It's been a week and a half since school started and it's now Friday. Tonight is Malcolm's first football game and my parents are forcing me to go. Those kids that chased me on Monday have chased me and beat me up all week.
I just got ready for school and Malcolm came downstairs with his football bag. "Carry this to school." He told me while putting it on me. "No." I replied while pushing it onto the couch. "Don't say no to me." He said and kicked me in the shin and then punched me in the arm. I winced in pain and teared up because he hit the other bruises the kids caused. He rolled his eyes at me and said "If you don't carry that, I will beat the shit out of you." "Can you drive me home from school if I carry this then?" I asked him. "Possibly." He answered.
I instantly got up and put my bag on and put his football bag on. I put my shoes on and started walking to school. I made it there earlier than I had to be and I waited by Malcolm's locker for him for twenty minutes. He still hadn't come to school yet and I was gonna be late for class, so I put his football bag in my locker and went to class.
At lunch I was walking to my locker and somebody slammed me up against it. "Where's my bag?" Malcolm barked. I screamed because he caught me off guard and he put his hand over my mouth. "Shut up, brat. Now where's my bag?" He asked while moving his hand away. "It's in my locker. I waited for you at yours and you never came, so I put it in my locker. C-can you please let go?" I answered. He let go and I unlocked my locker. I opened it and he grabbed his football bag out of it. I grabbed my lunch and turned around to ask Malcolm what time his game started, but he was already gone.
Once the bell for school to end rang, I quickly got all my stuff and went out to where Malcolm's motorcycle was. I waited for him for five minutes and he came over to his motorcycle. "You seriously think I was gonna drive you home?" He scoffed. I looked down at the ground and quickly ran down the sidewalk.
I ran for five minutes and then got tired, so I hid in an alley for two minutes. I ran the rest of the way home, thankfully not running into those kids, and I went up to my room. Malcolm wasn't home, so I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time. I went into Malcolm's room. I haven't been in here for a year because he doesn't let anybody go into his room besides him and his friends.
He had posters all over his wall along with a messy unmade bed and piles of dirty clothes. I walked over to his closet which is a walk in closet, and I opened the door then quickly closed it. Malcolm has this one shirt that is tie dye that I really want and he's outgrown it, but he won't give it to me. I went into his walk in closet and found it. I was about to walk out when I heard his bedroom door slam shut.
I froze and quickly hit behind his rack of pants. I covered myself up with the clothes that were on his closet floor which are hopefully clean, and I waited for him to leave his room so I could get out. His phone rang and he answered it. "Hey man, what's up?" Malcolm asked. I heard muffled gibberish come out of the other end of the phone and he said "Sweet, I'll be there."
The closet door opened and Malcolm grabbed a hoodie from up top and grabbed a pair of jeans. I closed my eyes as he changed since I didn't want to see any of it, and he sprayed a shit ton of body spray on himself and then walked out while shutting his closet door and bedroom door. I heard him slam the front door and I quickly opened his closet door, closed it, then did the same with his bedroom door. I ran to my room and shut the door. I changed into the shirt and was watching tv downstairs when my parents came home.
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"Are you ready to go?" Dad asked. "Yeah." I answered. "Okay. We're going out for dinner later. Bring the other motorcycle helmet. You'll be riding home with Malcolm while we get groceries and you'll be riding to the restaurant with him too." Mom told me. He's gonna see me wearing this, great. Wait, I can just say that mom put it in my drawer on accident so I thought he was giving it to me.
I grabbed the other motorcycle helmet from the garage and got into my dad's truck. We drove to the school and I went over to the bleachers with mom while dad parked. I sat there the whole time staring off into space. The game ended after what seemed like forever and I noticed that mom and dad weren't happy, so we didn't win. I went over to Malcolm's motorcycle after getting the helmet from dad's truck and waited for him. His friends walked over to me and the motorcycle with him, and they just stared at me.
"What do you want?" Malcolm sighed while pushing me off to the side. I held up the helmet I had in my hands and he sighed again. "Did they make you come?" He asked. I nodded and he muttered a few cuss words under his breath. "That's my shirt." He said. "Mom put it in my drawer." I lied. "I don't care. As soon as we get home, you're taking it off." Malcolm said. I nodded since he would hurt me if I didn't do what he told me to do.
"See ya tomorrow, guys." He said to his friends. They left and he put his helmet on. He helped me with mine and hit me a little harder than he usually does. We got on his motorcycle and he drove to the restaurant.
We got off once he parked and we went into the restaurant. We made it there before mom and dad, so we chose a booth. We sat down and somebody touched my head and flattened out my hair which was probably sticking up from having helmet hair. The only person who was sitting with me was Malcolm, and I don't think he would do that, but I didn't want to say anything if he did.
Our parents got there ten minutes later and sat down. "You two are late. Aren't you gonna apologize for being late?" Malcolm mocked. I laughed a little but stopped when our parents glared at me. "Malcolm John, don't start." Dad sighed. Malcolm smirked and went back to looking at the menu then ordered. I got chicken strips like usual and Malcolm got spaghetti as usual.
"Sorry you guys lost." Mom said to Malcolm. "Its fine." Malcolm replied. Malcolm moved away from me and went on his phone like he always does and I fiddled with the motorcycle helmet I had in my lap.
"So Finny, what did you do today?" Dad asked. "Went to school. Then came home and was forced to go to his football game." I answered. "Finn, don't say that. You're turning into... into..." Mom started but stopped when Malcolm stared at her. "What, mom? He's turning into what?" Malcolm questioned, knowing she was gonna say I was turning into him. "Nothing, Malcolm. Just forget about it." Mom sighed, not wanting to cause a scene. "No, mom. Tell me what you were gonna say." Malcolm said. Mom didn't answer and he sighed. He sighed and moved towards me, trying to get out of the booth. I got out and let him through, and he left. I sat back down and we ate the rest of dinner in silence.
We got Malcolm's dinner out into a takeout container and we paid for our meal. I carried out my helmet and the container. We got into the car and started driving home. "Sorry you couldn't ride home with Malcolm because he left." Mom said. "It's not Malcolm's fault. It's yours. You make him sound worse than he is. He has his moments like we all do. He's only human. That must really hurt when your parents imply that you're a much more terrible person than you really are." I replied.
"Finn, your brother has done some things we're not proud of even though he is. You acted out which wasn't like you, so your mom used Malcolm's rebellious behaviour as an example to tell you how you're acting, and Malcolm is just mad that she called him out on it." Dad said. "Why do you never take responsibility for what you do?" I questioned. "Pardon?" Dad asked, clearly confused. "Why can't you just admit that you guys didn't handle the situation properly? You just wanted to tell Malcolm how terrible you think he is. You're our parents. You should support us. You're tearing him down by telling him he's horrible." I told them.
The rest of the drive home was quiet and I put my helmet in the garage when we went inside. I went up to Malcolm's room and knocked on his door. "Go away." He said through the door. "I have food." I replied. I heard him stomp around and his bedroom door opened. He grabbed the bag that had the food and utensils in it and put it down on his nightstand.
"Give me back my shirt." He said. I took the shirt off and handed it to him. He took it and punched me super hard in the chest. I winced in pain and he slammed his door closed. I went to my room and started working on the homework I have to do. I took out my science textbook and fell asleep while reading it.
