John does not discover the destruction until he is going to bed. The room looks like it has been destroyed by a tornado, the space station he and his father spent hours putting together is in a million pieces, just like his heart and he knows who is to blame.
John races into Gordon and Alans room, where they are both fast asleep, grabs his younger brother by the hair and yanks him roughly out of bed onto his feet before he starts to punch him repeatedly in the ribs. Bewildered Gordon has no idea what is going on, or how to make it stop.
Scott pulls him off him. "What is going on in here?" he asks.
"Ask… Him…" John pants, still fighting Scott to get back to Gordon.
"I-I-I Do-do-don't know" Gordon cries stammering.
"John?" Scott questions.
Without another word, John marches back out the room and leads Scott and Grandma, who has joined them, to his room. Scott gasps in horror, why would Gordon do something like this? It is not his style.
"I didn't d-d-do this", Gordon wails, "I wouldn't".
"Yeah right Gordon, after every vicious prank you have played do you really expect anyone to believe you?" John replies.
Gordon nods, he is not dishonest, despite everything and every practical joke he has ever pulled he always takes the credit for it.
"Well tough" John tells him bitterly, "I want this place cleaned up then I want you sent to juvie".
"Gordon, I want you to get this messed cleaned up, then back to bed, we will discuss your punishment in the morning". Grandma tells him, she clearly doesn't believe him, and she has bought him cleaning supplies.
"John, go and sleep on the sofa while your brother cleans this mess up" Grandma advises him
"Fine, but that animal is not my brother!" John replies. Leaving Gordon alone in the room.
Innocent, and terrified that no one will ever believe him, Gordon does as he is told, having to stop frequently to take breaks because he is struggling to breathe again. It is nearly 4 in the morning when he is finished, knowing he has to be up at 6 for swimming training horrifies him. How much longer can he keep pretending that he is okay?
Virgil returns to find the house quiet and subdued, even though it should be a crazed chaotic frenzy as his brothers fight over the last bagel and panic about missing clothes an unfinished homework. He knows he has to go in and face the music.
"Virgil, where were you last night? Gordon trashed our room". John tells him the second he walks through the door.
"Slept in the barn last night. Hang on? Gordon did what?!" Virgil can't believe they think Gordon did this, but there is no way he is taking the blame when he can blame it on a ten year old too stupid to figure out the truth. "Bloody hell! Where is he now?"
"God knows, think Scott took him to swimming training but I honestly don't care" John replies. "You are going to miss the bus again, and Grandma is mad enough to make you sleep in the barn permanently. That little animal ought to be made to sleep out there!"
Virgil has never seen John this angry, he is usually the cool implacable one. He buries that tiny slither of guilt he is feeling and heads to take a shower. He does not realise that the space station was their dad and Johns final project before the accident, he would never have destroyed it if he had, but as long as Gordon takes the rap for it he doesn't really care.
School is torture for Gordon, his head hurts, his ribs ache, his legs feel like they have been cut off. he falls asleep during English class and ends up in detention. He didn't think things could get any worse, now he has to explain all day Saturday detention to his grandma, who is already mad at him.
The end of the school day can't come soon enough, as he is finally free. Meeting up with Alan they both head to the car park to wait for Scott.
"Alan, get in. Gordon, you are walking home!" John shouts out the open window.
"Get in the car Gordon" Scott tells him, rolling his eyes at John as his two youngest climb in the back, Gordon silently thanking Scott for sticking up for him, as he knows he would never make it home.
Grandma is waiting for them when they get home, still convinced that Gordon is guilty. There is no other person in the house that would do this. It has to be him.
"Gordon, living room now" She snaps at him as soon as he is out the car. He follows her in, sitting down on the sofa, subconsciously grabbing his now excruciatingly painful ribcage. He is nervous and pale he wants to tell her that everything hurts that he needs her help, but he can't. She won't listen. She doesn't love him enough to care, surely if she or even his brothers still loved him they would realise that he couldn't have done this, and that they would notice he was sick.
"I have been thinking about this all day, and despite Johns objections I am not selling you into slavery or chaining you up in the barn. However, you are grounded until further notice, apart from school you do not leave your room and I am removing your tv. Any questions?"
Would you believe me if I said I didn't do this? He thinks, but he knows there is no point asking.
