Fragile Bones

Chapter Five

I jolted up from my slumber to the sound of a glass shattering, probably from being either thrown or dropped on the ground. I sleepily glanced to the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was only 9:00 in the morning. It was Saturday, I should at least be allowed to sleep in one day a week. I heard another bang and decided I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so I got up and groggily made my way to the bathroom. I did the usually routine, washed my face and brushed my teeth before stepping on my scale, like I do every weekend morning. The readings are most accurate in the morning since you haven't eaten anything yet or gained any water weight.

I stepped on and blinked a couple times to make sure I was reading the numbers right. I had lost two pounds since Wednesday. It was better than what I usually lost, but I could probably do more if I really tried. I think the main problem is dinner, I'm always required to eat something. Even though my parents won't notice if I've only eaten half, they would notice if I hadn't eaten at all.

I stepped off the scale and examined myself in the mirror to see if I looked any skinnier. I looked at myself from the front, the left side, the right side, and even the back. I couldn't really see a difference. Maybe my stomach looked a tiny bit flatter, but that could just be because I just woke up. I jumped at the sound of yet another bang, and decided to make my way downstairs to see what was happening.

I stepped quietly down the staircase, not wanting to alert my parents of my arrival quite yet. "Michael, I'm at my wits end with you, I don't even feel like you care about anything anymore!" I couldn't see my mom, but I could hear her voice. In fact, I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood could hear her voice. It's a good thing no one's moved in next to us yet, they'd want to move out right after moving in.

"I'm the one that doesn't care about anything? You're the one always off doing your 'chores'! Are you sure you're not off whoring yourself around the streets?" My eyes widened a little at that statement, I've never heard my dad use such vulgar terms before. In fact, I'm not even sure if I've ever heard him say more than 'damn' in my whole life of living under his roof. Still, I stayed on the staircase, slightly leaning over the banister next to it so I could see glimpses of my parent's fight.

"Oh, that's really mature Michael. Why don't you tell me why you're always sitting around drunk instead of going to work some days huh? You're going to get fired if you keep this behavior up," my mom hissed back at him. I never knew that my dad hadn't been going to work. I just figured he was getting out earlier than usual for some reason. Apparently, there are a lot of things that my parents aren't telling me.

I crept down a little more so I could see more of what was happening. I saw my dad sit down at the kitchen table with his head in his hands. "We need to stop this fighting, for the sake of Maddy if not for ourselves. She doesn't deserve to be in this environment, we could've woken her up just now," he said, his voice lowering in volume significantly.

My mom sighed and sat down at the table as well. "It would be easier to stop fighting if you gave me a reason to. Things just aren't how they used to be between us Mike, and I don't know what to do about it."

He slowly raised his head to look at her and she knew exactly what he was communicating to her, even without saying anything. "It might be for the better," he whispered, tracing an unknown pattern on the tabletop with his finger. I refused to listen to anymore of this and ran back up to my room, closing the door behind me so they wouldn't know I had overheard the whole conversation. I couldn't stand to be in this house for one more second at the moment.

I ran to my closet and grabbed some random clothes and threw them on quickly. I slipped on some high top converse that were laying next to my bed and jogged down the stairs. My parents heard me approaching this time and both of their heads shot up to look at me, and they both plastered on fake smiles, acting as if they weren't just having an argument. "Do you want some breakfast Mad-"