• Summer, 9995 XA •
Chewing cinnamon-flavored bubblegum, Nathan Roy walked at a leisurely pace as he returned home from school. It was Friday and he was looking forward to a night of television. He deserved it, since he’d had a tiring session of baseball practice and had turned in his semester book report today. He skipped up the steps of the front porch to his house and pulled out his key.
“I’m home!” he called as opened the door. The redwood door creaked open as he stepped into the house, and he peered into the darkness. Considering how it was still bright and sunny outside, the living room was considerably dim. He realized that the blinds were drawn over the window and turned upward so only a very thin light came through. As he glanced deeper into the room, he realized that two figures were seated upon a sofa chair. One of them was playing with a rubix cube, and the younger one was sleeping against the armrest.
“Hey Nate,” said the one who was still awake, “How was practice?”
Nathan entered the house and closed the door. As he walked toward the blinds, he replied, “It was so-so. Coach made us run laps. Johnny fell and sprained his leg. Why is it so dark in here?” The blinds came up, and sunlight illuminated the room. That’s when he realized that magazines were torn and scattered on the floor beside the coffee table and that his brother had a big bruise on his face.
“What the HELL, Aiden!” Nathan cursed and threw his backpack down. Face twisted with concern, he rushed to kneel beside the chair. “What happened this time? Are these
scratch marks?” He wrenched his brother’s arm toward him, ignoring the rubix cube that fell to the floor. Two red welts stretched from the Aiden’s elbow and up to half of his forearm.
“They might be,” replied Aiden, the picture of tranquility. Despite his brother’s increasing anger, Aiden remained seated on the sofa chair with his legs curled up against him. He stared listlessly at the coffee table. “You made me drop my rubix cube.”
Nathan let go of Aiden as if his brother had the plague. He clenched his hands into fists so hard that his nails dug into his skin. “Damn your rubix cube!” he snarled, “Where’s Jeanne? What the hell happened!?” Something boiled within him and he felt as if a taroch were pushing his chest in. This wasn’t the first time that their aunt behaved violently, and Nathan was frustrated by his brother’s passive attitude. It was maddening how he couldn’t do anything. Their aunt was the only adult left in the family…if they left her, who would they have? In Dardanos, the government could care less about how people ran their families.
Who’d give a damn about us?
“I threw a ball into the vase,” piped a voice that was very young. The speaker was their young cousin, who was groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His eyes were red and puffy, and his arms were also bruised. “It was an accident! Ma wanted Aiden to clean it up, but he said no.” Out of all the children, Edwin was the only one who called Jeanne by ‘ma’. It was either because Jeanne was his biological mother, or Edwin still believed that she'd someday act like one.
“
I didn’t break it, and I didn’t want to touch the glass…She made us pick up the pieces anyway,” muttered Aiden. After a moment where Nathan glared at his brother and Aiden stared back, Aiden got out of the chair to retrieve his rubix cube. “Calm down. She’s gone to pick up Aki and Estelle.”
"
Calm down!? I'm angry for the both of you! Why aren't you angry?" Nathan growled and kicked at the coffee table. The twins were at art class, and Nate wondered if Jeanne would also yell at his sisters on the way back home. When the woman was mad, she’d lash at everybody in sight. Realizing how useless he was against their aunt, Nathan uttered another growl and kicked the magazines on the floor. The fashion magazines tore, but the sound only irritated him further.
When he turned toward his brothers, Edwin squeaked and Aiden stared blankly at him. Nathan realized that he’d been glowering at the two of them. Slowly, he unclenched his fists and exhaled a sigh. He really wanted to shout and break something, but he’d save his anger for Jeanne when she returned. Closing his eyes, Nathan breathed out a very long sigh. Then he collected Edwin in his arms and ruffled Aiden’s hair. “Let’s go to the kitchen and have ice cream.”