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Chapter 12

TJ

When we get in front of my house, the street is quiet and still. Our two story rectangular house with a connecting garage is one of the nicer homes on the street. But there was still a uniformity about all of the houses here. The neighborhood apparently used to be a residential area before the Great War and thanks to my Mom, the area was renovated. It was restored to the best of the contractors abilities, there are still signs of ruin here. The grass never fully grows in certain places, the streets are cracked like something tore through them, and some houses are still frames of a time long gone.

Only a few people live around us, a majority of them live in the city. But after Mom got pregnant, her and Dad needed more space. So she started motioning for renovation in the outer parts of the city. She wasn't the only one getting pregnant and raising children, the apartments in the city weren't really made with large families in mind. Although there are some big ones now. Dad has mentioned us moving back so they can be closer to work. I like it here though. It's quiet.

Although when I do go into the city, I imagine what my life would be like running for and jumping from trains. What it would be like to zip line from the Hancock Building, although once when I was little my parents took us up there. I was probably about five or six and I leaned a little too close over the balcony when Dad wasn't looking. I nearly fell from the fiftieth floor and to this day, I don't really care too much for heights. I remember Dad yanking me back and him holding me tight. I thought he'd be angry with me, but he just sat still for minutes, shutting his eyes and breathing deep.

The three of us get out the car and I see no sign of my parents' truck. Natalie grinned and said "We must have beat them home. Wanna try sneaking off upstairs and playing sick?"

I shake my head and say "They already know. The principal told me they called."

Natalie swore loudly and kicked the curb angrily. Andrew laughed and said "Playing sick wouldn't have worked anyway. Especially for you TJ, the way your face looks. No need trying to hide it either, what are you gonna do at dinner?"

I scowl and don't look at either of them. I had hoped I would be able to skip dinner, I wasn't hungry and I didn't feel like being reprimanded for today. Especially because it was not my fault.

We enter through the front door that's made of dark brown wood with a square opaque window at the top and the smell of garlic, peppers, and basil hits and fills my nose. Mom was making Natalie and I's favorite dish, lasagna, tonight to celebrate getting through our first day of high school. But for the first time ever, I didn't want any. I tried skipping quickly up the tan carpet covered stairs, but her strong voice rings clear through the house.

"I don't think so. Both of you in here. Now."

I look back and Natalie who whimpers slightly as she turns into the entrance of the kitchen. Andrew smiles nervously at us and follows behind her slowly. I stand on the bottom stair and consider acting like I didn't here her, but I knew that wouldn't be wise.

"TJ…" she calls out again in a raspy, songlike tone.

I chew my bottom lip and walk into the kitchen with my hood still up. I only see her bare feet and the bottom of her black slacks when I enter. I shift my gaze over and see Andrew and Natalie both sitting at the table. My sister's feet are shuffling nervously under the table.

"Chin up." Mom commands.

I raise my head a little and turn my face to the small calendar on the wall near where the brooms and mop are kept.

"Look at me TJ." She says.

I don't move.

"Take off the hood. Look at me. I won't ask again." Her voice firm and austere.

I raise my hands and lower the hood. Still looking down. I take the jacket off and hold it in my arms and then raise my head to her.

Her eyes are stern, but also crestfallen and dismayed.

"Oh my boy." She sighs looking at my face. She walks over to me and we're eye level. Mom puts a tender and warm hand to my cheek. I wince still out of reflex at her touch. My eye doesn't hurt as much anymore and when I glance at myself in the chrome refrigerator, I see the swelling has gone down extremely. But still not enough.

Mom sighs deeply and closes her eyes.

"I said this morning. To stay out of trouble. What do you two do? Both of my children. I can't—-"

She's unable to finish and she shakes her head in disappointment.

"Mom, it's not our fault! That Randy kid is bad news! He started it in the lunchroom and we were just defending ourselves. Defending each other really. He's older so what does he want with us you know?!" Natalie bursts out madly.

Mom grimaces and scratches her blonde head.

"I know you two aren't trouble makers. But when I got that phone call at work today. I just didn't know what to believe. Natalie, I've told you about your temper."

Natalie opens her mouth to retort, but Mom puts a hand up to stop her. "I know you think protecting your brother is important and I am grateful, but sweetheart, throwing things is not how you solve anything. You are not five. You're turning into a young adult. It's time to start acting like one."

