Steven rolled over and pulled the bed sheets up over his head as light filled the room; he didn't want to get up, he just wanted to sleep;
"Get up you lazy cretin" he heard his mother's voice hiss maliciously in his ear;
"Oh sod off" he replied wearily and rolled over to the other side burying his face deeper into the tangle of bed sheets as he went.
Edna glared at the lump in the sheets with the expression of an old woman sucking a prune then she whipped them back with such a force that Steven fell off the edge of the bed with a yelp.
"Get up!" she shrieked at him and when he didn't oblige she raised her fist in his face and he got up off the floor slowly.
Once he was upright, Edna spun round and stormed out of the room leaving her son to heave a sigh of relief.
She hadn't struck him...that was a first he thought to himself as he pulled a shirt on over his tangled afro. He switched the bedroom light off and went over to his bed. He sat down on the edge of it and pulled on his shoes, he was going over to the foreman's house...even though Red was like the female equivalent of his mother he had to be the better option on account of his; 'not being his parent'. He crossed over to the window and pulled the curtains back and stared out at the blue cloudless sky.
Suddenly he felt dizziness overwhelm him and sunk down onto the floor;
"Ow" he said, holding his bead in his hands with a grimace, he had been feeling like this all night, he wanted so badly for it to stop.
He raised his head slowly and looked across the room at the door as he heard Edna approach, oh crap! He thought and stood up quickly so that Edna wouldn't accuse him of being idle and began making his bed.
The door was again flung open and in came Edna, red faced and holding up a dead rat;
"You let one of these filthy little rodents in" she shrieked incredulously and Steven began to back away, knowing what was coming next. She dropped it into the bin with a look of purest disgust etched in her bony features and moved swiftly towards her son with her arm held up ready to strike him; he raised his arms up to protect his face from the swishing of her arm which she brought down harshly upon his arm. The skin reddened angrily where she had struck him and he winced in pain. He bit his lip to stop himself from howling then he sunk down onto the floor again and watched his mum leave the room.
He could smell the stench of the dead rat in the bin and it was making him feel uneasy. He closed his eyes tightly and willed the smell and the pain to recede; it didn't though and so he just had to deal with it.
He sat in silence for, what seemed like an eternity holding his aching head in his hands; why did he have to live like this? he wondered why couldn't he have a family life a bit more like Eric's and Donna's? They were happy living with each of their parents...their parent's never treated them like Edna treated him. He sighed sadly to himself and listened to the birds in the sky outside then he heard the sound of the door closing in the next room...Edna had gone out he realised.
He lifted himself wearily off the floor and moved cautiously over to his bedroom door. He stopped wit his hand on the doorknob and listened; all was quiet...he couldn't even here Edna taking her pills...she must've gone out he decided and stepped out into the living room. There was a square of white paper on the table with something scribbled on it. He picked it up and sat down on a chair, he let his eyes scan the words on the paper and then crumpled it up and tossed it towards the bin...well...the pile of other rubbish in the corner of the room, you couldn't really call it a bin. He sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning and placed his head in his hands. He began to massage either side of his forehead in small circles with his thumbs. Then the phone rang; he hesitated before answering it. Maybe it was Edna he worried...that wasn't a conversation he wanted to have he thought but then he brightened up and thought aloud;
"Hey...maybe she's been run over by a truck" he said brightly and reached out for the receiver.
A voice spoke on the other end of the line;
"Hello, I am wanting to speak to a Mrs Hydee" it said.
Steven smirked at the miss-pronouncement of the name and replied;
"Erm no, she's out...who's calling?" he asked with a smirk
Oh then could I speak to you please" they asked;
"Yeh sure but who am I talking to" he replied in a confused manner
"Oh I do apologise" explained the woman in a falsely apologetic voice; "This is Carole...I work with mid western bank I wondered if you mightn't be interested..."
Steven didn't give her chance to complete her explanation before he replaced the receiver on the hook and stood up.
He moved slowly into the kitchen intending to go and get some breakfast; there was nothing in the cupboard, he rolled his eyes over-exaggeratedly and closed the cupboard doors with a heave.
Then he picked up a slice of bread out of the fridge and made his way toward the door leading to outside, chewing on the stale bread as he went.
He stepped over the threshold onto the pavement outside and took a deep breath of air.
"Aaaaaah unpolluted air" he breathed and smiled in relief. Then he made his way off down the street. He didn't bother to lock the door behind him because he knew there was nothing worth going to the trouble of stealing in that house...if you could call it a house.
As he reached the end of the street he spotted Edna staggering out of a vacant house in a drugged up state and quickly averted his eyes and hurried on round the corner onto the next street. Thankfully Edna was too drugged up to notice him and so she headed off in the opposite direction to that in which Steven was headed.