Louie.

They says it’s normal for you to wake up a couple of times during the night.

When I lived with my mom I would always reach for my phone and check out the small videos my friends happened to post. They were usually about skateboarding, or us cracking jokes. I knew that the screen wouldn’t exactly help me with getting back to sleep, but at the time I didn’t care.

When I first came to live with my father, I was constantly waking up and sleeping was difficult. I eventually got use to it though. Some nights I’d wake up and stay up for an hour, other nights I was only aware of my surroundings for a moment before I was pulled back under.

Tonight wasn’t a restful night though. Lorraine’s mom, Beth had woken me up around midnight to get Lorraine and Rockwell. That took about an hour, and once I was finally about to fall asleep, Rockwell asked for pain medicine. So, in reality, I fell asleep around three in the morning, but I kept waking up every hour or so.

The first time was because Rockwell was abnormally warm, and his crazy body heat still managed to seep through the blankets that separated us. Once it was because his hand was in my face and my legs were on the verge of falling off the bed, I had push his hand away and I tried to get him to scoot over, but I gave up and just leaned my body towards him. Hoping he would get slightly crushed and moved towards the wall.

The next time I came to, Rockwell had given me more space. I could tell he was awake because I could feel him moving his left arm. At first I was confused, but then I felt him move his leg and I realized his cast was probably bothering him. My body was still leaning towards him, and I was awake but not entirely. My senses were slowly kicking in, I could hear him sighing now and again and the smell of chamomile invaded my senses.

I wasn’t sure exactly what time it was until I heard heavy footsteps making their way down the hallway. It was my dad.

He walked into the other rooms, he was saying his silent goodbyes before he headed into work.

Rockwell started to sit up.

“I’m going to guess that you two got into a fight?” I heard my dad say as he stepped into my room.

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

Rockwell ignored his question and began to shift his weight.

“Can you help me get home?” I could hear Rockwell struggling.

“How’s your leg?” My father’s voice got closer, like he was standing next to my bed. I assumed he was helping Rockwell get up; I didn’t move.

“I’m pretty sure it’s worse,” Rockwell inhaled sharply, his voice wavering. He let out a whimper and I realized that what I had assumed were sighs was actually him trying not to cry out loud. I felt my heart break.

“Your mom is not going to be happy.” Their voices start to fade.

They’re gone, and silence fills the house again. My hands reach out to touch the part of the bed where Rockwell was. I can’t help but curl slightly, pulling the pillow so that my shoulder can feel a bit of the warmth he left behind and my nose can smell a bit of chamomile.

~

I was completely awake around noon. Beth’s voice managed to reach my ears but it still seemed far away.

When I walked into the kitchen I realized that I probably shouldn’t have, but it was already too late. Beth was at the stove, cooking and yelling and Lorraine was leaning against the counter, her head down.

“You screwed up Lorraine! You screwed up big time! Not only does Miriam's child have bruises and a black eye, but now his leg is worse than it was before! Rockwell, had to get his damn cast redone, Lorraine! He can’t even walk now, okay? He can’t even leave his room now, because his doctors forbid him to! And, if his mom ever allows him to come back here, we have to make a ramp for his wheelchair! I can’t believe you! How could you let that happen to him? How could you be around people that would do that to him?” Beth wasn’t holding back.

“I know! I fucking screwed up, okay? I’m sorry! I’m sorry, mom!” Lorraine blew up, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

Lorraine just sniffled in response.

“You’re grounded.”

Lorraine hurried past me and I heard her door slam shut.

“Well someone isn’t in a good mood.” Lizbeth was coming down the stairs.

“No sass, Lisbeth” Beth warned.

“Mommy, what is sass?” Louie ran into the kitchen and hugged her legs, a gaming device in one hand.

“You don’t need to know,” she sighed.