"Make yourself useful and get me a fucking beer." My father orders from his bedroom as I come in the door from work around 10:30 at night. Beer bottles cover the kitchen floor, a few broken with the glass just sitting there. A rotten steak, that I know he paid a good 20 bucks for, just marinates in it's own juices directly on the kitchen counter. He buys steak, yet when I look for bread we don't have any. Dishes fester mould in the sink.
What I want to say is get your own damn beer or better idea, don't drink one. Your pathetic excuse of a paycheck doesn't cover the costs you know, nor does it cover the 20-buck steak that you let go rotten. Instead I bit my tongue and open the door to our half-broken fridge for a beer, not that we have much else. I grab one of the many in our fridge, open it on one of the kitchen drawer handles, and go over to his bedroom.
I find him leaning against the backboard of his iron bed with a cigarette in one hand. His brow is still lined with sweat, and his stringy dirty blond hair sticks to his face. Aki Izayoi, the teenager from downstairs, lies on his very built chest, twirling his chest hair around her index finger. Her bleach blond hair is in knots. Smeared make up covers her face as well as another substance that I can only guess what it is. Bit marks pepper his neck and shoulders. She smiles up at my father. My father eyes the beer in my hand.
The only luck I have is that they're covered waist down by my father's threadbare sheets with burn holes in them. My father puts out the cigarette on his side table, just adding to the many burn mark. Then slips into one of the bottle in the beer bottle forest around his bed. I carefully step over the, at points, mostly full bottles to place in his outstretched hand his beer. He takes a long wet gulp from the bottle. I turn to leave.
"Your sister called, she's coming this weekend." He says from behind me.
"hm." I grunt back.
I have three days to clean this place to almost respectable, fun. Not that she'll actually stay, but in the chance that she'll come up I don't really want her to know just how gross this place is normally. Serenity a 13-year-old full of energy, life, bright as hell kid, and someone that doesn't know the term "mean" for real. A bit of a cry-baby when we were kids, but she got over that pretty fast when our parents divorced, and boys stopped thinking girls have cooties. She lives with our mother in the next town over in the most middle class home I've personally ever seen, but why she ever wants come to this trash heap is something I can never fathom. I clean most of night and don't look forward to school.
I can't even find some haven at school, minus that I'm a terrible student, because of fucking Seto Kaiba. He's popular and well liked, in spite of being anti-social to the extreme and having an air of arrogance to him that I find so annoying. But it's mutual. I'm not his favourite person, but he can get away with his insults, arrogance, anti-social behaviours because he's rich, extremely intelligent, beyond handsome, and athletic. Bastard.
"Joey." I hear from behind me, a small voice, high pitched. "Do anything amazing yesterday?" Yugi, my oldest and best friend, shy, childish, my sister loves him and finds irresistibly adorable, but when given a problem he'll listen. But I can't get my self to tell him anything; he has his own problems. His grandfather, a fabulous old man, is in the hospital. Plus Yugi looks like he hasn't gone to sleep in three days. Much to the unfortunate of his boyfriend, whose job it is keep Yugi mostly unharmed. But by the slightly darker spot on Yugi's neck, there are a few more benefits as well. Three years, no one can say anything about it.
"Nope, nothing. My sister is coming this weekend, be prepared. Yourself?"
"Grandfather is getting better, he should be home this weekend too." He says barely containing his excitement.
"I'll tell her, but be prepared for dinner and cookies to be made then."
"I wouldn't mind having dinner taken off my hands for a night." chimes in Yami, taking the seat in front of me. I smile, understatement of the century.
He's overwhelmed with life right now. From Yugi's grandfather to school to sports, he's just glad that money isn't an issue right now. Even knowing that, I'm jealous of him. Yugi would do anything for him, and Yami anything for Yugi. They can be completely honest with the other, and I have this feeling that they have some idea of what love actually means. In my experience, that isn't something I see very often in high school. Plus, everything thinks it's adorable that the first and second rated duellists in the world are dating each other.
"I hear your sisters coming, I also hear there is a movie out that's popular." Duke Devlin said, taking the seat behind me. Duke, not a bad guy really, just I think he's gay for Tristan.
"Only if she asks, and she hasn't." I reply back.
"Far enough, But I will, oh I will." He said turning to his bag to get ready for the day. Tea came in the door, one of Yugi's better friends and ex-crush. Not to mention one of the hottest girls in school and very well endowed. She has Mai Valentine by her side, the hottest girl school in my opinion. Not that the general male population doesn't agree. Blond locks, double D's, long legs, perfect hourglass shape, but don't let the beauty make you think that she's an idiot. Student council vice, single digit ranked duelist, also kind but will not let anyone mess with her. I already know she's out of my league!
