Remember: Alex and Aro (boyxboy)

Chapter 6

September, 2016, 10 months ago.

Mr. Smith can't help but have a judgemental and curious look on his face as I mention my mother and sister's fate on that fateful day almost fifteen years ago.
"I was sent into care. My father left when I was younger so they couldn't contact him." I explain and he lowers his eyes to the ground so he doesn't look at me.

"That's terrible. You lost everything in one day." He symphathises, reaching over to pat my knee to show condolences. "Did they make you change your name? You know, for protection?" He prompts quietly, his voice almost a whisper as if he's afraid someone will come in and hear us.
"Yeah..." I sigh, thinking back about it. "They said they'd argued." I explain, as I parrot what I'd heard in the case file. "Over virtually nothing. They did that sometimes."

It's true. They would fight over the stupidest of things. Jodie was a demanding person. She wanted a lot of things from life. Her first thing was that she would not rot as a mother on this estate where everyone is looked down upon and children are dragged up rather than raised.

"There are only two routes people from this estate go." She used to say. "If you're a boy, you go to prison at sixteen. If you're a girl, you get pregnant and spend the rest of your life getting weighed down by the amount of stress that comes with being a single mother with no money." She educated.

"What am I supposed to do as a mother with no qualifications or money?" She'd demand. "Sell my body? Become a stripper?" She'd sneer. "No thanks."

"I'm not like the others. Never will be." She insists as she wears her Madonna t-shirt which is identical to the one that practically every girl on the estate wears. Not like the others? Really?

The other thing she always counted on was that she wasn't going to become fat and unemployed, like our mam, Olive. "Marooned on the sofa for the rest of my days watching Jeremy Kyle and Loose Women." She'd cackle. "Nah, yer alright. I'll stay on at school and take my chances elsewhere."

It was why Mam and her fought so often. They had completely different dreams and opinions. My mam was happy to stay as she was. With no money and no job. The amount of junk food she bought piling on day after day.

Jodie was the opposite. She wanted to work. But not just any old job. She wasn't going to be a cashier woman or a cleaner. She felt she could finish school. Go to college even. Unusual where we come from.

But that wasn't really why they fought. Jodie may have wanted to settle down with a good job and a university degree behind her, but she also wanted to have fun. Mam would send me out in the dead of night to look for her. Sometimes she caught her sneaking out and would shout at her until she was hoarse.

There was a time where she'd had a drink too many and come home completely senseless, singing pop songs and falling about everywhere. I'd thought it was funny. Mam thought she was a disgrace. A complete disappointment. And I wasn't much better in her eyes.

The 22nd of February, 2002, was just another day, but after everything that happened, I remember and regret every action I'd made that fateful afternoon.

            *************

I rush out of the chippy, the wrapped up parcel of rissole and chips in a blue plastic bag swinging on my arm as I charge down the streets. I'm not going to go home yet, Jodie will be eating these before I can unwrap them. Greedy vulture.
No, I'll have to go somewhere where no one will see me. So I can eat in peace.

There are so many greedy kids on this estate, but at least they have their mams to cook for them. I don't. I'm going to eat these chips by myself. I'll enjoy them. It's not often I get treats like this. Jodie always gets to the box before me and eats the nice crispy ones.