Reading Time: 105 Minutes
Title: You Can Still Be Free
Series: Affirmation
Series Order: 1
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: 9-1-1
Genre: Angst, Crime Drama, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Violence-Graphic, Violence-Domestic, Violence-Against Children/Child Abuse. Bigotry, Canon Natural Disasters, Canon Typical Violence, Character Bashing, Dark Themes, Death Minor Character, Discussion Death of Children, Gun Violence, Homophobia, Injury, Kidnapping of a Minor, Attempted Murder, Attempted Murder of a Minor, Murder, Stalking.
Author Note: I was inspired while writing this fic a lot by Savage Garden’s Affirmation Album. Six songs stood out and with the titles you can guess which ones they are.
Beta: HarleyJQuin. Thank you so much for the editing you’ve done, and all the Damns you’ve taken from me too!
Alpha: HarleyJQuin. Once again, thank you for all the help with everything, and to BytheBry for your help with the romance side of things!
Word Count: 51,869
Summary: Evan Buckley knew that he wouldn’t see his next birthday if he stayed in the Buckley home. With help from his friend, Eric, he finds a place that he can call his own. That one action has more consequences that Evan ever thought possible.
Artist: Tpena19
Artist Appreciation: It was amazing working with you. The art is awesome and I still squeal over it all!
Chapter One
Evan Buckley was slow to wake. The noises, the smells, he knew where he was, he was once again in the hospital. He opened his eyes and glanced around; normally his father would be there, looking at him in exasperation and even some anger on his face. Evan was used to the look, it was something he saw each time he ended up in the hospital; usually, after some fool stunt he did to try and get his parents attention, to get just one sliver of affection from them. Even though he knew it wasn’t affection of any sort, it was something at least.
He began to sit up, hissing in pain as he moved. He could feel the bruising he had from the fall. The scrapes and the bandage on his wrist. He wondered how long he had been out for and why no one was there. He knew Maddie wouldn’t be, she was happily married, according to her. Evan was used to her being out of his life. He was sixteen and the last time he had seen her had been almost three years before when she had finally introduced Doug to their parents. They hadn’t been happy that they were heading to Boston for Doug’s residency as he made his way to becoming a surgeon. Now they were back in Hershey, and there was still barely any time to see her. Not with her being a nurse and married.
He saw a note on the side table, and reached over, grabbing it. It was a note from his dad. He frowned as he opened it and began to read.
Evan, you’re sixteen now, I’m not going to keep doing this. You’re going to have to deal with your own problems from now on. The bill has been paid and there will be a fund for your medical bills and anything else. You are to take care of it yourself. We’re done having to take care of you. You’re not a child anymore. Make your own way home, your mother and I have more important things to do. We’re going away for a week, behave.
Phillip
Evan read through it a second time before he snorted. “So they’re really just going to fuck off like that,” he snarked a little, feeling hurt and alone. He glanced around and saw his phone sitting on the side a little further back. Grabbing it he was about to call when the door opened.
“Ah, Mr Buckley, glad to see you’re awake. Your dad said that he would be waiting outside for you. He said that he told you that before he left, here are the discharge notes, he told me to give them to you,” the nurse smiled at him, handing him the packet of information.
Evan took it and wondered briefly if he should show the note, or even tell her that he had only just woken up. No doubt his dad had stopped anyone coming into the room for a while, to pretend that Evan was fine, when he most likely was fully okay. He sighed and smiled at her, “Yeah, do I really need the wheelchair, he said that it might take a while for him to get the car around,” he lied.
“Well, we don’t mind you waiting out there. Your dad said that you woke up as soon as he got here. He left just a few moments ago, so I doubt you’ll be waiting long,” she told him, a smile still on her face. His dad knew how to get nurses on side quickly, letting them do things that were against hospital policy.
Evan smiled and said nothing as he got into the wheelchair, he hated the hospital policy but complied without complaint. It meant less questions and that was always a good thing in his eyes. He would have to call his friend to see about getting a lift as soon as he was alone and outside. He tucked the letter away and listened to the nurse chatter about his father and how nice he was. Evan wanted to snort and scoff at that but remained silent. His parents knew how to cultivate a good image with people. They had managed to fool everyone about his home life for years.
“There you go, you’ll be okay here, it’s not too cold at the moment,” she said, “Just make sure your dad brings the wheelchair inside before he drives off,” she added, patting him on the shoulder.
“I will,” he smiled at her and was finally left alone. He pulled out his phone and called his friend.
“Hey, Ev,” Eric Baxter greeted with a cheerful call. “Are you still on for tonight?”
“Yeah, I already have things at yours, so that will make it easier,” he sighed, “I just…”
“What’s wrong?” Eric said, his tone of voice changing from the cheery tone to one of worry.
“Did something stupid again; I know better, I swear,” he began, “But well, I ended up in the hospital.. again” he told him.
“Which one?” he asked, “Mum’s home, so we can come and pick you up from there.”
Evan quickly gave the hospital name and said, “Thanks. Dad… he’s leaving it all to me to deal with,” he said, closing his eyes and lowering his head for a moment. “I’ve been wondering when they were going to do that.”
“We’ll talk more later,” he promised as he grabbed his mom and told her what was going on. “We’ll be there in about half an hour,” he said before ending the call.
Evan sat there and started to get up, he knew that the nurse would have left, none of them waited around. Even if they said that he would. His father had a way of being able to make it seem like he would be watching him, and that someone else would be there, even if there was no one and they saw no one at first. He fiddled with his phone, worrying his bottom lip as he thought about the last few months, even years really, when he looked back. His parents had never loved him, only pretending that they did when authorities were around, or Maddie.
Eric almost jumped out of the car as it began to slow down at the pickup point. He rushed over to Evan, “Hey, Ev!” he called out, looking him up and down. Seeing the defeated look on his best friend’s face. “What… what happened?” he asked as Coco Baxter got out of the car and hurried over.
“Evan,” she said, her voice kind and gentle as she knelt before him, “Let’s get you in the car and get you somewhere where you can rest up,” she said, shaking her head as she helped him from the wheelchair, “Eric, go and take the wheelchair back, alright,” she told her son.
“Sure Ma,” he nodded quickly and hurried to do so, before darting out and helping his mom get Evan in the car. “Ev,” he said as he ended up sitting in the back with his friend.
“I can’t be there anymore, Eric, I can’t,” he whispered, “I’m going to end up killing myself for just a bit of their attention. It’s so hard to stop, I don’t… I feel dead inside and I’m scared.”
Eric took his friend’s hand, “We’ll do something, we’ll sort something,” he said, hoping that what he was saying was true. He glanced at his mother through the mirror. She nodded her head and smiled at her son as she drove them home. She had tried reporting the Buckleys, multiple times, but the reports had been dismissed each time. So much so that CPS had stopped taking any reports about the family.
XxXxX
Evan sat on the bed, he had slept for a bit as soon as he got back from the hospital. Coco had checked up on him regularly to make sure he was okay. Eric walked in and over to the bed, “Eric, I think… I think I need to put that stupid plan we made into action.”
“You mean leaving home?” Eric asked, wide-eyed. It was something the two of them had come up with to get Evan away from his parents. It was just a fantasy, but they had done what they could to research and make sure that no one would be able to get in trouble. The first part Coco and Darren, Eric’s parents, helped with, and that was in setting up a bank account for Evan. It was a joint account with Coco, but he had all the details for it and a card that he could use if needed to get some cash-out. He had been building it since he was eleven and his parents had left him alone for the first time. The amount he had saved was a lot more than what people would expect.
“Yeah, Eric, if I don’t I don’t think I’ll make it through high school,” he sighed, looking out the window. I would love to be here, I know your mom and dad have been trying to get the Buckleys to sign my guardianship over to them. They aren’t going to, as soon as it’s on paper that they are no longer my parents, people are going to talk. I can’t go that route, they wouldn’t go for it. Their image is everything, especially to Mom.”
“Then why the hell do they leave you alone all the time? People have to be talking about that?” Eric exclaimed, looking annoyed.
Evan laughed darkly, “It’s a way for them to show off, to show that they don’t need to supervise me. Mom hates it when I stick out too much. She doesn’t like it when I show I’m better than Maddie. She doesn’t know that I’m in AP classes and have been able to test out of a few lessons. Dad knows, but I know he hasn’t told her,” he said, “They expect me to be perfect, to let them pretend that their home life and family are nothing but perfect,” he finished with a sneer.
“Fine, so… you’re really going to do it?” he asked, “Leaving them behind? What about Maddie?”
“I haven’t really talked to Maddie since her wedding, and even then she didn’t really talk to me. I was just there because I had to be. Look, she left home as soon as she could for college. Met Doug dearest,” he said, rolling his eyes, “Then moved off to Boston to pursue nursing. She came home only once after she left for college to become a nurse. She was dating Doug at that time, and he’s the one that pushed her to move with him to Boston. I know they’re back in Hershey, I’m not sure where at the moment,” he sighed, “I’m done with my family, I don’t want to keep feeling like this, Eric.”
“Yeah, I get it,” he nodded, “Well, if we’re going to do this, you need to find a place to live. One that you’ll be able to afford, since I don’t think you’ll be getting money from the olds anymore,” he told him.
“I know, I’ve got a lot saved up. I have a good nest egg going, and it should even be enough to get me through college and maybe even university should I choose to do that instead. I… I can do this. They sign whatever I tell them to these days. They don’t even read them. I’ve gotten them to sign the permission slips for trips and even that one abroad when I needed a passport. They still don’t know I’ve been to Italy, or that you and your family took me to Hawaii or even Australia, when we were able to get them to sign temporary guardian ship documents” he snorted, “As long as I put post-it notes where they need to sign they do so.”
“Right, so you have an account, money in it, and a way to get a place signed for, for yourself,” Eric said, nodding, “Well, what about education? You’ll still be going to school?”
“Yeah, of course. Not going to change that, that would bring questions into what is going on,” he pointed out.
“Okay,” he said, “Let’s get looking for a place. You want this in place for when they get back since they’ve fucked off somewhere again.”
“Yeah, a week this time from what the note said, no doubt if I go home the drawer is going to be full of cash that I can bank,” Evan sighed, leaning back on the bed, and closing his eyes. He felt like shit, but he didn’t know if that was because he was hurt, or if it was more because of the way he knew that his parents were now just abandoning him.
“You okay?” Eric asked, his voice quiet as Evan felt a hand on his arm.
“I will be, as soon as I get out of there,” he replied just as quietly.
“I’ll let you get some rest, Mom’s cooking dinner so I’ll get you up for that,” Eric said, getting off the bed and leaving his friend alone for a little while.
Chapter Two
Two weeks passed quickly and Evan was home with the Buckley’s once more. The two adults were home as well, and ignoring him as much as they could. He and Eric had searched for a place where Evan could live. They had found one, not too far away from where the Baxters lived, a fifteen-minute walk. The landlord was checked out by Darren and was nice enough. Coco and Darren had someone they knew go through the rental contract to make sure that it was fair and that there was nothing that would harm Evan at all. Now it was time to get his parents to sign it and then he would finally be free.
Evan bit his lip as he looked to where his father was sitting at the desk in his home office. It was best to go through his father when it came to signing things. The man never read anything and wanted Evan away from him as soon as possible. “Dad,” he said as he walked into the room, holding the papers that contained the contract for the apartment and a few things that needed to be signed for school.
“Evan,” he said sharply as he looked up from his work, “I’ve told you not to interrupt me while I’m working.”
“I know, sir,” he said, holding the papers against his chest as he stepped further into the room.
“So, why are you in my office?” he demanded to know, staring at him.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I have a few things that need to be signed for school. I’ve waited until they released a few of them, so they can be done together. I’ve marked where they all need to be signed, and a post-it note on what they are for,” he added, knowing that the large ones he liked could cover most of the page.
Phillip sighed and held out his hand, “I’ll get them signed now then,” he said as Evan walked forward and handed them over.
“Yes, sir,” he said as he stood there and watched as the man began to sign them all, not even looking at the post-it notes with a summary of what the form was for. Evan held his breath as his father got to the rental contract, he watched as his father signed it all, each place that needed it, and also dated it. He slumped a little where he stood as Phillip moved on to the next form. Soon enough the forms were signed and handed back. “Thank you.”
“Get out,” Phillip demanded, “Your mother and I will be out for the next two nights. I don’t want to see you at all. Money will be left in the usual place along with a card, that is yours. Use it for what you need.”
“Yes, sir,” he nodded, took the forms back, and headed out of the room. Evan was quick to rush to his bedroom and sit on the bed, flipping through to the contract and he grinned as he saw that it had been signed properly. He would be leaving within the next two weeks, he would be moving into his own little place. “I need to get some things,” he said as he grabbed a pad and sat cross-legged on his bed as he began to make a list of the things he would need. He hadn’t planned for this until the contract was signed, he hadn’t wanted to jinx himself.
XxXxX
Evan waved as he headed out of the shop where he worked part-time for a several hours after school. He had two jobs, one that he did three days a week after school, and another that he worked at during the weekends, as a barista at a local cafe. “See you next week!” he said as he waved again to the others who worked there. Coco was waiting by her car in the parking lot. She often picked him up when she finished her shift on time. Today, she finished on time. If she wasn’t there then Darren, Coco’s husband, would usually pick him up. He had tried to walk it, or even bike it, but they hadn’t liked the thought of him being out late on his own.
“Good day?” Coco asked him, smiling as she hugged the young teenager before ushering him into her car.
“Yeah, it was a good day. I do like my job,” he smiled getting in, buckling up he looked over at Coco, “Thanks,” he told her.
“Welcome, and don’t forget that you’re family,” she reminded her.
Evan smiled, “Yeah,” he nodded, “I know if something’s going on I can come to you and Darren,” he said.
