Spider Webs - 4. Chapter 4: The First Night

His fist pummeled me again. I grunted. The hilarity of our spaghetti dinner had worn off and Joel and I were fighting.

"Damn it, Joel! It's not yours, you can't wear it!" I whispered hoarsely. Even as I tugged at the...shirt he was wearing, he kicked me. I caught his foot and, letting go of his shirt, tugged at his...pants.

"It is mine! Elizabeth bought it for me!" Joel shouted at me. His hand gestures let me know how angry he was with me.

"It's ugly," I whispered.

"I'm telling," he replied.

"Joel!"

His other foot lashed out at me. This time he caught me on my bad leg, right where it hurt the most. I doubled over and fell on my ass. I heard something tear.

I let out a groan. "We have to talk!"

Just as I managed to cough that out, a knock came at the door. A second later, it swung open and Elizabeth's head popped in the room. She had a worried look on her face.

"What's going on boys?" she asked.

Nosey woman! Couldn't she mind her own damn business? She had been just as nosey at dinner, watching over me while I downed the Chinese food when it had finally arrived.

I heard a sniffle behind me and turned to see that Joel was crying. He had one of his legs pulled up into his lap and was holding his pajama pants where I had ripped them when I was struggling with him.

"We're leaving, tonight!" I signed at him. I scowled at him; he scowled back.

"No! And you're a jerk," he replied. Then, seemingly from nowhere, he had a shoe in his hand. The next thing I knew I was on my back and my ears were ringing. He was up and moving past me while I recovered from the stinging blow to my face.

"Joel!" I heard Elizabeth holler.

Joel's footsteps pounded down the stairs a second later.

"What's going on?" Ken's voice asked.

"I think they were fighting," Elizabeth replied, clearly exasperated.

"Oh... Well, you go talk to Joel; I'll see what I can do here," Ken replied.

"Right," I heard Elizabeth say.

A moment later Ken was in the room walking toward me, his hands behind his back. The look on his face made me nervous. I felt my heart speed up. He was going to beat me. My breath was coming in gasps. Don't show any fear... Don't show any fear... Don't show any fear!

I sat up and glared at him. He met my glare head on without flinching. I balled up my fists.

"What's going on?" he asked again. I got my feet under me and stood up in a hurry, adjusting my stance quickly so I could, I hoped, put up a good fight. He had me worried. I didn't know how he fought. But he wasn't going to beat me without a fight. No one was going to beat me anymore.

He stopped and backed up. His hands came from around his back and he held them toward me. There was a pen in his right hand and a small notebook in his left.

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know what's going on," he said softly. I think he was shocked or something.

"Let's just... take it easy. Relax. Breathe... or something." He was prattling. Why was he prattling? Better yet, why was I shaking? I blinked at him, and finally got what he was saying.

Yeah. I needed to breathe, or something. That was a good idea. I bolted toward him and he stepped out of my way. I passed him in a rush.

I was downstairs in a flash and out the back door. I heard loud chimes ring behind me. It must have been the doorbell. How annoying I thought as I ignored it. I wanted to run as far as I could go. I was feeling slightly shaken over my encounter with Ken and the sudden fear I'd felt. I'd never felt that way with my dad, or maybe I had, and I had just become numb to the entire thing. But I didn't run, not yet, anyway. I just went to where my dad's truck was.

I needed something to occupy my mind. The best thing for that, I decided after one glance at the truck, would be to get dirty. I found the driver's side door unlocked and popping it open, crawled into the truck. I felt something crunch underneath me when I sat down on the bench. I slid forward and, using my hand, searched behind me.

The second I realized what I'd found, I went searching all over again. Within five minutes, I had my treasure sorted out on the bench seat next to me. Cigarettes. A lot of cigarettes. Not just the ones I'd bought at the mall either, but three and a half cartons.

Score!

Now I just needed to get to work on something. The closest thing I could think of to get to work on I just happened to be sitting in. In a better mood, I found myself leaning over the hood of the truck, a book that I found inside the cab with details on its make and model was propped in front of me. I peered into the engine compartment; a cigarette dangling between my lips.

That was how Avery and Ronald found me. Fingers literally appeared from nowhere and plucked the cigarette out of my mouth. I swallowed my scream before I could let it out.

"Smoking will kill you," Avery stated matter-of-factly. I just grunted at him and turned my attention back to the truck. He shouldn't have let me come home with these people.

"How are things going?" he asked.

I wasn't going to answer him. Really, I wasn't.