My sister looks crestfallen and she lowers her head. I see her struggle to keep her eyes from glossing over as she clenches her fists on the table.

"And you." Mom says turning back to me. "My TJ. My sweet and gentle son. Fighting? I told the Principal it could not be true. But look at you. Look at you."

"You told the Principal I was 'sweet and gentle'?" I ask irritably.

Andrew suppress a snort by stuffing a lemon cookie he picked up from the plate in front of him. A chuckle however, escapes from my sister's lips and my rounds on her with a piercing look in her eye.

"Yes I did." Mom says rigidly. "You may not have started it, but you damn sure finished it I heard. That boy had to go to the hospital you know? His father is on the school council. He knows your father. He's worked with him before. Do you know how embarrassing that for your Dad?"

I want to shrug. But I think better of it and look away.

"Tobias Johnson Jr. You look at me when I am speaking to you." Mom says fiercely.

I turn back to her and feel my face go hot with anger. I want nothing more than to go to my room and not see any of them for the rest of the night.

"I asked you a question." She says crossing her arms.

"Yes I know. It's not like it's my fault!" I yelp.

"I know it isn't honey. But I want you to be smarter than those idiots. I'm not saying you should just stand still and get punched, but I'm saying you have too much potential. People are looking at you."

I feel myself take a step backward and I roll my eyes angrily.

"Then they should stop staring at me." I glare and spit. "I'm sorry I'm not living up to the great legacy of Four and Tris! Sorry for wanting to be my own person!"

Mom purses her lips and her face grows hard .

Natalie and Andrew stare at me nervously, then at Mom.

"You are your own person, Tobias. But if you want to be known as the kid who doesn't know how to control his anger, then I'd hate to know that person."

She turns away from me and goes back to the stove. The pot of water with the pasta is steaming and boiling. I feel her words cut through me like daggers and I swallow hard. Nothing was worse than her being disappointed in me.

"Your father will speak to both of you when he gets home. Which…he's pulling up now. You're grounded. The rest of the week and the weekend."

Natalie gasps indignantly and looks over at me. Andrew looks at both of us and raise his voice to speak. "Can I just say Aunt Beatrice—

"No you may not Andrew. Make sure your truck is ready, Tobias is going to work on it when he gets settled. Your father is coming after he gets off work, so I'll make a place for you at dinner."

Andrew looks at us, defeated, and shrugs. He grabs another cookie and pops it into his mouth.

I sit in the chair on his left and bounce my knee nervously. I hear the back door jiggle open and Dad walks in, his face tired and eyes low. He holds his suit jacket in his hand and scans everyone's faces in the room quickly. He stops when he gets to mine and I cannot look him in the eye. I hear him sigh and he walks over to Mom who's stirring the thick red sauce in a pan with a wooden spoon. He kisses her gently on the cheek and she smiles up at him.

"Well, you bunch look sour. Can't say I'm too happy with you right now to be honest." His eyes find me again and he walks out of the kitchen and leaps up the stairs. Within five minutes or so he's back down in a black t-shirt, faded jeans, and dark boots.

"Andrew, I'll take a look at your truck now. Where's the keys?"

Andrew reaches into the pocket of his pants and dangles the set of chrome keys in his fingertips. Dad grabs them and walks toward the back door again.

"TJ, come with me." He says with his back turned.

Mom looks at him then at me. I stare at her and she motions with a nod of her head to obey.

Natalie chews the inside of her cheek and stares anxiously at me. She mouths "Good luck." I nod and follow my father out into the garage. It is bright and full of sunlight because the garage door is open. It smells of motor oil, old cardboard, and rubber inside of the space. I look at the small crates of objects adorned in various corners of the garage. Some of my old paintings I did years ago are stacked on a shelf against the wall.

Dad's back is still turned to me as he gathers tools from his work bench. He reaches up on the shelf and takes a big red wrench that is stained in black grease marks down. I see his tattoos peek up from the under the collar of shirt.

"So. You got into a fight." He begins.

I gulp and feel my throat uncomfortably dry.

"It wasn't my fault." I stammer.

"Yeah, I heard from the Principal. But still, you finished it, no, more than finished it."

I still say nothing and I feel my face throb again with soreness.

"Where'd you learn to do all that?" Dad asks me finally turning to face me. His eyes are dark, curious, and stern.

"I don't know. It was strange. I didn't…I didn't even know I could do something like that."