“Exactly,” she smiled, as she started the car and headed out of the parking lot. “Eric said that you’ve made a list of the things you’d need for the apartment?”
“Yeah,” he nodded a few times, getting excited, “I’ve made the list, just got to get them all. I’m leaving things at theirs, well, some things. The more important things I’m bringing with me of course,” he added, “I’ve got all my documents as well. Which reminds me I want to get a little safe for all that to be put in as well.”
“Well, Darren and I have tomorrow off, and I know that you’re working a shift at the cafe tomorrow morning, so after that, you want to go shopping?” she suggested.
“Yeah, that would be great, thank you,” he agreed, “I can’t wait, another twelve days and I’ll be living on my own. I know I’m scared about that, but you and Darren have been teaching me how to cook, and how to be an adult basically. I’ve got an account because of you, the utilities and cable as well as internet are all being put in, so I can do what I have to for school. I’m ahead at school, and plan to stay ahead of everything, and with testing out of some classes, means I’m not as busy as others,” he said as he began to go over the plans that he had come up with for his future.
Coco listened with a smile on her face. It wasn’t the solution that she had wanted. She had been trying to find a way to take in Evan herself. Darren had been all for it, they had both liked Evan from the moment that Eric had brought him home when they had started elementary school together. Over the years that they had gotten to know him, they found out more about his home life. Parents that didn’t care or want anything to do with the extremely clever and resourceful teen. Instead, he would be living alone, a good few minutes away and Coco, while happy that Evan was so excited, wasn’t happy as she would rather Evan be living with her.
“It’s going to be hard, but also, I think this is what is best for me at the moment. I don’t want you and Darren getting in any trouble if my parents figure out what is going on. If I was living with you, they could accuse you of kidnapping me, we’ve been lucky that the temporary guardianship papers don’t need to be filed like full custody ones do, or they would find out, even though I sneak them into the usual letters and things they have to sign,” he said, “You’ve done so much to help me, that I couldn’t stand something happening to you because they would throw a very public tantrum over it. Image, their image in the community is what they care about. Nothing else, never anything else,” he finished quietly.
“I know,” she said, it wasn’t like she was blind to the reputation that the Buckley’s had in some circles. Rich, well-to-do, charity givers. The only thing she knew was that at home, there was no charity or love shown.
Coco pulled up outside the Buckley home, “Are they even home at the moment?” she asked.
“Nope, but it gives me time to pack things away and get it ready to be moved. Also, they are still leaving money behind for me to take. So I’m putting what I get from them away. Nice to know that I have money that can be used to pay for things,” he told her as he unbuckled himself.
“As long as you’re careful, you should be okay. If you need anything and you don’t have the money for it, please tell us. Don’t take this on yourself,” Coco pleaded with him, not wanting to let himself go short because of pride.
“I’ll be okay, but I’ll keep that in mind,” Evan promised her as he got out of the car, “Night, Coco, and thank you for the lift home. Tell Eric that I’ll see him tomorrow if he wants to come shopping with me,” he grinned at the thought of buying things for his own home.
“He will, he’s just as damn excited as you,” Coco laughed, as she then watched him go into the house and the door closed behind him before she left to go home.
XxXxX
The next thirteen days passed by too quickly, or even so slowly that he had no idea how he was able to contain himself. The day before he was to move, the apartment had been getting a makeover courtesy of Darren. The larger items had been brought in and set up. The place was starting to look livable. The day before he also found another note left on the counter in the kitchen. His parents were going away for a month. There was a lot of cash left on the side along with a card for him to use in case he needed anything.
Evan
The card is yours to use for the rest of your time at high school. It will be topped up once a week to one thousand. Use it as you wish, it’s your money. Your mother and I will be going away on and off for a while. For now we’ll be gone around a month. Try to keep out of trouble. If you get hurt, you’re on your own. I’ll have money paid for your insurance and any more that is needed, but you’ll have to deal with things alone now. You’re no longer a child.
Phillip
Evan snorted as he tucked it away with the others. He would bank the money later, and with the card he would use that for school supplies and things he would need for that. Grabbing his phone he smiled as he called Eric.
“Hey, Ev, what’s up? Excited for tomorrow?” Eric asked as soon as he answered the phone.
“Yeah, I am,” Evan grinned, “But well, that’s not all I’m calling for. The parents have left the house again. This time they’re going away for a month. I have plenty of time to move things. Need to put more into the bank as well, so if your dad is alright with it, we can do that tomorrow as we’re moving things over. I’ve hidden the boxes in Maddie’s old room, since she hasn’t come home at all again. And mom and dad don’t go in there either.”
“Dad should be fine with that,” Eric told him, “Hell, he’ll come over now if you want. I think he’s bored,” he snorted, “he’s been wandering around the house for a while. He’s thinking about redoing the living room again. Don’t know if Mom will be happy about that.”
Evan laughed, “If he is that bored, I don’t mind. It would be better, in case we’re robbed. Which reminds me I need to make a note for them when I’m gone and they go looking for me. Though I’m placing a bet now on it being three months before they realize that I’m gone.”
“I’m going with six months,” Eric told him before calling to his dad. “Hey Dad, if you’re that bored, Evan needs to take some money to the bank!”
“Sure, I’ll head over now!” Darren yelled back.
Eric burst into laughter, “Damn, he really is bored.”
“I’ll see him soon then,” he smiled as he sat down on the floor in the middle of the living room. Enjoying that he had the freedom to do so for his last day in the house.
“Are you going to reach out to Maddie at all?” Eric then asked, “Oh, and Dad’s on the way to you now.”
“No, I don’t think I am. She hasn’t reached out to me in a while. Like a year. She said she would keep in touch now that she’s back in Hershey, but I knew it wouldn’t last. She keeps making promises and things like that, she never keeps them,” he shrugged as they talked a little more before Darren arrived and they headed out to the bank before it closed.
Chapter Three
Evan looked around his apartment and grinned. This was his home, this would be the place he would live for the next two years at the very least. There would be no one to tell him what to do, or berate him for just breathing. He would finally be free. He might only be sixteen but he had been learning to take care of himself since Maddie had started leaving him alone when he was six. When she had decided that friends were more important than her brother, not that he could blame her; she had been a teenager. Living her life as free as she could with the parents they had. The only thing he wished, was that she had kept her promises to him.
“I’m free,” he said as he sat down on the couch he had brought for himself. It was comfy, and he could just sink into it when there were hard days, and curl up on it when he had those sick days.
Evan just sat there, on his own, no one else was around. Eric and his family had left twenty minutes ago. “My first night,” he said as he got up and headed to the kitchen, he’d fully stocked it. Or rather Coco had. While Darren had made sure the internet had been set up correctly along with the PC he now had in the apartment. The alarms were set as well, so he was as safe as he could be while being sixteen and living alone.
Evan turned on the radio and began to dance slightly to the music as he put the casserole that Coco had made for him into the oven. It was in a single-serve dish, she had made a few things in those dishes, stocking his freezer with some, and putting out recipes for other things that he could try and cook. He set the time like she had told him and went to make sure everything was where he wanted it to be. He hummed and danced a little more as he wondered what he could do. Normally he would be hiding himself away, almost scared of something happening. Now he was okay to just wander around, find a place that was comfortable to him and just do something.
“Oh, the letter!” he jumped as he headed to his school bag and grabbed out the letter that he had been given for the pen pal program. It was something that their year was doing. Sending letters to soldiers in Afghanistan. He had sent his first letter two weeks ago. He had gotten the reply the day before, on Friday. But he hadn’t looked at it yet. He wondered who he had gotten and headed to the couch to read it.
Hi Evan
My name’s Eddie Diaz, I’m nineteen and have been in the army since I joined up at eighteen. I’ve been over here for a while now and it’s scary at times. I miss home a lot. Well, more like my friends, than family. I don’t really get along with them much. I have two older sisters. My eldest sister, Adriana, is six years older than me and my other, Sophia, is four years older than me. I’m the baby of the family, but the only boy in the family. I’m half Mexican, and that comes with some expectations on my father’s side. Or rather just my dad. My mother is… controlling to a high degree. My sisters always loved to get me in trouble, still do. My dad wants me to go into the family business, and I don’t want that. I had enough of that when I was younger. I was always roped in to help out. I liked having a part-time job, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. And any money I made, my mother would take from me, unless I gave a good reason as to why I should keep it.
I live in El Paso, Texas. Though I have a lot more family in LA, California. Which I like better. My abuela and abuelo live out there, with an aunt, and my other aunt and uncles live near enough that they visit more than what my own parents do. They helped me escape my parents a lot as I grew up, gave me the freedom that I needed to grow. I have my first leave coming up soon, and I know that I’m not going back to El Paso for it. Going to head to LA and spend it there instead, at least I’ll be around people that actually love me. I love jazz music and country. Though I have a soft spot for punk and emo. As for what spare time I get over here, I read a lot. We have a lot of books that have been sent over to those of us here. But we share them out too. Since sometimes we won’t get a package from home straight away, it can take weeks sometimes longer. We get calls home when we’re at the main bases. But they can be spotty if we are at others.
I’d like to hear more about where you are from. What do you like doing in your spare time? What music do you like? Is there anything that you’re looking forward to?
Eddie Diaz
Evan finished the letter with a laugh. The man seemed funny, and it sounded like he knew what life could be like with parents that weren’t like everyone else. He wondered what he should tell the man. He was nineteen and maybe he could understand what Evan was doing. He didn’t want to lie, and to tell someone else, well, it wouldn’t hurt that much. Could it? He sighed as the timer went off and he jumped up, grabbing the oven mitts and getting out the small casserole. He grinned as it smelled delicious. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he said to himself as he put it down on the side and scooped it out and onto a plate, putting the dish in to soak. He went to the table and began to eat, contemplating the letter he wanted to send back.
XxXxX
Eddie
Hi again. I hope you’re okay, I know being out there can be hard and scary. I don’t know how you do it. I’m sixteen as you know. I have parents that don’t care if I’m dead or alive. I don’t think they even love me. I actually moved out of the family home a few days ago. I knew that staying there would end up with me dead. I was doing stupid things just to get a bit of their attention. It took me too long to realize that I was going to end up killing myself if I carried on. I know that’s heavy for someone you’ve only just got a second letter from. But… I want to be real with you. Not the fake me I have to pretend to be for people.
I hope you can accept that. If not, just shoot me a letter telling me that you don’t wish to talk to me again. I’ll be fine with that.
I live in Hershey, yeah, the chocolate. And yes I’m also rolling my eyes. It’s not good chocolate to me. It’s okay but there is a lot better out there. I like all kinds of music, I really do. I listen to so many all the time. I have a lot of CD’s that I’ve bought at second-hand places. They’re great for finding some really good ones. Same with books; I love to read and learn. I’m trying to aim for an early graduation, so I’m working hard on that, testing out on some classes, and in advanced ones for others. So in my spare time, I learn new things and I read books. I like to listen to music when I cook. So I usually end up listening to the radio.
And here is me being real. I moved out to an apartment on my own. I really like the freedom. I have two jobs as well. I work in a cafe on the weekends and at a small market shop three or four days a week after school, but only for a couple of hours. And only you and three others know that I’ve moved out of the family home. I don’t think my parents have even realized yet that I’ve gone. They decided to go on a month-long trip around three weeks ago. I left a note in my old room. Telling them that I’m gone, but not where. They have my number if they want to get in touch. I explained what I’d done, just so they’ll know. I know they won’t want me back. So you don’t have to worry about me being alone, I have people around. My best friend, Eric, is always here at the moment. I think he wouldn’t mind doing the same, but his mom and dad love him too much to let him go just yet.
I don’t know what else to tell you about me. I’m kinda of a loner. I don’t really play sports, because I was always seen as that weird kid. I’m getting pretty tall now though and I want to get in shape a little, so I might try out for track, or something that would be a good fit for me. But something that I can do around my jobs. It’s all up in the air at the moment.
I do hope I get to talk to you again, but I can understand if you don’t want to.
Evan Buckley
Evan finished writing his letter, sat back, and looked at it. He would be posting it on the way to school on Monday. It was only Sunday and he had been at the house for a week and he was enjoying it. “Hope that’s okay,” he said, yawning. It was getting late, but he wanted to get ahead in some of his classes, he was going to make a run for early graduation. He wanted out of there as soon as he could, and since his birthday had only just gone with the start of the school year, he wanted to get out before he got roped in for longer.
“Plans,” he muttered to himself as he put the letter in the envelope and sealed it. The address that it had to go to was already on the envelope. All he had to do now was post it. He sat back on his chair. He was at his desk in his room this time. It still smelt a little like paint fumes, but that was starting to fade. The place was beginning to really feel like a home to Evan.
Evan sighed as he thought of his sister, reaching for his phone he wondered if he should reach out again. He wanted to, he missed her and the talks they had when he was little. But now, she was always so distant with him, never had time for him, no matter when he called her. He put the phone down after looking at the messages that he had sent her over the last two months. There was only one reply from her during that time. Telling him she was busy. She lived in the same city as him and she didn’t even reach out, he wondered if she knew that he was aware that she’d moved back to Hershey, since he had only overheard her talking to their parents about her moving back.
He huffed and brought the phone back to him and called Eric.
“Hey, Evan, are you bored yet?” Eric laughed as soon as he answered.
“I really am, I’ve done all my homework, even worked ahead. I wrote my letter to Eddie and even did some extra reading. Now I’m sitting here contemplating calling Maddie or messaging her at the very least. Stop me from doing stupid shit, please!” Evan said, laughing himself as he began to talk to his friend.
“You need some more hobbies I think,” Eric told him, “We’re going to plan tomorrow at school on what you can do in your spare time.”
“Anything is better than just sitting here contemplating talking to someone that hasn’t talked to me in over six months. Who has only sent me four messages in that time, and all of them stating the same thing, that they’re busy,” he sighed, feeling a little bitter about his sister.
