Long-Distance Calls

2

It got dark reasonably soon, it was dinner time and I returned to Clyde Street after parting from Andrew at the Yellowstone junction.

Some of the street lights were off, and those that were on only emitted a dim, darkened light, so essentially the only lights that illuminated Clyde Street came from the windows of every house.

The moon, which that evening was full, was covered by trees, I tried to look up at the stars but, while there actually were lots, all I was able to see was a streak of sky not bigger than the road I was walking on.

The chirp of one or two cicadas coming from an undisclosed location filled the air, which got a lot cooler thanks to a gentle breeze after that sweltering afternoon.

That air, though, reeked of the combination of freshly cut grass and gasoline, and I couldn't take a deep breath without getting that whiff right into my brain.

As soon as I opened the front door of my house, the rather relaxing sound of that hot summer evening got replaced by the annoying voice of my father.

"I'm the one who goes to work in this house!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, "I cannot tolerate this bullshit everyday!"

"Spare me this nonsense!" The sound of my mother's voice tried really hard to climb over my father's, "If you think you're so better at saving money, why don't you go to the grocery store yourself?"

My father stood up and slammed his right fist on the table. "I told you I'm the one who works here! Going there is your job!"

Mom took a deep breath while he was talking, and then immediately replied. "And if it is my job, then don't tell me how to do it!"

I slammed the door behind me, making my presence felt, as I breathed nervously.

My father's eyes moved on me. "I am sick and tired of all of you! I should have never gotten married!"

"You should have thought of this before!" Mom stood up too. "Had I known how you were, I would have left you rotting alone!"

"How I am?!" I feared his eyes would come out of their sockets. "I sacrificed everything for this family! You should simply kiss my ass!"

"Hey!" I shouted as much as my voice allowed, "Could you two please shut the hell up for once?!"

It was an everyday situation, they used to argue all the time and for any reason they could think of.
Their constant yelling is probably the reason why I wore headphones most of the time.

My parents were really down to earth.
We were not rich or anything, I guess we survived. The problem was that they never got along. Every day they were yelling at each other.

Sometimes I would find myself wondering how the hell they made it through a marriage.
I mean, I didn't know much about relationships but I knew that, before you get married, you'd date and see how your relationship goes.

But if they never got along, how did they ever get to the point of getting married and, further more, having kids?

I'm pretty serious when I say that I had never ever seen one showing love to the other. They didn't even look like friends. And I didn't know what it was that one liked about the other, since they were both always complaining about what they didn't like.