Babysitting the Bad Girl's Brother: Who do you protect?

18) Mark the Day

Getting to Simon's house was a pain.

The Adal residence was located to the west side of town, a posh neighbourhood without idiots. Simon's house was... well similar but goddam the... the place was just bad.

Strangely, I hadn't travelled too far east from Isabella's house. It had taken ten to fifteen minutes -if that- to get to Simon's street.

Though the journey was short, I couldn't help but feel the streets becoming grimy as I travelled down them. A group of older gentlemen, enjoying what must've been their fifth/sixth beer, were galivanting as though they'd drunk fifty. They were a loud and an obnoxious headache as I travelled on the street opposing them.

My hands gripped tight on the pram housing Jacob. The little guy somehow managed to stay fast asleep even with the cold air and loud drunkards. A few more minutes of travel later, and I arrived at the address given. My stomach held a knot, its tight restraint held my footing. As I looked upon Simon's tower of a house, I was struck with unfiltered dread. I shouldn't bring a kid around here; this discussion isn't suited for children. Yet, I continued to walk towards the front door.

The front lawn of Simon's house had old scraps of a filthy sofa and metal pieces; part of an old bed frame just loitered on the lawn. The purpose of them being there was to act as the old saying goes; 'one man's trash is another man's problem'. The whole point of recycling is to help the environment, the fact Simon had left the stuff outside of his house told me he hadn't a care for nature. We needed to protect it and he willingly left this rubbish to simmer. Leaving this stuff for someone else only enforced my hatred of him.

Knocking the front door, I happened to notice the lack of a step between the ground and the entrance. How was I supposed to get the pram up without waking the little man inside?

Opening the door, Brendan appeared. He acknowledged me, the pram and the gap.

"You brought a kid?" He questioned.

"Yeah, I was working before I got roped into this. Mind helping me in?"

He didn't answer verbally.  Stepping outside in his socks to the frosty concrete tiles, he grabbed the front of the pram. On the count of an unspoken three, we lifted the pram safely inside.

"Thanks." I expressed.

Brendan didn't talk any further.

The inside of the house was certainly better than the outdoors, however, it wasn't significantly better; the walls in the hallway lacked paint, just brick. Clearly, Simon and his parents didn't care about appearances. Walking further into the house, the openness of the place began to show its presence. I'll give Simon this, the place is perfect for a party.

Moving the pram into a comfortable place, I lifted Jacob out, securing him in my arms. From his eyes fluttering slightly I could tell he would wake up soon. Walking into the living room, my eyes were overrun with information. The room was vast, the floor was mahogany, the walls went from brick to a creamy white, the tv was gigantic and mounted to the wall; a cosy fire lay beneath. There were more than enough seats for a large family to all lay on and enjoy a movie. There was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor quite close to the sofa. Thanks to the bannister at the top of the staircase, whoever stood up there would have a full view of the happenings in the living room. From where I stood, the living room faced west and past it was a wall of complete glass giving a view to the back garden that was currently hidden under the darkness of the moon.