"She tried to poison me," I blurted out. I just couldn't stop myself. Six days confined to a miserable cell, lack of sleep, a court appearance that didn't turn out well because of a lying perv and Elizabeth trying to poison me was just too much.

Ronald gaped at me. Avery just kind of smiled at me, looking pleased. He held his hand out to Ron. I saw Ron drop some money in his hand. That made me mad, even if it was funny.

"You made a bet?"

"Yup," Avery replied. "We weren't sure how long you'd be able to hold out. Did you know you talk in your sleep?" he asked. "Well, when you do sleep," he amended.

"Besides, the music teacher at your old school mentioned you're an excellent singer and musician," Ronald added.

I grunted. Then I just shook my head at them. I'd had no fucking idea that they were on to me.

"So what exactly was the bet?" I found myself asking.

"How long it would be before you broke down and started talking; Ron's a bit disappointed, he was going for three weeks."

Ron glowered at me. I just gave him a look and shrugged.

"So, they tried to poison you, eh?" Ron asked.

I ignored the question for a moment.

"Do they know?" I asked with a glance toward the house, not caring which one of them answered the question.

"Nah, I don't think so. Elizabeth thinks you're mute like your brother, but more willing to make noises...." Avery paused. "He is mute, isn't he?" he asked.

I nodded at him. It was a sore point for me, but...I liked him. "He is; he wasn't always though. He just stopped speaking the day Mom died." My response came out in a whisper.

He nodded. "Elizabeth thinks you interpreted for the school choir while they performed. She thinks it's a great idea," Avery replied.

I sighed, but the whole situation still sucked. Whatever, I still had no interest in talking to those people.

"I won't say anything," he added. He jabbed Ron in the side when he said this, which made me suspicious.

"Another bet?" I found myself asking with a grin.

"Yup, just make sure you don't crack for another month or so," Ron growled.

"I give it another week," Avery hinted.

I smirked at them both. "I give it never," I replied. That just got me some dubious looks from the both of them.

"I don't think he can do it," Ron stated after a couple of seconds.

"Me neither," Avery replied.

Great, neither of them had any faith in me whatsoever. But, I was determined to avoid speaking to these folks. Yup, I was going to make it well past both of Ron and Avery's limits.

"Any other bets going on I need to know about?" I found myself asking.

"Hrm, I've got a month before you cause any trouble," Ronald replied.

I rolled my eyes. Avery winked at me; a broad grin crinkled his face, the mischief in his eyes belayed his age. I smiled back at him.

"C'mon, it's raining out here. Let's go inside. I think they got some pie or something for dessert," Avery replied.

In a much better mood then I had been in before, I nodded my head and followed them into the house, idly wondering how much trouble I was in for fighting with my little brother.

We got to the kitchen. Everybody else in the house was already there except Ken.

"There you are! Are you ready for some dessert?" Elizabeth asked.

Much to my relief she was acting as if nothing awkward had happened. I didn't get a chance to decline dessert. Elizabeth assumed rightly that I was hungry again and just handed me a plate. Patrick, Reese and Joel were already seated. I joined them at the table.

"What about you?" Elizabeth asked Ronald and Avery. While they politely declined the offer, I picked up my plate and examined it. Nothing appeared to be wrong with it. What looked like salt crystals on the crust turned out to be sugar... I took a huge sniff at the plate and got a jab in the side from Reese.

I turned to glare at him and realized everyone was staring at me; I just looked at them. What? I wasn't doing anything wrong, honest. Elizabeth laughed at me and held up a box with the picture of an apple pie on the cover.

"It's store-bought," she informed me. It didn't sound like she was insulted. I just nodded; grateful for the little things in life, like not getting my food poisoned. I ate the pie.

While I was licking the gooey apple pie filling from my plate Ken reappeared in the kitchen.

"Hey, what have you been doing?" Elizabeth asked.

Ken greeted Ronald and Avery, but he didn't answer Elizabeth's question right away. Instead, he pulled out of his pocket a couple of... car keys? He hung them from the shelf next to the china cabinet in the dining room.

"Honey..." Elizabeth said.

Her tone of voice was disturbing. It vaguely reminded me of my mom when she sometimes talked to my dad; usually when he was up to something that was about to annoy the hell out of her.

"What?" Ken asked. He sounded like a little kid who was trying to get out of trouble. "I'm just hanging up the spare keys to the vehicles. Just in case anything might happen where, oh... I don't know, they might need to be used, or...we lose our keys or something," Ken replied. He was fidgeting the entire time, avoiding Elizabeth's gaze. Instead, he was looking at me. I guess he wasn't done though.

