Chapter Text
November 21st, the weekend after Kel’s eighteenth birthday. Rain poured from the sky in sheets, spattering across the cold landscape of Faraway Town. Winter break had already begun for Hero, and he had returned home for the holiday season. Kel didn’t start his own until early December, but that was fine by him. For the most part, life was going pretty well for him. Or at least, that was what he thought.
That Saturday started like any other.
As per usual, Kel awoke with the rising sun, letting out a loud, guttural yawn before stretching his arms over his head and popping every single joint he could in both his arms, wrists, and fingers. Then, he shook himself out like a wet dog, ruffled his hair, and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He didn’t really know how this little morning ritual of his started, but somehow, it helped Kel get a feel for the day ahead.
Well. That was what he said it did. It probably served no actual purpose, but he liked to pretend it did, just for his own peace of mind. Unfortunately for Kel, though, the vibes of the day were decidedly rancid the moment that he was up and moving.
Obviously, Kel had no real reason to assume this. But, for some odd reason, everything around him just felt bad and wrong. The room felt empty and cold, even though Hero was sitting on his bed doing some winter break studying. His chest ached in a familiar and uncomfortable way, even though he had just woken up and there was nothing that should have been upsetting him. Everything was just weird. Kel suppressed a grimace. He didn’t like where this was going. There was really only one thing that could explain what was creating such an awful tension within him at nine o’clock in the morning.
His mom was definitely in a bad mood.
Whenever Mrs. Rodriguez was even mildly upset, the entire household was instantly on high alert. Mr. Rodriguez went out of his way to make sure her needs were met. Hero either left the house for the entire day, only returning in the wee hours of the night, or holed himself up inside he and Kel’s bedroom to read or something of the like. Kel would avoid her at all costs, even if it was nearly impossible. Mrs. Rodriguez always needed a target for her frustrations, and usually, that role fell to Kel. It was needless to say that he hated it.
It was no secret that Kel and his mother had a strained relationship. Kel didn't understand what was wrong with him to make her so distasteful towards him, but over the years, it just became something he was used to. Of course, just because he was used to it didn’t mean that he was okay with it. Fearing his mother's wrath from the day he was out of the womb was not normal, and he was well aware of it.
But what exactly could he do about it? Any time he tried to stand up to her, it would end in an argument, which usually led to him being grounded for as long as his mother saw fit. It was in no way, shape, or form fair, but it was just the way things worked. Kel learned how to stay on her good side as he got older. He created rules within his head to live by, lest he be the target of her anger until the end of time. Such was the fate of the least favorite child.
It was needless to say that it was absolutely exhausting. But again, it wasn’t like there was anything to be done. For now, all Kel could really do was bid Hero good morning, and hope that throughout the day, he wouldn’t somehow piss his mom off more than already seemed to be. Kel let a small huff escape him as he leaned down to pick up a shirt off the ground and slip it on over his head.
“Mornin’, Hero!” He eventually remarked, shooting a quick smile towards his brother. He lifted his head from his textbook in return, giving Kel a painfully sympathetic grin. Kel felt a pang in his chest. That was the look Hero only ever gave him when he knew that shit was about to go down with their mom. Great! Just lovely. Kel wanted to throw a shoe at him.
“Good morning, Kel. Did you sleep well?” Hero said brightly, trying and failing to hide the slight edge to his voice. Kel pretended not to hear it. The more he chose not to believe in the likelihood his day would end in an argument, the better.
“Fine enough. Whatcha workin on?”
“Oh, you know. Just doing some extra studying for break. Medical school isn’t very forgiving.” He hummed, but it was plain and clear to Kel that he was using studying as a means to avoid going downstairs. Hero was a lot of things, but out of all of them, he was a terrible liar. Kel sighed.
“Yeah, I bet.” He mused, but it came out more snarky than intended. He was already on guard out of instinct, even if he had yet to face their mother. As badly as he wished he could pull a Hero move and stay upstairs all day, he did have plans. He and Aubrey were supposed to hang out in a few hours, and he didn’t want any of this to sour his good time.
Alas, some things can’t be helped. Kel couldn’t deny he was damn hungry, and he wanted to get cleaned up, and maybe go shoot baskets at the Faraway community center so he could leave before he was supposed to see Aubrey. Basketball was always his excuse to get out of the house when shit was going down. It didn’t always work in the middle of an argument, but slipping out to the court when he felt one brewing was his go-to. That way, he could take out all his emotions by pretending like he was actually in a game, cheering for himself like a dork when he made a basket.
With another loud yawn, Kel steeled himself. Now was the time to face it all head on, he guessed. Slowly, he turned towards the door and went for the handle.
