The Sound of Starting Over - 1. Chapter 1*

I’m pushed forward as they knock on the door. “You know, y’all can just let me go right here,” I say, and throw a wink at them.

“Shut up, punk,” the overweight officer says, pushing me one more time in the back.

“You know if you wanted to touch me all you had to do was ask,” I say, and smirk. He shoves me forward harder than I expect.

The skinny officer rolls his eyes. “Shut up, punk.”

The door finally opens, and my father stands in the doorway, securing his robe around his waist. “What the hell have you done now, Landon?”

“Nothing yet!” I counter and add an innocent smile.

“Mr. Kohler, your son was caught drinking at a party. You know this could give him a record,” the skinny officer, Paul, says.

My dad puts up his hands. “Now come on, Patrick. It doesn’t have to go this far, does it?” he asks, more as a threat than an actual question

Patrick, the overweight officer sighs. “This is the last time, James. You need to do something with him.”

I smirk as he lets me out of the handcuffs. I shrug his hand off my shoulder and move past my dad. “Thanks for the ride, boys. Guess I know who to call next time.”

The skinny officer walks away, as Patrick and my father talk. “James… I was serious when I said this is the last time. Maybe send the kid to a military school to straighten his ass out.

I hear my dad sigh. “I know. I am working on it, trust me. I really am.”

I prop myself on the arm of the couch. As my dad sees the cops off, he shuts the door and massages his head. “Seriously, Landon?”

“What? I wasn’t doing anything that other teenagers aren’t doing!” I defend myself.

“I don’t know where I went wrong with you! I gave you everything in the fucking world! You know what? Maybe that’s where I went wrong. The fact is, I tried to overcompensate for your mother and I divorcing,” he says, looking at me sadly.

I lean back on the couch, still propped up. “Don’t play the divorce card, Dad. It’s kind of pitiful at this point. She’s married and doesn’t give one fuck about us.”

He puts his hands on his hips. “That’s just it, Landon. I have been talking to your mother. We both agree that you might be better off living with her.”

“The hell do you mean, better off living with Helen! I didn’t agree to this!” I yell, standing up.

“You Don't really get a choice in this Landon. Carol will be moving in at the end of the week. I asked her to marry me tonight, and her kids will be living here as well. I won't have you around doing these terrible things around them and disrespecting my soon to be wife.”

“So, you plan to pawn me off on Helen and her husband, Hank, since you obviously can’t handle me. You know, Hank has kids. Won’t I be ‘corrupting’ them? You know what? Fuck it, I don’t care. You can send me off tomorrow for all I care. I can pack a bag tonight.” I am shaking by the time I finish.

I start to walk off to my room, and I hear my dad call out for me, but I could give a shit less. I walk into my room and look around. I am going to miss my room - the posters of scantily-clad girls in bikinis and my flat screen and game consoles.

My father follows me into my room. “Look, I know this isn’t what you want, Landon, but I think it will be what’s best for you. You need to get some sleep - your plane leaves at 6 a.m. I already packed your clothes. I talked to your mother, and she said they will get whatever else you need in Florida.”

I look at him with disbelief, and I try to keep calm. “Seriously, you already packed my shit, and booked me a plane? Please, Dad! I can change, I will change! Please, please just don’t send me to her.”

“It’s too late, Landon. I found the weed, the cigarettes, condoms, the extra money you had stashed away, with notes from people saying terrible things. Exactly what were you doing, Landon, to get the money?” he says, pulling the money out of his robe pocket.

“Don’t worry about it. Not like it matters now, you just want to ruin my life. Why should I even tell you shit? You didn't give a fuck before so why now!” I yell at him.

He shakes his head, and I can’t tell if he’s disappointed in me or himself at this moment. “I love you, Son, and I do believe this is what’s best for you.”

“Who you trying to convince, me or you?”

“Get some sleep, Son,” he says, shutting my door.

“I fucking hate you!” I yell at the closed door.

