Cruel Summer

I'm the Rock

I didn't see Carter, or Tanner, for the rest of the day. Carrie drove me home while rambling on about something. I drowned her out, unable to concentrate since mine and Carter's encounter.

Carrie pulled into my driveway, "So...are you coming?" She looked at me expectantly. I racked my brain trying to remember what she said, but came up blank.

"Coming where? I swear if you're talking about that stupid party..." I met her glare. She knows I can't stand people and tolerate school only because it's against the law not to go, and I can forget about homeschool. I try to stay away from home as much as possible.

However, that doesn't mean I want to go hang out with drunk, horny, sweaty kids on my free time. "Come on, you owe me. And I have no one to go with. I need a wingwoman that's gonna have my back." She looked at me with puppy eyes.

"No, nope. Those eyes may work on your dad, but not on me." I shook my head at her and reached for the door handle. "Find someone else to be your 'wingwoman.'" I raised my fingers in air quotations. I turned away from her and opened the car door. I stepped out, closed the door, and waved to her when she backed out the driveway.

I turned to look at my house. It's not big, but not small either. The front side has a brick layer, and the back side has a vinyl layer. It has a decent sized front yard and a big backyard. We have a family dog, Mushu. He's an Australian Shepherd. While my family may look good on the outside, it's just a facade.

I sigh to myself and make my way into the house, kicking off my shoes before entering. The house is a three bedroom, two and a half bath, and has a one car garage. Walking in from the garage, the laundry room is on my right. Continuing down the small hallway, it leads to the master bedroom. The master bedroom connects to the master bathroom.

I share the bathroom with my mom because I cannot stand the funk and filth my brother can accumulate in his bathroom. Disgusting. Right before you enter the master bedroom, the hallway stops and opens up into the kitchen/dining room. It's an open kitchen and you can see the living room through its opening.

Walking through the living room, there's a coffee table in the middle with a recliner chair on one side, and a couch on the other. At the end of the living room, a TV is mounted above a gas powered fireplace. Once you make it past the living room, my bedroom is on your right, my brother's is a little further down and on your left, with his bathroom dead center in the middle.

I head into my room and drop my bookbag off. Luckily no one's home yet, so I have the house to myself. I took Mushu outside and after playing with him for a little while, I decided that it was time for a snack. Since it was the end of the day and everyone would be home soon, I went ahead and made dinner.

I was feeling the need for comfort food, so I made spaghetti. As soon as I got done, my brother pulled into the driveway. I rolled my eyes at him through the window. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, it's just that he makes it hard too. He already had a temper then Dad just up and left, which made his anger issues worse.

He would lash out at the wrong times, and I would always have to step in. It's exhausting trying to keep my family together. My mom once told me that I'm her rock, but I'm tired of it. Since Dad left, my mom was grieving over him. He's an electrician and used to have his own business but he ripped everyone off and stole their money so he had to file for bankruptcy.

Not to mention he cheated on my mom and stole over a thousand dollars from me. He moved away up north and it's safe to say that I don't talk to him anymore. Mom had taken a step back so I had to take one forward. I took over from her. I did the laundry, dishes, cooked dinner every night, etc.

My brother, John, walked in the house. We said no words as I fixed us both a plate. He picked his up from the table and took it into his room. Fine by me, I tend to lose my appetite around him. Mushu decided to follow John in there, hoping to get a little food. I ate my plate and watched TV. I zoned out and started to think about Carter.