“Good luck. She’s pretty mad already.” Hero said suddenly, not looking up from the textbook that still sat in his lap. There was a certain tone to his voice that said everything else he needed to without actually saying it. Kel grimaced. He really really wanted to chuck that shoe at him
“Yeah, whatever.” Kel huffed as he threw the door open and began to descend the stairs, each step creaking underfoot as he did his best not to be noticed. From below, he could hear his mom talking loudly on the phone, and his dad was nowhere to be seen. He was probably at the grocery store, or the hardware store, or literally anywhere that wasn’t near home. Kel wished he had woken up early enough to go with him.
So far, it seemed as if Mrs. Rodriguez hadn’t spotted him slink into the kitchen. Thank god. Kel let out a small breath of relief, letting his tense shoulders relax just a little bit as he went for the cabinet where they kept the cereal. Unfortunately, Kel completely forgot that specific cabinet was the squeakiest.
Almost all the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen made some little sound when they were opened and closed, but nothing could compare to the horrible sound the cereal cabinet doors made when they were opened too fast. The hinges would grind together and make an awful screech, and the door itself creaked like no tomorrow, no matter how slowly one tried to open it. Closing the thing was even worse. The screeching would combine with an awful sort of groaning sound, and the door was impossible to shut without it slamming. Even if you had your hand on it and pushed it closed slowly, it somehow, every fucking time, slammed shut.
Much to Kel’s chagrin, the noise did indeed alert his mother to his presence. Kel wanted to hit himself for not choosing to eat literally anything other than cereal. Alas, the call of Orange Joe’s O’s was always too tempting.
The second Kel reached up to grab the cereal box, Mrs. Rodriguez was storming into the room, face twisted into a scowl. Kel forced himself not to frown as all the tension suddenly rushed back into his body at full force, a cavernous pit opening inside his stomach. He hated how that feeling never really went away at home - sure, it wasn’t always so bad, but whenever his mom was on one of her rampages, it would become unbearable. She hadn’t spoken a single word to him yet, and Kel was already beyond ready to bolt out of there.
“Kelsey Gabriel Rodriguez! You need to be more quiet when I’m on the phone! Ugh, you’re always so loud. Just be quiet for one minute, if you even know how.” She hissed, standing in the doorframe, phone still held to her ear. He had no idea who was on the other end of the line, but the caller could definitely hear everything Mrs. Rodriguez had said. Kel’s chest panged. He hated when she called him Kelsey.
When she was done with her angry little speech, Kel opened his mouth to retort and explain he hadn’t done anything wrong, it was the stupid loud cabinet that always made that horrendous noise. However, before he could make a single sound, his mother turned on her heel and stomped back into the living room. As she left, she started talking on the phone again.
“Aye-yaiyai, that boy… he’s always causing trouble.” She huffed into the receiver before she was out of earshot. Mostly. Kel could still hear her ranting on the phone, but it was unintelligible. Though, deep down, he knew she was still complaining about him. Even when she wasn’t burning with the fury of a thousand suns, Kel was acutely aware that he was and always would be the middle child. Hell, he’d been treated like that before he’d actually become the middle child. Now that Sally was in the picture, it had gotten worse.
Hero was Mrs. Rodriguez’s golden boy. The perfect example. A trophy son. Always winning awards, getting the best grades, popular, handsome yet humble, a whiz in the kitchen. He was everything Kel wasn’t, no matter how hard he tried to be that way. Sally, on the other hand, was just a toddler. She needed to be coddled, which Kel always understood. In fact, he quite enjoyed doting on her when he got the chance. That wasn’t really a common occurrence. The day she was brought home, Mrs. Rodriguez made it abundantly clear that she didn’t trust Kel to hold her yet. Hero, on the other hand, was immediately given a chance to swaddle his brand new baby sister. After that, Kel had to make extra effort to be able to help take care of her, and be extra careful too. One minor slip up and he’d be a dead man walking.
Sometimes he wondered why his parents decided to have another kid so late. Kel was sixteen the year she was born, and he was eighteen now. By the time she reached middle school, he was going to be twenty-seven . He tried as best he could to not think that his parents were trying to replace him, but it sure felt like it.
Nonetheless, Kel did his best to shrug everything off and poured himself a bowl of Orange Joe’s O’s. His mother’s sour mood wasn’t going to keep him from the most important meal of the day! Yeah, it was super duper unhealthy, but he didn’t care. It was tasty, and that was what mattered. The sweet delicious flavor of the sugary cereal was enough to temporarily take his mind off of things. He made sure not to close the cereal cabinet when he was done, lest the sound piss his mom off again.
As soon as the cereal was gone, Kel downed the remaining milk in the bowl, stood so fast the chair squeaked against the flooring, and dropped his bowl into the sink with the other newly dirtied dishes. By then, his mother’s phone conversation had ceased, so he had to get out fast. Kel knew no matter what he did, something was going to set her off again. So, before she got the chance to come back into the kitchen, he booked it as fast as he could back to he and Hero’s shared room. Sure, he was definitely going fast enough to make a lot of noise, but his mom was off the phone now! It would be fine.