“Might be time for you to start your education in films,” Eric pointed out, “There are so many out there that you can watch. You can just rent them and return them,” he added.
“Yeah, that might be a point. But I need to do something with my hands,” he frowned, “I’m thinking about taking up woodwork. I enjoy it when we’re at school, and I like carving and making things, so maybe that.”
“As long as you don’t cut off your hand, we’re good,” he joked.
“Well, this place is all hardwood floors so it won’t be that bad to clean up,” he said, really thinking about it. He really did enjoy working with wood, and making things in wood class was some of the highlights of his day.
“Let’s talk to John before you do anything, maybe he has some things he can help you with in getting that started,” Eric said as he talked about the man that worked in the wood shop at school as an assistant to the teacher.
Evan agreed and the two talked a little more before Evan started yawning and they called it a night.
Chapter Four
Evan walked around the cafe and started cleaning the tables. It was getting late and the cafe would be closing soon, he had volunteered for the evening shift this time. Usually he worked the early shift.. He enjoyed working there, as when there were no customers he could do a little of his homework, and study more. The owner encouraged him to study when he could as well. There were only two customers still in the cafe at the moment, each sitting and reading something; one on a device and the other a book. He was curious as to what they were reading since both of them were very engrossed in what ever it was.
Evan looked up as the chime above the door went. He smiled at the older lady that walked into the cafe, “Evening ma’am,” he greeted with a smile as he went to the counter, “What can I get for you?” he asked.
“Oh, I’ll have a caramel latte to drink in, please,” she smiled at him, “My daughter got me hooked on them, and well, I’m getting on, may as well indulge,” she laughed.
“And why not,” he nodded as he rang her up and began to prepare her order. “It’s nice to indulge in the luxuries at times.”
“It is,” she nodded, “Hmm, I do know you, don’t I?” she asked him, looking at him more thoughtfully.
Evan turned to her and observed her for a moment, “I think you might do. You do look familiar to me, and I believe that this is the first time you’ve been in this cafe,” he added, “At least while I’m working.”
“Oh, I know you,” she said, shaking her head and smiling even more, “You’re the Buckley’s boy, Margaret and Phillip, their son,” she nodded to herself.
“I am,” he said, feeling a little on edge.
“They must be proud of you,” she said as he continued to make her drink.
Evan just smiled and nodded. He knew they didn’t care, but to the rest of the world, they were good parents. Or rather to those in Hershey who knew them, they were good parents.
“I wonder what your sister thinks of you working?” she asked absently.
“I’d like to think she is proud of me as well. I know she didn’t have an after-school job or a weekend one,” he told her.
“Hmm, I believe your parents let her do as she wished. I heard that she was a nurse at the hospital. Such a kind-hearted young lady,” she said.
Evan smiled and nodded, “I believe so,” he told her as he walked over, “Here you go, one caramel latte, I hope it’s good,” he added.
“Thank you so much,” she said, as she took the mug and began to add some sugar to it.
Evan wanted to wince at how much sugar she was putting into her drink but left it alone as he grabbed one of his study books and began to read through it.
“Oh, I heard that your parents are away at the moment? Are you living alone?” she then asked, sounding very concerned.
“No, I’m staying with a friend’s family while they are on vacation, so there is no need to worry,” he looked up and lied.
“Ah, that’s good, I know the Buckleys are well off, so I was wondering if they had found someone to help you while they were gone. I know you’re what… fifteen?” she queried, frowning as she tried to remember the age.
“Sixteen ma’am,” he replied, “And yeah, they made sure that I am fine while they were gone,” he lied again, knowing better than to try and mess things up with his parents. They were well thought of in the community, which was why any report that had been made to CPS over his neglect and the fact that they left him home alone a lot, was always glossed over.
“That’s good, it’s nice to know that you’re well looked after. I always worry about children,” she said, “My own sister and her husband both believe that they are the best parents around. They aren’t, the girls are all for their parents, but the youngest, I feel for him. Wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t cut them all off fully soon,” she snorted, shaking her head, “The children are no longer children, the youngest is now nineteen. My nieces are spoiled, my nephew was worked to the damn bone by that family. Man of the house crap that I never believed in,” she added, “My sister is… spoiled and a narcissist,” she finished, shaking her head, “Well, I’ve got a book I want to read, so I’ll leave you to your study.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he smiled and went back to studying.
XxXxX
Evan felt nervous, he was waiting outside the guidance councilors office. He had been called in for a meeting during his lunch period. The woman stepped out of her room, “Ah, Evan, you’re here, come on in. We’re just waiting for Principal Grayson to arrive and we can start this meeting. We got a message from your parents that what happens is up to you. That was from your father, he said you’re sixteen now and need to start understanding things yourself,” she said with a tight smile.
Evan wanted to roll his eyes. His parents would have come back from their holiday two days ago. He hadn’t heard a thing from them, so he didn’t believe that he had been missed yet. “Right,” he nodded as he entered the office and was guided to sit down, a drink of water put in front of him. It didn’t take long for Principal Grayson to arrive.
“Now,” Miss Nora began as she sat across from him, “Your teachers have been telling us that you’ve been finding your lessons easy. As well as finishing all schoolwork and even homework within the lessons. Often with time to spare. You’ve also been reading ahead in all classes and tested out of some as well.”
“Yeah,” Evan nodded, “I’m aiming for an early graduation, the lessons are easy but I’ve been doing extra credit work to keep myself occupied, while the class learns at the normal pace. It’s not a problem is it?”
“No, but that is why I’ve been talking to a local college. We’re thinking about letting you take a few courses from them so that you have something else to work on. You’ll be able to work on several courses there, and test out if they are easy for you. If at the end of the semester exams, you pass the extras that we are planning for you, then you will be moved up a year,” the principal said as he looked at the teenager before him.
“Move up?” he frowned, looking up. “I wasn’t allowed to last time it was offered,” he said, as he had the same option in Middle School, but his parents had declined it for him.
“Well, I spoke with your father this morning and he was fine with it being your decision now. He stated that it had to be up to you, that it is your education and future,” he said.
Evan nodded, surprised that his father had even said that much to the man. It might be one of the few times his father had spoken to the principal since he had started high school. “I would like to take the college courses, what would that entail?”
“You’ll be spending at least one full day and one-half day there per week, going to lectures and classes. You’ll be continuing your classes here and doing any missed work outside. You will be working on credits that can be transferred to a degree when you decide on one, you may even be able to choose classes that could lead to an associate in something,” he answered.
Evan nodded, “I would… I would like to do that. Take the exams as soon as I can to see if I can move up a grade.”
“I will set that up so you can do them soon, instead of at the end of the semester,” Principal Grayson said, looking at Miss Nora.
The Principal and Miss Nora went over a few more details before Evan was let go to rejoin his friends for the last half of his lunch hour. Evan smiled to himself, he would be heading toward early graduation and some college credit for whatever degree he would choose in the future, and they would be transferable no matter what college he went to when the time came.
Eric rushed over to him, “So, is everything alright?” he asked.
“Yeah,” he grinned as he quickly told his friend what the meeting had been about.
“Well, that’s great, just have to find a way to get there. I know that there are some public transports from here to the college,” he began, “And you can always get my mom or dad to drop you off, it they’re free. Since we’re both still only learners,” he added.
Evan smiled and nodded, “I know, it’s something to think about, but I’ll figure it out. Plans are going well, at the moment. Looks like my parents are home now though. Only a matter of time before they figure out I’m no longer living there.”
Eric snorted, “What… what do you think they’re going to do?”
“What, when they find out?” he asked as they settled down to eat what Coco had packed away for both her son and Evan.
“Yeah,” he said, sharing the large lunch, “We’ve not got much time,” he huffed.
“I know,” Evan said, “As for what they will do. Nothing. Look, my parents just don’t care, I don’t think they have ever cared,” he sighed. “I made my peace with that a long time ago. They will ignore the fact unless something happens that they need me around for. Hopefully, there won’t be anything. But if I get them to promise to let me keep doing what I want, then I will help them with what they need me for. Quid pro quo,” he grinned.
“Okay, that… that would work,” Eric nodded, “I have to say, even after years of hearing about them being these shit parents, it still amazes me how damn bad they actually are, and how much Maddie sucks as well. She’s a brat half the time.”
“I’m just glad that I’m out of there now,” he said, “I don’t feel like I’m about to do something stupid just to get them to pay attention to me,” he shrugged, “And with me now doing the college classes alongside the high school one. Well, early graduation for one, and I’ll have a head start for whatever degree I go for.”
“You know what you want at least?” he asked.
Evan shook his head, “Not too sure at the moment. I just… I’ve been thinking about a lot of things, but nothing really appeals to me at the moment,” he sighed, giving another shrug, “It’s… not something I really thought about. I was thinking more about just getting out of there, surviving until my next birthday, and trying to keep out of their way unless they want to rant at me.”
Eric ate a few bites before he asked, “Have you gone back at all since you left?”
“No, not at all. I won’t be going back, which is how they’re going to find out something is up, when the money just piles up in the drawer. Even with the card they gave me, they still put money in the drawer,” he snorted, “I don’t want it anymore. I don’t really need it, what they’ve given me is already a lot. And I have funds in case of injuries and unexpected expenses,” he added.
“Mom and Dad said that if you ever need any help, please tell them. They want to help. You know if you weren’t so adamant about living on your own that they would have loved to have you living with us,” he told him, “And to be honest, I would have liked that too. I’ve been after a sibling for years, and Mom and Dad… well, they can’t,” he said, going quiet.
Evan looked at him, “I know,” he said, nodding, “But I’ll always be your brother,” he told him, “Even if we don’t live in the same house.”
Eric nodded, “A brother from another mother,” he snorted.
“Yeah,” Evan grinned at him, “Come on we need to hurry,” he added as he saw the time on his watch.
Eric groaned, “Ugh, chemistry,” he muttered.
Evan laughed, “Chemistry is great.”
“For you,” he said, “I might be in the AP class, but it sucks. I’m not as smart as you.”
“I’m not smart, I just work hard,” Evan deflected, making Eric roll his eyes.
“If you say so,” he said, as they began to finish off their meal and head to their next class.
Chapter Five
It was two weeks before Christmas when Evan’s phone began to ring. It had been ringing on and off since he had returned home from his Christmas shopping with Eric and his family. He had brought a few things for those he cared about, something small for Maddie to let her know that he still cared. She still hadn’t replied to any of his messages, or returned any of the calls he had made during Thanksgiving. He had sent his parents one small message like he had done each year, but he expected nothing back from them.
Evan put his dishes away, his phone beginning to ring again. He rolled his eyes and wondered who would be calling like that. Eric wouldn’t have done it, Maddie still refused to have anything to do with him and hadn’t really cared about him since she had left for Boston when he was twelve. She might be back in Hershey, but that meant nothing when it came to the sibling’s relationship. Evan’s eyes went wide when he saw his Dad’s name flash up on the screen again.
He answered it, worried that something had happened to Maddie, he didn’t really care if anything had happened to his parents, he hadn’t cared about that in a long time. “Dad,” he said, trying to keep any hint of emotion from his voice.
“Where are you?” Phillip demanded to know.
“I take it that you have found the note?” Evan asked him.
“I did, now where are you, so I can pick you up and bring you back,” he replied, almost growling in annoyance.
“No,” Evan told him, “I’m not going back there. I will come and talk to you if that’s what you want. But I’ll not live in that house again, ever.”
“You will do what I tell you to, boy,” Phillip hissed at him, “You will tell me where you are right now, and I’ll come and get you.”
“No, Dad,” Evan said, shaking his head as he wandered into his living room, “I can’t be in that house anymore. Look, Dad, I’ll talk to you, I’ll meet with you, but I won’t ever live in that house again. I’ll explain my reasoning to you then, but I can’t do it. I won’t.”
“Tomorrow, you will come to the house and you will explain yourself and your damn behavior. I’ve told you time and time again not to cause trouble. Even your mother has warned you about that, but you never seem to listen to anyone,” Phillip huffed as he then hung up the phone.
Evan sighed as he looked at his phone and then put it aside. He wanted nothing more than to yell and scream but kept himself calm and began to pace. He didn’t really know what he would be telling his parents. He didn’t know if he should tell them the truth of it all, or gloss over things. He grabbed his phone and messaged Eric.
‘Told you, three months. Dad wanted me to go back. I refused. I’ll be speaking to them tomorrow.’ – Evan
Evan hadn’t even put his phone down when it pinged with a new message.
‘Want me to call?’ – Eric
‘Nah, I’ll talk to you at school on Monday.’ – Evan
‘Okay, you call me if you need to. Call mom too.’ – Eric
‘If I need to. I will. Promise.’ – Evan
‘Good. See ya Monday.’ – Eric
Evan put his phone down after the last message and grabbed a few of the presents he had and the things he needed to wrap them. He may as well get that out the way before he attempted to sleep that night.
XxXxX
Evan looked at the house in front of him. He got off his bike and walked with it towards the front porch. Setting it to one side he went to the door and knocked. Waiting a few moments before it was answered. His dad stood there, looking at him. The two were almost eye to eye now, Evan had a bit of a growth spurt after he had moved out.
“Dad,” Evan said with a firm nod.
“Evan,” he greeted back, moving aside so he could let his son into the house. “Inside,” he said, his tone snappish.
Evan rolled his eyes but walked into the house. Nothing had changed at all in the three months he had been gone. He didn’t expect it to, his parents rarely changed anything about their home.
“My office, your mother is with her friends this morning,” Phillip stated as he led the way to his office on the first floor.
Evan followed, still not saying a word. He knew there was no point until Phillip began asking questions. Closing the door behind him he stood there, in front of his dad’s desk, as the man sat down. He waited for Phillip to gesture for him to sit before doing so. The man frowned at the action.
“Explain yourself?” he demanded.
