FicWad

I tried to suppress my happiness as I entered our gloomy hallway. The oak floorboards creaked ominously underfoot. I looked around; it was a rather fancy place. High, regal ceilings and fancy décor. I wondered what would happen to the house now that we had no money.
“Lexi?” my mother's voice came from the den.
“Yes,” I answered hesitantly.
“Come in here.”
Shaking, I made my way down the hall. I passed the kitchen, the living room, the staircase leading to the second floor, and finally came to the glass French doors of the den. I nervously nibbled my bottom lip and I opened them. My mother was slumped over the computer desk lazily. She looked up at me, and her eyes took several moments to focus before she said, with disgust in every note of her voice,
“It's your fault he left,”
“Mum-”
“It's your fault I married him!” she cried, her voice shrill, “Mistake!”
Suddenly, she didn't seem so lazy and drunk. She sat up straight and hurled the empty clear-glass bottle at my head. I covered my eyes and slumped down against the wall, and the bottle collided with the wall where my head had been only seconds before. It shattered with a sickening sound, and I heard running footsteps in the hallway. I peeked out from behind my fingers to see Anna standing in the doorway.
“Mum...Lexi?” she asked, confused.
I watched with terror as my mother began to say something, and I was sure she was going to hurl the glass in her hand, half-full with clear liquid, at my sister. But instead, her hand's grip on the glass relaxed, and it fell to the floor. Her head lolled backwards, and I knew she was out cold. Anna's eyes were wide, and she turned to me slowly.
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
“Nevermind,” I said, and I quickly stood up, “Come on. We're getting out of here.”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I don't know. Just get your shoes on.”
We jammed our feet into our sneakers, and I remembered to grab my purse before we ran out the front door.
“We'll go to the park.” I decided.
I could feel Anna looking sideways at me, wondering what this meant. 'The park' was Royal Gardens Park, a ten minute walk from our house. It was perfectly situated between our house and Patrick's, so it was a meeting point for us. We had a private spot in a tangle of old trees and overgrown brush. We'd found an abandoned, crumbling stone bench, no doubt placed there when the park was new but forgotten about over time. Anna usually wasn't allowed to come when Patrick and I met at the park, because it was a place for private conversation.
“Look, I know you don't normally come, but this situation involves both of us. We're in this together.”
Anna nodded, and we continued in silence. We were almost at the park when I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and called Patrick.
“Meet me at the park in ten minutes?”
Patrick agreed, no questions asked. That was just how our system worked. Anna and I reached the park, and started walking across the lush green lawn. There were flowers and bushes everywhere, and lots of pretty benches and picnic tables. But we headed for the wooded area of the park where mine and Patrick's secret spot was located. It grew darker as the trees grew closer and closer together. I finally found the place where the brush was the thickest, and Anna and I carefully picked our way through the thorns and shrubs before we found the small, cleared spot where the crumbling bench sat. Anna nervously kicked a rock with the toe of her left shoe. We listened to the wind in the trees and the muffled, far-off sounds of other people laughing and playing in the park. Neither of us spoke.
“Hey Lexi- oh, Anna!” came a voice from behind us. I turned around to find Patrick picking nettles off the bottoms of his jeans.
“What's Anna doing here...?” he asked me cautiously.
“Our mum...” Anna began, but she trailed off when she realized I had crumpled onto the forest floor in a fit of tears.
“Hey, Lex, it's okay...” Patrick said in a soothing voice, kneeling down and lifting my head and shoulder off the ground. He rested my body against his and held me while I cried.
Anna started bitting her nails, and she sat on the ground beside us. Patrick rocked me gently, and I hastily regained my composure and wiped my tears away. I couldn't fall apart like this, not in front of Anna. I tried to sit up a little straighter, but Patrick didn't seem to want to let go of me. So in a wavering voice, I told him what had happened since my dad had left.
“You can't stay there much longer.” he said.
“I know, but where else are we supposed to go?”
“You two could always stay with me.”
“Patrick, don't be silly. Your mother has enough teenagers running around her house, she doesn't need two more.”
He sighed, and began fiddling with a lock of my hair.
“I know, but...where else are you supposed to go? Your dad is gone. Your mum is a fucking psycho-”
“Don't say that,” Anna said sharply, speaking for the first time in nearly half an hour.
“Well she is, Anna.”
“No, she isn't. She's just sick. She is still our mother.”
“I don't really care who she is, she just attempted to kill or at least severely injure me-”
“She was drunk, how could she control her actions?”
“Anna, listen to me, just for one fucking minute-”
“Hey, girls-”
“Patrick, stay out of this!”
Our voices were raised, and as the bickering escalated, we barely noticed when another voice joined the conversation.
“Uh...?”
It was me who noticed the girl standing in front of us, her bare legs dotted with thin lines of blood from the thorns and nettles. She looked uncomfortable as she hiked up her shorts a little and adjusted her tee shirt.
“Lisa!” I cried in astonishment. I pushed myself away from Patrick's arms and sat up.
“Lexi...um. I didn't realize other people come here.” she said.
“Yeah, I thought the same thing.” I mumbled.
“Is...is everything okay?” she asked carefully.
I realized that I Patrick had been holding me as if I were a small child, and my face must have been swollen and red with tear stains. Anna was on her feet, her fists balled up. The three of us sheepishly looked at the ground.
“Fine.” I murmured shortly.
“Well none of you seem fine, especially you, Lexi.” Lisa sighed. She sat down on the stone bench.
“It's just...” I bit my lip, wondering if I should say anything.
“It's just what?” she was talking to me as if Anna and Patrick weren't there; in fact, she seemed to be deliberately ignoring Patrick's presence.
“My mum...ugh, I can't do this,” I sighed, covering my face with my hands, “It's a long story, okay?”
“I've got time.” she said softly.