death's seen a double bed » joetrick

[14] The Danger in Starting a Fire

[January 2001]

Sam and I were almost euphoric after our family finally departed from Chicago and went back to Ohio. A week and a half having to listen to aunt Remy snorring and grandma Maralyn's loud mating sounds when she was taking a dump at 3 am. I've mentioned this everytime I told the story of what happened, but I have to say it again: I'm so damn glad that I didn't have to live with them anymore.

And as relieved as I was that I could eat my dinner in peace, without having to hear Micah screaming at the TV while he was playing Tekken 3 instead of eating like everyone else, it was obvious that something had to go bad only two days into the new year.

I was just getting ready to turn off the lights and go to sleep when my phone started buzzing loudly. At first, I wanted to throw the phone in the other part of the room, but when I saw the caller's ID, I opened the flip of the phone and waited for an answer. All I could hear was a person breathing heavily and loud thuds in the background.

"Uhm, what's up-"

"Joe, get on Messenger right now, I can't talk on the phone," Patrick muttered quickly.

"But why-"

"It's an emergency!" he shouted in a whisper and then hung up right after, so I ran to get my laptop on and logged on Yahoo! Messenger. The bubble next to Patrick's username was still gray after five minutes of waiting, and I was getting more and more impatient by the minute. The noise of my foot tapping the floor repeatedly almost covered the bell of Patrick's sudden answer.

donnieboy13 entered the chat.

skatertroh: is everything okay

skatertroh: what the hell is happening

donnieboy13: we shouldn't talk out loud

donnieboy13: she'll know how we want to escape

donnieboy13: we just tried to barricade the door but it won't hold for long

skatertroh: why?? and who is *she*

donnieboy13: my mother

donnieboy13: she caught us joe

donnieboy13: she's trying to get us out of the room

donnieboy13: i don't know what she's trying to do but it's definitely not good

My forehead hit my palms in frustration as I remembered the entire situation with Patrick's mother. I was acting like I was disappointed for some reason- like I was expecting this to happen.

donnieboy13: can you bring a car or help us get out on the window or something

donnieboy13: we thought about using the bed sheets as a rope but we don't have enough of them to make a long one

skatertroh: pack your things i'm getting dad's car

donnieboy13: do you even have a license??

skatertroh: do you think that even matters anymore??

skatertroh is offline.

I've only driven a car a few times while I was still interested in getting a license, but going straight into a pole and wrecking my dad's car were the last things I could be worried about in that moment. Dad was sitting on the couch, watching TV when I went down the staircase slowly, trying to get the keys and sneak out.

"You going out?" he called out, just like he had some sort of movement sensors in the back of his head, considering that he noticed my presence from the other floor. "There's literally a blizzard out there."