The skies above were tinted with streaks of orange and red as the humid 95°F temperature scorched the asphalt and concrete on this particular July afternoon. Five-year-old Ellis leaned out of the grimy windowsill, tip-toeing on the kitchen chair that he had pushed over, and watched as a few cars rumbled down the street two stories down from him. A motorcycle hummed noisily and sped through at what seemed like twice the speed limit.
Ellis had always thought that the sun always looked the prettiest from this window.
The smell of cheap pasta and tomato sauce simmering over the stove wafted over from the kitchen, and Ellis's stomach growled. A familiar, beat up car slowly rolled into view and Ellis scrambled off the chair. He made his way into the kitchen, the heavy chair dragging behind him as he moved it back by the dinner table.
"Mama, Dad's back."
"Really, baby? He's here?" A tired-eyed woman looked over from where she was cooking and smiled weakly at the boy.
"Uh huh." Ellis rummaged through his small backpack and pulled out a slip of paper. He ran the few steps over and hugged the woman's leg as he waved the note up at her. "Miss Tieve gave me a paper. For a talking."
The woman kept her eyes on the food and absently smoothed down the boy's messy hair with her free hand. "Put it on the table so I can read it later, okay?"
"Okay, okay." For extra emphasis, Ellis nodded against the fabric of her pants before detaching himself from her. He ran back over to the round dinner table and placed it where his mom usually sat.
The front door creaked open, and a sweaty man that smelled like sour beer stumbled into the kitchen. Ellis remained quiet, hidden behind a tall wooden chair, as he waited for a chance to escape unseen into the room he shared with his older brother. Ellis knew through experience that his dad hated it whenever someone bothered him after a long day at work.
His mom started plating the pasta and his dad angrily lumbered over to her, his face flushed and eyes unfocused. The sound of a sudden smack against skin was far louder than a plate falling to the floor and breaking into pieces.
"FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHY CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT!" Ellis edged closer to the living room. Dad and mom were going to fight again. Usually his older brother would break it up somehow, but he wasn't back yet, so Ellis couldn't do anything but hide and wait. It was nearly instinct, by now.
His mom's reply was almost drowned out by the steady stream of yelling and another slap. "I was just–!"
"FUCKING WHORE! I PAY GOOD MONEY FOR YOU AND THOSE FUCKING KIDS, AND THIS IS HOW I'M REPAID?!"
Another ugly slap, and Ellis dived behind the safety of the couch. He peeked around and saw his mom crying as his dad pulled painfully at her hair. Ellis wiped at the beginnings of tears in his own eyes and bit into his fist. He couldn't make any noises or he'd end up getting hit, too…
The front door slammed open and Ellis peeked over just in time to see his brother drop his backpack and launch himself at dad, knocking all three of them onto the kitchen floor. His mom screamed, a shrill sound that hurt Ellis's ears, as dad got the upper hand, latched onto a handful of his brother's hair, and slammed his face against the floor several times. Something crunched, and his brother stopped struggling.
His dad got up, breathing heavily as he wiped at his bloodied nose with the back of his hand. Mom was silent, her face bleached white; she couldn't take her eyes off the still figure of her oldest son.
Ellis started to cry, muffled whimpers and sobs pressed against his sleeve.
"Get up, woman." His mom didn't seem like she heard dad, so he grabbed onto her arm and forcibly pulled her up. He began to drag her over to the front door, stepping over the body as he grabbed his keys from where he had thrown them on the dining table. His parents disappeared into the world beyond the front door, and Ellis waited a moment before shakily getting to his feet.
Ellis stumbled over to where his brother was lying and hesitantly shook his shoulder. "Lann…?"
His brother didn't respond and Ellis felt a chill go down his spine. The weight of nervousness and panic in his gut increased tenfold. Ellis shoved harder. "Wake up… wake up!"
A sudden screech of tires and a horrifying smash of metal startled Ellis and he fell over on his backside. Scrambling to his feet, he ran over to the window and pulled himself up using his arms so he could see over the windowsill.
His dad's car was completely crushed and belching black smoke and fire. The car looked like it had swerved through a stop sign and right into the telephone pole, which then fell down on top of it. A few neighbors from the other apartments ran out into the street, but they didn't get as much as ten feet to the car when it exploded into fiery plumes of smoke, bits of blackened scrap metal flying everywhere.
Wary, nobody approached the car and stayed a good distance away. Ellis watched carefully through the tears in his eyes; he didn't see anyone coming out of the car. Where was mom? He looked back at his brother, who was still on the floor. What should he do?
Then, he remembered what Ms. Tieve had taught him to do in case of emerg… emeg… mergency. Emergencies!
The landline in the kitchen was too high for him to reach, so Ellis dragged over a kitchen chair. He picked up the speaker… thing… and looked at the puddle of blood that was slowly growing bigger.