Eighteen Going on Dead

Chapter Fifteen: Bat out of Hell

Carol Killmore... an old bat with a hell of an attitude and a greedy mindset. Basically a leech that didn't have a limit or gave a fuck about life- the last part kinda reminded me of someone. I barely met my grandmother; mom, dad and Aunt Joyce kept it that way. I didn't blame them for their concerns, from the stories I've heard and the long arguments between mom and dad, I learned that this woman was taking money from them to keep her distance from me and other reasons. Her bad habits were that effective, that they were afraid she'll corrupt me.

Carol stepped out from her car once Aunt Joyce spilled into the drive way, I knew the cop wanted to drive off and go anywhere but home; somehow she keeps finding her kin. "I want you to go straight inside," She said before grabbing her belongings. I took a deep breath and followed pursuit, the cold air hit my cheeks- making them numb.

"Zaire," Carol chirped while stepping forward, however she stopped once seeing the cold gaze of her oldest and nod only daughter. "Hello, Joyce."

"Go inside, Zaire." I definitely didn't stick around to watch them argue their heads off. Finally I wasn't the one being chewed at tonight, so I took the opportunity to have my freedom.

I sat in my room looking out the window to watch the show, two woman yelling at each other in the middle of the yard; probably waking up the neighbors and giving their young kids new curse words share with their friends. They were heated, both fired up, hot headed and stubborn and also freezing their asses of in the middle of the night- a school night to be exact. I had enough, I couldn't go to sleep with them fighting.

Bravely opening the window, I hung half of my body out and yelling out for their attention. "Hey! Don't make me call the cops!" That definitely made them stop yelling for once. They stared at me with narrow eyes, Aunt Joyce crossed her arms in front of her chest and took several steps back from her mother before she threw the first punch. Like I said, I don't know what exactly happened between the bat and her children; but it was more than any mother and child relationship I've seen and know. "It's a school night, we have neighbors and any second now one of them will call the sheriff. Save this fight for another day." I stated before climbing back inside and closing the window.

The next morning was twice as worse, I walked downstairs in my pajamas to see Aunt Joyce eating breakfast by herself in silence. I could sense the anger in her eyes, cold and dark as she probably imagined killing her mother with a dirty knife. "Hey," I tested out the waters, "how's it going?"

"Why aren't you dressed?"

"That's the thing, can Gabriel take me to school today? I will be at the station right after school."

Aunt Joyce sighed heavily and stared me down until my feet were glued to the ground. "Are you shitting me? After what I said last night."

Back to that again... "A lot of things happened last night, you're obviously upset and you're not fit to drive me anywhere. So, how about it?"

"Whatever, see if I give a rat ass anymore." She kicked the chair back, grabbed her dishes and stormed to the sink. Instead of throwing the dishes down in anger, Aunt Joyce leaned on the marble counter and took several deep breaths. "Sorry, I'm not upset with you."

"Why did you and mom the grandma so much?"

"She's a bad woman and even badder mother. I don't want you near her."

"That doesn't really give me an answer."

"Jesus Zaire, can you not question everything? Just do what I fucking say." Now her anger was focused on me, she stormed out of there faster than a speed of light and almost took the door with her.

****

Winter started with a freezing morning and light winds to make everyone suffer. I hated winter more than I hated the humid hot melting summer, it wasn't safe and only ended in a brutal outcome. Still, I had to take off my hat to Mother Nature in making 'white' Christmas every year and causing snow days. Along with daylight saving time where it looks six o'clock when it's actually seven.