The Taste of Silver | Fortune's Fool #2

07 | unmatched jigsaw piece

[ u n m a t c h e d j i g s a w p i e c e ]

♥ gabriel ♥

"MICHAEL! YOU TOLD me that you would keep an eye on the window!" My mother explained with a slight stutter in her voice, eyes transfixed on me as if trying to take me in as efficiently as possible. She quickly discarded the shell necklace on the oak side table by the entrance.

Smiling tautly in disdain and coldness evident in every inch of my face, I glanced at the house in the background.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me, Mum."

Not much had changed in close to two years. The walls were still a disgruntled luminous orange due to my mother's love for bright colours whilst the sofas embodied a goblin green that clashed with every corner of the house as it crudely battled for supremacy.

It was a mess.

A complete mess but that wasn't anything different from normal. In the time that I had been gone, the already full to the brim house seemed to have magically been able to collect more objects thanks to my mother's love for trinkets. That alongside the availability to buy almost everything and anything in Brighton.

The already small house seemed to have shrunk even further and I found myself towering over most things that had been randomly pressed into position. We all knew that the three of our personalities were way too large to fit in here without making the ceiling crumble down.

"O-Oh wait honey, we can explain. Can't we, Michael?"

There was a little window, directly opposite the front door, which I was standing at, and from the distance, if one squinted, you could make out a huge expanse of blue that powerfully swept the ground as if scooping up the smaller waves with one scoop of its arm. It felt as if it has just pushed a small ripple of reassurance in my direction.

One thing hasn't changed.

My eyes moved back to the woman in front of me. I sucked in my full lower lip for two seconds, crushing it between my two teeth to control the fire that was slowly but surely escalating within me. Tilting my head diagonally towards the group, I finally let out a sound of disbelief and locked eyes with a grey pair that were identical to mine.

"Dad is in hospital... I don't know what's going on," I recited between gritted teeth, blood thumping in my ears.

I dropped the bag that I had swung over my shoulder to the floor, the sound of its thump the only oscillation filling the devoid room. My eyes narrowed into razors as I surveyed the two of them with scorn, awaiting an explanation.

"Technically that wasn't a lie because Michael had a regular appointment today," she started shakily before chuckling weakly as if trying to get me to laugh. "...and of course they were using so many scientific heart-related words that half the time I didn't understand what they were talking about, wasn't it Michael?"

My father didn't respond. Again. If there was one thing I could vouch on, it was that my mother and father were as tight as two fingers crossed together. His attitude was completely down to my presence but frankly, I didn't give a damn.

Another wave of emotion encapsulated me and I quickly pursed my lips, tensing to stop myself from glaring at Mum with such an intensity that I didn't think she would be able to muster.

I was only controlling myself right now because it was my mother I was speaking to. Although she was incredibly stupid sometimes, I did respect her.

If it had been my father, an explosion of words, swearing and most likely physical things would certainly have broken out by now. Part of me was glad that he was still sitting there and not paying attention to my existence. I wasn't in the mood for an argument with him.