“Let me ask a question first,” he said, getting a nod. “Do you love me? Like a father would his son.”
Phillip sat up straighter as he stared at Evan, “I don’t need to answer that at all.”
“That would be a no. I thought that would be the case. I know Mom doesn’t,” he said shaking his head, “Do you want to know what my earliest memory is?”
“Why would that be important to why you don’t live here anymore?” Phillip asked him, frowning, his hands clasping together in front of him on the desk.
“It’s a big reason,” he told him, “One of my earliest memories is of Mom hitting me and telling me that I’m nothing but a waste of space and that I should be dead.”
Phillip reared back in his seat, as though he had been slapped, “Evan-”
“There is nothing you can say that will change what she did. I know neither of you really care for me, hell I’ve known that since I was little. But when I got hurt, when I was five, for the first time you paid attention to me. To me, the kid that you had ignored and left Maddie to raise for the first six years of my life. In that moment my mind twisted and I thought the only way you would see me was if I was hurt. So I started to hurt myself on purpose.”
“Evan, we do care,” Phillip said, his words careful and measured.
“Please don’t lie to me,” Evan said shaking his head, “The reason why I moved out is because I realized that you only paid attention to me when I was hurt, or when Maddie was around. She is the one that you do care about, the one that you do love. I’m just a child you never wanted, so yeah, I get that. But those moments of attention, I craved them. I craved them so damn badly I was about ready to kill myself to get them. Being fifteen and realizing that if I carried on living in this home I’d be dead before my next birthday. Waking up alone at the hospital and realizing that neither of you really cared, that it’s all been for show. I knew I had to leave. I knew I had to get out. I worked hard, I saved as much as I could, and I found a place.”
“You really feel like we don’t care?” Phillip asked him, looking a little pale compared to how he usually looked.
“Because you don’t. I don’t care what you say about it, I know the truth about that. I know you don’t love me or care about me at all,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t be here. I’ll end up killing myself just to get a tiny bit of attention from the two of you. I won’t do it anymore, Dad. I won’t. I don’t want to be in a house where I’m not wanted. Where I’ve never been wanted. Maddie was the only one that did for a little while. And she left seven years ago and I’ve seen her about two or three times since then.”
“We do care, we just-” he began, only to cut himself off.
“Just what? Didn’t want another kid? Didn’t want a son? That I was too late in life? Just WHAT?” Evan demanded to know, “For sixteen years I’ve been in this family, and for nearly all of that time I knew I wasn’t wanted by you and Mom. For ten years I hurt myself on purpose just to feel like I was seen by the two of you. Now I’m gone, I’m done. I don’t care about you any more. I wanted nothing more than to feel like I had parents, but I’ve never felt that from either of you. Maybe I should start referring to you both by your given names, or Mr and Mrs Buckley because you’ve never been a mom or a dad to me.”
“No matter what, it doesn’t give you the right to move out when you feel like it and to trick someone into signing a lease for you. And yes I found the paperwork for that, it was sent to me. I thought it was a mistake, and just tossed it aside. When I noticed that the money we leave sometimes has been piling up I went to check on you,” he told him, “So yes, I do care, otherwise I wouldn’t have checked up.”
“And how long do you think I’ve been living on my own for?” Evan asked him, eyes narrowing, “How long?” he demanded to know.
“A week, maybe two,” Phillip said, shocked at the yelling his son was doing.
“Try three fucking months. I’ve been gone for over three months. The day you decided to leave me alone in the hospital that last time was the beginning of it all for me. When Mrs Baxter picked me up, took me home with her, and set me up in her guest room. I made a decision that I was going to leave. I started my next year at school and within the first month of being at school I had found a place, got you to sign the lease so I could move out because I was only sixteen, and left. And you didn’t even notice, because neither of you fucking care,” he seethed, his chest heaving with each breath as he tried to reign in the rage and hurt he was feeling at the answer he had been given.
“Watch your language!” Phillip demanded.
“Watch your language, is that all you can say after you find out that your son hasn’t lived in your home for three months,” Evan couldn’t help but give a strained laugh as he shook his head, “At least I know where you stand,” he said as he stood up. “There is nothing you can say that will make me come back. If you stop the lease or force the landlord to kick me out, I’ll just run. I know how to take care of myself, I’ve had to do that since I was six.”
“You will be returning to this home immediately, I won’t have you creating a scandal for this family,” Phillip demanded of him.
“Not going to happen,” Evan replied, “Try and make me, and I will make sure that every single note and shit that you’ve sent me over the years is out there for everyone to see. I will not be doing what you want. You and Margaret leave me alone all the time and you have done since I was ten. You left me with money to get food and then you were gone, more and more often as I grew up and for longer periods as well. Now, let me live my life how I want, and do what I need to, to make sure I can leave Hershey behind me and you can forget I ever existed. You’re pretty good at that already, so it shouldn’t be hard.”
Phillip stilled as Evan stared at him. It took a few moments before he slumped in his chair, “Fine, do so. But if I say you need to be here for something you will come here.”
Evan nodded, “Fine.”
“The rent has already been paid for the two years you’ll be there. You have until then to sort yourself out. I will continue with your health insurance and anything else needed. You will have access to the education fund that was put up for you, you can do with it as you please,” he said.
“Education fund?” Evan frowned.
“It was done when you were a baby. I put money in there each year. Making sure to keep it a healthy amount. It’s a good sum of money because of that,” he told him, as he went into a drawer and pulled out some paperwork and handed it over. “It’s yours to do with as you please.”
Evan took the paperwork and glanced through it. Nodding, he looked up and said, “Goodbye, Dad.” He turned around and left the house.
Chapter Six
Evan looked at the gifts he had managed to get together, ready for Christmas. It was less than a week away, and school had finally broken up for winter break. Though Evan still had one more class at the local college that he had to go to, it wasn’t worrying him at all. He was enjoying the extra courses and the fact that he was now in the year above. He was working hard, he had plans, and he wanted out of Hershey as fast as he could
He grinned as he then turned to the letter that was on the table. He had received another one from Eddie. He had also done up a small care package for the man and sent it on. Asking a few of the teachers what he could send. It had been fun doing it and he wondered if he should do another one in a month or two. He knew it would be a while before Eddie’s birthday, which was in July, so he would do one then at the very least. Evan shrugged and opened the letter, sitting down.
Evan
Hey, so Christmas is coming and I won’t be coming home for it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be coming home at any point. I asked about having two weeks of my leave in February, around my Abuela’s birthday. She’s going to be seventy, so I can spend some time with her and the family. It would be nice to see them, and not go back to El Paso, I really don’t want to have to listen to my parents go on about me joining up still.
So, yeah, two weeks, I normally get a full month, but I tend to spread it out during the year, doing two or three weeks here and there instead. So maybe one of the days I’ll take it all in one go and make the trip up to see you in person. I hope that you have a good holiday and are keeping yourself safe. I’m still not sure I like the idea of you living alone, but I get it, about wanting to get away from your parents.
Oh, and since I’ll be back home, I’ve sent you my number, it’s at the bottom of the letter. I have yours as well, so I can call you when I get back Stateside. Calling here is not exactly easy.
Sorry for the short letter, need to get ready for a mission, take care, Evan.
Eddie Diaz
Evan grabbed his phone and put the number that was at the bottom into it. He smiled as he tucked it back away. The sixteen year old got up. He had plans for that afternoon, and that was to go and see Maddie. He didn’t know if she was working or not, but he hoped she was, since he was going to go to the hospital instead of going to Maddie’s home. Doug didn’t like him, hated him in fact.
He grabbed a bag and put Maddie’s present in it, and to keep the peace he’d got something for Doug. Nothing big, but a little something. Maddie’s had more thought in it. Putting them both inside the bag. He shouldered it and headed out. He would have to bike it to the hospital. He just hoped that Maddie would actually see him.
Evan shivered at the cold and grabbed his bike from the place where he stored it and headed out. Taking the familiar roads, he couldn’t wait until he could drive places. He was in the middle of getting his licence and was trying to save up for a car of some kind as well. He thought a lot about what he wanted to do when he was finished with school. He was set to graduate the year before anyone else in his year, but that didn’t mean that he was going to be leaving Hershey straight away, he had a few college courses that he wanted to do and finish before he left. He had fallen in with psychology and sciences. Working his way to an associate in both. He had already tested out of a few of the classes he needed for them, and was working ahead in a couple of others.
The cold weather was getting worse, and he wasn’t looking forward to the snowfall that had been predicted for later on in the week. It took him almost an hour to get to the hospital and while he felt warm, he was also so damn cold. He hurried into the hospital and went over to the reception. “Hi,” he said, giving the man sitting behind it a warm smile.
“What can we do for you?” the receptionist asked as he looked him over and not seeing anything wrong with him.
“Sorry, I don’t want to be a bother, but I’m not going to get a chance to see my sister over the holidays and I wanted to give her and her husband their gifts,” he said as he gestured to the bag that was on his back.
“Who are you looking for?” he asked, not sounding like he believed him.
“Maddie Kendall. I know her husband Doug would be busy, so I don’t want to disturb him. I won’t take long, I promise, just let her know that I’m here. I don’t mind waiting for her to have a free moment. My bike is locked up, and I might go and grab a hot chocolate from the machine. It’s so cold,” he answered him.
“Alright, I’ll send word to her, and you are?” he asked, making a note.
“Evan Buckley, I’m her brother,” he replied.
“Alright, Evan, go and sit down and I’ll see if Nurse Kendall will be able to come and see you,” he nodded as he made the note and went to one of the nurses who was hanging out nearby.
“Thank you,” Evan said as he went to the machine and grabbed a drink. He wrapped his hands around it as he found a place out of the way to sit and wait for his sister to come to him. The ER wasn’t as busy as he thought it would be, but then again, most people were too busy with their Christmas shopping.
Maddie walked through to the ER room and saw her brother sitting to one side. A drink in his hand. His nose was red and he looked cold. She sighed a little annoyed that he would appear at her work. She had told him several times not to. But then again, it wasn’t like he was welcomed at her home. “Evan, what are you doing here?” she asked as she walked over to him.
“Hi Maddie, sorry, I know you don’t like me coming to your work. But I don’t think I would be able to make it to your home. I don’t think I’ll be seeing you this holiday either, so I wanted to give you and Doug your gifts early, just in case,” he said as he almost jumped up and spilled his drink.
“You really need to start warning me,” she snapped at him, “I told you that I don’t want you hanging around all the time.”
“Maddie, I’m dropping something off and then leaving; I’ve got my own things to be doing. I have a paper that I need to do for the college course I’m doing, and I have a few other things that need to be done. Oh, Mom and Dad are going away again, so don’t bother getting in contact with them, they’re going on a cruise until the New Year,” he said as he put his drink down along with his bag and got the two gifts out. “Here, now I’ll go, bye,” he added, zipping up his bag, leaving the rest of his drink and heading out.
“Evan!” Maddie called after him, following him outside, shivering as soon as the cold air hit him.
“What?” he asked, as he turned to face him, “You wanted me to go, so I’m going.”
“I want to know what you mean by Mom and Dad are leaving for a cruise?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her as the icy wind went right through her clothes. She saw that her brother was unlocking his bike. “You rode here? In this weather?!”
“Well, it’s not like I have a license, or a car, or anything, and no one is going to be driving me around at all either,” he rolled his eyes, “And yeah, a cruise, Maddie, they aren’t going to be around me at all if they can help it. You know that they don’t like me.”
“Of course they do,” she snapped at him, “The-”
“Maddie, change the damn record, I’m sixteen, not six anymore,” he reminded her, “I’ve known since before then that Mom and Dad don’t like me, or even love me. They’ve told me that to my face, Mom has done it at least once a year ever since I can remember,” he told her, “So yeah, they’re going, I’m alone, but that isn’t new. They’ve been doing this crap since I was ten.”
“What-” she shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “So where are you going for Christmas?” she asked.
“I’ll either be on my own, or with Eric and his family, if they’re remaining in Hershey. I know that Mrs Baxter, Coco’s mom, wants wants them to visit for the holidays,” he stated with a shrug, “So if they do, I’m on my own, if they don’t, I’m with them for it,” he finished, as he got on his bike and put his helmet on, “Right, see ya.”
“What do you mean, see ya!” she yelled at him before he could speed off.
“For god’s sake Maddie, make up your damn mind. You don’t want me here, so I’m going, but now you keep asking me stupid shit. I thought you knew that Mom and Dad always left me behind. They put money in the drawer and fuck off for however long they want. I think I saw them five times in the last six months,” he snapped at her.
“Watch your language,” she hissed, glancing around. “I’m worried about you,” she finally said.
Evan had to laugh at that, “Maddie, how many times have I seen you this year?” he asked her, “How many would you say?”
“At least three or four times a week, you keep coming here. I know that,” Maddie answered, rolling her eyes.
“Maddie, the last time I saw you this year was before my birthday. And you didn’t even see me, because you were only visiting Mom and Dad on the rare occasion that they were home. You didn’t even ask about me. It’s only because of that one visit that I knew you were back in Hershey. Before that, I thought you were still in Boston. But no, I came to find out that you’d moved back at the end of May,” he told her, giving her a look and then rolling his eyes as his sister went to protest. Maddie, I haven’t seen you since you left for Boston when I was twelve. After that, was when you visited the house. No other time have I seen you. I’m only here to deliver these and then I’m leaving. So see ya around Maddie, when you want to talk to me, call me. Though I’ll doubt I’ll be in that prison you call my home.”
With that, he got on his bike and ignored Maddie as she called after him. He wanted to cry, Maddie had been the one person that he had thought loved and cared for him. But since he was six, he was disillusioned with that notion. Especially since she had come back from Boston with Doug. He hadn’t seen or talked to her. When he had tried, she had berated him and told him off several times that he messaged her too much. So now, he was going to wait until she reached out to him. He was done trying to build any type of relationship with his family.
