Puppy for Sale 3.19 - Life After Greenstone - 2. Handling Hunter

Chewing on the crust of a fresh loaf Mum had made for me to take home, I sat slumped at her kitchen table. It was a dull day which made for no motivation to study like I should have been doing. Mum was scrubbing the oven, and I found her motions somewhat therapeutic as her yellow gloves furiously moved from side to side.

Dad was at work… as usual, finding the Autumn winds giving him plenty of work. He'd moved into cleaning gutters as well as tree surgery. I could see why, of course. When summer was over, he and mum normally lived on the money made during the warmer months. But this way, he could have a steady stream of work all year round. I learnt something very interesting about Max. Although a liberal from head to toe, he did like things traditional - in a sense, he was the provider. And with Steven still living at home, bleeding them dry, I'm sure a few extra gutter jobs would come in handy.

"So, where is he? I forgot to ask?"

"Your Brother," Mum asked, rolling her eyes as she turned to face me. "Fishing. It's all he does now since you moved out. Fish, fish, fish."

"No job then yet?"

"Pffft, you know about the warehouse job he had?"

"No?"

"Fired, after two weeks. I'm surprised he hasn't told you. I know he tells you everything."

I shrugged. "Well, he hasn't told me about that."

Mum got up and gave me a very prominent 'feel sorry for me look.' "You know, I really worry about you, Puppy. I think Hunter needs to see an Anger Management Specialist."

"You know he'll probably go to Prison. He got told, Mum. He got told last time to stay out of trouble, and he's done it again." I shook my head violently. Exasperated.

Mum sighed and tilted her head, coming over to rub my shoulders. "You know, you could always come home. We'd love to have you back."

"Back," I said, sniggering. "That word, back! Like a step back."

"Oh nonsense, loads of young lads and lassies go back home after moving out. I recall doing it three times after a series of bad men decisions I made."

"Well, if he does go to Prison, I might need to. I can't afford the mortgage in that place on my own."

"Oh Honey, you know I said your Dad and I would…."

"NO! I am not taking a penny more from you. I'd rather come home than keep taking money from you. After what you and dad did for me… finding me, getting me out of Greenstone. No, I'm not going to accept any more money."

I heard the catch to the front door go, along with some footsteps getting closer. I thought it was Dad, but in walked a very dirty looking Steven in green wellies and a grey coat.

"What a sexy look!" I said, sniggering.

"Shut it; I fell in. No fun, especially when the water is just above freezing," Steven said, frowning.

"Oh, look at you," Mum reacted in horror. "Go get those clothes off and get in the shower. I can smell you from here." Steven went to the fridge, ignorning her and pulled out the carton of milk, taking a gulp.

"Oh my GOD, Steven! Give me that!" She cried, snatching it out of his hand. "Go, now, You're stinking my house out."

"How the hell did you end up falling in?" I asked, just as he turned away from me.

"Tripping over Jessie's fucking bag!"

Mum frowned as Steven walked off, plodding upstairs. I got out of my seat and followed.

"Gonna go fill him in. Can I have a cup of tea?"

"Sure thing, Puppy, I'll leave it on the side."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat on the toilet seat while Steven showerd off the smell of rotting pond water. I waited until the splattering of shampoo washed off him before speaking.

"He's fucked up again," I said, huffing.

"Of course he has. That's why you're here. That's the only time we see you."

"I suppose," I muttered, looking at the floor. "Hey, I heard on the grapevine you got sacked from your job."

"That grapevine being Mum?"

"Maybe."

"So this wonderful independent life not working out, huh?" Steven asked, stepping out of the shower, giving me a full view of his familiar tackle.

"Don't change the subject. Anyway, I'm thinking of moving back."

"Good, I can do with the company. There's only so much porn you can watch on you're own before you get bored. So yeah the job. Uh, well I guess you could say it was a difference in creativity."

"That the new description for 'I don't like people telling me what to do'?"

"I might go and work with Dad, anyway."

"Pffft, you'll kill each other. So porn? Things not working out with Cindy?"

"Huh? Oh right. Meh, I just can't be arsed. That's my problem. I wanna be out of my mates, and she wants to sit watching romance movies. Fuck that."

"It's called being in a relationship, Stevie. You have to do what each of you likes."

"Since when did you become the expert. You can't keep your pitbull from beating people up half the time."

"Hey, that's not fair. Hunter has… issues."

"If you ask me, he's a psycho. You should have walked away ages ago."

"I can't have this conversation with you. I'm not going to sit here and bad mouth him with you. It's not right."

"Okay, Mr Morals. So why are you sitting in the bathroom talking to me then, if not about him?"

"Just wanted to say hello, and see if you're okay."

"Bullshit. You wanted to talk to me about him, to get it off your chest. And, I know you have already chewed Mum's ear off about the same thing. You're looking for someone to give you a reason to stay with him, and so far, no one has. Dad'll be home soon. You can have the same chat with him."

"Wow, you're still an asshole sometimes."

"All the time!"

"Yeah!"

Steven walked out and down the hall to his bedroom. I followed, thinking he expected me to. I watched as he towel-dried his body which he still kept in good condition playing football. He had remained the same as I always remembered, and yeah, I'll admit, that magnet he pulled me in with still had a little bit of charge.

His bedroom hadn't changed, really. Just a bit tidier and full of things that more suited his age. A bigger TV, Playstation 4 and his old office chair with the back full of previously worn clothes. Typical Steven, I thought as I reclined into it.

