Phil was going to jail. 

I was extremely happy and extremely scared at the same time. I was very happy because for one thing, I finally had freedom without having to worry about getting scuffs and bruises and not having to wear long sleeved shirts each day even in warm weather. I was very scared though because Phil was clever in many ways, and if there was a way to escape from prison, he'd do it and come after me.

I sprinted up stairs, spun around, and checked the time- 6:02. The bus came at exactly 6:52. I knew this because Gabe and I used to wait at the curb every morning and stare at his watch until the yellow bus finally came.

“Phil's going to /jail/?” Gabe questioned as we casually walked down the sidewalk.

“Yep.”

“Do you think my mom sent him in? She didn't tell me!” he groaned.

“Well, I don't see who else would send him in unless it was Christine, Jake, or Melanie, but I highly doubt it,” I shrugged.

“Yeah, right.”

The sun had finally risen and the skies were blue that morning. It was a wonderful day to be outside, but sadly to say, we had school to go to.

“Too bad we have to go to school in this nice weather!” I commented aloud along with my thoughts.

“I know,” Gabe agreed.“It sucks! We have to play soccer or something after school.”

There was no way I couldn't accept that offer. After all, I could do what ever I wanted now, right? “That would be fun!” 

The bus finally came after a few minutes of waiting on the sidewalk bench with Gabe. 

It was a long and boring ride to school. Gabe and I sat together in dead middle of the bus because the snotty popular people sat in the back, and the chess club kids sat in the front to chat with the irritable bus driver. Who the heck would want to talk to that old grump?

“Do you want me to give Miss Wildersnorp an excuse for you about why you didn't do your homework?” Gabe asked as he held my books while walking passed the seniors in the hall.

“I'm fine. We'll probably go through it in class or something,” I shrugged.

Gabe walked me to my language arts first hour class without having to give me a homework excuse. After we hugged and waved goodbye, a guy strolled into the classroom. I had never seen him before, but from what I saw, it looked like Heaven had dropped from the clouds and landed in South Carolina.