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Stepping off the plane and into the terminal area; Florida is already much different than Texas. I didn’t even say goodbye to my dad; when he drops me off, I just get out of the car with my backpack and grab my suitcases as fast as I can. I follow the sign that says baggage claim. As I am walking, it dawns on me that I haven’t seen my mother since I was twelve. That was three years ago, and honestly, I don’t want to see her or her husband now. I follow the signs and the walkway leads out to a wider area. To the right of me, there is a viewing glass, and I spot Helen before she spots me. I flip my hat backward and my sandy blonde hair curls around the bottom. My dad used to tell me how I looked just like my mother, and he was right. I have the same hair and eyes as she does. I finally make eye contact with her as I round the corner of the viewing glass.

“Landon, baby, come here,” she gushes, as she pulls me into a hug. I don’t hug her back. I look at her like she has lost her damn mind. “Let me get a good look at you! You have gotten so big maybe a little skinny though.”

“Well, the last time you saw me was when I was twelve,” are the first words I speak to her.

I think I look fucking great. I get a lot of attention for my looks, plus a lot of sex. I am 5’6”, but hey, I’m fifteen. I will get taller….hopefully I am slim but have some muscles from working out, and a six-pack that I about died to get. I never get a complaint, as I said.

“Come on, baby, let’s go get your bags,” she says motioning for me to follow her.

I follow her as she talks about how happy she is to see me. I take her in; she is skinny, about 5’10”, with bleach blonde hair and the same green eyes as me. She is talking non-stop about how good I look.

I impatiently wait for my bags. “You aren’t talking much,” she says.

“Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep,” I tell her, rolling my eyes.

Finally, the bags start coming. Thankfully, mine are the first two, and I grab them. “That’s all you have?” she asks.

“Yeah, according to the sperm donor, you told him that you would get anything else I needed.” She doesn’t reply to my little jab at my father. I follow her as we walk out of the airport.

Again, she says how happy she is to see me, and I completely lose it. “Really, Helen, let’s be honest. The only reason I am here is ‘cause Dad didn’t want me to fuck up his new love life. If you really wanted to be a part of my life, you would have at least visited me in the last three years, or flown me down here, but I guess life with Hank has just been so perfect.”

She slaps me in one swift move. I shoot her a dirty look. “That is not true,” she says.

We don’t speak for the rest of the walk to the car. We approach her new Dodge Dart, the door opens, and a blonde boy pops out. I look at my mom. “Who the hell is that?”

“Language, Landon, and that is one of your stepbrothers. That is Jake.”

“Super. Any more surprises I should know about?” I shoot her.

I chuckle to myself because she ignores me. “Hey Mom,” I hear this boy say.

“Hey, sweetie, want to take the bags from your brother?”

“Yeah, sure,” he happily agrees and reaches for the bags. I look at him and hand a bag over. He has blonde shaggy hair and brown eyes and is really short. “I’m Jake,” he says, taking the bag from me. Looking at me with this damn smile.

“Landon,” I tell him, while I put my last bag in the trunk.

“Cool, so are you excited about moving here to Florida?” he asks, stepping back to give me room.

I laugh. “Fuck no. I don’t want to be here,” I tell him, shutting the trunk.

I see his enthusiasm leave his face as if I stole candy from him. “Oh, I thought you would like it.”

“Nah, I doubt I will be here long. Doubt Helen will be able to deal with me my father wasn’t able too.” I tell him.

I get in the front seat since Jake automatically got into the back seat. “Landon, could you please watch your language?” my mom says, looking at me. She is wearing an unreadable expression, I think. Fuck I really don’t know her expressions at all.

I nod, not really wanting to talk to her. “I think you will like it here,” Jake says, appearing between me and my mom.

“I doubt it,” I mumble.

“Hey, maybe you and Liam will get along!” he says.

“Who the hell is that?” I ask, looking at my mother.

“That is your older stepbrother. Please, I have told you about the language,” she says, getting impatient.

“Sorry, Helen, I forgot,” I tell her, just to piss her off, and I give her a nice smirk.