Yet another aspect that Kaiba is better than me at, dating. He, of course, has the person I want. Life doesn't work any other way. Right then, Kaiba comes in after them and take the seat beside me. Assigned seats are not my friend. Mai takes a seat on my desk, her skirt slighting riding up.
"How's my favourite puppy doing?" She says turning to me.
"Has he been getting enough puppy chow?" Kaiba says from his seat opening his laptop.
Ignoring the comment, "Fine, my sister's coming up this weekend." I knew she'd be happy about that; she absolutely loves my sister.
"Tea, we're going shopping this weekend and Joey's sister coming." She declares.
"Good, I've been needing a new black dress."
"I can think of someone else that does." He says with out looking up from his computer, he had such a smug look on his face. What I'd do not to get sued for punching him in the face and preferably breaking his nose.
"Yet I bet I'd look better then you."
"I'm not the one that would be wearing it, now would I?" I got myself into that one now didn't I. Damn it.
"Be nice would you, Seto, at least when I'm around." Mai says, kisses Kaiba goodbye and runs off before the bell rings.
Class is dull as hell. Next period is history, and we get our tests back at the end of the period. 56, I knew I did better. I spent many hours pouring over book on ancient Egyptian. I look over at Yami's and Yugi's, come on I was expecting better, a 99 and 96 on ancient Egyptian mythologies. And Seto with his not curving creating...94.
"Yami, get your act together. 96, that's practically failing." He hides his test, didn't have to get defensive.
"And what did you get?"
"56, failing." This means that I failed the quarter by I think 5 points, my father will have more to yell at me about, my mom will have something else that is wrong with me.
"Mutt, can I see your answer sheet." Kaiba asks. I give it him and turn back to Yugi.
"So where are you going for lunch, and can I mooch?"
"Fine, I still don't understand where your money goes. Illicit activity isn't your thing." It goes a lot of places Yugi.
The bell rings for lunch, a what a sweet sound. The day is half over and I'm hungry, we didn't have anything for breakfast. Our milk's bad, we lack a box of cereal, and dinner didn't have any leftovers. I was in a sorry fix. The worst part is that I don't paid until Friday, thank god for that, but I have no money as of now. If I'm ever rich and famous remind me to really give something back to Yugi, whatever I can because he definably deserves it, like seriously. The rest of the school is very, very, boring.
The café I work at is stationed inside a grand brick Victorian house that looks a lot like a dollhouse. Even has a wrap around porch with white hand railings. Everything is pretty well preserved. All the original molding, stained glassed windows in the foyer, and the hardwood floor seemed to have lasted the test of the time. It even has a small garden out front and a vastly larger garden in back. The walls could use a paint job if I am being really pedantic.
I go to the back of the café part of the house to change, the owners also live here. I change into jeans, t-shirt and an apron for work. A few people sit at the wooden tables around the cafe with mugs of coffees, a few college students have curled up in the comfortable chairs with books. I go behind the heavy wooden counter, stick my English homework under counter and go about checking everything. Since no on is waiting for the anything. I make sure the weirdly expensive espresso maker has beans; the coffee pot has coffee and the syrups are all full. Then I take a seat on the stool and start to do my English homework, since I have nothing else to do for now. Not before checking one more time. I glance around the café. All the tables are cleaned, the rugs don't need to be vacuumed, and the windows don't need to be cleaned. So everything seems to be fine.
Ryou was not in school today now was he? Probably Bakura was sick, which makes sense since he didn't look that well yesterday. Ryou never stays home if he is, but Bakura, he'll drop anything to take care him. I still can't decide if the dynamic is unhealthy or not. Bakura is head over heels in love with Ryou, cliché as that sounds. He has not gotten attested since they've started to date, and is giving Ryou a steady income from dueling. Even took him to England last break. But healthy? I don't know.
Halfway though my shift the husband of the owners comes out and sits on the stools, he is that fat, near the counter. He picks his ears, examines the wax that comes off them and wipes it on his shirt, with the other bits of yellowy wax. His shirt is even black, come on.
"My wife is getting more dressed up then normal and going out more often. I mean I find our marriage perfectly happy." I can see his teeth, unbrushed and flossed, and bits of food in he beard move when he talks. His fat jiggles. Him and his wife issues, I sigh.
"Chaze Princeton, just talk about with her. If she's unhappy, ask her." He leaves after a little puttering around on in his walker. Some more customers come in, buy a few other things and leave. I close up and go home, not before stealing the old scones that went unsold that day.
My father is passed out on the couch, many beers around him and used condoms. I take a scone, a glass of water, and go to my room. My room smells of piss, and semen. A few of my books are out of the place. I pushed them back to the original disorder and I lift the blankets off my bed. One stop is darker then rest, I almost puke, but realized that would make my room smell worse.