Evan swiped at the tears falling down his face. “No more, I’m done fully. If they want anything to do with me, they can be the ones to reach out. I tried, and they always threw it in my face,” he stated, wiping the tears once more as they began to freeze on his face. He carried on back to his little apartment, huddling on the couch with a hot chocolate and a movie he knew he would make him cry. He needed a good cry.
Chapter Seven
Christmas came with a drive to Cincinnati with the Baxter family. Corrina, Coco’s mother, had heard he’d be alone for the holidays, and was quick to extend an invitation to him. It hadn’t been hard to get the temporary guardianship papers. Though that was more because his father had sent some to him, just in case he went somewhere else for the holidays. Evan had gone with them, feeling welcomed by the large family. He’d joined in on the family activities, and gone to church with them, enjoying the atmosphere and joy that exuded from Corrina and her family, as well as the rest of the Baxters. When the holidays were over and the New Year rang in, they’d returned to Hershey and Evan went back to his apartment; alone once more. His sister hadn’t messaged at all over the holidays, and neither had his parents. Though he had expected that from all of them. He wasn’t a priority to them, and now he knew he wasn’t even an afterthought either.
Now, almost nearing the end of January and Evan felt like total shit. His body ached, his head hurt, and all he wanted to do was to curl up in his bed and hibernate until he felt vaguely human. Evan shivered as he walked through the streets. He had felt too dizzy that morning. He was just so tired, his throat hurt, and he had a cough that was starting to really irritate him. He had been coughing so much sometimes that he had thrown up what little he had been able to eat. It had been bad the night before, he had homework to do and to finish going through an essay. Neither had really gotten done, at least not to the standard that he would have liked.
Evan finally reached his school and walked to his locker. He leaned against it, he just wanted to sit down, he was so tired.
“Hey Ev,” Eric greeted him loudly, causing Evan to groan in pain as he gripped his head with one hand. “Damn, you look like death, what the hell happened?” he asked as he went over and looked at him, reaching up and placing the back of a hand against his forehead, “Fuck, you’re burning up.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said, trying to get himself to move and get his books ready for his lessons.
“Are you sure?” he asked, worried for his friend, “We can get you to the nurse’s office, and you can rest there,” he suggested, he was about ready to take his friend there even if he protested.
“No, I can’t. Look, without my parents around, I can’t really take sick days,” he told him, as he finally gathered himself enough to move and start grabbing the books that he needed.
“We’re going to have to figure something out about that,” Eric told him, shaking his head, “Look, maybe we can get my parents to do something?” he added as the two headed to homeroom first.
Evan sighed, “I can’t, I don’t want to bring them into this. I know that my parents can’t force me back home, but they can make things difficult for your parents, and I don’t want that,” he said, closing his eyes as he felt all energy just drain from him. He leaned against the wall for a bit, other students rushing past to their homerooms.
“Fucking hell,” Eric cursed as he tried to help his friend the rest of the way to their homeroom. Entering, they were watched by the curious eyes of their friends.
“What happened to you, Evan?” Rita asked as she went over to them.
“Feel like shit, that’s all you need to know,” he muttered, resting his head against his arms and closing his eyes. “If Mr Akermen comes in, wake me up,” he yawned, before giving a little cough and just letting himself drift.
Eric took his usual seat next to him and watched over him, nudging him awake when their homeroom teacher walked in to give them the day’s announcements, before they headed to their first class.
XxXxX
Evan had managed to get through two lessons without teachers trying to send him to the nurse’s office. Though, that might be because of some fast talking and doing his best to remain as alert as he could. Evan didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to keep going. He needed to get to the end of the day, then he could go home and sleep. He leaned against the wall outside the next classroom, closing his eyes. He didn’t even feel himself as he began to slide down it.
“Fuck,” Eric swore as he saw the state of his friend, their last lesson had been one that had separated the two. Eric rushed over and knelt, feeling Evan’s forehead, he could swear that it felt hotter than it had done last time.
Evan shivered as he curled against the wall, his head hurt, his body ached, and he felt so damn cold. “So fucking cold,” he muttered, blinking a few times as he noticed that Eric was kneeling beside him. “What… what are you doing on the floor?” he asked, frowning.
“Because my best friend thinks it’s a great place to rest when feeling like shit,” he snarked as he looked at some of the others that were waiting to go in. “Yo, Clyde,” he called out, “help me get him to the nurse’s office,” he ordered.
“Sure, man,” he nodded as he went over. The two of them got Evan to his feet and helped him walk to the nurse’s office.
Eric nodded at Clyde as he left as soon as they were in the room, so that he wouldn’t miss his lesson. “Come on, Ev, over to a bed.”
Evan snorted, “That kind of rhymed,” he said, shivering a little more as Eric helped him over to one of the beds in the nurse’s office and got him to lie down.
“I’m going to get the nurse and call my mom; I know she has a day off today,” he said as he went in search of the nurse.
The nurse looked up as she walked out of the small office, “Mr Baxter, what can I do for you?” she asked as she saw the teenager.
“Evan, he’s sick. His parents are away for a bit and he’s being looked after by my mom and dad. But he hid that he wasn’t feeling well this morning,” he said, thinking quickly.
“Right, I might still need to call his parents,” she said as she began to walk over to where Evan was lying, already asleep.
“They aren’t in communication at the moment,” Eric was quick to say, “They won’t be for another day, the place they are going has no signal, they warned us yesterday that they would be out of touch for a day or two,” he added.
The nurse frowned and then nodded, “Can you call your mother while I check on Mr Buckley?” she asked.
“Sure, I can do that,” he said as he pulled out his phone and stepped out of the room. It rang a few times before it was answered. “Mom,” he said, feeling relieved to hear her voice.
“Eric, what’s wrong?” she asked.
Eric leaned against the wall opposite the door from the nurse’s office. “Ev’s ill. I don’t know what’s wrong, but Mom he looks terrible, he has a temperature, and I swear he’s not really thinking straight at all. I told them that you and dad are looking after him while his parents are out of town for a bit,” he murmured, “I’m sorry, but I had to do something or they would have called the Buckley’s and we all know how well that’s going to go,” he stated.
“That’s fine. So I take it that I need to come and get him?” she asked, as Eric heard movement in the background.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry mom, I don’t know what else to do. He’s really ill. He’s got a temp, complains of the cold, sneezing, coughing, and I know he’s got a sore throat, he keeps wincing each time he swallows or tries to drink anything,” he said, telling her what he had observed so far.
“Right, I’m on the way, tell the nurse that I’ll be there in about half an hour,” she said, “And you did the right thing, Eric,” she told him, “I’m proud of you.”
Eric smiled, his shoulder slumping, relieved that his mom was on the way to help. “I’m going to sit with him until you get here. I don’t want him alone, and I know the nurse is going to be there, but well…” he shrugged.
“Go back to him then, and I’ll see you in a bit,” Coco told her son before hanging up with a softly spoken, “I love you.”
Eric sighed, feeling better as he went back to the nurse’s office and went inside. Evan was still curled up on the bed, asleep. He saw the nurse, “Miss Francis,” he said as he went over to her, “My mom is on the way to come and get him. She should be here in about 30 mins,” he told her as he went and sat on the edge of the bed, “I’m gonna stay with him until she gets here.”
“Alright, I’ll make sure that the teachers are aware that you’re with him, and that your mom is going to come and get him. I’ll be telling her to take him to a doctor, his fever is rather high and I’m worried about it,” she said as she got up to go and inform those that needed to know.
Eric remained by Evan’s bedside until Coco arrived. “Hey, Mom,” he said as he got up and rushed to greet her.
“How’s he doing?” she asked, hugging her son for a moment before she went over to the bed and checked Evan over. He was pale and feverish. “Okay, want to help me wake him up and get him to the car?” she asked her son.
“Sure, I’m coming home as well. I know it’s not the best, but I… I’m worried,” he said, looking at his friend, “I’ve not seen him ill like this before. Hurt yeah,” he shrugged, “but never sick… like this…” he trailed off.
“Well, I’m going to need some help when I get home, he’s getting really tall,” she said, smiling at him.
Eric nodded, “Yeah, he is, and no doubt there is another growth spurt just waiting to happen,” he added with a grin. Evan was almost six foot, and it didn’t look like he was going to be stopping any time soon.
Coco smiled and she turned her attention back to Evan, “Hey, sweetheart,” she called out as she gently woke him up.
“M… Mrs Bax…” he blinked slowly, he always went formal when he was anywhere but their home, or when he knew it was just them. “Wha?” he frowned as he glanced around.
“Come on, up you get, nice and slow,” she said softly as she and Eric helped Evan to his feet. Eric was quick to settle on one side of his best friend as they nodded to the nurse and principal who had escorted her to the nurse’s office. “Thank you, for letting me come and get him, his parents are away on a cruise, and well. They’re in a dead zone at the moment,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’ll tell them what’s going on as soon as I can,” she added.
“No need to worry, you just take care of young Mr Buckley. A note can be sent by you this time since it might be difficult for his parents to come back from a cruise, but I do expect a letter from them, saying that you taking him is alright,” the principal stated.
“I will, and thank you,” Coco smiled as the two began to help Evan out to the car. They got him in, and Eric got in the back with Evan, making sure he was okay as they took him home.
“Sometimes I wish he lived with us,” Eric said, watching Evan as he slept against the car window, “We’d be able to keep a better eye on him,” he added, glancing at the mirror as his mother looked up for a second to catch his eyes.
“True,” she nodded, “But he doesn’t want that. He’s… scared I would say, about relying on people, especially after his own parents and sister have basically abandoned him.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, as the rest of the drive home was quiet.
Chapter Eight
Coco walked back into the room, after Eric had helped Evan change into something more comfortable for sleeping. She was planning to head to his apartment and get a few things for him. There was no way that she was going to be letting him go home on his own in the state he was in. “Hey,” she smiled as she hugged her son and then went over to the bed. Evan was sitting on the edge of it, looking out of it.
“Mom,” Eric nodded as he stepped back so his mom could take over.
“Hey, Evan,” she smiled, she brushed a hand over his forehead, feeling the heat. She had her first aid kit with her. “Let’s get you checked over and see what we can do,” she told him as she grabbed the thermometer and got him to lie down with it sticking in his mouth.
Evan gave a little grunt but said nothing, he was too tired to fight or even respond verbally. The thermometer beeped and Coco took it, “What’s the verdict doc,” he tried to joke, but it came out a little slurred.
“You’ll live,” Coco smiled at him, she was worried about the temperature. “Looks like you might just have the flu, and a bad case of it,” she told him. “I’m going to get a doctor out to give you a look over. And yes I know I am one, but it’s always best to have someone outside the family to confirm and then give anything that might be able to help.”
Evan just nodded, eyes already starting to close. He just wanted to sleep. Coco finished her check before getting up and guiding her son out of the room.
“Let him sleep and I’ll have Kevin come over and do a check. He’s not allergic to anything,” she said, going over the information that Evan had told her over the years.
“No. Not that he knows of,” Eric nodded, “He has a file at home with things like that on it. He doesn’t always do well with peas, but that’s more of an irritation if he eats too many. I’ll wait with him and you can go and check.”
“I’ll do that, and call Kevin and ask him to come over. I’ll get a few things on the way back as well,” she added as she kissed her son on the head and headed out.
Eric waited until the door went, before heading back in the bedroom to make sure Evan was okay.
XxXxX
Kevin Overton finished his examination of Evan and looked at his friend, “Well, it’s the flu alright. You know the drill, giving him some over-the-counter meds, and keeping an eye on his fever. He should be fine in a week. It’s a bad case, but you know what to look out for.”
“I do,” Coco said, smiling at her friend, “I’ve got a few things, and I’ll get him to take them.”
“Good, if you need me, you know where I am, and if he gets worse and you’re worried, ER,” he reminded her as he stood up, packing things away.
Coco saw her friend out before grabbing what she needed to give to Evan, in the hopes that it would help the sick teenager. “Right,” she said as she looked at her son, “I’ve contacted his college and told them that he’s sick. They’re going to send any lecture notes and videos to his email to watch when he’s better, along with any assignments that he might have for them.” She sighed as she walked up the stairs, a tray in her hands. A bowl of her mother’s chicken soup and some crackers, along with some meds and water.
Eric was following behind her, each time she moved around the house, watching her every move as she took care of his best friend. Evan was barely awake when they went into the room. Eric went over, “You feeling okay?” he asked.
“Hm, wanna sleep,” Evan mumbled.
“As soon as you take these, and have a little soup, and something to drink. Then you can sleep. You need to keep hydrated,” she told him softly as she went over to the bed and put the tray down on the bedside table. “Can you do that for me?” she asked, her words gentle.
Evan looked at her, “Okay.”
Eric and Coco helped him sit up a little more Coco then handed over some of the meds she had gotten. It was all over-the-counter stuff. Something to help with his cough and the fever that was getting too close to 104 to her liking. Taking the cough syrup, Evan pulled a face at the taste and then came the two little pills to help with his fever, the achiness in his body, and the pain in his head. Evan took them, swallowing them down with some of the water.
Coco turned and put the water down, grabbing the bowl she began to bring it over when she heard a wheeze. She set the bowl down, as she looked at Evan, “Evan,” she said, as she could see that his eyes were going wide and his lips were beginning to swell, “Fuck!” she yelled, “Eric, go and get your dad’s spare EpiPen from the kitchen,” she ordered her son. “Evan, listen to me, it’s going to be okay, you’re having an allergic reaction, it’s going to be just fine,” she reassured him as she grabbed her phone and began to dial 9-1-1.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” came the calm voice on the other end.
