Broken Beyond Repair (prologue)

Gabe Has Got to Go

Not even going to lie, if I had been in his position just then, I probably would have pissed myself.

That's probably why I am stuck here narrating this book.

You know, I worked my whole life to get here.

And for what?

Ah well, that's life. One can waste it and not even realize it.

Wow. I should write that down, that was awesome.

Needless to say, my mom freaked out.

I was bombarded with thousands of are you okay?

From the moment she laid eyes on me to the minute I fell asleep, I got treated like a package that had Delicate! This way up printed on the side of it.

But if I was being honest, I liked the attention. These days my mom spent all of her time either at work or caring for Gabe. And Gabe needed a whole lot of caring for.

Today was a perfect example. I woke up feeling terrible as usual. Gabe woke up feeling a lot worse.

"SALLY!" A voice roared from the bedroom.

I sneaked up to the room, hiding behind a corner. I usually wasn't an eavesdropper, but I really needed to find out how Gabe treated her when I wasn't around.

"Yes, honey?" My mom's tired voice was hard to recognize.

"My back is aching. I don't think I'll be able to do much today," he said grumpily.

It's not like he does much anyways. And how did you hurt your back? All you ever do is sit on the couch. Or the toilet. Actually, his normal weekend day consisted of the never-ending trek between the couch and the toilet.

"Ok, honey," my mom replied. "What can I get for you?"

"A pack of ice would be nice," Gabe grumbled.

"We ran out."

"Well then go buy some!" He snarled at my mom, his whole attitude changing from in pain to inraged.

"Of- of course," my mom stuttered.

"Why was she stuttering? My mom wasn't scared of anything! What had Gabe done!

I heard footsteps coming toward me and I quickly scampered back to my room and dove under the covers. Hopefully, she thought I was sleeping in or something along those lines.

"Percy! I'm going out!" My mom called from the hallway.

I covered my mouth with my hand and waited for her to realize I was still sleeping. When the footsteps faded away, I finally allowed myself to breathe.

A couple of hours later, my mom got home from the store.

I know she went somewhere else because it doesn't take anyone three hours to buy some ice at a store a couple of minutes away.

Apparently, Gabe was smart enough to realize that as well.

"Where have you been?" He asked from his stinky green armchair. His bottle of beer swung lazily back and forth between his fingertips.

"I was getting you some ice," my mom replied.

"It doesn't take all day to get some ice," he said, his voice slowly rising in volume.

"There was a long line at the store," my mom replied weakly.

"Don't give me excuses!" Gabe yelled at her.