I sat on the curb at the side of the road as cold rain pelted my skin and made everything feel numb. Apart from the bright emotions that burned within me. It was a fire so reckless and strong that not even the rain could hope to quench it.
"How could they do this to me?!" I shook my head and my angry tears ripped free from my face to hit the concrete ground below. They mixed with the relentless rain and went off on a journey down the road. Even my own tears are abandoning me…
I glanced at my suitcase of stuff that had been strewn all over the floor when that bitch threw it out after she shoved me through the door. All of my clothes were being ruined but I really didn't care.How could he let her get what she wanted most of all? He promised me. I thought promises between family members were meant to mean something. I guess I was mistaken.
"What am I going to do?" I have money saved up, but it's not enough for me to live on my own. It's meant to be money for university after I finish college… Am I going to have to quit college and get a full time job? But I'm so close to finishing though! Quitting now sends two and a half years work down the drain…
I glanced at the payphone across the street from me. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my purple skinny jeans and pulled out a pound coin. Maybe I can phone Dan… Older brothers are supposed to be good at giving advice, right?
I heaved my water-logged self-off the ground and threw everything roughly into my suitcase before I dragged my shivering form across the road towards the payphone. I love the rain, but being inside the payphone was a break that I welcomed with open arms.
I put the money in; paused with my finger hovering over the first number. What happens if he's not interested? What if he's still angry with me? I did pick Dad over him after all. What a foolish mistake that was. Look where that got me. "I have no one else to turn to. He's my brother. It's been half a year since I saw him last…" Surely, he would've forgiven me by now…
I sighed, resigned myself to the fact that I had no other option and dialled the number. "Please pick up." What if he's changed his number since then?
"Hello?" My brother's voice came through the phone and I let out a long breath that I hadn't even noticed I had been holding.
"Dan…" My voice broke and I fell silent.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" My brother's tone of voice turned icy cold and it froze me inside and out; instantly quenching the fire that had been raging inside of me. The fire was replaced by an overwhelming sadness.
"Dan… I'm really sorry." I couldn't bring myself to say anything more. Afraid of him rejecting me and pushing me away; just like I deserved to be.
"Sorry for what, exactly Autumn? Sorry for abandoning me when I needed you most? I gave you my number, but you never gave me yours. That meant that I depended on you to get in contact with me. You didn't stand up for me, but I still forgave you. I was willing to give you another chance! It's been six fucking months!"
My voice broke and I cried. I knew he was mad and that I couldn't expect him to forgive me, but a small part of me hoped that he could accept my apology.
"Well, now that you've interrupted my meal, you may as well explain why the hell you phone me."
That hurt. I could see Dan sat at a table, phone in hand, venom dripping from his words and burning through the table. My cries turned to silent sobs.
"Well? Come one. You're already wasting my time. You may as well get it over with so I can continue with my life. What's stopping you?"
"Ashleigh set me up… She then gave Dad an ultimatum; me or her. Without even hearing my side of the story, Dad sided with Ashleigh and I got kicked out. He broke his promise…"
"Well, what the fuck do you expect me to do about it? Play pacifier and try and resolve everything so you can try and play happy families again?"
Tears rolled down my face silently as I realised that I'd called the wrong person. Used the last of my money to call the person who was most likely not to give a fuck. I'm such an idiot.
"Dan, don't you think you're being a little harsh? I know you're mad with her but she's family. Your sister." Another voice sounded in the background and it was hard to discern the words. It sounded slightly familiar but I couldn't place it. All I could tell was that it was a sweet voice. Someone who dared to stand up to Dan when he's angry; that takes some serious guts.
"Go back to making your video. You don't understand what's going on here, she-" Dan turned his venom on the stranger and got interrupted.
"Needs your help. You told me about this a little while ago. Have you not considered the fact that maybe she had a lot to deal with and didn't want to bug you as you started a new life without her? Well maybe she can't take anymore. Maybe she needs your help."
"You don't know what's going on! Fine, take the phone! Listen to her petty little life story! I'm washing my hands of her!" The venom in Dan's voice reached maximum level. Why the hell did this stranger get involved?
I heard a chair being overturned and several doors being slammed shut with enough velocity that they sounded like they were about to come of their hinges.
"Whoops." The mysterious stranger's voice came through the phone. "I didn't mean to make him angrier."
"Opposing him like that when he's angry never pacifies him! It usually does the opposite and makes it a heck of a lot worse." I was shocked that I was able to form full coherent sentences. "Well thanks for trying to help. I doubt I would have won him over anyway. He's still really mad. Your interference just sped up the rejection process. I guess this is-"
"No! Wait a minute! I'll talk to him again and phone you back! Don't' move!"
"What's the use in that?!" I answer. Instead of feeling upset I was now angry with this stranger for interfering.
"Please, just stay there." With that the line went dead. I sighed and hung up the phone before my back hit the glass behind me and I slid down as my body was racked by sobbing.