As I Fell ✓

Special Chapter #3

Instead of the usual Owen-Athena bonus excerpts, I decided Calix deserved to have even a single chapter about him since he was kinda growing on me as I edited the earlier chapters. Here's a short scene for y'all! Sorry for the wait!

(New Year's Eve, Junior Year)

Calix
Things had always been hard for me for as long as I can remember. Real hard.

My family's not exactly the richest kind of household around town and they're not the best people either. I mean, Dad works in construction and has a really bad drinking problem and Mom's a lunch lady over at my old prep. As much as I take in probably any job opening around, money's almost always never enough. Well, I got kicked out of probably more than a dozen previous jobs before and now that I got a stable job at Target, I was not letting this slide.

I want to help my family. If it takes a thousand part times to pay off the debt we owe for our house, I would do it. Dad's such a dick for spending whatever Mom earned on alcohol and shit. What an asshole.

It was New Year's eve today and thankfully, I was off work and had all day to myself. Mom and Dad were off from work too and from what I've heard from their loud bickering downstairs, they were fighting over money again. I was in my room now, my head pressed against the wall as I sat on my bed, staring into the Spock cardboard cutout I got from a birthday years ago. I listened to the conversation below.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, WOMAN. TELL ME WHERE'S THE FUCKING BOOZE IN THIS DAMN HOUSE OR ELSE!" I heard Dad scream as some loud pounding noises happened down there. I guess he was hitting the walls again. That's another thing to pay for, that is.

"LARRY, THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. HAVE A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION GODDAMMIT. IF YOU WON'T DO IT FOR ME, DO IT FOR YOUR SON." Mom replied as I heard something crash. It was porcelain. I knew it from the decipherable and distinct sound it made as it hit the floor.

"FOR CAL? YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BENEFIT THAT KID? A DECENT JOB. IF HE DIDN'T GOT KICKED OUT OF THAT FANCY RESTAURANT TWO YEARS AGO, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO LIVE THIS WAY."  I hated my father. He never did appreciate my efforts to help this family pay for the house. It was Mom who knew how exhausted I was from balancing both school and a job. Though she may be embarrassing as hell, I love her to shreds for always picking my side.

"HE WAS JUST FIFTEEN THAT TIME YOU ASSHOLE. HE WAS STARTING TO LOSE HIS SCHOLARSHIP TOO. HE WAS TIRED. HE'S WORKING HIS ASS OFF INSTEAD OF ENJOYING HIS YOUTH. CALIX IS A CHILD, LARRY. I KNOW YOU KNOW THAT. HE'S DOING WHAT HE CAN TO HELP US." I heard Mom defend me downstairs. Despite all her efforts, I heard another piece of porcelain crash and I was rattled by the occurences. I didn't like it whenever they fought. More so when it was about me. I felt a slight shiver of cold run down my spine.

"IF YOU DIDN'T TREAT HIM LIKE A KID ALL THE TIME, HE WOULDN'T ACT LIKE SUCH A FUCKING PUSSY. WOMAN, TELL ME WHERE THE ALCOHOL IS OR ELSE." My head was spinning now. I felt my head go light and my heartbeat pace as Dad called me a fucking pussy. My throat felt dry and my chest was heavy.

I couldn't take this place.

Without thinking, I jumped out of bed, feeling my body go heavier as time passed and stormed off the house by exiting through my window and took a huge leap  to get to the garage which was luckily, right around the corner of my room. I took my secondhand motorcycle I got from my cousin and rode off. I didn't know where exactly I was going but somehow, I knew I was going somewhere safe. Somewhere I could vent out and let all this shit loose for once.

I was now standing in front of a small, red, suburban house with an old truck parked in front. The place was in this foresty area of our city, surrounded by hundreds of trees it was like living in that Stranger Things house where that girl got sucked into that alien world. I shakily walked up to the doorstep and rung the bell, hoping someone would answer.