“I have a sixteen-year-old male, he’s in anaphylaxis,” she began as the door burst open and Eric rushed in, his father’s spare EpiPen in his hand. “About to administer an EpiPen. He had no known allergy, but has just been given cough mixture, and naproxen,” she stated, giving them her address. “Please send medical assistance.” She was quick to administer the EpiPen, “It’s going to be okay, Evan,” she said, turning to her son, “Go and sit with Evan, keep him sitting up,” he said.
Eric nodded, fear in his eyes as he sat beside his friend and held his hand. “Mom’s going to take care of you,” he said.
Evan was still wheezing when Coco got up and left them to go and let the paramedics inside. They came up and began to assess the situation. Coco brought Eric with her as they watched.
“Eric, sweetheart,” she said as she looked between her son and Evan, “I need to go with him, he’s go-”
“Of course, go with him Mom, I’ll call Dad and tell him what’s happened. I’ll get him to come and grab me. The papers, he had papers that…” he trailed off, starting to panic.
“I have them,” she smiled at him, as she went to get the papers that Evan had made his dad sign stating that Coco was able to act on his behalf should they be unavailable. Which they always were. Coco followed the paramedics as they took Evan away.
Eric stood there, before falling to the floor and cried for a little while. He had almost lost his friend in that one little moment. He shuddered and wiped at his eyes. “Right, call Dad,” he said, taking a shuddering breath before getting his phone out and doing just that.
XxXxX
Coco followed the nurse through to the room where Evan had been taken to after his treatment. His fever had spiked and they were worried about seizures with how high it was getting. He had been admitted to one of the private rooms in the children’s ward. Coco had a feeling he wasn’t going to be very happy with that, but he was still a minor after all. The nurse opened the door and Coco walked in. Evan was sleeping on the bed, curled up slightly, IVs in one hand and a cannula over his face, giving him extra oxygen. The monitors beeped a steady rhythm.
“Oh, Evan,” she murmured as she walked over to the bed. Eric and Darren were on the way to the hospital now, and she had already told them that Evan had been admitted.
“Doctor Baxter,” a voice said from behind.
“Ah, Doctor Garcia,” she smiled as she turned to face the man who had walked up behind her.
“Good to see you again,” he smiled, “Though I wish it was for a different reason. He’s doing well, and responding to treatment, it was the naproxen that caused the reaction, and a bad one. We’re going to recommend he carry an EpiPen,” he stated, “As for the flu, it’s affecting his breathing and it doesn’t help that he is recovering from anaphylaxis. We’re going to want to keep him in for a couple of days, at the very least. The flu and a severe allergic reaction. It isn’t a good combination,” he stated.
“I know,” she said, shaking her head, “My son and husband are on the way.”
“Alright, I’ll make sure they are brought up here,” he said, “Though, where are his parents?” he asked.
“Don’t know,” she said, “They never answer calls or anything. And I did try to call them, to tell them what’s going on, but they haven’t contacted me at all,” she sighed, shaking her head.
“What about his sister and brother-in-law? I know they both work at this hospital,” he wondered.
Coco shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine,” she told him. Doctor Garcia was one of those at the hospital that knew the truth about the Buckley Family, “I’ve been the one that looks after him since his parents just kept leaving. As for his sister and brother-in-law, they don’t speak much, or at all. The last time was the week before Christmas and that was for Evan to drop off presents for the two with his sister. They didn’t even contact him during the holidays at all. Parents or his sister. I know they have a good and favorable reputation, but I don’t think any of them deserve it.”
Doctor Garcia nodded, “Hmm, was thinking about that. I know Evan is a frequent flyer at the hospital. The staff here all have good things to say about him. And about his parents. That they are so good at dealing with him and all the trouble that he finds himself in.”
Coco couldn’t help the snort, “Good in dealing with him. They only present that as a front to people, really they just don’t care. Sometimes I wish they did, and other times I wish that they would have just let me and Darren take him in, and be his family. He’s a great kid, smart as a whip. And they don’t care at all. His mother didn’t want him to stand out and never did. His father… I’m not sure what he is like, he seems to care and then turns around and pretends he doesn’t. Neither of them have really been present in his life. Not even when he was little. If he causes problems, Evan would face their ire, something he avoids.”
“Some of us have noticed the disconnect from his family. I know a few of those in the ER wondered what had happened, since he practically ran out of the ER when he went to see his sister before the holidays,” he sighed.
Coco nodded as she went over to the bed and settled into the chair beside it, she took one of Evan’s hands and held it, “I’m right here, sweetheart,” she murmured as Evan began to move around and whimper a little in his sleep.
Doctor Garcia smiled a little before heading out, he had a few other patients to see to before he was done for the night. Coco remained by Evan’s side as Darren and Eric arrived, both of them worried about Evan as he remained sleeping on the bed.
“Is he going to be okay?” Eric asked as he went to his mom.
“Yeah, he is,” Coco told him, smiling as her son moved closer, “They’re keeping him in because of the mix of the flu and the allergic reaction. He will be given an EpiPen to make sure he remains safe, but it’s not an allergy that would be easily triggered. But they’re going to be doing an allergy test, to see if there is anything else.”
Darren nodded as he walked up behind her, put his hand on her shoulders, and massaged them, “Are you doing alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be better when he’s home,” she stated as they waited for Evan to wake, hopefully before visiting time was over. She didn’t want him waking up alone.
Chapter Nine
Evan looked up from the book he was reading. He was ready to head home, or rather to let Coco take him home with her. He would be staying with the Baxter family for a few more days, to make sure he was really fine and recovering well from the flu and the allergic reaction that he’d had. “Maddie?” he said, as he looked at his sister. He hadn’t seen her since he had given her, her and Doug’s gifts. He didn’t think he would be seeing her again after the way that she had constantly berated him for anything and everything he did and didn’t do.
“What did you expect me to do when I heard you were in here,” she huffed as she walked over to his bed and looked at the chart at the bottom of it. “Oh, you’re leaving today?” she asked, frowning.
“Considering I’ve been here a week, I thought I would have seen you before now if you had heard I was here. I know one of the nurses in this ward is your friend,” he rolled his eyes.
“I came when I could, I’m married and have a job,” Maddie replied, frowning at her younger brother.
Evan stared at her. “So, it took you over a week? I know you have breaks, I know you have time off, but you know what, Maddie, you’ve been fully absent from my life since I was nine, and mostly absent since I was six. Only paying attention to me for a bit, but as soon as a guy came by and paid you attention, you were gone. Just like with Doug, you’re never around at all, you… you promised me you would be able to visit, you promised me that you wouldn’t leave me alone with them all the time,” he shook his head, “You know Mom and Dad hate me, you know what they’re like. Yet you still ignored what went on and left me alone with them. I’m done with all three of you, I don’t care if you come and see me, I don’t care if you talk to me, or call me, or message me anymore. I’ve given up. I’ve given up being the only one who wanted to continue having some sort of relationship with my sister and with my parents.”
Maddie stood there, mouth open as she looked at her baby brother. “They love you, Evan,” she told him, shaking her head, “I love you. We’re just busy and we have things to do, so we can’t just cater to your every whim.”
“Every whim?” Evan laughed, “Every whim,” he nodded and added, looking at her, “If it was my every whim, then I would know what it’s like to have a family that loved and cared about me. I would have a family that actually wanted me around, instead of wishing they were as far away from me as possible,” he stated, staring at her, “Now, you can do the same. I don’t need you, and I don’t… want you anymore. Not around me, not until you actually want to be my sister. And no, I don’t mean for you and them to drop everything to come to me, I just wanted you around occasionally. To feel like I’m loved and wanted. And really, I’m not, I don’t think I ever was.”
“You…” Maddie grumbled under her breath, “Evan,” she said, glaring at him, “We… do care, and love you,” she told him.
“Maddie, stop playing pretend my life is perfect,” Evan rolled his eyes, “Mom and Dad haven’t come to the hospital at all to visit, and I know they’ve been informed of what’s happened. How it was the flu and anaphylaxis, if I was at home with them, I know I would have died, they wouldn’t have cared about me, to check on me, to look after me while I was ill with the flu. I was with Mrs Baxter, if not for her and her family, I would have been dead.”
“No you wouldn’t, they would have seen what was going on, they would-” Maddie protested.
“Maddie stop deluding yourself, you know exactly what they would have done, now, can you just leave? I’m about to be discharged,” he sighed, sick of having to say the same thing to Maddie each time they talked about their parents. Maddie
“I’ll wait for Mom and Dad,” Maddie said as she went to sit down.
Evan started laughing. Maddie stared at him, frowning at his reaction.
“What? Why are you laughing?” she asked, shaking her head and huffing at his behavior.
“Simple, because Mom and Dad aren’t the ones that are picking me up,” he told her, “I’m laughing because you honestly believe that they would come here at all. You know they don’t like hospitals, and it was only ever Dad that brought me here, and as soon as I turned sixteen, they both told me that I would be dealing with any visits on my own, that they want nothing more to do with me should I end up here.”
Maddie growled a little, “No, they’re going to come.”
“No, they aren’t, and you’ll see that for yourself in about ten minutes,” he told her, as he sat on the bed and picked up his book again. It was one of his college class books that he was reading, and taking a few notes down as well. Evan made a conscious effort to ignore the looks his sister was giving him, focusing solely on the book he was studying.
“Why do you have that book?” she asked, finally being able to see the title and recognizing it as one she had used when she had gone to college.
Evan looked up, “You know where it’s from and why I have it. I’ve got college courses that I’m taking. I’ve skipped a year as well. I’m working on graduating early,” he shrugged, “So can you be quiet, I have an assignment that’s due in a couple of days, and yeah, while I have an extension on it, I’d rather get it down while I can.” he then went back to making his notes, ready for the write up of his assignment.
“Mom and Dad won’t be happy,” she stated, not looking happy herself.
“They no longer have a say in what my education is going to be like. They’ve stopped caring. They just sign what I tell them to, and that’s it now. School trips, done, educational decisions on what I want to do with my life, on me. I just need them to sign it off and that’s it,” he shrugged, going back to his studies.
Maddie grumbled under her breath. She didn’t really like it that much when Evan showed how smart he was. She hated feeling like she wasn’t smart, she was the older one, and she should be the smartest in her eyes. She had been the one to teach him how to read and write, and even do some math. Now, Evan was doing better than her. His grades were always higher, much higher than hers had been when at the same age. Knowing that he had now skipped a grade and was doing college courses as well galled her. Especially how well he was doing without her helping him. The only thing she had going for her own peace of mind was the belief that his ADHD stopped him from doing anything more.
The door to the room opened not long after that, and Coco Baxter walked in, pushing a wheelchair in front of her, “Oh hello, Maddie,” she smiled at the woman, but she didn’t actually look happy to see her.
“Coco,” she said, pursing her lips tightly, not happy to see the woman who had been trying to tear her family apart in her eyes. Coco Baxter had tried to talk her parents into letting her and Darren take in her brother. It hadn’t worked and Maddie had made sure her parents wouldn’t let the woman do so at any time.
“Ready to head home, Evan?” she asked, turning her attention to the teenager on the bed.
“Yeah,” Evan nodded as he packed his things away after writing one last sentence down, “Thanks for coming and getting me, Mrs Baxter,” he smiled at the woman.
Coco smiled, “It’s Coco,” she told him once more, not caring for his formal tone when they were in front of people, “Come on, let’s get you home. I want to make sure that you’re okay. You’ll be staying with us for a few days,” she added, helping him into the wheelchair.
“No he won’t, you’ll be taking him straight home,” Maddie said as she got up.
“To an empty house?” Coco asked, “Considering that your parents are once again away for the week.”
Maddie opened her mouth to say something.
“Drop it, Maddie, I’m not going back there,” Evan stated as he huffed. Coco had picked up his backpack and slung it onto her shoulder.
“I’ve got it, Evan,” she smiled at him as he held out his hand for it, “come on, let’s get you home. I know you’re feeling a lot better, but I would rather you still rest up a little longer. The flu can really kick your ass when it gets going, and the reaction you had… well, you could have died, Evan, and I wouldn’t-” she cut herself off and shook her head.
“I know,” Evan smiled at her, a genuinely happy and content smile that Maddie hadn’t seen on her brother’s face since he was really little when he was innocent and ignorant of what their parents were truly like. Coco began to push Evan to the door when he turned to look at her for a second, “Goodbye, Maddie.”
Maddie flinched at the words. It felt so final to her. Like she was never going to see him again and that he was happy about that. “Evan,” she murmured, but it was too late. Evan had left the room. Maddie sat down on the chair, and stared at the door, wondering just when her little brother had grown away from her. She had always been there for him and now it felt like there was a large chasm between the two of them, without a bridge that would be able to get the two of them on the right track again. In her mind, she had been there for everything he had gone through, that she had listened to his calls, talked to him through the years she had been gone. In reality she had done none of that.
XxXxX
Evan was silent on the way home, thinking about the conversation that he’d had with Maddie. She was always the one to tell him that their parents were good people, good parents. In reality, they were the worst. While they showed their love to Maddie. With Evan, his mother had yelled in his face since he was little, that he was unloved and unwanted. His father had just ignored him most of the time. He was a child that knew that neither of his parents loved him. Maddie always told him that they loved him, and the hard truth was always being shoved in his face that they didn’t.
Maddie never wanted to hear anything bad about her parents, no matter what he said. Even when she saw them being assholes to him, she ignored it and pretended it didn’t happen. After a while, it had shown him that he couldn’t even trust Maddie to be there for him, to help him. He closed his eyes and let himself drift, not wanting to think about any of them for a while, at least.
