Memories, Scars and Survival: High School Years

Chapter 17 - Eirik

In front of the school, there were two drop-off zones. The closest to the front entrance was for the busses, and the second was for parents. Neither connected to each other or to the parking lots. That didn't stop parents from lining up down the main road, blocking the view of people pulling out from seeing if there was oncoming traffic. It can be terrifying those times mom or dad would pick us up after.

With Grandpa driving, and being much older, I worried about pulling out. Once, a long time ago in the middle of a snowstorm, a Dodge Charger was racing down the left lane and almost killed us. He swerved and spun out into the teacher's parking lot entrance. Parents shouldn't be allowed to park along the right lane.

I closed my eyes until we were out of the drive. If something happened, I didn't want to see it. Let my death be a surprise. I want a license, but I never want to pull out of this parking lot.

I've never drank alcohol, nor have I ever seen someone drunk, but Einar looks like what I think that might look like. Well, maybe I should alter that slightly. I have tasted alcohol several times. Rest assured, they were accidents. Mom enjoys mixing diet pop with schnapps.

She doesn't mix them in a glass, but will mix some into her bottle. She might do it once a week or more. Because it's so rare, I forget and sometimes take a sip because I'm too lazy to get my own drink.

While Einar appeared to be having the time of his life, mom told us what happened so far. Even as she talked about our dad's parents threatening him, there was this smile on his face like nothing mattered. To be honest, I never cared for my dad's mom. I've always loved her, but she has this meanness that resembles dad.

My grandpa, however, is way nicer. I think if Grandma wasn't there, he would be more fun to be around. It's like she's stealing his soul until he's gone. I can remember stories from my dad about his mother beating him, but never his dad. He told us his dad never said he loved him, but as far as I know, he's never beat him.

Because of that, dad said he always wanted us to know he loved us. But he doesn't act like it. From there, mom told us about the tests, Einar's panic attack and tremors, and them giving him the injection.

It felt good seeing him looking so happy. I just wish I could see him this way without needing an injection. For several hours, he didn't participate in anything going on around him. I wonder what he's thinking about. I hope he's not thinking about dad or anything bad that's been done to him.

As mom drove me back to Joey's, she told me Uncle Anders was coming to visit this weekend. It's going to be a surprise for Einar. After stopping for food, she dropped me off. She didn't come in this time, wanting to go back.

Mrs. Harrison opened the door for me after knocking. She waved to my mom, then proceeded to ask me a devastating question. "So, how's your poem coming along?"

Joey was standing there at the bottom of the stairs. He rolled his eyes at his mom behind her back. "It's coming along," I said. I don't think she believed me.

Joey dragged me upstairs before she could ask more questions. Once in his room, he spoke, "You better write something or I'll never hear the end of it. Remember, it's due soon."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

He turned on his video games. "Wait, that's perfect. If you really want an A, write a poem about you dad and everything going on."

Absolutely not. "I can't do that. We have to read them in front of class."

He shrugged beside me. "Well, she would eat it up and give you an A, even if it's bad. She's a sucker for super emotional poems."

"Didn't you say that yesterday?"

"Maybe, but it's still true."

"I can't do it. I don't think I could read something like that in front of Einar, either. Remember, he's in our class."

"Will he be back for that?" he asked.

I honestly didn't know. "I hope so."

After school the next day, I grabbed my suitcase from Mark's car and mom brought us home. Grandma was with Einar and mom wanted to prepare for Einar to come home tomorrow. I know I was excited to stop visiting the hospital. I'm sure mom would be too.

While mom cooked some dinner, I brought my clothes to the laundry room. Standing there in Einar's room, I had an idea. If dad's not coming back, we could share a room again. Mom came up to begin the laundry and saw me looking around the room.

"Can Einar and I share rooms again?" I asked.

"You want to share a room with your brother?"

"Well, yeah. It was dad who made us change rooms. I never wanted to," I said.

"Yeah, your father thought as boys you shouldn't share rooms," mom said.

"That wasn't why. He caught us fooling around with your nail polish and lipstick. He thought Einar would make me gay if we shared."

Her hands tightened into fists beside her, and her teeth clenched. "Yes, you can share again if that's what you both want."

She went into the laundry room, and I heard her mumbling to herself. I didn't mean to upset her. I just wanted to share a room with Einar again. Back in my room, I tried to figure out how I would fit all my things in the other room.

The bed was easiest, since Einar never moved his from the back corner. As bunk beds, I could have put mine on top of his, but even when we shared, we didn't do that. When we were very young, Einar was on the top and fell off while asleep.

When we woke in the morning, he was on his back on the ground. We had a small plastic toy box with wheels that was halfway across the room with toys everywhere. Miraculously, Einar fell on top of it and didn't get hurt. Being on wheels, it must have shot across the room.

Dad freaked out, pulled the beds apart and forbade us from putting them back. He threw away the latter and the rail that was supposed to prevent Einar from falling off. So, I moved Einar's desk from the back wall near the closet and put my bed in that corner.

The closet door was in fact, two large sliding doors. You could move the front door back or move the back door forward to see only half the closet at a time. My bed covered the back door, but that's fine. Mom and dad have some of their old clothes back there along with our suits.

All our furniture was a complete set. Bringing it back felt right and like I was traveling back in time to the way it was before. While he had the wider dresser with the tall mirror, I had the tall dresser that used to be between our beds.

He had a desk now, but I moved that to the end of his bed. I had a table for my television, but I left it in my old room. Unsure what to do with my television, I placed it next to his. Maybe we could watch television while playing games together.

Finished, tired and sweaty, I took a shower. Mom made frozen pizzas for dinner. While eating, she told me Uncle Anders was close to arriving.

When he finally arrived, she hugged him and took off. I was grateful he didn't ask me about Einar. Mom must have already done that. After he was settled, he took me shopping with him. He wanted to cook us all dinner tomorrow.

Once back, we unloaded the car. For the rest of the night, we watched the Chicago Blackhawks playing a game against the Avalanch. Both teams are our mortal enemies. Sadly, the Red Wings weren't playing. It's touch picking which team I want to win. I've always thought Patrick Kane was hot, but it's Chicago.