Escape from Abuse - Skephalo

Chapter 10 - A Rainy Night.

TW: Alcohol,  Abuse, Swearing/Gay Slurs

Zak

School was finally over, and I was excited to go home and play some Minecraft. It had started to drizzle outside slightly, and it was refreshing. As I stepped up to the front door, I grabbed the keys out of my backpack and unlocked the door. As I opened the door, the strong scent of alcohol hit me in the face; I gagged at the smell before going inside. Even though I was 17, I had never been a big high school party person. I had gone to a few and only drank at one. It wasn't my thing. However, my dad, on the other hand... Would do anything for a drink. I shut the door and stepped over trash and beer bottles. I saw my dad passed out on the couch as well. It looked like he had a party or something while I was gone. I sighed. Ever since the divorce, my dad had resorted to alcohol. He wasn't pretty when he got drunk, either. Most of the time, he got drunk out on the town, but when he got drunk at home, let's just say... Sometimes things got physical. 

I walked to my room and threw my backpack on the floor, and went over to grab my earbuds. I had a lot of cleaning ahead of me. If I didn't do it, It wouldn't get done. I put my playlist on shuffle and started to pick up trash and sweep the floor.

After I had finally cleaned everything up, I just had the kitchen; I had collected all the beer bottles and set them on the counter to go outside to recycling. I just had to do the dishes, and then I was entirely done. I started to fill one half of the sink with soapy water and started to do the dishes. 

About halfway through, I felt my earbuds aggressively ripped out of my ears. I turned around to see my dad stoop face-to-face with me, his alcohol-scented breath blowing right on my face.

"Do you have money? I need it." He asked in an aggravated tone. 

"I don't- I'm sorry-" I nervously said. 

I felt a strike to the face as I stumbled slightly backward. A yelp of pain escaped from my mouth as my hands flew to my face to try to get the pain to go away.

"Fucking stupid faggot." Tears started filling my eyes. I knew I should be used to it, but it hurt. He stomped toward the exit of the kitchen before stopping near the doorway. He glanced at the counter before he gave me an evil grin. 

"Oops." I watched as he pushed all the bottles off the counter and onto the ground. They all shattered into a million pieces. He laughed before leaving the house and slamming the door. 

Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't deal with this; I ran out of the kitchen and over the glass. I put my earbuds back in at full volume before running out of my backdoor. I sprinted across the back lawn, rain pouring down onto me. I ran as fast as my legs would take me. Tears ran down my face, although you couldn't tell because of the rain. After about three blocks, I slowed down and walked to where I wanted to go—14th square park. I walked across the playground mulch and over to a gazebo that stood in the corner of the park. No one ever came here, especially at night. It was about 7 pm; I had spent the whole day cleaning. I sat on the floor of the gazebo. I pulled out my earbuds and listened to the rain. I felt like such a fucking crybaby. Usually, I'd just suck it up. But lately, it's just been getting worse. I wish I could talk to someone about it. Someone... I thought for a second before a name popped into my head. Darryl. He might not understand, which would be good. He wouldn't call anyone on my dad. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tapped on his contact. I sent him a quick text.

"Hey... I know it's a bit late, and the weather outside is crappy, but I really need to talk to someone. I'm at 14th square park. Come if you want/can."

Darryl

I ran up the stairs of Cara's house, carrying my glasses in one hand and my bag in the other. Cara had just finished yelling at me about the glasses; She says she doesn't want to have to pay for them. She also yelled at me about my crying. I was honestly becoming kind of numb to it at this point. Maybe this is just how the world works; To show affection, people hurt others. I sighed as I sat down on my bed. I don't have anything else to do. Well, I have homework to do, but I don't feel like doing that right now. I decided to look up stuff about Minecraft. I searched it up and looked at some videos. It's the block game Noah was playing! I clicked on the first video I saw. I watched as this guy named DanTDM tested out some items in the game with his dog and friend. It was really entertaining. I saw why Zak and the others played it. While I watched it, I forgot all about Cara and Noah. It was just me, Dan, and the rain.

New text from Zak

Zak? What was he doing at a time like this? I slowly read his message. He wanted me to meet him at a park... Okay. I put the park name into my phone and looked at the pictures. It was like the play structures I used to play on many years ago! I threw my favorite hoodie on and put the hood up. Cara and Noah were in their rooms, so I decided to go out the front door. Cara probably wouldn't care if I left; As long as I didn't bother her. I tracked the way to the park on my phone, and I stepped out into the rain and headed towards Zak. 

Zak

I sighed as I saw Darryl left me on read. Maybe it was a dumb idea to invite him here. He probably thinks I'm crazy and- 

"Zak!" 

I looked up to see a soaking wet boy in front of me, dressed in the familiar black-and-red hoodie.

"Hey, Darryl." It came out as a whisper, which wasn't intentional, but it didn't matter. His smile disappeared from his face as he set his phone down on the bench and sat next to me on the floor. 

"What's wrong?" 

I don't know what it was about those two words, but they broke me. I just broke down, crying about my dad, the divorce, how much I missed Samira. I cried about the alcohol, Noah, even about how worried I was for Darryl. He stayed silent the whole time; He listened carefully as I cried about my troubles. 

I didn't even realize until I had cried all the tears I could that he had grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap, so I was crying into his shoulder. Almost exactly like I had done for him the night earlier. It was quiet for a while—just us enjoying the peaceful sound of the rain in each other's arms. 

"I understand. I miss my sister too." 

Darryl has a sister? Where is she? He sighed. He then went on to tell me about her. About her long brown hair and how much she cared for her little brother. He seemed happy talking about her. That was until he mentioned that they were separated.

"Darry, if you don't mind me asking, what happened?" 

He fidgeted with my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. 

"Well... I uhm.." Tears started to fill his eyes. 

"Darryl, I'm sorry you don't have to-"

"No, it's okay. You should probably know." 

He then went on about his old house, his parents, his escape, the hospital, his deceased brother, and how he was thrown in with Cara and separated from his sister.

I was shocked. He had been so through much; I wasn't going through shit compared to what he's been through. 

We both sat there, two soaking wet boys under a gazebo. We listened to the rain in silence. 

"Zak? I like being with you. You make me feel safe." 

I looked up at him. The light from the lamppost next to us hit his face at the perfect angle. He looked at me with a slight smile and his tear-stained cheeks. He had perfect little Freckles dotted across his face. And his eyes in the light; how could  I forget about his beautiful, exquisite eyes. 

Holy shit. I must be falling in love with this kid, because I never wanted to leave this moment. I just wanted to stay here forever with him. I wanted to sit up and kiss every single one of his freckles. Every Scar. Every Bruise. His lips...  But I couldn't. Instead, we stayed there. Staring into each other's eyes. The rain tapping against the wooden roof of the gazebo.