Coco sighed as she glanced at Evan when she stopped at a red light on the way home. Maddie wasn’t her favorite person in the world. When she had contacted CPS about the neglect that Evan was going through, the hurt and pain he was in from his injuries. She knew that some of them were more… self-inflicted in a sense. A cry for help, a cry for attention. When it looked like Evan would be taken from the Buckley’s, Maddie had stepped in with a few honeyed words and stopped it all dead, resulting in Evan remaining with the Buckleys. Now he was living alone, she wrinkled her nose a little at the thought of the Buckley family, she didn’t like any of them. Maddie, especially at the moment, had been the cause of leaving her brother in that place, where he felt like he needed to hurt himself just for a bit of attention.
Coco pulled up outside of her home and woke Evan up before they headed inside, Coco made him rest up in bed for a bit before serving him some lunch.
Chapter Ten
Evan stayed with the Baxter family for another week before he was finally able to convince Coco and Darren that he could be allowed to go home. It was nice to be able to be back in his apartment. He enjoyed the time he spent with Eric and his family, but having his own things and time for himself was just as nice. Maddie had reached out once to try and convince him to go back home, that she would be there for him to help look after him. Evan hadn’t believed her and had said as much. She’d yelled at him that time and then hung up on him and not contacted him again, while he remained at the Baxter home.
Evan was looking forward to the call from Eddie in a few days. School was over for the day and Evan had already started on his homework when his phone began to ring. It was the music he had set for Maddie that was breaking through his own music that was playing. He sighed as he looked at it. Maddie had refused to contact him for almost a month and now, here she was trying to talk to him. He put down his pen and answered the phone. “Hello, Maddie,” he greeted, “What do you want?” he asked, wanting to get the call over with as soon as possible so he could go back to his homework and get it done. He had plans for later with Eric and his family. They were going bowling and he was really looking forward to a day out.
“I thought you would have cooled down by now, and were ready to apologize to me for your behavior,” she answered him. Going silent as she waited for his reply.
Evan scoffed, “Not going to happen, I just told you the truth. Mom and Dad have never cared about me, and they would rather I be gone from their lives. They only tend to keep me around because of their image, and you know this. You know this well, Maddie, but you want to ignore it because it doesn’t fit into the life that you want for yourself. You’re delusional if you think I will ever apologize for telling the truth. Just because they love you, doesn’t mean they love me. They really fucking don’t and I’m done pretending that they do just to keep you happy. So, if you want me to say sorry for that, you’re barking mad, Maddie. I’m not going to, I’m not going to pretend everything is sunshine and rainbows, just for you.”
“Really, Evan, you’re going to be so fucking petty about this. I was hoping that you had grown up,” she snapped at him, hoping to gaslight him into thinking her way.
“Don’t confuse me standing up for my own mental health for being a child. I’m more than grown up enough to know that Margaret and Phillip Buckley don’t care about me at all. I’m not going to have this argument with you each and every single time we talk. If you want to bury your head in the sand, that’s on you, because that’s what you always do when something isn’t going your way. You pretend that it is, and ignore what damage is done around you, to you and to others. This time, I’m not dragging myself into the sand with you, I’m not going to keep putting up with it,” Evan told her, closing his eyes and trying to keep his temper. He had been acting like a grown-up for so long that he hadn’t felt like a kid from the moment that Maddie had gone to college, and maybe even a little before that when Maddie had decided that he wasn’t worth hanging around with and parenting. When she just wanted the freedom of any other normal teenager.
“You want to be a grown-up, then you need to actually grow up and listen to those that know better-” she began to berate him.
“You don’t though,” Evan countered easily. “You say that you do, but I know for a fact that you’re unhappy in your marriage, but you’re not going to do anything about it. You know what goes on with Mom and Dad, but you refuse to do anything to help me. You have their love, you have their care, you have everything from them. I have nothing, but their attention when I hurt myself. I stopped because I knew that doing so would end up with me dead. But you don’t care, you just want that picture-perfect life, and it’s not going to happen.”
Maddie went silent as she listened to her brother. “You are wrong, so wrong. I don’t have my head buried in the sand and my marriage is just fine,” she snapped at him as she then ended the call.
Evan rolled his eyes and wondered if she would ever realize just what was going on around her and take off the rose-tinted glasses she liked to wear to try and pretend that all was right in her life. He left the phone alone on the table, and then he got up to do something for himself to drink before continuing with his homework. He had another hour before Eric and his family would arrive to pick him up.
XxXxX
Evan was nervous as he waited for the phone to ring. Eddie was to call him, this would be the first time that they would be able to talk to each other instead of just writing. He jumped when it began to ring, almost dropping his phone when he reached for it to answer the call.
“Hello,” Evan said, nervously.
“Evan?” came a smooth voice on the other end.
“Yeah, Eddie?” he smiled.
“Yeah,” the man laughed, “Finally good to hear your voice at last.”
“Same here, I…” he laughed nervously, “I don’t even know what we should talk about? How is your leave going?” he finally asked.
Eddie laughed lightly, “Yeah, it’s nice being home, back stateside, not really at home with my parents at the moment. It’s my Abuela’s birthday, so I took some of my leave now instead of waiting a little longer and taking a month. I only took two weeks, so I could be back and celebrate. She’s seventy tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of my family. My parents… not so much. I know you have problems with yours, that they are… neglectful,” he said, trying to be careful with his words.
“You can call them what they are, Eddie, I don’t give a fuck,” Evan snorted, and grinned as he walked around his apartment. “So, what about your parents?”
“They’re… controlling. I was to do what they wanted, when they wanted and so help me if I didn’t. My sisters, they… they always took Mom and Papi’s side of things. They got me in trouble several times as well. Especially Sophia, they are both older than me. Papi wanted me to follow him into business; he’s in construction and that just doesn’t interest me. I should have done what a good son would and follow their father,” he snorted, “Construction is fine and all, a good side hustle for when I was younger, but it was never something that I wanted. I wanted to be a doctor, but that wasn’t going to happen, I knew my parents would do what they could to sabotage it. So, I went with the Army. I signed up as soon as I turned eighteen and went the medic route as soon as I could. I’m still training out in the field, but I’m happy with what I’m doing. They… are not.”
Evan nodded, “Yeah, so you’re not home with them, you’ve gone to your… Abuela’s?” he asked.
“Yeah, I went straight there instead, spent some time seeing cousins and aunts and uncles,” Eddie told him, “Got a few new cousins coming as well. And I met up with an old girlfriend, she lives mostly in El Paso, but her mother lives in San Bernardino. I bumped into her when she was in LA for a bit. It was nice to see her again. She’s a good woman, she’s in Cali for a bit before heading back home. She’s an accountant, only on the bottom rung at the moment, but she’s always liked her numbers,” he told him, “Shannon’s great for a bit of fun, if you know what I mean,” he added.
Evan laughed, “Right, so it’s like that for you both? A friend with benefits, or are you maybe thinking of seeing her properly again.”
“We already did the dating thing, we know we’re not that suited to each other. We have different goals in life and what we want out of a relationship. But the benefits are fun, and it’s not like we’re not adults…. And I don’t think I should be telling you this, aren’t you just sixteen?”
“Sixteen and gone through sex ed twice,” he snorted.
“Ah, why twice?” Eddie just had to ask.
Evan huffed, “Right, so one of the few times my sister wanted to be around me, she decided that it was the perfect time to give me the talk. And then because I’ve skipped a grade, I’ve had it all over again in class. The serious talk, not the small kiddie talk that they give you in middle school,” he told him, “So, yeah, I’ve had it twice,” he shook his head.
“Damn, bad luck for you, which one was better though?” Eddie asked, and Evan could hear the grin in his voice.
“I’m traumatized and you’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” he asked, he said with mock disbelief.
“Just a little, but I’m curious which one was better,” he prodded again, laughing lightly.
“Well,” Evan began, “I think the school one was better. Maddie kept pausing when she was talking to me, and then skipping things that the school one didn’t. I think she was, in a way, trying to protect my innocence,” he snorted, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, my… sisters are both older as you know, and they never really… protected me that much. They always took what Mom and Papi said as gospel, and if it didn’t match up with what they wanted, they would dob me in and I would be punished. It felt like they enjoyed my punishments at times. They are loved by Mom and Papi, and I can never do anything right,” he sighed. “I have no idea why I’m telling you this.”
“Because you know in some way that I understand the problem with parents not being what you should expect,” he pointed out. “We both have parents who expect us to be something we’re never going to be. Mine ignore me, yours sound like they harass you until you either do what they want, or you run off,” he said, guessing.
“Basically that,” Eddie laughed, “I went straight to Abuela’s instead of heading to El Paso this time, so I can keep away from them. Papi won’t be able to make it to LA until tonight, and Mom won’t travel without him unless she’s going on some holiday with her sisters, or a couple of my aunts. There are two that left the family area as soon as they could,” he snorted.
“Do you get along with most of your family?” he asked, a little curious.
“My father’s side I do. My mothers are all… entitled brats, except one or two. Most of my aunts and my mother are all cut from the same cloth, they have views and if you don’t agree, they make life hell for people. My cousins are entitled and demand things if we don’t give in. They are also racist as fuck towards Papi, my sisters, and myself. They don’t like the fact that we’re half Mexican since they all believe that my mother married below her. They ensured my sisters and I knew we weren’t welcome with that side of the family. Though my sisters are more accepted now. But back then, Papi let it happen all the time, then again, he was barely there even to acknowledge that they acted like a racist bag of dicks to his children. I still get the brunt of it, when I’m around, my sisters have been inducted into the sisterhood now though,” he snorted, and Evan could hear the roll of his eyes.
“What about your mother? Didn’t she do anything?” Evan asked, a little curious as to if she had done anything to protect her children.
“Not a damn thing, she often joined in on their barbed remarks,” he huffed, “Anyway, let’s talk about more pleasant things,” he suggested.
Evan laughed, “Yeah, okay, and your parents suck as much as mine do.”
The two talked a little longer, laughing and smiling as Evan began to make himself dinner. The only reason they stopped talking was someone calling for Eddie in the background. The man explained that it was his Abuela calling him to see some of the family that had stopped by. Evan smiled as he put his phone away, the promise of another call in a couple of days hanging in the air.
Chapter Eleven
February turned to March, and Evan excelled at both high school and college. He’d tested out of a few more classes for both, getting the credits he needed. He joined the track team, enjoying running when he could, even taking it up outside of school as a way to really take time to think about things. It was easy to get lost in the pounding of feet against the hard ground as his mind went over the problems that he faced.
Work was going well, but it was looking like one of his jobs was going to end soon; so Evan had started looking for something else that he could do. April came quickly, and there were a few track meets that he went to. His peers had asked where his parents were, and most now believed that he had been taken in by the Baxters when they had been the ones to show up to them instead.
Evan looked up from his dinner as someone knocked on his door. He frowned, he had no idea who it could be, since Eric had just left for home. He got up and went to answer the door. He blinked as he saw who was there.
“Are you going to let me in, Evan,” Phillip said as he looked at his son.
“Yeah, I’m in the middle of dinner, so you can talk while I eat,” he said as he let his dad inside. He closed the door and went back to the table, gesturing for his dad to sit, “Why are you here?” he asked, as he picked up his knife and fork and began to eat, “Oh, and if you want a drink, help yourself. I don’t have coffee though, not keen on the taste.”
Phillip shook his head as he sat down across from his son, glancing around the combined living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was clean and tidy, there were books dotted around on most surfaces. He knew his son enjoyed reading, but not exactly what he liked. He looked at Evan and saw the teenager just watching him with a guarded expression. “It’s your mother’s birthday in two weeks. We have the usual party going on, and you are coming,” he demanded.
Evan pulled a face. He hated the parties that were for his mother. His father went all out for them, making sure that their friends were there, all to see how much he loved her. In Evan’s eyes, he loved her a little too much, he catered to everything she wanted and didn’t want. Anything she asked of him, and he did it without issue. She barely wanted to be around Evan, and Phillip made sure that happened as much as possible.
“You will be going,” Phillip stated, knowing that while his wife didn’t want their son around them, it would raise too many questions among their friends.
“Fine, I’ll go. I’ll have to see if the suit I have from last year will still fit. I think I might have grown a little since then,” he sighed, knowing there wasn’t much choice for him to get out of it.
“Come back to the house, and I’ll have you fitted for a new suit. Is there… anything else that you might need here?” he asked, glancing around the apartment and wondering just what Evan would need. The place was minimally done up. The furniture was cheap.
“I’m fine,” Evan said, shrugging, “I don’t need a lot at the moment.”
“Do you need a new laptop, or anything like that for your schooling?” he asked.
Evan frowned, wondering where all this was coming from. He knew that the man had made sure that he had the things he needed. Food, shelter, and things for school, clothes, the normal things you would expect. The only thing that he didn’t get was the love and care from parents that most children in the world got. “Why are you so concerned?” he asked, wanting an answer.
“I’m still your father,” he stated, “if you need something, I’ll not have you go without.”
“I’m fine, I’m working, and I have some money saved as well. So I’m good, really. The only thing I really want you to do is to make sure my health insurance is taken care of. I really needed it at the beginning of the damn year,” he snorted as he thought of the flu and his allergy.
“I saw the report that came to me after that. Do you need an Epipen?” he asked him.
“I have one just in case already. But I shouldn’t be accidentally exposed to it at all,” he shrugged, “Coco and Darren have made sure of that.”
“Right,” he said, wrinkling his nose a little at the mention of the Baxter’s. He and the two parents had words several times about Evan.
“Send me a message about a date for the fitting and I’ll be there at the house so you can take me, if that’s what you want,” Evan said as he finished his meal and got up. Putting it to one side to deal with later, he looked at his dad once more and asked, “is that everything?”
“It is,” Phillip said, “I’ll send you a message by tonight about the appointment, and you’ll come to the house and I’ll take you from there.”
“Alright,” he nodded, as Phillip stood and Evan showed him out.
“Ugh,” Evan said as soon as the door was closed. “I’m not looking forward to this,” he muttered to himself. The parties were all for his mother and the image that she held within the community. It was one of the reasons why no one believed him or the Baxter family, about the neglect that he faced from his parents. He shook his head and went to clean up after his dinner.
