Last Round Romance

Meanwhile, Curtis had been having a much more stressful night at his own house. No sooner had he walked through the door when he heard his parents yelling in the kitchen. He pulled his earphones out and walked in to see what they were arguing about. It was the same thing that they always argued about: money. There was never enough of it. His dad blamed his mom because she didn’t have a “steady-enough” job, and his mom blamed his father because she said that he spent all the money that they did make on alcohol. Curtis knew that, in a sense, they were both right. But is mother was a little more right. Of course he would never say that though, never again. He walked between them and up the stairs into his room where he kicked off his shoes and put his pajama pants back on since he knew that he wasn’t going to end up leaving the house again that night, and took his t-shirt off.
He went back downstairs into the kitchen and opened the cabinet and grabbed a granola bar to eat when his dad stormed upstairs into the room that he shared with Curtis’ mom. His mom turned to Curtis, “Why Curtis?!” she screamed at him. Curtis didn’t’ really know what had happened since he had walked upstairs, but he was assuming that he got dragged into the argument as well. “Why what?” he said to her, trying to keep his cool. She glared at him, “Why do you need to make your father so angry?” Curtis raised his eyebrows, “Why do I need to make Dad so angry? What the fuck did I do?! When I came home you two were already fighting! Don’t try and pin this shit on me!” His mom slammed her hand down on the table, “Don’t talk to me like that Curtis! I’m your mother! Treat me with some respect for once!” Curtis could feel the blood boiling in his veins and there was a burning feeling taking over his brain, “I’ll treat you with some respect when you fucking deserve it!” he tossed a chair to the side and leaned down on the table, “Half the reason dad is so fucking drunk all the time is because he’s sick of being here with you!” His mom hit the table again, “You shut your fucking mouth!” Curtis pushed the table and flipped it over, “Fucking make me! You wonder why Dad is always drunk and angry, and you ask why I hate being here so much, well, take a fucking look around! This place is Hell on Earth! I’m so sick of it!” His mother stepped forward towards him so her face wasn’t even two inches from his, “You better watch your mouth.” Curtis leaned forward so he was looking down at her, “Or what?” His mom brought her hand back and swung it forward to hit him but Curtis caught it just before it hit his cheek. He didn’t even flinch when it happened. He kept his eyes locked on hers. He released his grip on her hand and went back upstairs to his room without another word to her.
He slammed the door to his bedroom shut and turned and punched his wall. The sheetrock crumbled beneath his knuckles and there was a brand new hole in his wall. He shook the dust off his hand and wiped the blood on the shirt that he had worn to school that day. He threw his bag off his bed and fell onto it. He buried his face into his pillow and just laid there. Part of him wanted to cry, to scream, to just run away and never ever turn back, but there was something stopping him. There always was. But he could never pinpoint what it was. At times he had thought that it was Elliot and Zach that kept him there, but then he realized that if he ever told those two that he was leaving, they’d probably encourage it; they knew how bad he had it at home and they’d probably get why he was leaving. He didn’t know what kept him hanging around day after painful day.
He woke up in the middle of the night. The voice was in his dreams again. Only this time, it was even louder than before. But the voice was still so raspy and whisper-like that he still didn’t know who it was. He looked over at his clock and it was only quarter after twelve in the morning. He fell back onto his pillow and stared up at his ceiling. The shadows danced across it from the trees blowing in the wind outside his window. He felt his eyes getting heavy and he slowly started to drift off to sleep again.
His alarm woke him up a few hours later at four-thirty in the morning. He flung his hand over and slapped his iPod dock that had the alarm. He pushed himself upright and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He didn’t walk over to turn the lights on, so he just stumbled over to his dresser and grabbed a hoodie and a pair of shorts before picking up his sneakers, pulling them on, and finally going over to turn his lamp on as dim as he could. He pulled another Eminem poster out of his closet and tacked it over the hole that he had punched in his wall the night before. Almost all of the posters that were up in his room were covering holes that he had punched or kicked at one point or another. Neither of his parents knew that though; they just figured that it was part of his music-obsessed teen stage. And he was fine with them thinking that, the less they knew, the better.