I see her tighten the grip on her steering wheel. “Landon, I understand that you are upset with me, but do not take it out on Hank or your stepbrothers. I hope we can work out the problems you and I have. I want you to be happy. Hopefully, this is a chance for you to start over.”

“So, you must have talked to Dad, then, since this is supposed to be my chance to start over,” I reply.

“He did tell me all the trouble you got into. We will talk later when we get home.”

I roll my eyes and lean my head on my fist as we drive down the highway; hopefully, this will make her understand I don’t want to talk.

*****

“Sweetie, wake up. We are at home.” I hear her saying, as she gently shakes me.

I jerk myself away from her. I feel confused for a moment as I shake off the sleepiness, and then I remember where the hell I am. “I’m awake! Now get off me!”

She lightly puts a hand on mine, “Are you okay, Landon?”

“I’m fine,” I tell her, jerking my hand back.

I get out of the car and look at the house. It’s massive, but this doesn’t surprise me. It has two stories; honestly, I am kind of speechless at this point. “Welcome home, baby,” she says, standing beside me. “Let’s grab your bags and I will show the house and of course your room.

I don’t smile back; I just follow her and grabbing my bags, and Helen takes one. We make our way up the cobblestone path to the front door, and Jake has already made his way into the house. I follow my mother into the house. To the right is a den, where I see Jake talking to two other boys my age.

They both look up at me as I enter the house. “I thought you said there was only one other stepbrother?” I ask my mother.

She laughs. “There is. The one with the glasses is Chandler. He is Liam’s best friend. Liam is the one with blonde hair, but Chandler might as well be a stepbrother as well.”

I don’t see the amusement in this as she does. I watch as both boys get up and walk towards us. The one with the black-rimmed glasses is taller than Liam and me. He is slim, wearing a tank top, showing off his lean muscles. He also has green eyes and a dash of freckles across the bridge of his nose.

The other one, Liam, is basically an older version of Jake - the same blonde hair and brown eyes. Except he is taller than I am. He reaches out to shake my hand, and I look at it for a second before I shake it.

“Hey, dude, I’m Liam,” he says.

“Landon,” I tell him and drop his hand. “Where is my room?” I ask, looking at my mother.

“Follow me, honey, and I will show you,” she says.

“Mrs. Greenfield, would you like me to get the bag for you?” Chandler asks.

“No thanks, sweetie, I have it,” she says, patting his cheek.

I give him a distasteful look, which causes him to blush, and avoid eye contact. I don’t waste any more time. I follow her, expecting us to head up the stairs, but we continue to walk to the right of the stairs. There is a door, and she opens it.

I follow her in. “It’s kind of separate from your brothers’ rooms. Hank and I figured you would like your space.”

“Thanks,” I tell her as I step into the room. It’s huge, double the size of my old room. It has a full-size bed and a black dresser with a flat-screen TV on an entertainment center in front of the bed; to the left of the door is a computer desk with a laptop on it. I put my bags on the floor and sit on the bed.

She closes the door and sits at the computer chair. “Landon, look, I know this isn’t ideal for you, but your father, Hank, and I believe this will be the best for you. Your father told me about the cigarettes and the weed. I won’t tolerate the smoking at all, or the drinking or drugs. Neither Liam nor Jake do any of those, so you won’t, either,” she tells me.

“Thanks, Helen, for laying down the rules of the house, not even an hour of me coming here,” I tell her with the most sarcasm I can muster.

“Landon, look, I understand you are hurt, and angry with me, possibly even scared. I love you, and believe it or not, so does Hank, and he doesn’t even know you.

This pisses me off. “You don’t know shit about me, the sperm donor didn’t want me so what in the actual fuck would make me think you want to as well?” I tell her, getting up off the bed

I see her sigh, and I know I have won this one with her. She gets up. “I really do love you, Landon, and I am happy that you are here. I just want you to be happy here as well.” With that, she leaves my room, shutting the door.