(It definitely wasn’t going to be fine, but Kel had to lie to himself to get through the day. The biggest of all those internal rules he tried to follow - even if it hurts, don’t think about it. Just ignore it.)
The second he’d made it upstairs, Kel closed the door as fast as he could. Quickly, he whirled back around and slid down it, his back against the hard wood. Hero paused his studying and looked up, giving Kel a look of what could only be described as pity. Kel glowered back at him.
“Everything good…?” Hero questioned sheepishly, even though he knew the answer. Kel scowled harder.
“Yeah, just peachy.” He huffed. Hero cast his gaze to the side. It was only a matter of time before their mom burst upstairs, so Hero took the brief amount of time he had to talk to Kel before she came up and made it worse.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve been nicer earlier. I know she can be kinda crazy sometimes. But it’ll be okay, I promise! You didn’t even do anything, she’s just been like this all morning.” He tried to comfort. It did pretty much the opposite of making Kel feel comforted.
“Yeah, well tell that to her. The second I got to the kitchen-”
Kel never got the chance to finish his sentence before his mom attempted to burst into the room, failing purely because he had still been sitting there. This seemed to be considered an act of defiance by Mrs. Rodriguez, who began pounding on the door like there was a murderer in the house and she needed a room to hide in.
“Kelsey! Open this door immediately!” She hollered from the other side, startling both of the brothers. As quickly as he could, Kel scrambled away, finding himself sitting right in front of his tv and video game console. When she finally threw the door open, Kel instinctively flinched.
“You petulant child! Never block this door again. Do you hear me?” She barked. “You left the cabinet open and scratched our perfectly good floors! And stomping up the stairs like that! How dare you disrespect me like this!?”
“I- I left the cabinet open cause it’s loud. You told me to stop being loud.” Kel practically squeaked, just quiet enough to still be audible by his mother. By that point, Hero had his face buried in his textbook. Kel loved his brother - he really did. But sometimes, he really really wished he’d stand up for him more. Sure, Kel could understand why he didn’t sometimes. After all, incurring the wrath of Mrs. Rodriguez was not something anyone wanted. But damn it all, it would be nice to have some backup sometimes.
(Kel hated to admit it, but Hero could be a massive pushover at times. It made Kel’s home life all the more insufferable.)
Mrs. Rodriguez completely disregarded Kel’s reasoning for leaving the cabinet open, instead continuing with her complaining.
“You didn’t put your dish in the washer either! God in heaven, sometimes you just…” She trailed off. Kel didn’t want to know what she was going to say next. He could feel himself shrinking back even more.
“But there were other dishes-“
"Whatever!” She snapped, cutting him off mid sentence. “You’d better not spend all day up here on your little video games, Kel. You’re going to turn your brain to mush before you’re twenty.”
With that, Mrs. Rodriguez exited the room, slamming the door shut and stomping down the stairs like a complete and total hypocrite. Kel’s shoulders drooped the second she was gone. Hero still wasn’t saying anything. Kel felt another pang in his chest as he watched his brother stare intently at the book he definitely wasn’t actually reading.
“Dude. You could’ve at least backed me up here. I wasn’t even gonna play video games!” Kel whined, shooting a look across the room at Hero that was both faked resentment and real resentment in one. Hero finally looked up from his book at that comment, looking remorseful.
“Sorry.” He sighed. “I know I should. She’s just so…”
Hero took a pause, closing and opening his mouth like a fish out of water as he tried to ponder a kind way to say “she’s absolutely crazy half the time and I’m just as scared of her as you.” Kel couldn’t blame him, even if he was still a little pissed about the whole ignoring the problem thing. Though Kel did understand. After all, he did that ten times more than Hero ever did. Maybe a hundred times.
(More like a thousand times. The first rule, as he knew already; ignore it ignore it ignore it ignore it-)
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. It’s whatever, I guess. Not like this is anything new.” Kel said, trying not to sound as dejected as he was feeling. It wasn’t working.
(Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, ignore it-)
“I’m gonna head out before mom flips her lid again. Gonna try and be sneaky about it, though. I doubt she’d let me go anywhere right now if I tried to leave.” Kel continued, going for his closet to grab another version of the same outfit he wore almost every single day - an orange basketball jersey and shorts. What could he say? Kel was an eccentric guy. The little things were what brought him the most joy! And his jerseys were just another one of those little things, even if the weather wasn’t necessarily appropriate for that kind of dress.
“Alright, be careful. Aren’t you seeing Aubrey? Tell her I said hi! And call if you need anything, okay?” Hero said, his voice sounding genuinely cheerful for the first time since Kel had risen that morning. For whatever reason, that was what made Kel actually decide to throw a shoe at him.
Leaning down, Kel picked up one of his slides off the floor and promptly chucked it at Hero. With a yelp, Hero did his best to dodge, failing miserably and instead putting himself directly in the line of fire. With a loud smack, it hit him directly in the face. Score!
