Family (Can't Keep My Hands Off You)

 

A police car has been in front of the house for at least an hour already. The blue lights were scary for everyone who had no idea what was going on in that big, modern house.

A family lives there. A family that contains mum, dad and four kids. You could see curious eyes of the neighbours behind the curtains. Everyone wants to know what’s going on.

Two police men came out of the house a few minutes later with a handcuffed man walking behind them. Neighbours know that man. He’s always been so kind to everyone, why are they taking him away?

Just when he got into the police car, a young child came out of the house, crying. Neighbours spying through the curtains recognised him as the youngest child in the family �" Danny.

``Daddy please don’t go! I don’t want you to go!˝

Tom wanted to tell him that he’ll be back soon but he never got the chance. He had to spend a night in prison. And he’s forbidden to go home for ten days.

Nobody in the small village knows what’s going on. Mother comes home, stays there for a few hours and leaves again. Kids are at home by themselves, with no parents. Someone needs to explain what happened to this perfect family.

Tom returns to the village two days after he’s been arrested. Since he’s not allowed to return home for another eight days, he calls his daughter Grace and tells her to meet him somewhere away from the house. Grace, Sara, Simon and Danny come to meet their father at a nice spot near the woods. They all seem really shaken up by what happened two nights ago.

``Dad, I think you should really go and explain everything to the neighbours. They think something really serious happened. I’ve seen the way they’ve been looking at us these days.˝ says the eldest child Grace.

He knew she was right. But he was too scared to do anything because everyone now thought he did something bad. But he had to do it. He went to the house of the neighbours he was always the closest with. The Smith’s house. They have the perfect big garden, flowers, a lot of apple trees and a big house with a porch he could only dream of.

He knocked on the door and the youngest girl in the family answered.

``Hello Tom. Come in.´´ said Kate in a cheerful voice. She led him to the living room and asked him if he wanted anything to drink.

``Do you have whiskey?˝ he needs something sharp to clear his head.

In the meantime Mr and Mrs Smith came and sat next to him on the couch. Mr Smith looked extremely curious about what happened. He didn’t have to say anything. His eyes asked the question by themselves. ``What happened?˝

He took his glass of whiskey and started to explain the whole story. It made him feel better. Because he had to tell someone everything.

``I recently found out she’s been cheating on me for more than a year. It seems like everyone knew but me. Now I’m wondering why I never realised what’s going on when she refused to go on vacation with me and the rest of the family. She always came home at late hours, even though she had to work the next day. I know she doesn’t care much about our children. She never asks them how’s school, she never cooks them lunch. Nothing. I always cook, do the laundry and help Danny with his homework.˝ he took a second to think about everything he just said before he continued.

``So when I found out she’s seeing someone else even though she has four children, I freaked out. Like everyone would. I yelled at her, of course. Who wouldn’t? She called the police, saying that I slapped her. But I never did that! They believed her and I had to spend the night in prison. And I’m not allowed to return home for another eight days. I just don’t know what to do.˝

They talked for another hour, the Smith’s trying to give him some good advices.

 

*

Seven months later

 

Emma moved away and took Grade and Sara with her. The boys stayed with their father. Danny is still shaken up because of everything. He never looks anyone in the eyes. Sometimes he’s even afraid to talk.

Mother still likes to shake up their lives. She comes back to the village almost every day. She loves to mess with her long time partner. She wants to take the boys away from his life too. But Danny and Simon never forgot events of the past year.

They just want to live a peaceful life with their father.

Reviews

[Dearantlers]

I think it's pretty interesting. The hook was very good. I didn't want to stop reading. I would suggest just reading through it with a fresh mind in about three weeks or so and then fix a few things up, but it's still good the way it is now.