When he had invited Kaylie over one day though, she had seen right through the charade he had put up about it. She had told him that he needs a different way to express his anger, a way that was less destructive. He had shrugged it off, thinking that it wouldn’t happen again. But now that he was looking at his poster-plastered wall, he realized how right Kaylie had been. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, not then, and still not now.
He grabbed his back pack off the floor where he had thrown it the night before and quietly slipping past his’ parents’ room and down the stairs. He grabbed a granola bar and walked out the door and quietly closed it behind him. He checked his iPod for the time, it was still only five in the morning. Even if he decided to walk to school he’s still be insanely early. He sat down on the curb at the end of his driveway and put his earphones in. He played the most mellow music that he had and felt his eyes grow heavy again but he knew that he couldn’t afford to fall back to sleep again at this point. He set another alarm on his iPod that would go off at five-thirty. He rested his head and his hands and closed his eyes and drifted off into that phase between being awake and being asleep. The place where you know you’re awake and you can feel what’s going on around you, but you don’t feel like you can physically move from the spot that you’re in. It’s like being paralyzed and mute, but still conscious. His head slowly bobbed to the music and everything kept getting darker and darker as he drifted closer and closer to a real sleep.
The alarm went off at five-thirty and snapped him out of his daze. He took out his phone and texted Elliot, “Hey man, can I come over to your place and just ride in with you? Shitty night last night…” He hit send and stayed sitting right where he was; he didn’t want to get up and start walking just to find that he couldn’t go over to Elliot’s in the first place.
Elliot got back to him a few minutes later, “Yea sure man, go for it. You walking here?” Curtis replied with a simple yes as he stood up and took off at a jog towards Elliot’s house. He turned the music up louder on his iPod and played songs that were a little more upbeat to keep him going. He stared at the sidewalk in front of him as he dodged the cracks and bumps. He didn’t notice all the other kids noticing him as he ran on by.
He turned onto Elliot’s driveway and took his earphones out. He slowly walked up to the front door and knocked. He heard Elliot call from inside, “Come on in man!” Curtis quietly opened the door and set his bag down inside on the rug off to the side. He walked over into the kitchen and stood by the table, unsure of what to do. Elliot came walking in dragging Dave and Danny behind him. He nodded at Curtis, “Morning Sunshine!” he said with a laugh. Curtis just chuckled and waved to him, “Hey man. Thanks for this. You need me to help with anything?” Elliot looked around and shook his head, “Nah, I think we’re set. The bus will be here for them and Leah in a few minutes. And Matt can pretty much take care of himself at this point haha.” Curtis laughed and shook his head, “Shocking.” Elliot wiped a fake tear away from his eye, “I know, they just grow up so fast.”
Leah came stumbling around the corner, trying to put her shoes on while she was in the process of walking. Elliot walked over and picked her up and set her on the table to help her with her shoes. She couldn’t get the buckle on the little black ballet-looking shoes. He buckled them up for her and was just about to set her down on the ground when she looked at him and asked, “Elli, can you braid my hair?” Elliot sighed, “Honestly Leah, I have no idea how to braid. I’m sorry Hon. Maybe one of the girls at school can do it for you.”
The look of disappointment on the girl’s face made Curtis’ heart melt. He spoke up, “Actually, I know how to braid. I can do it for you Leah, if you want.” A huge grin spread across the little girl’s face as she scooted over to where Curtis was standing, “Please?” she asked with a pleading look. He smiled, “Sure thing. You want pigtails?” She nodded excitedly. Curtis smiled and took the two bright pink hair ties the little girl gave him. “Careful,” Elliot said in a cautioning tone, “she’s really sensitive.” Curtis nodded but said nothing. He gently parted her hair down the middle of her head and braided her hair into two neat, cute pigtails. Leah didn’t let out a sound of pain throughout the whole process, which only ended up taking a couple of minutes.
