Soccer Meet Cheer

No Place Like Home

~Alex~

I chuckled as I watched Aiden sprint ahead of me toward the freezer section. I opened my mouth to yell at him to slow down, but after I rounded the corner, I was left speechless. My eyes glazed over as my stomach swirled in an almost painful manner. I heard the muffled yell of my brother as the tan figure turned to face me. Her piercing blue eyes rendered my legs stone as her wavy blonde hair guided my eyes through each curve, eventually leading them to the embroidered letters "UK" on her chest.

"Sissyyy, look." Aiden whined as he shoved the ice cream tub in my face, effectively pulling my attention from the girl. I brushed him off and looked back up to speak to the blonde, but she had disappeared.

"Go put it in the cart, Aiden." I mumbled as my gaze bored into the place she once stood. Eventually, I shook my head and looked away, deeming that I was going crazy. "Okay, lets g—" I started before I turned around to see Aiden clambering into the cart after the ice cream.

I fought a smile on my lips as I watched him struggle before giving him a boost inside. He beamed with joy as he made himself comfortable between the groceries. I rolled my eyes and chuckled before pushing the cart down the next aisle.

Aiden liked organizing the groceries in the cart while we shopped. He would often attempt to make a "castle" by boxing himself in, or he would try and make a throne out of the various boxes. And, even though I relentlessly tell him to put the fragile things on top, these shopping sprees often ended with squished bread and crunched chips.

Near the end of our spree, Aiden began to look bored under his mountain of food. I took a swift look around to see if anyone was in the store before asking a dangerous question.

"Hey Aiden, wanna do something fun?" I whispered

His head jerked to look at me, making a few chip bags to fall off of him.

"OBVIOUSLY!" he yelled, getting up from under his fortress.

I quickly made my way to the end of a long aisle before angling the cart to look down the runway. I twisted my hands against the handle bar as if I were twisting the accelerator on a motorcycle, mimicking the noise of an engine with each rev. Aiden squealed with excitement as he made his way to the front of the cart, bracing himself for tremendous speed. I dramatically counted down from 5 before breaking into a sprint with the cart. Aiden shrieked with laughter as we zoomed down the aisle, narrowly dodging various obstacles. Once the path was clear, I hopped on the back, letting us cruise down the rest of the aisle.

Each aisle we visited was quickly filled with the sound of cheap wheels rumbling against the floor followed with cheering and laughter, only ceasing when we deemed our cart surfing needs fulfilled.

--

The engine died once I pulled the key out of the ignition, allowing Aiden's quiet snoring to fill the car. I took a quick glance at the 6-year-old sleeping with two dinosaur toys clenched in his grubby hands before getting out of the car. I peeked in through the front door of my small, revolting house to make sure the coast was clear before going back for Aiden.

Once we reached the front door I whispered, "Okay you know the drill, Little Man." before sending him sprinting up to his room quickly and quietly.

The familiar scent of cheap beer filled my nose as I crept inside the house with groceries in both hands. My heart raced in my ears as I tried to control my shaky breath, as if breathing too loud was enough to blow my cover. I swiftly put the groceries in their correct places as I had done countless times before. Just as I closed the refrigerator with utmost care, I heard the loud and clumsy footsteps of my father stumble out of bed. My heart dropped as I made my way for the stairs, but the quickly approaching footsteps proved my attempt futile.