“Hey, what was that for?” Hero grumbled, sounding more confused than actually upset with him. Kel stuck out his tongue and pulled down on his lower eyelid, forming an L on his forehead with his fingers before trying to decide if it would be a better course of action to try and sneakily escape out the front, or say screw it and go out of the window. After all, when they were kids, he used to sneak out to meet up with Sunny all the time. That big tree in the backyard served him well for many, many years. Sure, everything out there was soaked with rainwater, but he’d snuck out in bad weather before. Maybe not this bad, but still bad.
As Kel was debating with himself, he was suddenly startled from his thoughts at the sound of his mother yelling at someone or something quite angrily. Hero shot up as well, and both boys swiveled their heads to make eye contact. Hero nodded his head towards the wall behind him, as if trying to tell Kel where to go.
Yeah. Window for sure.
Taking the chance he had while Mrs. Rodriguez was distracted, Kel threw open the window on the back wall of their shared room, shot Hero a smile and a thumbs up, and clambered his way out. When he was securely sitting on one of the branches, he reached forward and tried to the best of his ability to close the window again.
Unfortunately for him, the branch Kel was now straddling wasn’t as close as he needed to be to close the window. He scooted forward a little bit, but his shorts snagged on a piece of bark, and he didn’t want to move anymore, lest he completely rip his shorts Spongebob style. But he had long arms! He was tall, too! Surely he could reach it if he just leaned forward right?
Wrong. His fingertips barely brushed the windowsill, flicking water everywhere. Kel huffed in frustration, leaning even more forward and using his other hand to try and stabilize himself.
That was a mistake. Oops.
Instead of managing to close the window as he desired to, the slick rain finally managed to get him. Kel completely lost balance, his body lurching forward as his center of gravity was completely thrown off. As he swayed downwards, Kel let out a yelp, desperately trying to grab on to something to break his fall. His hands just barely managed to grab another branch as he plummeted downwards into the grass below, but it was too weak and saturated with rain to hold him up. The damn thing snapped in his grasp, and he tumbled downwards through the tree, arms and legs bashing against the wood more than he felt was physically possible. Mud and water exploded into the air as Kel landed. He was sure he looked like an idiot, but somehow, falling into the mud was kind of fun.
By the time he made it to the ground, Hero had poked his head out the window.
“Woah! You okay?” He yelled down as Kel sat upright. He was dizzy as all get out and his body hurt like no tomorrow, but overall, he was fine. He had come home covered in bruises and scrapes various times throughout the years due to his proclivity to do stupid things, so this was nothing new.
Kel looked down at his leg, staring at a rather nasty looking scratch on his calf, the blood from the cut washing away with the rain. Yuck. He’d deal with it later.
“Yeah, I’m fine!” He called back up, casting his gaze to the sliding glass doors that led into the dining room.
Uh oh. Mrs. Rodriguez had caught the noise for the second time that day.
She may have been fast, but Kel was faster. Not only did he play basketball, but he had also run cross country for a number of years alongside it. He’d quit to focus on basketball after everything that happened, but that didn’t change the way he could sprint diabolically fast. Sports had served him well for many a reason over the years.
Before his mom even had the chance to get to the door, Kel flew to his feet, turned on his heel, and bolted for the backyard gate. He undid the latch at record speeds, and began booking it down the street at full force. Mrs. Rodriguez hadn’t even made it outside by the time Kel had completely disappeared.
Even though he knew there was a chance leaving the house would land him in even more hot water, Kel didn’t give a shit at that moment. He was sure his mom wouldn’t follow him into the rain after all. Sure, he may get a million texts and calls from her, but he could silence his phone just as easily as answering her.
(There were going to be consequences, for sure. He knew that. But if he just did what he always did, went out of his way to avoid the issue and hopefully sneak inside with no immediate argument, it would be okay. Right? He just had to ignore it, ignore it, ignore it ignore it ignore it-)
As Kel tore down the sidewalk towards Aubrey’s home, he did his best to push the horrendous morning he’d had out of his mind. Bad vibes in the morning didn’t need to mean bad vibes all day, after all! Hopefully, his afternoon would go better.
A small smile crossed Kel’s face as he ran through the rain. He always loved the rain.
_____
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
From within the pocket of his shorts, Kel could feel his phone buzzing. Again. For about the millionth time since he had met with Aubrey. By then, they had made their way to Basil’s house, as neither of them were very keen to spend time in the trash dump of her home. It was an awful thing to think, but he knew it was on her mind too. Basil had wanted to see them anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity for the trio to hang out. They were all still adjusting to things now that the truth was out, but it was going to be a good time regardless!
Or at least, it would’ve been if Mrs. Rodriguez hadn’t been on the warpath.
Now, all three of them sat on the floor of Basil’s living room, playing a very intense game of UNO that continually got interrupted by Kel’s phone. Aubrey stared at Kel as he rolled his eyes at the sound of it buzzing.
