The White Rabbit

Chapter 13

When I wake up, it takes me a moment to remember where I am. I get out of the bed and walk across the hall to Caleb's room. I knock on the door but he doesn't answer. I think about opening the door, but decide against it. I don't want to just barge into his room.
I walk downstairs and hear talking. Well more like yelling. I sit on the steps as I listen closely to the conversation.
"I'm telling you that he's completely fine!" Caleb's voice practically shakes the entire house. I've never heard him sound so angry and it almost scares me. "Don't you dare come to my house James!" At the sound of his name, my heart stops. I completely forgot about my dad and I definitely didn't think about facing him this soon. I don't here anything else so I assume that they must have hung up.
    I finally decide to make my presence known so I come down the stairs and into the living room. Caleb stands in the middle of the living room. He looks pissed off as he glares at his phone. I stand in front of him and put my hand on his shoulder. Caleb finally looks up at me and smiles. I smile back but it falters a little. Caleb's smile soon fades and he frowns. "He's coming soon."
    I pretend to smile a little bit and say, "I know." He frowns at my fake smile and  I know that he is about to question it but I cut him off and say, "I knew that we couldn't avoid him. He always knows where I am."
    Caleb pulls me into a hug and we stand there for a while. When we pull away I look up at him and ask him something that's been bothering me for a while. "How did you manage to afford this house? I mean I don't doubt that you have a good job but enough to pay for all of this?" Caleb chuckles.
    "When I left me and dad made a deal. He would buy me a house and pay the bills as long as I promised to stay away from you. Clearly that didn't end so well so I'll have to figure something out."
    I nod along but anger bubbles inside of me. I can't believe that dad was so determined to keep me away from my own brother that he would buy a house for him as long as he kept quiet. Caleb begins to walk into the kitchen and grabs my hand, pulling me along with him. "Come on, it won't be long before he gets here. Let's get some breakfast."
    He pulls out some pots and pans and starts on breakfast. "You like grits?" I nod my head excitedly. I used to have grits all the time as a kid. That is before everything went to hell. When Caleb finishes breakfast, we sit at a small round table and eat. We both have bacon, eggs, and grits and I have to say that it's delicious. We sit in a peaceful silence for a long time before Caleb breaks it.
    "Listen Jace, I know that I haven't been there for a long time, but I here not and I'm not going to let him take you." I don't say anything because I know that he can't keep that promise. My dad will do whatever it takes to bring me home. Before I can say anything, there's a knock at the front door.
    Caleb goes to answer it and motions for me to go upstairs. I hide at the top of the stairs and I peek down just enough to see what's going on. Caleb opens the front door and there, stands my dad. "Hello James," Caleb says with fake happiness. Without saying anything, dad walks past Caleb and into the house.
    "Cut the crap. Where is he Caleb?" Caleb cocks his head to the side in mock-innocence. "What could you possibly mean? Last I check, you didn't want me anywhere near him." I gotta admit, it's pretty damn funny  watching Caleb annoy my dad. He doesn't seem to think it's funny though and glares at him.
    "I don't have time for bullshit Caleb. Where is my son?" Caleb's face suddenly  turns serious and he looks at dad. "I want to know what you're doing to him James. He's clearly scared of something." Dad looks furious as he glares at  Caleb.
    "And just who the fuck are you to question me about my life with my son?"
    "His brother last time I checked," Caleb retorts. They glare at each other for a few seconds before dad begins to speak again. "I don't have time for you. Tell me where my son is." Caleb glares at him and mutters, "Fucking asshole."
    "What did you just say?" Caleb doesn't back down and says, "I think you heard me."
     "Do not test me Caleb," dad warns him. "I'm not 12 anymore dad. You don't control me anymore."
     Without warning, dad pins Caleb to the wall, his arm across his throat. "Watch your turn around me. You may be my son but I won't tolerate disrespect from anyone." Caleb's face begins to turn red but other than that, he shows no signs of weakness. Instead he just spits out, "Fuck you." That does it.
    Dad punches Caleb. He isn't fazed though and punches dad in the stomach. I know where this is going and I have to stop it before things get out of hand. I run down the stair and jump in between them. "Enough!" I yell.
    They both stop and stare at me. My dad grabs my arm and starts to drag me to the door without a word. Before we can get outside through, Caleb jumps in front of us and keeps the door close.
    "Move out of the way Caleb," my dad says. "I'm taking him home." Caleb glares at him. "You're not taking him anywhere. Because I'm taking custody of Jace."
    Me and dad both stare at Caleb. "What," I ask. Caleb gives me a small smile then glares at dad. "I'm taking custody of Jace," he repeats. "You can't take custody of him," dad yells. "You can't have him!"
    "Yes I can," Caleb replies calmly. "I have lawyers helping me to gain custody of him. I'm giving him a better life." Dad glares at Caleb.
    "What the hell do you mean a better life? The life he has now is perfectly fine."
     "Fine," Caleb mocks him. "Is your head so far up in your ass that you don't pay attention to anything in your son's life? He tries to kill himself last night James." Dad looks shocked for a moment. He looks at Caleb, then me. "You what? Why would you do that?" I look down at the floor. His gaze makes me feel insignificant. Like I'm nothing more than a bug that could be killed with a single squash.
    "Answer me!" Dad yells. I flinch at the time of his voice and stutter out an answer. "I didn't w-want to deal w-with this a-anymore. The pain. I couldn't take it." My dad stares at me. "The pain. Is that what you call it? I was teaching you a lesson Jace and you call it pain? You should be grateful that I'm not the type of parent that just allows you to do anything as if I don't care about you. I care enough to try and correct you. And yet, you call it pain." He takes a deep breathe and continues.
    "You are an ungrateful child. You want to kill yourself because I show you the difference between right and wrong. And you'd rather stay with a stranger than your own father."
     "He already knows James," Caleb says. "He knows about every lie that you told him." Dad sighs and looks at me. "I'm disappointed in you Jace. If you want to leave or kill your self, then feel free to do it because I couldn't care less anymore."
    Dad roughly throws me to the ground and walks toward Caleb. Caleb moves to the side and allows for dad to walk out of the house. Dad looks at me one more time, hatred clear in his eyes, then leaves without another word. Caleb closes the door and looks at me.
    I stare down at the floor. I just lost another parent because of my stupid decisions. I've done nothing but fuck everything up for everyone. My dad has now lost both of his sons because of my decisions. Tears leak out of my eyes when I feel Caleb's arms wrap around me and he pulls me into a hug. I cry into his chest as the only parent that I had left, leaves me.