XxXxX
Evan had gone to the fitting, choosing a dark blue suit. The tailor had said it would help bring out his eyes; not that Evan was interested in any of that. He just wanted to concentrate on his education to make sure he’d get the best he could. Evan looked around the room that his father had hired for the occasion. It was decorated beautifully, he had to admit. He knew that his mother would like it. He had seen her smiling and dancing with Phillip occasionally from the start of the night. The only time the smile had dropped from her face was when she saw that Evan was there.
“Evan,” Maddie said as she came up behind her brother. “Have you thought more about what I had said?” she asked.
Evan rolled his eyes as he looked at his older sister. “I’m not going to keep burying my head, like you. If you want to do that, then that’s fine.Just leave me out of it. I’m quite happy with the way things are going for me,” he told her, shrugging and beginning to head away.
“Don’t you walk away from me,” she hissed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him to one side. “You will tell me what the hell is going on, I know something is,” she added, glaring at her baby brother.
“You really want to know, from the moment I turned sixteen, they told me I would have to deal with everything alone. Being in the hospital and everything, I was to be alone. They gave me a card to make sure I could pay for anything over what the insurance would cover and that was it. I’m done with them. I know they don’t care or love me, and sometimes I wonder if you even like me because you’re always hot and cold with me. Some days I think you do, and then you do stupid shit that makes me think you hate me,” he whispered angrily at her.
“They have other things to do than to cater to you,” she snapped.
“So you keep saying, Maddie. It doesn’t change the facts, I’m not expecting anything from them, and I haven’t done so in a long time. I just wished that they loved me enough to care about me. But they don’t. I won’t continue arguing this point, because we keep going around in circles. After all, you just won’t listen to anything but what is going on in your head,” he stated as he wrenched his arm out of her grip and quickly headed away.
“Evan,” Phillip said as he saw his son. The teenager had a stormy look on his face.
“Can you please get it through to your daughter that you don’t love or care about me?” he asked him, “I’m sick of her trying to pretend that you do, and forcing me to accept her strange view of how our childhood went. She needs to know that you’ve washed your hands with me as much as you can at this point. I’m not going to cater to her rose-tinted view of things. She’s in a bad relationship, I know that, because she pretends so much that things are fine, I know the fake smiles and such when it comes to Maddie. I haven’t told her that I’ve moved out,” he added quietly, “I’ll leave that to you. But if you do tell her, make sure she knows that she doesn’t get a say in what I’m doing, she’s not my mother or a parent of any kind to me. She was great when I was very little, I think. But she… I don’t know if she even likes me half the time,” he muttered, shaking his head. He knew that if he had gone back in time seven or eight months, he would never have said anything like this to his father.
Phillip stared at his son, “You’ve become bold since you left.”
“I find that there is no time to beat around the bush anymore. We both know where we stand when it comes to me, you, and mother. Maddie doesn’t. She never wanted to believe anything but the life she had built up in her mind. One day, it’s really going to come crashing down on her and she’ll need you and mother to be at your loving best with her. Don’t let her down like you have me,” he told him, “I might only be sixteen, but I’ve been raising myself since I was six. She still believes in the both of you; I don’t. I don’t think I have done since I was five and I heard mother say that you live with a constant reminder. In my mind, I think you wanted to get rid of me but society being what it is, you couldn’t. You disconnected from me, don’t care or love me, so…” he shrugged, thinking back to what he had overheard when he was five.
Phillip looked a little pale as he listened but said nothing for a moment. “I will talk with Maddie tomorrow. Tonight, try and avoid her. I don’t want any arguments. I’ll tell her the same as well.”
“Don’t let her have my address. I don’t want her to know where I’m living. I don’t mind you having it, as I know you won’t bother me at all unless you need me for something,” he told his dad before turning and returning to the party. He would be keeping out of the way of his sister, mother, and her sister, as well as his parent’s friends. He didn’t want to speak to anyone and have to pretend that he was a happy young teenager.
Phillip watched him go and then turned to try and find his daughter. He would have to tell her the truth about what was going on with Evan. Phillip had to admit that his daughter was much like her mother, buried her head in the sand, and only believed what she wanted to believe. Unless she was confronted by something that would remind her of things she would rather forget. Then she would lash out at whoever it was that was ruining her picture perfect life.
Phillip sighed deeply as he saw his daughter with her husband. It was the one day of the year that he would see the man after the two had married, and he still didn’t like him. There was something about him that set him on edge, but there was nothing he could do to persuade his daughter to listen to him about the man she had married. Shaking his head he went to see if he could talk to her in private.
Chapter Twelve
Evan walked out of his workplace and sighed when he saw his sister standing there waiting for him. It had been over a week since he had been at the party and had told his father to do something about her. He’d gotten word that he had told her he had moved out, but there had been nothing from Maddie since. No calls or her trying to get in touch with him. Evan had hoped that she got the message and that he was fine to go at things alone. He didn’t need them or even want them in his life anymore. He was done with trying to keep a relationship going that no one but he had wanted.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded, grabbing his bike. He wanted to head off home, he had a letter to write to Eddie, and one for Isabel Diaz as well. The woman had ended up talking with him while Eddie had to rush and do something during their second call in February. The grandmother had loved the thought of a penpal and had asked for him to write to her every week or two.
“What did you think was going to happen when you moved out? Do you really think that I would let you live on your own? You’re a child, you don’t know how to do anything!” she snapped at him, taking a few steps toward him, “This was the only way that I could find you, and that’s because Dad refused to tell me where you now lived.”
“At least he kept that quiet,” Evan muttered, “I don’t want you to know where I live. If I had my way, Dad wouldn’t even know. I’m happy and content without any of you in my life,” he told her, moving a step back, putting his bike in front of him. “Look, I have things to do at home. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone. You’ve been good about that for the last several years. So it shouldn’t be hard to keep doing that.”
“Evan,” she hissed as she continued to get closer, “You need to listen to me,” she said, glaring at him.
“No, I don’t. Maddie, you fucked off out of my life when I was six to go play with friends, hang out at malls, and go to the movies. Then when I was nine you fucked off fully. I’m not a little kid anymore. I might only be a teenager, but I know my own mind. I know that being in that house, with parents that hate my very existence was going to end up with me six food under. I was… not doing well in that house with those people. You may love them, and they love you, but they hate me!” he yelled at her, “What do you want me to do Maddie? Go back to them and then just end up dead. I don’t want to die, Maddie, but the way that it felt in that house, it was like I was suffocating. That I couldn’t just be me. I had to get attention, that I needed it, craved it, just to be seen. I can’t do that anymore, I can’t. Unless you really do hate me and want me dead.”
“You were always a little too much. You just…” she trailed off, trying to think of the right words. “You were always getting hurt, and it hurt them to see it. They just… need time to figure out that you’re going to be fine, even when you get hurt.”
“Maddie, I was hurting myself on purpose because at one point I learned that the only time they treated me nicely was when I was hurt. Otherwise, I was invisible in that house. I was hated and unwanted. If I stayed, how many more times would I have hurt myself to feel just a little bit of care and love from parents who should have given me that right from the start,” he shook his head.
“No you’re just accident-prone and like to pull stupid stunts,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand.
“Bury your head in the sand too much and you’ll suffocate yourself,” he warned her, shaking his head, “You know what. Think what you want, you always do. If it doesn’t conform to your world it either doesn’t exist or is twisted to fit what you believe,” he shrugged. “I’m done, remember. I’m done catering to your weird worldview. You’re a…” he tried to think of a word to call his sister, “delusional woman that just can’t face reality.”
Maddie glared at him, “How dare you call me delusional. I’m nothing of the sort. You have no idea what the real world is like. It’s you that has your head buried in the sand and it’s going to mess with you if you continue doing things like this. You’re selfish and self centered. You think you’re the only one that has problems. We all do, but we deal with it and don’t throw a paddy when we’re not getting our way.”
“That would be you,” he told her, shaking his head even more at how she was constantly trying to make out that she knew better than him. “What would you know about my life since you’ve been out of it since I was a kid?” he snorted.
“A lot more than you think,” she huffed.
“Oh yeah?” he said, raising an eyebrow at her, “Okay. I’m going to write a few things down and I’m going to get you to answer the questions and you can then see the answers,” he told her, reaching into his backpack and grabbing the small notebook he carried for homework purposes and ripped a page from it. Grabbing a pen, he wrote down the questions and the answers to them. “Here we go then,” he smirked at her, “Name two of my closest friends?”
“That stupid Baxter kid and a girl called Michelle,” she said.
“Correct for half a point,” he told her, “And Michelle was the stalker type until her parents were able to get her away from the school. Now, what about hobbies, what do I do in my spare time?”
“Skateboard,” she said, sounding sure of herself.
“Nope, I actually like to read,” he told her.
“You’re lying,” she snapped, “let me look at that paper.”
“Not yet, one more question,” he told her, “What did I do on my tenth birthday?”
Maddie froze for a second, “you spent the day with us.”
“Wrong. Or did you forget that you canceled on me the very day of my birthday, said you didn’t want to come down and you would see me that Christmas, which you didn’t, by the way. Mom and dad were gone for the day. I spent the whole of my tenth birthday locked in a house alone,” he told her as he handed over the paper so that she could see what the answers were. “You always did want to believe the best of people, even of yourself. But all of you are selfish as fuck. I’m not the selfish one, you three are. You’re all always thinking about yourselves and no one else. I needed family, I needed someone to let me know that I was loved and wanted. I have done nothing but want the basic love and attention that any child would want from their family. Like I told you, I’m done trying to reach out, trying to be family to those who want nothing to do with me. You come here, demanding that I go back to parents that wish I was dead, and honestly, they would no doubt be happy if the worst happened to me. I’m not doing it, Maddie..”
“Why won’t you listen to me,” she demanded to know.
“When you acknowledge that Mom and Dad don’t love me, and that they hate me, then maybe I’d listen a little more. You keep telling me that they do, but I KNOW they don’t,” he stated, “now, just leave me alone. I need to get home. I’ve got homework and other things that I need to be getting on with.”
Maddie stared at him, “No, I need to take you home. I want to know where you live.”
“Not going to happen, Maddie, go home, go back to Doug, and bury your head in the damn sand again. I don’t want to deal with you,” he told her, getting on his bike. “Now, I’m heading home, don’t follow me,” he said, knowing that he would be taking several shortcuts that would take him down a couple of alleyways that would help stop his sister from following him.
Maddie moved quickly as she went to her jeep. Evan took off on his bike, easily able to weave around things as he went home, grinning to himself as he had easily lost his sister. He knew that she would find a way to get to him again, but for now, he was free of her.
XxXxX
Evan was right, his sister had been trying to corner him. Even going as far as to fake a family emergency to get him out of school. Evan knocked on the front door of his parent’s home. He needed to talk to his father about it. Maddie was getting out of hand, and it was affecting his working life as well as his schooling now. He had end-of-year exams coming up and he wanted to be at the top of them this time.
The door opened and Margaret stood there, staring at him, “What do you want?” she snapped, not looking happy to have him on her doorstep.
“I need to talk to you and Dad about Maddie,” he stated, just staring at her.
Margaret huffed as she stepped aside, “Get inside before the neighbors see you,” she snapped as she waited for him to enter the home before slamming the door closed, “Phillip!” she called out, knowing her husband would easily be able to hear her.
It didn’t take long for Phillip to appear. “Evan,” he said with a nod, “What are you doing here?”
“Maddie,” he stated, “She’s… harassing me, trying to get me to move back here.”
“You’re not coming back here, I won’t allow it!” Margaret screeched out.
“Margaret,” Phillip said, his voice soothing as he went over to her, “I’ll sort this out. Evan won’t be coming back.”
Evan just watched them as Phillip soothed his wife and directed her to leave him alone with Evan. “You do that all the time, cater to her, no matter what’s going on,” he stated, shaking his head in disgust at his father.
“She’s my wife and I love her,” Phillip defended, but even to Evan it didn’t sound like the truth.
“Yeah, you love her, you love Maddie, and no doubt you wish I was dead,” he shrugged. “Anyway. I’m not here to remind you of my existence. I want you to make sure Maddie doesn’t keep bothering me about moving back here. She’s taken it into her head that I need adult supervision. You need to get her to understand that I haven’t had that since I was a little kid. And even then it wasn’t either of you.”
“Evan,” Phillip said, his voice stern and cold, “Stop that. We did-”
“What you wanted and not what you could when it came to me. Face it, Dad. You should have gotten rid of me the first chance you got. At least then I might have had a life with people caring about me, instead of looking at me like I’m a ghost,” he told him, and glanced around, “Maddie’s pictures have always been up on the wall. I’ve never seen any of mine. Not once. I doubt you even have any,” he shrugged, “Now, Maddie, get her off my case, because I’m about to see about finding a way to get a fucking restraining order against her. She’s so much of a stalker that she gets me called out of school for so-called ‘family emergencies’ and ambushes me after work.”
Phillip sighed, “I think we need a family meeting. Me, you, Maddie and Margaret, if she is up to it.”
“Leave Mom out of it, it won’t be productive if she’s there,” Evan told him, shrugging. “Organise it, and I’ll come, I’ll send you the schedule I’m working on at the moment, I only have two days free from work a week, since I’m trying to pay for things myself. I don’t want to have to rely on you if I’m honest. If Mother found out, no doubt it will stop dead.”
“It won’t,” Phillip promised, “What you need, I’ll get you.”
Evan nodded but didn’t believe him as he headed to the door.
“Evan,” he said as he looked at his son, “I’m sorry.”
Evan snorted at the words, not believing them at all, “Actions speak louder than words in this case, Father,” he said as he left the house once more.
I forgot how cray-cray Maddie and Margaret are. I’m very happy that Phillip came to his senses.