“Dude, your phone has been going off for like. An hour straight. Don’t you think you should answer it?” Aubrey said, raising an eyebrow as Kel huffed and reached into his pocket to silence the call. He’d been doing it every fifteen minutes or so, when his phone would ring again. And then again. And then again.
“Ugh. I know, I know. It’s just my mom. You know how she can get.” He sighed, picking at the bandage Basil had given him for the cut on his leg. He quickly turned his attention back to the game in order to divert the conversation. The last thing Kel wanted to be thinking about right then was the verbal ass kicking he was in for as soon as he got home.
Studying the cards he had in his hand, Kel decided on a plan of action. He had two cards left, Aubrey and Basil both having three. The card on top of the pile was a green seven - perfect. Not only did he have one seven in red, but he also had a color changer. He was set, as long as no funky cards were thrown into the mix before his next turn. He slapped the red seven on the top of the pile with confidence.
“Shaboom! UNO!” He yelled, pumping his fist in the air. Aubrey frowned, but Basil didn’t say anything. He had his cards fanned out in his hands, staring at them with an almost scary intensity. Kel didn’t want to know what he was planning.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever!” Aubrey snarked, looking down at her three cards before going to place a red four on top of kel’s red seven. But, before she could…
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
The buzzing of Kel’s phone once again startled all three of the teens, and Aubrey subsequently knocked over the entire discard pile. Kel yelped in alarm, scooting away as Basil giggled, still holding his cards protectively.
“Nice going, dumbass!” Kel harped. Aubrey stuck her tongue out.
“You’re the one who won’t answer the phone, dingus!” She retorted. Kel wanted to say something else, but in all honesty, she was kind of right. He hated when Aubrey was right.
“I’ll call her back after the game! C’mon, clean up the cards!” Kel said in a huff, and Aubrey slapped his wrist. Nonetheless, she cleaned them up, and the game was back on.
Basil’s turn was next. Finally, he lowered the cards from his face, giving Kel a sinister smile. It wigged him out for a lot of different reasons, but he tried to push some of them out of his mind.
Kel watched in absolute horror as Basil pulled a card from his hand and slapped it on the pile. His worst nightmare. The one thing Kel could never imagine happening to him in his life. The worst possible event. It was all over.
Basil had played a plus four.
Aubrey started laughing her absolute ass off. Kel couldn’t even swat at her for it - he felt so defeated. He had been so, so close to winning! And Basil just ruined it, for what? A cheap trick!? Kel had never felt more betrayed.
(He’d felt betrayed by Basil before. But that wasn’t important. Ignore it.)
“How could you!?” Kel cried out dramatically, pointing at Basil as he giggled maniacally. Kel wanted to launch across the living room at him like a damn harpoon.
“Sorry, Kel! I had to…” He snickered, his evil expression giving way to a soft smile. Aubrey was still laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
Kel wanted to fight back. He really did. He wanted to cry dramatically, throw the cards at his friends, make a whole thing out of it. He always did stupid stuff like that. It was half of what made being with his friends so much fun - goofing off was his way of showing love! Alas, it wasn’t meant to be this time.
It had only been about five minutes, and Kel’s phone was ringing again. The fake face of agony he was wearing immediately crumbled into a distraught and annoyed expression. His mom would call a lot, that was for sure. But the shorter the time between the calls got, the angrier he knew she was getting. By now, she’d likely gone nuclear. Kel knew it was his own fault, but he didn’t want to face it. Basil and Aubrey ceased their endless laughter as they watched his demeanor completely change.
(How was it his own fault? He did nothing wrong. It was a Saturday, and he had nothing to do. All he did was leave a cabinet open, be a little loud when getting upstairs, and accidentally lean on his door. How did that warrant all of this?)
“Okay, yeah. I’m gonna go answer this.” He finally said, sounding meek. Aubrey and Basil looked at him with silent concern as he stood to his feet, dropping all his cards on the ground without even bothering to care. He knew the game would be over the second he picked up that call.
Kel shuffled out of the living room towards the back of the house to get a little more privacy. Sure, he could’ve gone outside, but the rain and wind were so loud he wouldn’t be able to hear his mom at all. He really wished he could’ve taken that call outside.
Regardless of that, Kel held his breath, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and slid his finger across the screen in order to accept the call. Every nerve in his body felt like they were being zapped with electricity.
”Kelsey Gabriel Rodriguez! Get your ass back home this instant! How dare you ignore my calls!? Did I tell you that you could leave!? Because I don’t recall that at all!” She screamed. The sheer volume at which Mrs. Rodriguez was yelling was enough to startle Kel so badly he jumped. There she went again, using that stupid fucking name.
“It’s a Saturday, mom. I don’t usually have to ask for permission on a Saturday…” Kel said timidly, shoulders tensing up. She wasn’t even there, and he could feel that god awful pit in his stomach begin to grow again.