"So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Depends if Hunter gets bail. I'm not counting on it. But I really ought to go down to the Police station and see him."

"You mean you haven't yet?" Steven asked incredulously.

"Nope! At first, I wanted to teach him a lesson. But now I'm just bored of the process.

"Bored of him?" Steven asked, tilting his chin, eyes wide.

I shrugged one shoulder. "I met this guy!"

"Oh, here we go!"

"No, listen, he's nice. His parents own Chariots."

"The club?"

"Yeah! His name is Joey. He fucking badass cute." I said, smiling for probably the first time today.

Steven rolled his eyes. "And that's it, is it? Your current boyfriend is in the slammer, and you are lining up your new one just in case shit goes south."

"No, it's not like that. It's just been a nice distraction, that's all. I've been… oh fuck I don't know."

"Unhappy?"

After sitting on his bed in a towel, Steven got up and pulled on some boxers and socks before tugging on the back of his chair for the trackie bottoms my back was pressing against.

"You just have to say move!"

"Move!"

I leant forward, allowing him to pull his bottoms from the chair. "I'm not unhappy all the time, just indifferent. Hunter can be exhausting, you know?"

"Yeah, Puppy, I know!"

"Anyway, I should probably get going."

"Now I'm dressed? You're so predictable. I won't see you out."

I grinned and pulled Steven into a hug. "I'll be back around soon. Tell Dad I said Hi?"

"No sweat."

I trotted downstairs two steps at a time back into the kitchen, where Mum was preparing dinner. "Mum, I'm off, okay?"

"Oh, won't you stay for dinner and your tea! Look, it's gone cold now?"

"I can't, Mum. I need to go and see Hunter, and sorry, I got caught up with Steven."

Mum sighed. "I understand. It's a shame. We don't see you that often… God, that boy, I could strangle him."

"Yeah, me too, Mum, me too! I'll see you later."

"Yeah, okay, Button. And remember, the offer is there to come home; we'd love to have you back."

"I'm giving it serious thought. Bye, gotta run!"

"Bye Button, take care."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got home about twenty minutes later to grab my phone, which I'd forgot, and my wallet, which had my driving licence in it. As I put my key in the door, I saw the hallway light was on. A feeling of dread came over me as I knew it was off when I left, it being light enough and all. I crept in, ever so gently removing my key from the door. I left it open just in case I needed to run back out. Whoever, or whatever was in our property, must have felt a cold rush in as I stepped back, cowering, seeing a figure rush towards me.

"There you are. Why didn't you take your fucking phone?"

"Fuck Hunter, I almost had a heart attack," I spat, standing up straight.

I barged past him into the lounge, letting him close the door. Then, picking up my phone, I marched into the kitchen, pulled out a half-opened bottle of wine from our fridge, and got a glass from the cupboard.

"I got bail," Hunter said sheepishly as I poured a large glass, taking an equally large gulp.

"No shit. So what happens now?"

"I need a good Lawyer, or I'm going to get time. Probably three months."

"Who told you that?"

"My cheap assigned Lawyer. So where have you been?"

"My parents?"

"You sure?" Hunter narrowed his eyes.

"Uh, yeah, Hunter, I'm sure. Anyway, it doesn't matter where I've been."

"I might have been in a cell, but I still thought you might be here when I got home."

"I didn't know you were home."

"That's because you didn't come and see me. Why was that?"

I slapped my hand on the counter. "Because I'm fucking tired of this, Hunter. I'm tired of your shit. Every fucking time you say this won't happen again, and you do it."

"Hey, that guy was an asshole."

"In your eyes, they're all assholes, Hunter," I said, taking another large swig of wine.

"Oh come on, he was, don't you think? I was just protecting you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't need protecting."

Hunter laughed. "Of course you do, silly."

I looked up at him with a bemused expression. "It's over!"

"Sorry?"

"You heard me. I can't do this anymore. Your… your temper, your questions, your controlling! Not to mention my ability to think for myself is being eroded!"

"Babe, don't be silly, look we can work this out. I'll be better, I swear. I'm gonna get some help and sort myself out."

"No, Hunter. I'm sorry, we've been here before. You'll change for a month, and then you just go back to the way you were. And that's you. You can't change. You have an anger in you that needs addressing. I don't know whether it's your childhood, Kai, your Mum and Dad, or something else. But I can't live with the you that you are now."

"So what happens now?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. But right now, I'm going for a shower."

"Do you want me to go?"

"Go where? Don't you need to stay here, at the address you gave them… the Police, I mean?"

"This is FUCKED!" Hunter screamed, making me flinch. I shook my head and headed for the shower, not expecting my arm to be grabbed. I shot a look at Hunter as if to ask what the fuck he was doing. He let go straight away.

"I'm going for a shower Hunter, and then I am going out. I will sleep on the sofa and you can have the bed," I said methodically and calmly before walking off.

As soon as Hunter grabbed my arm I knew I'd end up at Chariots. I wanted some rebound therapy, and it's the only place I could think of.

Hey Readers,
While this book is in progress you might notice the chapters are a little bit shorter than my usual 4-8k. Due to the fact I have just moved into my new house there is lots or work I am doing which is eating into my writing time. Rather than leave you waiting weeks on end for each chapter, at least this way I can still post regular(ish) updates to keep the story fresh for you. I hope that's a okay compromise?