When he finished, Curtis picked her up and gently set her down on the ground in front of the mirror, “How’s that?” he asked her with a smile. Leah clapped her hands excitedly, “They’re so pretty!” she hugged his legs, “Thanks Curtis!” He smiled and leaned down and hugged her, “No problem Leah. Just keep your brother in line for me okay?” She nodded as she walked over and grabbed her bag to go out to wait for the bus with her two brothers. Elliot kissed the top of her head as she walked by, “Bye Leah.” She turned around and waved to him, “Bye Elli, I love you!” He smiled at her, “Love you too kiddo.”
When she and the twins had all gotten safely onto the bus, Elliot went back into his room and grabbed his bags and tossed his books into them before jogging back out to the kitchen where Curtis was still waiting for him. Curtis admired how well Elliot was able to keep his whole family together. The way that he treated his little sister like a princess impressed Curtis more than he would ever let on. He envied the fact that even though their dad was gone, they still had a better family than he did, and Curtis still had both his parents. Elliot grabbed his keys off the table, “You ready man?” Curtis snapped out of his daze, “Yea,” he said as he picked his back pack up, “yea I’m ready.”
They walked down the walkway and got into Elliot’s car. After he backed out of the driveway, he turned to Curtis and asked, “So what went down last night? You haven’t come over to my house that early in the morning in like…ages.” Curtis shook his head as he rolled down the window and let his hand rest outside it in the breeze, “Just the same old shit. No big deal.” Elliot didn’t believe him, but he didn’t want to pry either, so he let it go.
Curtis’ phone went off and when he checked it, it showed a text from Kaylie. “Hey, can I come over to your house after school today? I need to talk to you…” A wave of fear washed over Curtis as he slid his phone up to reply to the text. It had been forever since Kaylie asked to talk to him about something really serious and important. Ever since everything went down between him, Harrison and Shawn, they both kind of backed off. So he knew that this must be really important if she wanted to talk to him about it. “Yea sure. Just…well…you know what it was like last time you came over. Nothing’s changed…” She replied a few minutes later saying that it wasn’t a problem and that she could handle it. Curtis sighed and leaned his head back on the seat. “Everything all right?” Elliot asked. Curtis shrugged, “I don’t know actually. That was Kaylie, she said that she needed to talk to me after school today.” Elliot nodded, “So I take it you’re not shooting hoops after class?” Curtis shook his head, “Guess not.”
They spent the rest of the short car ride in silence. When Elliot parked his car in his assigned spot in the front of the school, Curtis turned to him, “Thanks for everything man. I know you’re mad busy taking care of your brothers and sister and everything.” Elliot shrugged, “It’s no big deal man. You can come over any time. All three of them love you anyways haha. And I’m pretty sure Leah’s gonna love you forever now that she has someone who actually knows how to braid hair.” Curtis smiled but didn’t say anything as the two of them got out of the car.
They walked into school together and Elliot went upstairs to the corner where they hung out with the guys every morning. Neither Curtis nor Elliot mentioned the fact that Curtis had gone over that morning; that was something that would stay just between the two of them. They all lounged around and joked until the first bell rang and everyone headed off in their different directions. Curtis swapped out all of his folders and notebooks that he would need for the first half of the day for his classes and the homework that he would have to do in study hall that morning and sixth period.
He walked into homeroom and waved to his teacher who simply smiled back and gave him an acknowledging nod as he made his way over to the table that he usually sat at every morning. When he looked up from his iPod, he saw that Maria was sitting there just like she had been the day before. Part of Curtis was wondering if this was going to become a regular thing. Because if it was, he knew that he was going to have to fill her in on what had been going on with him and the rest of the school for the past few years.
She smiled and waved to him as he sat down on the table cross-legged again. She had her sketchpad in her lap and she was drawing in it again. She looked up at him and tucked her pencil behind her ear, “You weren’t on the bus this morning,” she said innocently. Curtis shrugged, “Elliot drove me in.” The girl nodded, “Oh, okay. Does he normally do that?” Curtis shook his head, “Nah, not usually. But I was chilling at his house after school yesterday and I just spent the night,” he lied. Maria bought it though; she nodded and went back to working in her sketchbook.