”I don’t care! You have responsibilities! You need to clean up your mess in the bathroom, finish your laundry, make your bed, do the dishes, and you just do none of it! You’re so thoughtless all the damn time! Now come home, right now! Before I ground you for all of winter break!”
“You didn’t tell me I had any chores, though?” Kel questioned. She hadn’t mentioned it at all, and there was nothing for him on the family chore chart. So where was this coming from?
(He knew why. She was mad, and she needed a reason to be mad, and somewhere to take it out. So like always, Kel was that reason. Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it-)
”It doesn’t fucking matter! And never speak to me like that!”
Jesus. This was bad. Like, really bad. Catastrophically bad. Kel new he’d fucked up by leaving, and fucked up by ignoring her, but even on days when she was in a mood, she almost never screamed and swore at him with such intensity. It had happened before, but it was still unsettling to hear. Kel didn’t know why she was this irate today, but he didn’t want to know. Sometimes she did just wake up like that, after all.
“Okay, okay! I’m coming home! Just calm down a little!” Kel said in shock. It didn’t come out how he meant it to. Things were about to go from bad to worse, and he knew it.
”Do NOT tell me to calm down, young man! If I don’t see you home in five minutes, you are in for a world of trouble, you insolent boy!” She hollered. Kel didn’t get the chance to say anything else before the phone beeped to signal the call had ended. His heart dropped to the floor.
Five minutes. He was on a timer, starting right at that moment. He had to go.
Basil and Aubrey had evidently been able to hear the conversation from the other room, because when Kel wheeled around the corner, they were both staring at him in shock.
“Um! Sorry guys, I gotta blast!” Kel all but yelled, visibly jumpy. Basil’s shocked expression quickly gave way to concern.
“A-are you okay, Kel? That sounded bad…” He asked, blue eyes wide with worry. Kel forced a smile and scratched the back of his neck.
“Yeah, yeah! It’s all good, I’ll be fine. Um, I guess you win? Don’t think you can really have a proper game of UNO with two people. Anyways. Bye!” Kel said, but he spoke so fast that it was all basically one run on sentence. He couldn’t be sure that either of his friends understood what he was trying to say as he speed walked to the front door, threw it open, and began running back through the rain soaked town to get back home.
Aubrey’s home was just barely closer to his own than Basil’s, but both places were a pretty good distance from his. It wasn’t too long of a walk, but Kel knew that it was most decidedly not only five minutes if he was going at a normal walking pace. He began sprinting even faster than he had earlier, fighting against the howling wind and spattering rain as he went. It was almost impossible to see in those conditions, but Kel knew his way around Faraway pretty well. As long as he just kept running, he could make it in time.
God, did he hope he would make it in time.
_______
Kel found himself at his front doorstep just as his phone buzzed with another text. He was entirely out of breath and sick to his stomach, but he’d made it. Huffing and puffing, he went for the door handle, struggling to suck air into his burning, aching lungs. Hopefully, his mom hadn’t heard him come in. He needed at least a moment of respite before he could face all of that head on.
The universe was never one to give Kel what he wanted, it seemed.
”Kel! There you are! You’re getting mud and water everywhere! You’re always so messy! Get over here and do these dishes right this instant. And do it fast, you have other chores you’ve neglected!”
He sighed in annoyance, already tense body tensing up even further. Kel never really paid any mind to it, but he was almost always some kind of tense when he was at home. It never really went away until he was out of there. Just another thing to pretend wasn’t real.
Wordlessly, Kel trudged into the kitchen. He could feel his heart rate picking up slightly as he walked over to the sink, right next to where his mother was standing. She was at the counter preparing Sally’s lunch, which meant that Kel was almost certainly in for that argument he had been trying so desperately to avoid. He supposed it was his own fault, anyway. Even doing his best to stay out of her line of fire never did much.
The silence that hung in the air was heavy as Kel set his phone down on the counter and turned the sink on, beginning to rinse off the dirty dishes, stacking them one by one on the counter just above the dishwasher for ease of access. Things continued on in a similar fashion for a good minute or two, but all the while, Kel’s guard never dropped. It was inevitable that Mrs. Rodriguez was going to find a reason to yell at him more.
“You’re getting water all over the counter, Kel! At least put a towel down!” She hissed, setting down the plate of baby carrots and macaroni she was putting together. There it was.
Walking around behind Kel, she stomped over to where he had started stacking dishes above the washer and picked them up, shoving a hand towel underneath before dropping all the dishes back down so hard they rattled together like they were going to break. Kel practically jumped out of his skin for what felt like the thousandth time that day. The annoyance he had been feeling earlier was quickly giving way to something more serious, and a small bubble of anger rooted itself unpleasantly in Kel’s mind as he watched his mom maneuver the dishes.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to-”
”And you’re rinsing them all wrong! Christ, I swear I have to do everything around here!” She sighed angrily. Kel could feel the bitterness inside of him growing with each passing second, no matter how hard he was trying to quash it.
(Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, just fucking ignore it-)
Mrs. Rodriguez shoved her way beside Kel, between him and the dishwasher, and began picking up dishes from his perfectly rinsed stack and rinsing them again, for no real reason. They looked the same. Or at least they did to him. Whatever. At this point, he didn’t care. At least he didn’t want to care. Unfortunately, Kel could feel himself cracking more and more with every second. It wasn’t going to take long for the glass to finally shatter.
“Jeez, mom. I’m doing what I can over here.” He mumbled to himself, not expecting to be heard. But he had. He very much had been heard.
“Excuse me!? What have I said about talking back to me like that, young man? Do I need to repeat myself, or will it even be possible to get it through that thick skull of yours!?”
Wow.
Kel was kind of dumbfounded, as upset as he was getting. She was mean sometimes, and did tend to pick fights over literally nothing, but this was at a new level. She’d never spent so much time insulting him like that so directly. It only made the anger simmering underneath his skin start to grow.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” He barked back, not even really intending to be so curt with her. But for once, Kel didn’t want to just lay down and take it. Especially not now. He refused to let her just get worse and worse without standing up for himself. After all, if he did, there was no telling how bad things might get in the future.
“I didn’t even do anything wrong, mom! I haven’t all day! You never said I had chores, and all I did before going out was leave the damn cereal cabinet open! Am I not allowed to just go have fun sometimes!?”
Mrs. Rodruizes’s face twisted into an expression of pure malice that Kel had only seen her wear once or twice in his life. It made his veins run cold, but at the same time, he could feel the hot, boiling anger inside of him rising to the surface faster and faster with each passing second. This wasn’t going to end well. From the very beginning, Kel had known this was never going to go smoothly. At this point, he was embracing it. As badly as he had wanted to avoid any of this, there was no turning back, and he didn’t really care anymore. He was sick of being the family failure. He was tired of being treated as less-than. And he was beyond done with not being allowed to stand up for himself.
This, however, clearly wasn’t a sentiment he shared with his mother.
“Have fun? Have fun!? All you ever fucking do is ”have fun!” She seethed, doing air quotes with the fingers on her left hand, still gripping a plate in her right. The fire behind her eyes was absolutely blazing at this point, raging like a forest fire, destroying everything in its path. Sally was sitting in her high chair, eyes full of tears as she listened to the fight play out. Kel hated that his mom had started this while she was still in the room.
“You goof off, and you never do what you’re told! You always fall so short on everything! Your grades, your chores, all of it! Honestly, I truly don’t understand the way your mind works! I can’t believe you’re related to Hero sometimes! Why can’t you just be more like your brother!?”
And there it was. Kel finally felt the glass break. The familiar tug of tears began to grow behind his eyes and did his best to subdue them, but it was beyond his control at this point. He could feel them begin to roll down his cheeks and drop slowly off of his face.
“Why does it always come back to Hero, mom!? Why is he so much better than me!? I’m trying my best! I try my best every single fucking day of my life, and it’s never enough for you! I know my grades aren’t great and I know I’m forgetful! But it’s always so hard for me to focus, mom! I’ve told you that! I’m always restless, and it’s just gotten worse, and I don’t know why! But I’m doing what I can, and it’s still never enough!” Kel yelled, no longer caring about his volume or the fact he was swearing. He was going to get grounded anyway. Better to get out everything that was on his mind while he had the chance. His shoulders were shaking now, still blinking away tears to the best of his ability.
”Don’t you swear at me! Your sister doesn’t need to hear any of that, you’re going to put ideas into her head! Look what you did, you’re already scaring her!” Mrs. Rodruigez hissed back, pointing at his now sobbing baby sister. Kel wanted to punch his mom in the face.
“Oh, you fucking hypocrite! You can curse at me all you want, and scream your head off the second I get home, but the second I stand up for myself, I’m the one causing all the problems!? Why is it always me!? Why am I the fuck up? Why do you treat me like this!? It’s been like this since I was a kid, and I never understood. I still don’t understand! What did I ever do to you!?”
“Didn’t I just say so!? You’re a nuisance, Kelsey! You’re nothing but a nuisance!” She screamed back. Kel was falling apart at the seams by now. Those were the exact words Hero had thrown at him all those years ago, when he’d finally broken down after Mari’s passing. It just made it hurt all the more to hear it again.
“God, why won’t you just admit that you hate me already!? It would make everything so much easier for everyone! I’m not as good as Hero. It’s just like you said! Everyone knows that’s why you hate me! Just say it out loud so I can finally live in peace!” Kel screamed, no longer able to attempt at holding back the enraged tears that had long since begun to blur his vision. They continued to slowly drip down his hot face as his mother gasped, then scowled, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.
“I don’t hate you because you aren’t perfect, Kelsey! I hate you because you- you’re just- you’re so much! You always have been! Have you ever thought about how hard it is for me to deal with!?”