"See, keys to the Ferrari," he pointed them out to me. "And these are the keys to the van." He smiled at me, like I was stupid or something. He was also making me extremely uncomfortable.

"Ken!" Elizabeth exclaimed. There was some heat in her voice. But Ken kept going.

"I also updated our insurance policy. You'll have to take him to the DMV tomorrow and get him a valid permit, since his birthday is in a couple of weeks; that is...if he's still here."

Ken's eyes were questioning. He also pissed me off. Why the hell would I want to stay here after he said that shit anyway? I flew off the handle.

"You're a fucking asshole! And, I don't know how to drive a stick shift," I signed to him.

Patrick went into a coughing fit. Joel glared at me. Reese's eyes widened when I called his dad an asshole. I guess Reese knew some sign after all.

"Second," I held up two fingers so he could get my point, "I have a name, it's Micah. Not he, it, something, or anything else. Use it, and third..." another finger joined the two already in the air, "I'll be sure to destroy your Ferrari if I ever decide to borrow it."

The slight scowl and questioning look on Ken's face clued me into the fact that he didn't know what I was saying. But, he most likely suspected that not all of it was nice.

I still wasn't done.

"And four," I added another finger, "You're a mental midget. Douche bag..."

Now I was done. I dropped my hands to my sides and glared at Ken. Ken kept looking back and forth between Patrick and me, but Patrick wasn't paying any attention to Ken; he just kept staring at me, an unfamiliar look in his eyes.

"Tell him," I told Patrick. He shook his head at me. This resulted in me glowering at Patrick. "Coward," I signed at him. He looked at me a moment, then just kind of lowered his head...ashamed, I guess.

I rapped my knuckles against the counter and made sure I had everyone's attention. Then I looked at Ken; a broad grin stretched my face and, with bared teeth, I gave him a two thumbs up sign. It was the best way I had to let him know I was going to be sure and wreck his Ferrari.

Apparently, he thought I was agreeing with him. "See, learner's permit, all good."

"Why don't you boys go downstairs and play Xbox for a little while," Elizabeth said. It wasn't a request either. She had, apparently, had enough of her asshole husband's attitude.

A garbled sigh escaped Ken's lips. A perplexed look crossed his face. Ha! The ass was in trouble and he knew it.

Chairs scraped across the kitchen floor and I watched as Patrick, Reese, and Joel high-tailed it out of the kitchen. Two "good nights" followed the three boys as Avery and Ronald escaped through the front door.

Pansies! They...were...all...pansies!

Elizabeth shot me a look. I bolted out of the kitchen and into the basement.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *

I threw the controller down, annoyed beyond belief with the racing game that I had just lost, again. Reese was sitting next to me and Patrick was on the couch across from us. Only, we were in the basement where we had been exiled; strangely, it had the same setup as the living room upstairs. I hadn't really noticed before. I guess these people didn't believe in change or something.

I was also pretty sure that the only reason I kept losing the game was because of the way Patrick's green eyes were smoldering at me. I don't think he was mad at me anymore. But the only thing his eyes were doing was throwing me off my game. Whatever. I opened my mouth and faked a yawn. It was only 8:30 at night, still early by my considerations, but I needed to do something so I could get away from these two.

I stood up and without a sign walked away from the couch. I stopped when I got to the foot of the stairs and looked at Joel. He was watching me from where he was sitting with Elizabeth, a book propped up between the two of them. For the last hour, she'd been trying to get him to make sounds as they read through the book.

"We're leaving in four hours," I told him. I kept my hands concealed from Patrick's view so he wouldn't be able to rat me out. Joel turned away from me.

I was tempted to stomp my feet on my way up the stairs, but I didn't. Ken and Elizabeth had been in the living room earlier arguing-about me, no less. Elizabeth had joined us in the basement, but not Ken. He was sitting on the couch in the living room and he looked up when I passed through the room.

"Hey Micah..."

His soft voice had me stopping in my tracks. I looked at him. His mouth opened and closed again, as if he had something to say. He just didn't know how to say it.

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I hope I didn't offend you." The words finally came out of his mouth.

He was apologizing to me. Why was he apologizing to me? I frowned at him. I didn't want to respond. He had acted the royal jackass. Two could play that game. I finally nodded in response. I just wanted to get away from him. I continued up the stairs and into the barren bedroom that I had been using. Within minutes, I stripped out of the clothes I had been wearing and fell into the bed.

I spent a few minutes dealing with my...teenage needs, or trying to. About halfway through the act; I fell asleep with my hand wrapped around the object of my affection.