The person I was not excited to be near was Smelly Gabe, as Percy and I had called him ever since he darkened our doorstep. We hated him, and he hated us, and this was the only understanding we had ever come to. The guy stank to high heaven, and this was worse for me because my nose was sensitive, and I always felt sick whenever he was around. When we got to our apartment, Gabe was already there despite the fact that he probably should be at work, and by the smell of pizza, beer and the sound of shuffling cards, I reasoned he must be playing poker. Again. The moment we were through the door I placed my hand on Percy's shoulder in preparation to pull him back from Gabe because usually, one would fly at the other. "So, you're home." Delightful, as you can see. I seriously had no idea what mom saw in the guy, I mean, I'm the one who's meant to be blind, and even I could tell that Gabe was a total loser and a waste of space.
"Where's our mom?"
"Working. You got any cash either of you?" Not wasting my energy by hiding my scowl, I sent my withering glare in his direction whilst removing my sunglasses so that my impressive expression could at least him make him shift uncomfortably. What kind of adult demanded money from a twelve and fifteen year old? He really was the worst. Percy stonily informed Gabe that neither of us had any money, but for a thick-headed moron, Gabe was pretty sharp when money was involved. "You took a taxi from the bust station. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change, and that's only for the one who paid. Somebody expects to live under this roof, they ought to carry their own weight. Am I right Eddie?" Of course Gabe would never be without his loyal henchmen, cowards and morons the lot of them too, though Eddie wasn't too bad. He tried to get Gabe to go easy on us, and once I even remember he gave me a new soda after Gabe had knocked over the one I had been drinking from.
"Come on Gabe, the kids just got here." But Gabe was adamant, however before Percy could take out all that remained of his savings, I grasped hold of his wrist after missing it initially, fumbling around before seizing him.
"We're not giving you anything. Win or lose on your own dime." And before Gabe could argue, I smartly pulled Percy around the table and manoeuvred my way through the mess of our apartment until we were outside our rooms. Gabe shouted angrily after us, but I ignored him and didn't give Percy the chance to rise to his baiting, instead pushing open the door to Percy's room and shoving him inside with his suitcase to follow. I tossed mine in room opposite as this was my bedroom, though I had the better end of the deal in this arrangement. Gabe didn't really have any excuse to go into my room and mom would flip out if he did for any reason, meaning that my room stayed smelling fresh and clean as mom kept it tidy, whereas Percy's always smelled like a musty cigar case because Gabe took it over whenever we weren't there. 'Study'. Honestly I'm shocked Gabe could even read. Closing the door to my room I went into Percy's without bothering to knock, letting it swing shut behind me as I grimaced. "Ugh, it smells worse than ever."
"At least you don't have to sleep in here."
"Well, if you really can't stand it then you can always bunk out on my floor until we can remove the stench. He must have come in here after mom went to work to smoke, she usually tries to clean it up before we get back." I noted as I lifted my hand and felt around the room gently, following the shape of the closet before moving towards the windowsill though Percy warned me that Gabe's boots were there. Retracting my hand quickly, I was about to offer to help him unpack when I heard the front door open and close, followed by the sound of light footsteps that I would recognise anywhere. "Mom's home." Instantly I felt Percy brighten, and no sooner had he moved over to his door we heard our mom call out to us. When she walked in, everything just seemed to feel so much better just for her being near. Any time I had a headache, a hug from her could make it melt away and as both Percy and I stood up, she swept us both into her arms and embraced us like there was no tomorrow. I breathed in her smell deeply, because although her job didn't pay well, it was one of the best jobs ever, the dream of every little kid. Working in a candy store.
"Oh my babies. I can't believe it, you've both grown since Christmas!" She always said how much we'd grown and although I couldn't tell, I just took her word for it. "Come on, tell me everything I don't already know, everything you two didn't write to me about in your letters." I heard the rustling of two bags and sure enough, I felt her warm hands take mine and place a large paper bag into my palms full of my favourite sweets and candies. Being a huge fan of flavour and texture, I began to dig around as mom placed one arm around me and the other around Percy in order to listen to us whilst stroking at our hair. I presume she was stroking Percy's too, in any case. Together we talked, Percy and I sometimes arguing lightly over our perception of things that had happened, like his fighting, but ultimately we were having a good time. Our time was interrupted however by Gabe shouting for bean dip. I grit my teeth and yelled back.
"Get your own damn dip you lazy layabout!"
"Nerida!" Mom gasped at me and I felt her lightly tap at my leg to scold my language but I merely shrugged and chewed on something sour and gummy. No response came from Gabe so he either didn't hear me or couldn't be bothered to reply, either excuse was good with me. Anyway, Percy was starting to talk about the trip to the museum, only he trailed off when he got to the part where apparently a crazy lady who was acting as our teacher turned into a demon and tried to kill Percy. I listened to him carefully and knew damn well that he was holding back on mom's account, not telling her everything but she, who knew us so well, could also tell that Percy was holding back on something but she never liked to press us, letting us come to her in our own time. "I have a surprise for you two." Mom finally announced after Percy had insisted that he was fine. "We're going to the beach."