I fling myself back on the bed and try to fight off the fucking tears. Because she is right I am hurt, angry, and fucking scared to death. I hardly even remember her anymore. When I saw her last, I was twelve, was the day my dad finally signed the divorce papers. I get up and open the first door, and it’s my closet, so I open the next, and it opens to a bathroom. I walk over to the sink and start to splash water on my face.

I grab a hand towel that is hanging and dry my face with it. I hear a knock on my bedroom door; I don’t say anything, thinking maybe whoever it is will get the hint. Well, I am wrong again, because the door opens, and Chandler comes walking in.

“Hey dude, Liam and I are going to go shoot some hoops. Want to join?” he asks, standing there, and looks a bit nervous.

I just stare at him. “No,” I tell him, and put one of my bags on my bed, so I can start unpacking.

“Come on dude, I can help you unpack when we are done playing.”

He is starting to piss me off now, “Look, just because you and Liam are butt buddies doesn’t mean you and I are going to be BFF's, actually do me a favor and get the hell out of this room and leave me alone. I don’t understand what your mental hang-up is. I told you no and you don’t take the fucking hint I don’t want to be messed with. I was trying to be nice. It’s not your job to try to be my friend. In fact, I could give a fuck less if I ever talk to you again.”

I am pretty sure he got the message this time. It looks like I finally struck a chord. It shows on his face, a little twinge of pain. “Sorry, man, I was just trying to be a friend to you. Apparently, you are such a badass you don’t need any,” he says, walking out of my room.

I brush off what he said and turn back to my bag to unpack it. I start putting away my clothes in the dresser when I hear another knock on my door now. “What!” I say.

“Sorry, Landon. I’ll leave you alone if you want,” Jake says, peeking his head in the room. “I just wanted to see if you wanted company. Liam doesn’t usually like me hanging around him and Chandler, so I… kind of wanted to see if you wouldn’t mind,” Jake asks nervously from the door.

Fuck this kid, man. I want so badly to tell him to beat it, that I don’t want any company, that I want to be left alone. But his face looks so full of hope, and I can’t be mean to him. I have no idea why.

“Yeah, whatever,” I tell him, turning back to my clothes. I watch as he sits on my bed cross-legged, watching me intensely. “If you are looking for something illegal, I didn’t bring anything with me,” I tell him.

He shakes his head no. “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

I laugh at this. “Yeah, you and both of my parents.”

“Why were you such a butthead to Chandler earlier, but nice to me?” he asks out of nowhere.

He catches me off guard with this question, “I don’t know Chandler, and really don’t care to know him. He seems like the clingy type and I don’t do clingy. You aren’t so bad. You’re young. You don’t know any better.”

“Chandler is really nice. He doesn’t mind talking to me and treating me like his equal, which is more than what most of Liam’s friends do. Maybe you could be friends.”

“That’s cool that he treats you good, but I really doubt that me and him will be friends. Why aren’t you with friends today?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “My best friend is out of town for the weekend, so I am stuck here.”

“That sucks,” I tell him. I grab my boxer briefs and start putting them up when I catch him staring at them.

“You don’t wear regular boxers?” he asks

I let out a laugh, “No, I don’t wear regular boxers. I like wearing boxer briefs.”

“Why? They look so small and uncomfortable.”

Truth is, they felt amazing on me and made me feel so much sexier. I couldn’t tell you how many older women I had drooling over me when I would walk around in my briefs. I used to have a lot of sex with older women. They loved having a young stud in their bed; they would get me whatever I wanted for the activities I did for them. I don’t tell this to Jake, though. He doesn’t need to know anything about that. Truth is, I never told anyone what I did. I kind of felt ashamed, I slept with my best friend’s mother on many occasions. Well, that was, until her husband came home. That was my first ride in the police car after the asshole hit me.

“Nah, they fit just fine, and feel good, too,” I tell him.

He just laughs nervously. “If you say so.”

“Well, I do,” I say, putting the rest of them up.

“I still think you should go and shoot some hoops with us,” he says, looking at his hands.