"Can I go out on Saturday morning?" He asks, hoping that he can sneak off to the detention and no one needs to find out, he has been forging her signature for years so does not need to give her the detention notification to get signed.
"What part of no leaving your room do you not understand?" she replies sarcastically.
"But I have plans I have to keep, if I don't, I will get into even more trouble" Gordon tells her.
"No, not even if it is life or death. You do not leave your room" Grandma is trying to remain patient, to talk to him without getting angry, but he is making it hard.
Gordon sensing defeat caves. "I have to go out, I have detention, I don't go and I will probably get suspended, then I will have to stay home all the time, just think how much trouble I will get into if am here with you all day"
"Detention? What did you do this time? Don't tell me, glitter bombed the principles car again?" Grandma asks him incensed that he would get into even more trouble. He has spent more time in detention than his brothers combined.
"No!" Gordon is outraged, he never pulls the same prank twice! "it wasn't my fault" he whines.
"It never is, hand over the detention slip, then get upstairs, I want your homework done then you are in bed with no supper."
Gordon throws it at her, before grabbing his bag and heading to the door.
"Don't you dare throw things at me Gordon Tracy!" Grandma grabs him by the arm and roughly pulls his jeans and underwear down and drags him across her lap pinning the boy down with her hand on his back, she starts to spank him, ignoring his cries and telling him that she is sick of his behaviour and is not going to accept it anymore.
Pushing the terrified boy off her lap, he flees from her to the safety of his bedroom.
John is impressed, he didn't think she would actually punish the badly behaved blonde properly, but that's a start.
Virgil can not believe he has gotten away with it.
Gordon doesn't bother with his homework, none of it is interesting, and he is completely exhausted. Pulling off his hoodie, he can see the bruising developing on his ribs from where John hit him, and he knows not to bother complaining no one will care, and the pain from the spanking was nothing compared to the pain in his stomach.
His stomach hurts from the lack of food. Realising it has been nearly 48 hours since he last ate something, but he no longer cares. The sick, empty feeling in the pit of his stomach is almost comforting to him now.
Pulling on his pyjamas he collapses onto the bed and is fast asleep before his head hits the pillow.
He doesn't wake up when Alan comes up to bed, and turns the light on. Grandma puts her youngest grandson too bed without even looking over at Gordon, Who is an unmoving lump lying on top of the duvet and she just assumes is either sleeping, sulking or both.
Virgil has snuck out again, he told John he spent the night in the barn but it is not true, he has a secret. A secret that no one can find out about. There is somewhere he has to go, to visit the only person who loves him unconditionally.
It has started to snow, as he reaches the graveyard.
"Mom? I miss you more every day, yesterday I did something terrible to John and to Gordon, and I keep telling myself that I don't care, that I would rather let Gordon take the blame, but I cant keep this up. Everything changed when dad disappeared, it has been four months and not a sign that he is going to be found, the GDF are useless, they aren't even looking anymore. I can't do this without you" the tears are frozen to Virgils dark eye lashes, unable to break free.
He stays there for an hour, the sky becoming lighter as the snow gets heavier, he is freezing but he can feel the wall building its way around his heart again, as he gets up and walks home, stumbling in the snow. He lets himself back into the house, it is nearly 2 o'clock as he finally crawls into bed. Johns snoring is rattling the windows but for once he tries not to let it bother him.
Gordon sleeps through his alarm, and does not react to Scott yelling at him to get up or he will be late for training. So he leaves without him, heading for his morning study session in the library, the one he does five mornings a week, this is Scotts attempt to escape. Virgil has his art, Gordon has his pool, Scott and John have books and studying, Alan has his innocence and no need to hide away from the world.
But Gordon doesn't wake up, even when threatened with further punishment, his eyelids don't even flutter.
"John go and get him out of bed and tell him that unless he is up and dressed in the next five minutes he will be walking to school and back home again, and it is another spanking!" Grandma has really had enough of Gordon's antics, the kid has always been trouble but this is ridiculous.
John Walks into Gordon and Alan's room standing in the doorway shouting at him isn't working, so he tries a more direct approach. Storming over to the bed, he grabs Gordon roughly by the shoulder and rolls him onto his back. John instantly realises something is very wrong, his little brother is barely breathing.