Clinging On (KARLNAP)

Ch 11 "Scrubs"

TW: Angsty boiii, Confrontation with emotional abuser

Sapnap Pov

  My stomach dropped. My mom isn't abusive, just not a good mother... it's complicated. I look back to Karl who is sleeping peacefully on my chest. I didn't want to leave Karl, but I gotta. I slide out from beneath the boy that was my biggest source of comfort, and my feet hit the carpeted floor, I turn around and I look at Karl. The boy wasn't disturbed by me, good, I brought the covers back over him and I left the boy to sleep as I left his room to go downstairs to answer the phone call I felt was a nightmare just waiting to happen.

  I pick it up.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, Nick! I have some really good news." Her voice went through the phone into my brain, triggering the instinct to be her friend and to love on her. But I'm not her friend, and I'm less of a son to her.

  "What is it?" I groaned quietly, "it's 7:02 in the morning."

  "Don't be such a downer, I've got good news!" I tried to think of the last time I heard the phrase of good news come from her mouth. "So, David bought a house and I want you to move in with me."

  Move in with her? Oh boy.

  "Mom, who's David?" That's the first thing I could fathom from her sentence was the male's name.

  "Oh, David is my boss, and my new boyfriend." She explained, oh it's her boss, the man that made my dad go more into his drunken self, the man that knew my mom was married and had a son. "I know you don't know David too well but I think this could be a good chance to get to know him and his family."

  "His family?" Oh so this guy has a family.

  "Yeah, he has a darling little 8 year old girl and a 15 year old girl that's a freshman at your school! And he has a son that's a year younger than you, his name Ben he's on the lacrosse team, and oh you should see him play, he's very good."

  She went to a game of Ben's? Some kid that isn't her own, yet she hasn't been to
Any of my games in the past 2 years?

  "But the house is great, there's an extra room here, and it's the 2nd biggest room in the house. The house has a great back yard, perfect for throwing a football or playing some lacrosse. And there's a pool." She went on, she sounded so excited. Why?

  "Ok wait- mom, are you kidding me? You remembered that I played football and yet you don't come to a single game?"

  "Oh Nick you know you would hate me there. You never invited me." She excused herself, I wasn't gonna let her out of this pit of things she's forgot to do for me quite so easily.

  "Yeah, but you're supposed to show up anyway! You're supposed to embarrass me going, That's my son, do- d'you know what position I even played?" I kept my voice down low, not wanting to wake anyone and I started to quietly tiptoe my way downstairs.

  "I Uh- You were trying out as the quarterback at one point." She nervously spoke.

  "I wanted to be the Quarterback but instead I got to play as a Linebacker, I've been a linebacker since I was in 7th grade, mom."

  "I'm sorry I got that wrong, I just haven't seen you in forever nor spoken to you-" no, she doesn't get to play this card.

  "You haven't come home in forever, mom, don't you know that I haven't even stayed where you left me? And you haven't spoken to me, why? You have my number, you can text, but no, you don't. And you can call but god forbid you lay a finger on the dial. You're always at a friends house, you're always away, you've never bothered to see if I want to go with you," I let her have it, I couldn't stop.