A Wall Between

Chapter 52

Cooper awoke to the morning light, drifted back to sleep, then briefly roused to shed his blanket before dozing off again. When he finally shuffled downstairs, somewhat groggy, he found the house alive with activity. He navigated around the people busily clearing remnants of last night's celebration, making his way to the kitchen to gather snacks for the journey. Once they were all ready, they headed outside, piling into the car with Ellie in the driver's seat and Abra beside her.

Ellie turned around in her seat and made a show of pointing to each of her three backseat passengers as she counted them.

"Oh!" Cooper said. "Uh, can Mason stay with us for a few weeks? It's complicated, but it's so that he can keep the kitten."

"You okayed this with Sasha first, I'm guessing?" Ellie asked.

"Oh, yeah! I wouldn't forget that part. I just didn't think you guys would mind, so..."

Ellie let out a dramatic sigh. "Abra, are we doormats? Have we spoiled our boy?"

"Sorry," Cooper interjected sheepishly. "I meant to ask, I just forgot."

"Yes, of course he can stay with us," Abra said. "It might be good for you to have someone around who matches your energy."

Ellie chuckled as she started the car. "That never works, though. It's like with dogs, or kids. You think having two will make it easier, but you just end up doubling the trouble."

Mason added, "Just to be clear, I'm nothing like Cooper energy-wise. I'm more the inattentive and distractible type. Cooper was the classic hyperactive kid, which is why he got diagnosed first. I was just seen as a little asshole who wouldn't listen. When I mentioned Cooper's ADHD to my teacher, it clicked for her. Suddenly, she wanted to meet my parents 'just to chat.' But I think our psychiatrist caught on even before that. We'd all go to the appointments together, and I guess he could tell."

"I still remember what dad said about it," Cooper said. "That back in his day, we didn't have any of these labels. They just had proper discipline and kids learnt to behave themselves."

"Yeah, old people love acting like everything was perfect when they were young, but it's pure fiction," Mason said. "Crime rates were higher, there were more teen pregnancies and high school dropouts. Kids had problems when dad was young, they just got ignored or suppressed with abuse until it wasn't their parents problem anymore. Now it's our fucking problem instead because our parents are dysfunctional adults."

"Does dad realise he's a broken human being? He'd never say anything, but do you think he ever thinks about how sad and lonely he is and wishes things could be different?"

"I don't know, man," Mason said, gently stroking Monty's head. "It's like trying to understand what a dog thinks. Some things are just beyond our grasp."

Sasha shifted restlessly, searching for comfort. Noticing this, Cooper pulled off his hoodie, bunched it up, and offered it as a makeshift pillow. Cooper slapped his own knees as Sasha settled in to keep himself from touching him. He'd learnt fast that sometimes Sasha was open to being touched without too many restrictions, sometimes he needed soothing touch, and sometimes he really just needed Cooper to leave him alone. In a crowded car after a stressful trip, with the sun intermittently glaring, wasn't the time for closeness. Instead, he reached out to Monty, finding comfort in the soft fur under his fingers.

"So, we'll need another futon mattress," Ellie mused, steering the conversation back to practical matters. "I'm not sure if we can find one locally. We ordered Cooper's online."

Cooper pondered for a moment. "Well, I can crash on the couch for a week until it arrives. I'd share the futon, but it's a tight squeeze, and spooning with my brother is pushing it, even for me. Sharing with Sasha isn't an option because he needs good sleep after everything we've put him through and I'm a fidgety sleeper who wakes up at the crack of dawn to go jogging. He needs his bed to himself."