Six Feet Under The Stars

“You have been so irresponsible, how do you think your father feels? Hey, come on guys I know you know better than that.” I scrunched up my face as Michelle spoke at us. She wasn’t shouting and I think that was what made it worse, I wanted her to shout at us, to punish us even.

I think we more than deserved it.

“I cannot believe you guys would do that, think of how your mother would have felt.”

That did it; I broke down on the spot. I started apologising profusely as the tears fell thick and fast. I had been waiting for it to happen; only god knew it was bound to. I had been holding in my grief for so long that sooner or later I would need a relief from it all.

I felt Michelle pull me into a hug as she too began to apologise. “I’m sorry Bracken, I didn’t mean to I just...” she trailed off as I continued to sob into her shoulder.

I knew that she hadn’t meant to upset me and she hadn’t really, it was just that what she had said had tipped me over the edge. I was a wreck as we sat there on her staircase, both of us continually apologising to one another.

I calmed down considerably when she mentioned how pleased she was to see us.

“So you aren’t –you aren’t going t send us home them?” I asked stopping mid way to hiccup. She looked at me carefully before shaking her head slowly.

“No, not if you don’t want to go.”

I grinned happily as I embraced her tightly, “Thank you.”

----------------

“This place is so weird,” Colby whispered to me at dinner later that day. Our aunt had been keeping an eye on us all day; it was as if she really had no idea why we were here.

I nodded slowly as I looked around the dining room. I understood where he was coming from; in comparison to where we had lived our whole lives this street was like a whole other planet. Every house looked immaculately well kept and as people strolled past the front of Michelle’s house with their dogs they would smile at their neighbours or stop to chat.

Suburbia was not a place I was comfortable in.

“Michelle, what is there to do around here?” I asked above the sounds of our cutlery scraping along the plates. She pondered for a moment before shaking her head.

“Sorry guys but I’m not exactly down with the kids like I used to be,” she answered with a smile causing Colby and I to laugh at her.

“That’s okay I guess we’ll just have to go and find something to do.”

I nodded at Colby as I finished my dinner. We excused ourselves and I quickly rushed up to the room I had been given to grab a jumper before we left. I pulled the thin black hoody over my tank top as we left the house and made our way down the path.

There had to be something we could do around here and while Michelle was probably on the phone to our father, I figured the best thing for us to do was leave. Whatever story he fed her I didn’t want to be around to hear her sympathise with.

“So, should we go left or right?” Colby asked as we glanced down either side of the street. I nodded my head to the left and we began moving in that direction slowly, passing the identical looking houses at a snail’s pace.

We had to move slowly so that we could remember which direction we had come from. We were new in town it would be weird for us to stop and ask some stranger directions to the house. I made sure to remember the exact look of every house’s front garden as we passed them, also making a mental note of the street names as we walked further and further.

We had been silent for the most part, myself too wrapped up in remembering the way back to Michelle’s and Colby to busy nosing at absolutely everyone who passed as by.

“I guess there really is nothing to do around here.”

I nodded with a sigh as we crossed yet another street before turning left. We hadn’t actually gone that far from the house and I doubted that there would be much to do within the general vicinity of the area. I figured that if we delved much deeper we would probably eventually reach the city and something to do.

“Well I guess we found the school,” I muttered as we passed a large building with a red sigh outside of it declaring ‘Dulaney High School’. “Oh and look they want new applicants to give them a ring,” I laughed as Colby stared down at me with a grin.

“You laugh now little sister but I wouldn’t put it past aunt Michelle to be booking us in right now.”

I glared at him correcting his little sister comment, “You aren’t even five minutes older than me, I don’t think that constitutes as you being the ‘bigger sibling’.”

He mocked me childishly as we completely passed the school and stepped into yet another road. A rather run down vehicle passed us, its music blaring loudly. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the two male occupants before walking around the back of the car and completing my journey across the road.

“Well don’t they look cool,” Colby cackled as the car made an unhealthy sounding noise as it pulled away. I laughed in spite of myself as it passed us by on the road once again. “Oh god he has a bumper sticker,” he declared finally after having stared at the back of the car for some time.

It was only then that I realised the car was stationary.

“Let’s go say hello.” Before I could so much as protest, let alone stop him Colby had bounded off to the car and was leaning into the front passenger side window.

I approached the car cautiously all the while glaring at the side of my brother’s head. He could be so stupid sometimes, did he not realise that they could be anyone, gun toting murderers included?

“Ah nice to meet you guys, this is my-come on Bee, what the hell are you doing?” I glared a little harder as he leaned away from the car to pull on my arm and thrust me in front of him. I crouched down quickly when I realised my crotch was at eye level.

“As I was saying, this is my sister, Bracken.”

I waved sheepishly before raising my elbow and sending it flying backwards into Colby’s genitals.