What?
Did… did she just say that she really did hate him? What Kel had said was mostly a dramatization of his own feelings brought forth by his anger. To have those thoughts actually confirmed aloud… it hurt more than Kel knew was humanly possible. All of the seething fury that he had accumulated seemed to drain from his body in an instant, replaced with such a deep, hollow sadness that it felt as if he was choking on it.
“You… you actually hate me.” Kel said quietly, face falling. More tears began to cloud his vision, but Mrs. Rodriguez was still too blindsided by rage to notice. Or maybe she really didn’t care. He really wouldn’t have been surprised by that at this point.
“No, I mean- I don’t- fuck, Kel, you always twist my words! You’re my son, I don’t hate you as a person! I just hate the way you act! How you are! The things that you do and say to me! It’s like you have no regard for anyone else’s feelings in this house but your own! Do you have any idea how hurtful it is for you to behave like this!?”
Though it had started fading a few moments ago, Kel could feel frustration beginning to simmer underneath his skin again, red hot and aching to finally be set free. Though, the heavy weight of his misery helped push it down, and he crossed his arms to his chest, sniffling and choking down snot as tears continued to pour down his cheeks in droves. The world felt like it was spinning from the pure, unadulterated grief he felt.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean!? That's how you think I am? That’s how you are, mom! You don’t ever consider other people! Everything is always about you, and what you want, and if you’re in a bad mood, then everyone else is fucked! Just being home is so goddamn stressful that honestly? I can’t stand being here anymore! And it isn’t fucking fair, because this is my house too!”
Mrs. Rodruigez was clearly reaching her breaking point. She was visibly grinding her teeth, knuckles white from how hard her hands were clenched. Her eyes were aflame with such unadulterated hatred and anger that Kel was sure she might actually spontaneously combust. He hated to admit it but… he wasn’t just upset. He wasn’t just angry. He was scared of his mother and what she might do if things continued to escalate.
“God, you ungrateful, selfish, brat! You have no idea how hard I’ve had to work to keep a roof over your head, food on your plate and everything else you clearly don’t care about! Maybe I was right to say that I hate you!”
And just like that, all the anger rushed right back out of him. It was all too much. Kel’s body felt like it was on fire. Snot and tears dripped off his face endlessly, and he couldn’t seem to bring himself to speak anymore as he held onto himself so tightly that it felt like his life depended on it. His head was spinning.
Even yet, his mother still wasn’t done. And there was no way in hell Kel could have prepared himself for what would happen next.
“Maybe I was right to say you’re a burden! Maybe I was right to love Hero more than you! Maybe… maybe I was right to wish I never had a second son in the first place!”
By the time those words left Mrs. Rodriguez’s mouth, Kel was too far gone to even process them. His vision had gone blurry, head pounding as he struggled to suck in air between sobs. The only sounds he could register were the beating of his own heart and the ringing of his ears. As much as he wanted to get the hell out of there, it felt as if his feet were glued to the floor.
That feeling, however, was only momentary.
“God damn it, just listen to me! You probably don’t even care, do you!? You think you’re so above it all. Well news flash, Kelsey! You aren’t the only person in this goddamn fucking house! And you’d better get used to it!”
In the heat of her vexation, Mrs. Rodruigez had forgotten she was still holding a plate. But now, in a moment of clarity, she seemed to sense the object in her hand, and did something that Kel would never, ever forget.
She threw it right at him, missing his head by a mere inch.
The sound of porcelain shattering against the wall echoed throughout the room as Kel let out a yell of alarm, heart jumping into his throat as he swerved out of the way. Then, everything fell dead quiet. Mrs. Rodriguez gasped once more, hands flying to her mouth as she realized what she had done. Kel was stunned into silence. She had never done anything like that before. No matter how many times they had butted heads, argued, or said horrible things to one another over the years, his mother had never tried to physically hurt Kel before. He felt all the life drain from his body as he stood there, staring down at the broken pieces of tableware on the floor at his feet. He could hear Hero starting quickly down the stairs, but he didn’t care. At that moment, there was really only one thing he could think of to say.
“Maybe I hate you too.”
With that, Kel swallowed his remaining tears and anguish down his torn-up throat and did the one thing he knew how to do best.
He ran.
He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, not even daring to turn back and face his mother. The sound of sneakers slapping against hardwood flooring reverberated throughout the house as Kel threw open the front door and dashed outside, too overwhelmed to even care that it was still raining buckets. He continued to run even when he heard Hero and his mom calling after him, the sounds of water pattering against concrete almost completely drowning both of them out. Kel didn’t care. He didn’t want to hear whatever that witch had to say. All he wanted was to be as far away from home as humanly possible, and he didn’t care how far he had to go to make that happen.
Though, in the end, maybe he should’ve cared, at least a little bit. It would’ve saved him all the more heartache.