Chapter Text
Part 1: The Anxiety :[
It was the first Monday of December and Jerald was running. He was running for two very reasons. One, that the time was 9:47, exactly a whole forty-seven minutes past his curfew. Jerald had had an eventful day of school and band practice, which the bus home hadn’t help make shorter. And two, Hilton and his mother were home alone. Hilton was his cousin who wasn’t used to his mother’s impulses and swings as he was. Jerald was afraid of her being hit due to a misunderstanding. The bass on his back bounced while his book back lie in his hands. As he ran, his breath was shown in the air and his fingers tips were numb. It doesn’t take long to feel like you’re inheriting hypothermia in the town of Basozi, especially in the winter. The raven haired boy had been running for a while until this point but he was now approaching his street. Every attempt of his to run faster had failed and he was running out of stamina. He needed to make sure Hilton was okay and that his mother hadn’t don’t anything malicious.
Jerald had finally made it to the house.
Part 2: Mom's Upset!!!
Before he had walked in the door, the bushes outside rustled but Jerald jumped. He tried to think nothing of it. Finally making it to the house, he attempted to walk in the door quietly and quickly but his attempt had failed. His mother had stood at the door in a bawling mess as Hilton stood about 9 feet behind her, clearly terrified. Jerald immediately dropped both of his bags.
“Mother I-
“Damn excuses! You were out past your curfew” Between every word she sniffed. “Do you know how worried sick I’ve been?”
“The bus had a malfunction and it took longer than usual- I apologize, I-It’s the only reason I was late. I swear!”
“You were off with your deadbeat friends again, weren’t you?”
“No mothe-“
“You’ve got your stupid bass, I know you’re lying. You were playing in your pretend band weren’t you?”
“Mother-“
She continued to interrupt him.
“I told you I don’t want you hanging out with them anymore! You want to end up like me? You want to end up like your father? They are leading you on a path to failure. All they teach you is how to sin with their wild opinions and their homosexuality-“
“Where are you getting this from? Mother the bus simply had a malfunction and I had to wait for the next one. I promise that’s all this is. I also don’t appreciate how you are talking about my friends. They are kids like me who just want to be able to express themselves.”
“Look! Look at that! There lies have gotten to you,” She took a step closer. “You need to snap out of it!”
Jerald jolted as his mother slapped his face. Hilton whimpered and took a step back. The boy bawled his fist.
“Can’t you do this later? Sometime not in front of Hilton? Has she even eaten yet?”
“She hasn’t eaten because she’s ungrateful. I see it in her eyes she wants to leave me, she hates my guts. Why do the both of you want to leave me? All you ever talk about it’s your friends and the bus and it’s never about me. I want to know why you hate me so much and why we fight so much.”
Part 3: She's Delusional...
His mother had fallen to her knees, in tears. She now grabbed onto his leg.
“I really don’t want you to leave me, why…”
“Mother, who told you Hilton and I hate you? What led you to come to these wild assumptions?”
“Oh I see it in your eyes! You hate me! You hate that I’m like this! You hate that I can’t be like a normal mom!”
The woman was sobbing on his leg. He wished for her to move.
“I’ll cook the two of you food please, just get off my leg.”
“You’re lying! You’re a liar!”
“Mother please I just want to feed you and Hilton.”
His mother cried and slowly let go as she formed herself into a ball. He walked toward the kitchen to cook something small from his mother and his cousin. Hilton was shaking in place as Jerald pat her back while he walked by, trying to signal her to follow him.