Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jude cleared his throat as his eyes fell onto his Aunt Terry, where she usually had been, sitting in the living room. Her blonde hair was getting strikes of grey in it, her face starting to age, but all around beautiful. She still could have such a life, filled with love and adventure, yet she'd been stuck right where she'd always been.
"She's excited for you to come back." Becky spoke up awkwardly, sensing Jude's discomfort. His eyes looked toward his mom in disbelief, "She's sorry for what happened, you know?"
"Did she tell you that?" Jude asked out loud, not stopping to think about what he said. It was cruel with no remorse, a bad habit he picked up on from back when his dad was a bad guy. Russell wasn't always a good dad, not like how he was for Jude now. When him and Becky got a divorce when Jude was just eleven, he got his shit together after that. Quite drinking, went to AA meetings, got a job at the local diner, pulled rent, and ended up getting custody of Jude.
It was a close call, but Russell seemed a better fit them Becky, who had a sister who nearly killed Jude attacking him, thinking he'd been the daughter she miscarried.
"Sorry." Jude mumbled after a moment, holding his bags, "I'm gonna go put these.."
He trialed off, not finishing his sentence as he went to his room. Jude fell onto the squeaky bed, finding a bit of comfort in it. He's lived here, in this room, for the first eleven years of his life. It meant a lot to him, but all his things were still at the trailer park, and he liked it there a lot more. They had one of their neighbors break in a few months ago when Jude and Russell went out to hang flyers, searching for extra change in exchange of mowing lawns. Nothing of theirs was stolen, considering all Russell had was cigarettes and Jude only having books.
Turns out the robbers weren't big fans of Jane Austen or Marvelous'.
The boy sat up, reaching into one of his bags and tossing his book onto the bed. He'd read most of it on his free period and at lunch today, only having about sixty pages left. But what he was really in search for was his walkie, pulling it from his bag and peaking down the hall to make sure his mom hadn't been too close to hear.
"Mike, you there?" Jude spoke through the speaker, "Over."
A second passed, "I'm here, over."
Jude paused before Mike's voice rung again, "How's it going over there?"
"Really weird." Jude said back, standing up to close his door, just in case, "My moms trying to act super proper just to prove that i'm not gonna get attacked again."
Jude crawled back onto his bed as Mike came through, "Has your aunt tried anything?"
"No, she looks out of it again." Jude said honestly, kicking one of his legs slightly off the bed, "I know my moms trying, I don't know why I keep being so rude to her."
"You kinda have a right to be angry." Mike spoke honestly to Jude, they laid back on their own beds in sync, "She's the one that left you alone with her, she knew she wasn't stable."
