The Guard To My Sanctuary

Chapter 47

Ozias

The feel of the hot water running down my spine eased the tight muscles that built up from the strenuous workout I had done earlier in the day. Every drop of hot water was like some sort of magic elixir releasing built up tension that I couldn't fix with simple stretching. I grabbed my loofa that was coated in soap from my Sandalwood body wash and squeezed it to push out the soap bubbles. I used the fluffy ball to cleanse my skin of the dirt and grime of practice. I had taken a shower before Ma picked Maddox and me up but the water pressure in the locker room showers was less than great so I wanted to make sure I didn't smell like musk and grass which Ma pointed it out at the dinner table. The water from the mobile shower head which was set on the massage feature beat the scent into my skin and washed the excess suds down the drain. I loved the sound of water running down a drain it was comforting for some reason. I checked my hands noticing the burning sensation and saw that I had broken the skin over my knuckle open just a little when I punched Steven who made the grave mistake of trying to hurt my brother.

It was an unspoken household rule that Call was treated more like our sister than a brother at times. We took up his battles because physically he was built smaller than everyone even Ma who was maybe an inch taller than Call. When I saw the guy I could tell he had slept with Calloway immediately. Just the look in his eyes told me the story. Even when I was fighting I was receiving that same look from Tanya, Stacy, and Mrs. Olsen who had to pretend to not like me in order to not stir up any suspicion that we had fucked during the summer in her car while her husband was on a business trip. Calloway was secretive about relationship information but I knew that Steven wasn't his first and probably wasn't even anything bigger than a one night stand. Something told me he had someone special in his life. I didn't like that he kept the guy a secret but knew that confronting him was a poor choice since he like Ma could out-argue everyone else in the house without much difficulty.

I turned the shower water off knowing that Ma would say that jerking off is a safe and natural thing but to conserve water since California is always on water watch. It was embarrassing how he would talk to all of us so openly about sex. That was the main reason I hid it from him. I hated discussions where he'd go all psychological on me and make me deal with my bull shit. I liked sex and I didn't want him to make me dig deep to figure out why I like it so much. Stepping out of the shower I grabbed my fluffy towel and wiped the water off of me and coated myself in a layer of cocoa butter. I looked in the mirror and smiled at my appearance. I hated when attractive people pretended that they didn't know they were attractive. I walked to the sink and brushed my teeth while checking my phone to see what the time was. It was 1:38 am so I knew I was more than likely the only person awake in the house. Everyone tended to go to bed early on weekdays but become vampires on the weekend. My brother's and I would pull back to back all-nighters during the summer just watching movies or going for midnight swims. I loved the summer and warm weather not that California got cold.

I looked around and found my basketball shorts and pulled them on negating underwear which I hated wearing period. I gathered my dirty laundry and my phone then left out of the bathroom. I could hear my parents television still on in their room and could make out the sounds of an infomercial. I walked over to their door which was always unlocked unless they were having sex. I opened the door and saw Ma snuggled in Dad's arms resting his head on dad's chest right next to the tattoos he had of all of our names. I smiled at them and walked over to the side of the bed where the remote was resting. Ma and dad smelled like flowers and citrus which was always comforting like a hug through my nose. I clicked the power button and tiptoed out of their room not wanting to disturb their peace. I liked seeing how in love they were with each other but at the same time, I didn't see myself ever falling in love with someone.b