I figured this was what it was about, “So, Chandler put you up to asking me?”

“No, I put him up to asking you.”

“Thanks, Jake, but I don’t really feel like playing ball right now, ok? I don’t want to be a dick to you, but I kind of want to be just left alone, ok?”

“Sorry,” he says, and he looks so defeated, it makes me feel like shit.

I watch as he closes my door and once the door is closed I go back to putting everything up. It’s not that I can’t play ball, I just don’t feel like it right now, so much is going on. Hopefully, my father will come to his senses and tell me this is all just a joke, a learning experience, and fly me home.

There is another knock at the door; I just let out a sigh. It’s like no one understands I want to be left alone. “Yeah?” I say, not even caring to look who comes in the door.

I hear someone clear their throat and I turn around to a middle-aged man standing in the door. He has blonde hair and deep brown eyes, and a smile on his face which makes me uneasy. “You must be Landon! I am Hank,” he says, extending a hand to me.

I take it hesitantly, not sure what kind of game he is playing. He pulls me into a hug. “I am happy to have all my boys here with us now,” he says, taking me and leading me to the bed, and sitting beside me. “I know this isn’t the most ideal situation, Landon. Hell, I know you are pissed, hell I would be too if I didn’t have any say in what happened in my life, but before you make any judgment calls, let me lay things out. I am happy to have you here. I have talked to your father, and he did tell me about the run-ins with the police, the weed, the condoms, and the “excess money”. I won’t condone the use of weed, and I hope that you weren’t selling it to get the money. You need money, just ask me. I will give you money, no questions asked. I want us to have an open, honest relationship. It’s what I ask for all my kids. The only thing I can say about the condoms is that at least you are being safe, but I think you are young to be having sex.

“I didn’t sell weed, I just smoked it,” I tell him.

“Good, then that’s something I don’t have to worry about. Can we talk about your relationship with your mother?”

“There really isn’t one with her, and don’t expect there to be one. I don’t understand you. You are supposed to resent me or hate me. I’m not your kid or your responsibility,” I tell him, getting defensive.

This gets him to chuckle. “Landon, I don’t resent you or hate you. I am happy you are here. I have been asking your mother for years to bring you down or ask you to live with us. I know that sounds like I wanted to take you away from your dad, but I didn’t want that. I just know how much your mom has missed you. She has felt guilty for years about leaving you, but she wanted you to be with your dad. But that is in the past now, so we can move forward.”

“This is a lot to take in,” I tell him, looking at my feet.

“I just have a few house rules, and other than that, it’s pretty easy around here. I ask that you help with chores, no cussing, and be home at 9 p.m. on school nights weekends depend on what you are doing. That, and keep good grades in school no skipping, and no drugs or drinking.”

I feel his eyes on me when he says the last one. “You aren’t joking, are you?

He shakes his head. “No, I am not. You don’t need the drugs or the alcohol here, Landon.”

“So, I’m just supposed to just stop being me, and doing what I have done for so long?” I say, raising my voice.

Hank lets out a sigh. “Landon, calm down. I know it will take some time to adjust to the new life here. I am not expecting to snap my fingers and you are a different person. I am not unreasonable. I think we have a lot of things we need to work on together as a family.”

“I guess,” I say, sitting back down.

“Then, I think you will love it here, Landon. Just give it some time and go easy on your mother. I will apologize beforehand for Jake. He is an interesting kid, and he will probably bother you a lot. Liam is caught up in himself. I am sure you have already met Chandler. That boy is here more than his own house.”

“You don’t find that weird?” I ask.

He just laughs. “No, I love that kid like my own son, and he has had a rough life. He is good people. Hopefully, you both will become friends. Well, I am going to go start dinner,” he says, patting me on the back.

I just shrug. “Maybe.” I watch as he leaves the room. I feel exhausted after this conversation. So much to process, this isn’t how I thought this whole conversation was going to go with Hank. I lay back on my bed; I am more tired than I thought I was.