Cal - Ackley Bridge

Chapter 14

Callum's P.O.V.

Mum had been super quiet, which I expected. She always seemed to be in a whole world of her own. I thought this would be the worst stage of her grief but boy was I wrong. A few days had passed and now all she wanted to do was get stuff done. 

"Right tidying time," Mum announced one morning as she pulled open my curtains.

"Aww mum. It's 9 o'clock," I groaned.

"I'll do it just please get yourself some breakfast," Mum told me. I felt like I couldn't refuse. Chloe was in the kitchen looking just as tired and grumpy as me. 

"She got you up as well?" Chloe asked. I nodded. 

"I mean as long as she isn't weeping," Chloe said. She carried on droning on about the most boring crap I didn't give a damn about. Mum spent the whole day cleaning the house from top to bottom and finding jobs that really didn't need doing. If you think that was bad, at school she was starting a campaign for reasonable chocolate or something.

"So what is the point of this responsible chocolate thingy?" I asked in the car on the way to school.

"Responsibly sourced chocolate you idiot," Chloe said.

"Oh I'm sorry," I said, sarcastically. I saw Mums fingers tighten around the wheel and I didn't say anything for the rest of the journey. 

"Callum. Callum," Mr Bell called after me as I was walking to class with Missy.

"Yes sir," I said.

"Are you able to do rugby?" he asked. I held up my battered arm.

"Not for a few weeks sir," I replied.

"Oh ok. Just let me know when you can," Mr Bell said and he walked off. I wished I could do rugby. All I had to enjoy was play practice and that was becoming more and more tedious with Mum being involved. Missy could tell I was gloomy.

"Want to go to the cinema later?" she asked. I smiled. I needed a break so I agreed. I got home to find Mum had moved onto the next stage of grief. Pure anger. She got irritated by everything and everyone. It was a bloody relief when half 6 rolled around.

"I'm going to see Missy," I said quickly as I made a dash for the door.

"No," Mum said bluntly.

"What?"

"No."

"Please. I haven't even done anything wrong," I begged.

"You were mocking my chocolate," Mum said. She said it with such a straight face it was hard not to laugh.

"And now you're mocking me. You're staying in and that's the end of it," Mum shouted. How could she even want me in? She was ruining everyone else's lives because hers was a total mess.

"Just because you're going through hell right now doesn't mean you can make us go through it too," I shouted.

"How am I making you go through hell?" Mum asked as she came close to me.

"By keeping us here with you. Your miserable face and constant mood changes," I screamed. Mum smacked me hard across the face. I knew she was just upset but I was annoyed none the less.

"MUM!" Chloe yelled.

"Fuck you," I screamed as I ran out the front door.

"Cal! Please," Mum begged as I ran away. Me eyes filled with tears and it took a lot for me not to break down. 

"Cal, are you alright? Why is your face red?" Missy asked. I didn't say anything and just looked at my feet.

"Come here," Missy said as she pulled me into a hug.

"It's Mum," I sniffled.

"Your Mum did this?" Missy asked, surprised. I nodded.

"She's going through a lot. She didn't mean it," I said. 

"Come on. We're going to miss it," I told her. She smiled weakly, grabbed her jacket and we ran out the door. The film was so good and I had the best night. I forgot about Mum, my arm and everything that was stressing me out. 

"Night," I said as Missy walked into her house. She waved. Fuck she looked hot.

When I got home, Mum was waiting for me.

"Look Cal," she started to say.

"It's fine," I said and I smiled at her. It was meant to look welcoming but I probably just looked like I was in pain. 

"No it's not fine. I'm so sorry," Mum said as she pulled me into her chest. I went to bed feeling reasonably happy but the next day everything got worse. Apparently a scout was coming to watch the lads play and I couldn't because of my arm. We all went to watch and I stood with Missy.

"You've got a right face on you," Missy said.

"Just wish I could play," I muttered. Missy pulled my face, gently, to hers and kissed me right on the lips.

"What was that for?" I asked when she pulled away.

"Thought you needed cheering up," she said.

"Well it certainly worked," I said. I was now grinning. Missy knew how to make everything better. The match was decent. I mean I wish I was playing but still. Riz was bloody amazing and was scoring try after try after try. Cory, on the other hand, was not. He normally was just as good as Riz but today he was playing badly. Like he was distracted. I wondered if it was anything to do with Jordan but me and him didn't talk much anymore. We were about half way through the game when Cory completely wiped Riz out. Mr Bell went over to assess the damage.

"RING AN AMBULANCE! NOW!" Mr Bell yelled. It arrived a little while later and took Riz off to hospital. 

"Is Riz going to be alright?" I asked as we ate dinner. I was biting my lip like I did when I was worried.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Mum reassured me. I wasn't convinced. 

"But he broke his neck. He could die," I said.

"Oh you are so dramatic," Chloe said as she rolled her eyes. I lobbed my slice of pizza at her and she ducked just as it was about to hit her head.

"CAL!" Mum exasperated. 

"She deserves it," I said. 

"Who's she? The cats mother?" Mum asked. What the fuck does that even mean?

"She is my sister and all round twat," I said.

"See, Mum? He is so extra," Chloe moaned.

"Please be quiet. Both of you," Mum begged and she started to well up. Back to the first stage of grief. I did feel bad for her so I stopped arguing with Chloe and ate my dinner in silence.