Cinders

~11~ Lessons

The next week is rough. Mom is doing her best, but I know she's having a hard time. I'm trying to stay on my best behavior, so I don't get in trouble. She's cranky. Honestly, I've been counting down the days until I can go back to dads. It's about 3:45, and I just got home from school. I'm sitting down eating some chips when there's a rough knock on the door. I get up and answer it.

It's my mom's older brother, Jake. Now, the thing you've gotta realize about this situation is that it's weird. Mom and Jake don't necessarily hate each other, but it's almost to that point. They fight whenever they're together, which is hardly ever. I haven't seen Jake in about 9 months.

Uncle Jake is mean. Rough, I guess is the right word for him. Mom also has a twin brother, Justin. They were super close, but Uncle Justin decided to move out to LA with grandpa a while back ago to see if they could make it as actors—Let's just say that they're kidding themselves.

I'm standing in the doorway, just staring at Uncle Jake, trying to decide what to say.

"You gunna let me in, or do I have to stand out here all damn day?" He asks with an attitude.

I say nothing, but move out of his way to let him in. Uncle Jake is terrifying. His muscles are bigger than Taylor's. He owns a fitness center, and he's a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

He looks around the room. "Where's your mom?"

"Umm, she was doing laundry. I'd call her, but I've got my phone taken away."

"What did you do?" He asks. Before I can answer, mom comes through the door holding the laundry basket.

"Jake!" She says, her tone instantly getting darker.

"Ellie!" he replies, matching her tone.

"What are you doing here?" She asks as she puts the laundry basket down.

"The asshole called me."

"Watch it!" She says, looking over at me. He's referring to dad. Jake hates dad. Dad got his sister knocked up at 15, made her a mom at 16, and then broke her heart at 20. Jake's HORRIBLE to dad.

"Why'd Alex call you?" Mom asks, completely confused. The feelings are mutual. Dad hates Jake just as much as Jake hates dad.

"He told me what happened. He's worried about you."

"I'm fine"

"I don't really care if you are or not. However, I figured you probably needed to brush up on your self-defense classes. We haven't had one in 8 years. Since you're not working right now, this is a perfect opportunity," he says, folding his arms.

"Nice," mom says, pushing him out of the way and walking to the fridge. She gets out a soda.

"That shit'll kill you," he says as he takes it out of her hands.

"Yeah, well so will being in the same room with you for more than 10 minutes!" Mom says, trying to get the soda back from him.

"You'd be able to take this from me if you were better at fighting. Let's go. I walked past a gym when I came in," he says, putting the soda up over his head so she can't reach it.

She crosses her arms and starts to pout. "I don't want to, Jacob."

Jake chuckles sarcastically. "Ooohhh, we're using full names, are we? Ok, ELEANOR... I'm not leaving here until we go to the gym for a while."

He goes to the couch and plops down, putting his legs up on the coffee table.

Mom sighs loudly. "Fine!" She yells as she goes into her room to change.