"Montauk?" Immediately my heart lifted at the thought of getting out of here, though I wasn't exactly thrilled to be going to the beach. I hated the water, especially the ocean. I never liked to go near it, I had a real fear of it, though I held it back for Percy's sake because I knew that Percy loved it there, and so did mom. It meant a lot to them, so I just stayed on the sandy beach and bathed in the sun whenever we went, and stayed well away from the foam and surf. Feeling her happiness, mom told us that we would be going there for three nights to the exact same cabin we always took, and we would be going as soon as she got changed. Percy was practically aglow with eagerness, though his mood was interrupted when Gabe intruded, demanding bean dip. I scowled and made to retort however mom gripped onto my leg this time and squeezed, silently warning me to stay quiet and not say anything.
"I was on my way, honey. We were just talking about the trip."
"The trip?" Gabe now sounded dark and unamused. "You mean you were serious about that?" Muttering under his breath, Percy guessed that Gabe would never let them go but mom hushed him gently.
"Of course he will. Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all." She informed him, her arms tightening around our shoulders as she pulled us in closer. One thing I would say, I always appreciated the fact that mom never called him our father, always stepfather. I mean, even if our own dad was 'lost at sea' as she said, there was no way I would ever accept Gabe as our actual dad. Percy still held onto a hope that our dad would someday turn up having been found on some deserted island surviving years and years of isolation somehow, but I believed that our beloved mom was just trying to spare our feelings. Our dad had run off without us, left us behind, and that was the end of it. "Besides, Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works." This at least should pacify that glutton, and sure enough he sounded a great deal more lenient when he spoke next.
"So this money for your trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?" Clothes budget. Come one really, I mean, what kind of asshole assigns a budget to his wife? They were supposed to share everything together, including the bills, but as far as I could tell my mom paid for almost everything whilst Gabe just wasted his money on poker. He truly was the worst of scumbags, and I wanted nothing more than to just kick him out of our lives forever, but being fifteen, I didn't exactly have the bearing to appear fierce or decisive yet. Wait until I was older. Blind or not, I'm going to kick Gabe in his tenderloins and throw him from our lives for good. I'll work as many jobs as I had to in order to support mom, I'd find a way. Anyway, Gabe agreed to let us go and even borrow his car, however both Percy and I had to apologise to him for interrupting his game, and he even demanded that we gave him some of our allowance as 'punishment' for our rudeness and the fact that we both had crappy report cards.
In this instance I took the fall, knocking Percy's arm aside as I felt it begin to dig around in his pockets and instead handed Gabe the dollar bills I had on me, all that I had left to my name. "There. Maybe this time you'll catch a lucky break and win something." I said to him with the sweetest smile I could muster in his general direction, though I could feel his unease and disgust as he scowled at me before shuffling away. "Though I doubt it, ape-head." This I added only after he was gone, feeling mom brush past me and kiss my cheek after promising that we would be out of here soon and that once we were at the beach, both Percy and I could tell her anything we had forgotten to mention. She sure was sharp, I'd give her that. But seriously, a terrible taste in men. I swear, I will not be making the same mistake in my love life, if ever I have one. Anyway mom pacified Gabe, and left Percy and I to get ready to leave. "Don't bother unpacking your suitcase Perce, might as well just take it all with us and save the trouble."
"Lils, we're only going for three days."
"Yeah but maybe mom will suddenly come to her senses and decide to run away from Mr Ugly-ano and make better life choices. Better to be prepared." I said to him dryly as I fiddled with my bracelet, starting to feel anxious about going back to the cabin. I mean, I did like it there, because it was away from here and Gabe, but still, I didn't like being near the water. "Anyway, maybe this year will be the year we find someone better for mom and they can fall in love and mom will finally kick Gabe to the curb. Here's to wishful thinking." Haring Percy hum in agreement, I listened as the springs of his bed creaked as he flopped back onto his mattress. "I was kidding about the suitcase though. We wouldn't fit both ours and mom's into Smelly Gabe's car so just take what you need from the case and stuff it in a backpack or something. Oh and remember to tell me what the world looks like outside, okay?"
"Don't I always?"
