Misfortune

Chapter 17

"Ughhh, can we please talk about something else? That shit happened ages ago!" James complains as if what he did wasn't that big of a deal.

I stand behind him, keeping quiet. Mrs. London's eyes are all glassy, like a mix of rage and sadness.

"How can you sit here and ask me to talk about something else? James you've killed your own family! How can you live with yourself?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, I've told you to change the subject, but you just keep going on and on. Will you please shut the fuck up already!" his voice grows louder as he cuts her off," Now, As I've said before, I've been traveling for almost five days straight just to see you. I'd think we'd both appreciate it if you show us to some guest rooms."

"Guest rooms?" I mumble, 'I didn't even feel comfortable coming here in the first place and now we have to sleep here as well? '

I look over to Mrs. London, who stares at me coldly.

'Why the hell is she staring at me like that? What did I do? ' I give her a small smile, but she turns away saying," Follow me, but we're not done talking."

James sighs before following his mother. We follow her up some stairs leading to a long dark hallway. All the walls in the home were painted black but there were small cracks in it, that was beginning to peel off. I kept having to clear my throat because of how dusty the air was, seriously she needs to open up a window or something. I feel kinda bad for her, she obviously is too old to take care of this house by herself but I'm pretty sure that she also wants to be alone at a time like this. As we walk down the hall, I notice a few family portraits on the wall. Some were of James in his teens and others were of him, his mother and who I'm guessing to be his father. The man had a nicely trimmed beard and a grave expression in almost every photo he was in. In each frame I walked by, I started to notice how James's smile would grow smaller and smaller. Something I also noticed is how his father wasn't in any recent photos of James growing up.

'Did something happen to him? There's clearly no sign of anyone else beside his mom living here so maybe they're divorced? '

"You can stay here," Mrs. London stops in front of a room door, pointing to it. She stares at me blankly, shooting me daggers.

I point to my chest," Me?"

"Of course, you, who else?" She crosses her arms," James, you'll stay in your old room."

'We'll be staying in separate rooms......oh, that's right. His mom isn't aware of our relationship,' I glance over to James, who seems to be in his own world as he looks around.

"I see...." As I begin walking towards the door, something grabs onto my hand stopping me. I turn back to see James who smiles at me before looking towards his mom," Actually mother, we're going to be staying in the same room tonight. "

"James—"

"—The same room?" His mother cuts me off.

"Yes," he stares blankly at her. She gives me a strange look before opening the door for us. He rushes me in and closes the door behind us before she can say any more.

The room we stepped into was completely dark like it hadn't been used in years. James flicks on the light while swatting dust out the air. Before us laid a large bed with vintage covers placed perfectly on it. Now I see why she wanted me to stay in this room. She thinks of me as a stranger who can't be trusted so she placed me in this room with nothing in here for me to steal. The only room decorations in here were a desk with a wobbly chair and the old bed.

"We're really staying here?"

"Where else would we stay? We've travelled a long way to get here." He sits down on the creaky bed causing dust to float in the air.

I swat the dust away as I walk over to him. Without any hesitation, he wraps his arms around my waist and leans his head on my abdomen, looking up at me tiredly. My fingers slowly caress the backs of his earlobes as I look down at him. "My brother has a house out here as well, it's the first house he ever bought. It's unoccupied so we can stay there as well."

He throws his head back, sighing," August, why don't you want to stay here? Is there something your not telling me?"

I bite my bottom lip, hesitant on telling him the truth but then I think back to what he said to me a few nights ago. Something like how I should speak up whenever I'm upset about something.

'Truth is I don't want to stay here. I feel like we're completely over staying our visit here. His mother doesn't even seem to be that enthusiastic about seeing him. What if she calls the cops???'

I look at him, biting my lip as I admit the truth," James, do you really think that this was a good idea to come here?"

"What do you mean?" he stares at me intently while tilting his head.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I don't think your mother cares about you that much, I think she despises you for what you've done. So maybe showing up here wasn't a good idea." I wait for him to say something, but he just stays quiet, glaring at me. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

I try to reach for his hand, but he pulls it away almost yelling as he pushes me away." Look August, just because your mother didn't love you while growing up doesn't mean that mine does as well. I can't believe you can say something like that to me so easily without a care. I love you but sometimes you can be fucking cruel." I stumble back a bit before finding my balance. He gets up running a hand through his hair," Fucking hell, I just had to listen to an earful of shit from my mother and now you? Why is everyone against what I do?"

With that he storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A bunch of dust fills the air causing me to almost cough up my lungs. I hurry over to a window and lift it up, taking in a nice deep breath before slouching against the windowsill.

As much as it hurt to do, it needed to be done. It's better to make someone aware of what's happening around them, rather than to just watch them believe others bullshit. Maybe I could have said that in a nicer way, but he needed to know, I just hope that he isn't to upset.