Burn

CHAPTER 12

"Hey, Mum."

Carter rapped softly against the wood of the bedroom's open door, peering cautiously into the gloom. Once again, the stench of old bedsheets and body odour permeated the air, and Carter steeled himself against it as he entered the room beyond.

"Hey, Carter," Gloria rasped, shifting against the headboard. A shaky smile quivered along the edges of her drawn mouth. "How was school?"

Carter settled atop the covers and stifled a sigh; every conversation with his Mum seemed to be the same exhaustive pattern, a series of shallow questions that, in actuality, served no deeper purpose. "School was fine, Mum," he murmured, grasping her hand in his. "We're doing a lot of tests at the moment; they're trying to prepare us for exams."

"Oh, good. Are you studying hard?"

At Carter's affirming nod, Gloria's smile widened, until her entire jaw trembled with the effort of maintaining it. Her eyes seemed to brighten, and there was an-almost clarity within them that Carter hadn't seen in a long time.

"That's excellent," she mused aloud, the joy evident in her voice, "David was always an academic. He used to say no child of his would have bad grades." She gave a sudden, girlish giggle and wrapped a lank piece of hair around one finger, twirling it.

Carter felt his heart drop to his stomach. A deep, aching pain seemed to fill his chest, pressing against his lungs until he could hardly breathe.

"Mum-"

He broke off, but the words seemed to choke him, crawling up his throat and dancing perilously close to the tip of his tongue.

Why do you still talk about him? Why do you care? He was awful, a monster, and yet you never protected me. Why? Why do you still miss him? Aren't you glad he's gone? Aren't you glad I got rid of him?

...Aren't you happy?

With a firm shake of his head, Carter inhaled sharply and stood, carefully placing Gloria's hand across her chest. "I'm going out, Mum, to study with a...friend. I'll be back around dinnertime." He moved swiftly to the door, needing to get out, to get away from the stench of the room and his mother's eyes, once again dull and glassy. "I'll bring something up for you then, okay?"

He paused by the door to his Mum's bedroom and stole a final glance over his shoulder. Every breathe he took within that room seemed to cut and pierce his lungs as though he were breathing in lungful's of broken glass.

"See you later, Mum. Have a shower, okay?"

Gloria gave no response.

Anthony was already hunched over his History textbook by the time Carter arrived, but as soon as Carter approached the table, his head shot up, and he gave a broad, welcoming grin. "Hey, Carter! Have a seat."

Carter gave a tentative smile back and ran a hand through his hair, flattening any wayward strands. "Sorry I'm late," he said, dropping into the chair opposite Anthony. "So, where did we leave off with the table?"

"Actually," Anthony began, "I thought we'd start off with some food first." He picked up a pair of menus and offered one to Carter with another blinding grin. "Can't study on an empty stomach, eh?"

"Oh, I'm sure he couldn't possibly."  Ryu, who was opting to stand behind Carter rather than taking his customary seat atop the table, gave a loud, disbelieving snort. "No, he has to eat food with you first."

Carter didn't bother to respond. "In that case, I'll just get a hot chocolate," he told Anthony, giving the quick once-over as he set it beside him.