"True, though you really need to work on your descriptions. Sometimes they're severely lacking." Teasing him with a grin, I reached forwards to where I could sense him and managed to find his head on my first try in order to ruffle his hair playfully until he told me to cut it out, telling me that I was annoying and to get out of his room. Jeez so grumpy. He really was starting to turn into a teenager. Making baby noises at him as I left, I sensed a pillow come flying across the room at me and managed to duck so that it hit his wall, laughing before making my escape to my own room. Since we were leaving anyway I rifled around in my room to find the backpack that I used for school in the suitcase, pulling it free then felt each and every item of my clothing to pack enough for a three day vacation and then some, including my bathing suit because hello, sunshine! At least I hoped so, the weather had been feeling awful lately. Anyway my bathing suit went in along with the rest of my clothes, packing shorts and shirts as well as some jeans and jumpers in case it did get cold which it probably would at night at that cabin, then added my already packed toiletries, my hairbrush, some braille books to read and my charger for my iPod. It was an older model, which meant it hadn't been as expensive but still it set mom back and I really appreciated it when I unwrapped it Christmas morning and she had laughed when she'd told me what it was because apparently, my face had been a picture.
She did so much for Percy and I, yet we never seemed able to pay her back in any way. Maybe this summer I'll be able to help her out at the shop, or get part time work doing something else to contribute more like I did last year. Dog walking was pretty much the most I could do at the moment, and sometimes the richer owners gave really good tips. I always hid those from Gabe, handing them straight over to mom even when she tried to refuse, I'd put it in her purse anyway then hide that from Gabe, because it wasn't beneath him to go snooping around in my mom's purse. Anyway I checked and double checked all my belongings, making sure that I had everything that I wanted as I felt everything in turn, my hands now so used to the feel and texture of my clothes that I could easily tell what was what. To make things simple, I pretty much always wore blue so that everything would match, and it sort of tied in with this ongoing joke my family had. See, Gabe and my mom once got into an argument that there was no such thing as blue food, and now mom went out of her way to prove Gabe wrong.
I mean, I could only take hers and Percy's word on it since I couldn't tell what the colour was when I was putting something in my mouth, but they'd laugh and tell me I had a blue tongue whenever I ate too many blue sours from mom's shop. I always liked that. Anyway, since blue was pretty much now the Jackson Colours, blue was my go to colour. Apparently it went well with my dark hair and eyes, though this was my mom being biased, considering I had no idea what my natural eye colour was anymore, though she told me that before I went blind they had been a sea-green colour. That kind of sucked, that kind of shade would be pretty. Sighing heavily I sat down and laid back on my bed for a moment just to chill, seeing as there was no way I was going back out there with Gabe and his lousy friends still around. In my head I went over everything I'd packed. Clothes, books, chargers, headphones, shoes, toiletries…was there anything I was forgetting? I don't think so, except maybe bringing my pillow and blanket. Like I said, it gets pretty cold up there.
Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to imagine a world around me full of colour, because there at least I wasn't blind. I imagined towering mountains and azure skies, forests of bright flowers and jungles that whispered and sang with creatures, I then imagined what a clear night sky might look like filled with stars. Mom had once described a night sky to me when we were out of the city, and told me that there were thousands upon thousands of these tiny white dots above our heads that twinkled like diamonds, and sometimes flashes of light would appear in tiny streams to signify a shooting star. I would have loved to have seen something like that. So wrapped up in my own world, I didn't even notice the time passing until I heard Percy's knock on my door before he called to me, saying that we were ready to go. Launching myself to my feet, I found my bag, made sure nothing had fallen out then slung it over my back before rolling up my blanket and pillow to take it with me. At the very least I could nap in the car seeing as I would have nothing to do other than sit there. I couldn't navigate, that was always Percy's job.
I could help with the bags, so Percy and I each grabbed mom's luggage and hauled it downstairs to the car where I followed the sound of Percy's voice and footsteps to where Gabe had parked his precious car, sidestepping trash and things when Percy warned me that they were there though mostly he just kicked it out of the way for me. Gabe had followed us down in order to watch, not of course to lend a hand, and I guess he must have been feeling pretty twitchy about losing his car for the weekend because he kept on turning on Percy and warning him not to get a scratch on it. I was so tempted to scratch it just to rile him up, but Percy seemed to guess my thoughts as my fingers twitched and he hurriedly shoved me into the backseat before I could do something that we would all probably regret. Once. Just once I would so love to hit Gabe or something and tell him exactly what I thought about him. It was these kind of moments I would even allow myself to wish for our real dad to show up, probably ragged and sporting a full grown beard from his years trapped on an island that he'd been washed ashore on, but handsome and smiling, striding in to knock Gabe out and sweep mom off her feet with a huge diamond ring for her finger. Stupid fantasies, really. He probably wasn't even rich like mom said. I bet he'd lied to her about that too.
Stewing with my own thoughts, I buckled myself in and pulled on my headphones to signal that I had no intention of talking for a while and laid back my head in order to drown myself in my music, the varying tunes of my collection distracting me from everything else as I closed my eyes and simply felt the rumble of the car's engine and rolled down the window so that the stale scent of cigars could be washed away.
