Gladiators of the Gridiron

Chapter 25: Game Day II

"Can't they shut the fuck up?" Ty thought. He kept his eyes on the TV in front of him, though he could barely hear the children's cartoon over the yelling coming from the back of the house.

'Well if ya ain't gonna go to school, the least ya could do is get a damn job already!' his mother screamed.

'Why? Just so you can go out gamblin' with it? I'm almost eighteen! You can't tell me what to do,' his older brother snapped back.

Elsewhere in the house, his older sister would let out a wail.

'It's not like that! I would never cheat on you! Baby just, just listen! Let me explain! You're not letting me explain!'

"Shut the fuck up! No one fucking cares your boyfriend finally caught you." Ty ground his teeth together and scratched at the arm of the couch. He couldn't wait 'til he could get out of there, counting down the minutes 'til it was time for the game.

'Ty,' Megan said, 'do you... need to step outside? Come on, how about we all just step outside for a little bit.' She set her book aside, standing up and looking at the twins, who sat close to the TV, but Megan could see they weren't really focusing on what was on screen.

They looked back at her, Ty was oblivious to the distress on their faces. They nodded meekly and each took one of her hands as they followed her out.

Ty got to the front door but stopped there, looking out at Megan and the twins. 'I'm just gonna go to the field. I can't stand it here,' he said.

'Oh. Y-Yeah okay.' Megan looked back at him, but before she could say anything further he was already walking back inside.

He got to his room and didn't hesitate about barging in during the middle of the ongoing argument, they didn't even notice him at first as he started grabbing his stuff, though as he picked up his bag, his mother turned her attention to him.

'And where the hell do ya think YOU'RE going?' their mom said.

Devon breathed a sigh of relief as the focus was drawn away from him, at least for a moment.

'Out ... to my game,' Ty said, stuffing his cleats into his bag.

'A game?'

Ty paused, gritting his teeth. He took a deep breath and slung his bag over his shoulder, heading back out of the room. 'I'll be back later.'

'Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you! Get back here, boy.'

But Ty continued to ignore her, slamming the front door on his way out. Even outside he could still hear his mother's ranting and raving, as Devon quickly drew her ire once again.

'You alright?' Megan said.

Ty nodded. 'Just perfect, sis.'

Megan frowned. 'Uhm, wh-what time is your game? I'll be there again, cheering you on, just like last time.'

"Do they notice when she's gone?" Ty thought. "I bet the whole house falls apart when Megan is gone for a couple of hours. Probably gets cussed out for daring to not look after the twins and live her own life for once."

'It starts in an hour and a half,' he said, walking past Megan.

She hugged him tight from behind and wished him luck.

He thanked her, gently patted one of her arms and waited to be let go. When he was, he resumed walking out of the ratty front yard, passing the twins on the pavement just before their overgrown nature strip, the boys were playing hopscotch on wonkily drawn chalk squares.

He watched them as he walked by, and they stopped to stare at him as he left. Behind him, he heard one of them ask Megan where he was going, and she told them that their big brother was off to play football.