Dad raises an eyebrow toward me and asks "You didn't? You didn't know if you punched someone over and over and then kick them, it could break a bone or bruise a rib?"

"That's not what I meant! It was weird. My body seemed to act on it's own." I admit.

Dad shakes his head in disbelief and grabs a smaller wrench from the wall in front of him.

"Your body can't do anything without your permission, TJ." He says harshly.

"But Dad. It did. I promise."

He closes his eyes and and pinches the bridge of nose. I see his jaw muscles move and stiffen.

"TJ. I want you to be able to defend yourself. But I want you to know that violence doesn't solve anything. You don't get to prove how big and bad you are by proving how hard you punch somebody. Is that who you wanna be?"

I shake my head slowly and look at my feet.

"I want you to look at me when I talk to you." He says rather calmly.

I look up and sniff. I didn't want to cry in front of him.

"You're growing up. You're not gonna be a kid forever, you know. Be grateful the only thing you have to worry about is going to school and avoiding a few knuckleheads, who, by the way don't matter in the long run. You're a good kid. Let people see that."

He grabs his black metal tool box and holds it tight in his strong hand. I still see the traces of the scars from all the years he fought while in Dauntless and after etched on his hands. They still look strong enough to punch through anything.

"Don't let the school call me again, son." He says firmly. "No more fights. Okay?"

I glance quickly outside and then back to him. His head is turned waiting for a response.

I nod.

"No say it." He says.

"No more fights." I murmur.

Dad gives me a halfway smile and says "Alright. Come help me with your cousin's truck, won't take but a second."

Suddenly I hear my mom's voice scream out "Get down!"

There is a loud bang that flies through the air and a crash. Natalie screams and I hear Andrew shout something incomprehensible. Dad quickly drops the tool box and slams his hand on the button that lowers the the garage door. My eyes widen as I see people in dark grey and yellow uniforms and round helmets appear at the door. It is almost completely lowered, but that still doesn't stop me from seeing the long silver automatic guns they had raised. I hear a click, then I feel a strong arm wrap around my body pulling me into the space between the small stairs and back door.

Hundreds of rounds of bullets fly into the garage door, perforating it with quarter sized holes. The sound is loud and hurts my ears. I scream as Dad holds me close to his chest. I can feel his heart pound hard through the gun shots and whispers quickly to me. "Stay down!"

He releases me and crawls forward under the stairs, reaching under the last step to the bottom. As he recoils back, in his hand is a heavy black pistol with silver panels. He looks quickly at me and then I hear the garage door fall down. There are three people in the uniforms now inside the house. Then I hear the bangs and shouts from inside the house. I begin to scream, but Dad's heavy, sweaty hand covers my mouth. He peers around the corner at the men. They haven't seen us and it's too bad for them.

Dad releases three consecutive rounds from the pistol at the three bodies. They hit before they realize what happen and they fall over. The three bangs rings in my ears and I clutch them afraid to move my hands. I hear more bangs and yells come from inside the house. I feel my shirt damp with cold sweat on my back and my knees cry out from the odd pressure I'm putting on them. Dad checks the corner again and looks at the door to the house. I look up and see flashes of light dart across the window. He stands me up and pulls me toward the stairs.

"Stay behind me and as close to the ground as possible." He huffs as he slowly opens the door. I crouch behind him as we enter the house and he quickly throws me against the wall near the washing machine and dryer, out of sight. Dad keeps the gun raised in front of him, steady and firm as he walks into the kitchen. I scoot and peer my face around the corner. The air is full of gun smoke and the acrid smell makes me gag slightly.

"Tris!" Dad shouts. I see my sister and cousin cowered behind the now flipped over kitchen table. Andrew has his hands covering his head and Natalie is trembling as she peers over the table. She looks over at me, her face sweaty and her lips quivering.

Dad stays low and suddenly more uniformed men burst in the house. He fires and there's a blood curdling scream that resounds around the room. I see my father dive and open fridge door, crouching behind it for cover. He peers over at my mother who's crouched with a heavy looking pistol near the food pantry. They look at each other and nod quickly.

The silence that fills the air is filled only by my short, sharp breaths and the pounding of my heart in my throat. As I peer into the kitchen, the back door bursts open and I spin around to face a long silver gun barrel aimed at my chest.

My sister screams and I know that I must be dead.

But the gun falls backward and so does the hand holding it. I peer and see my mother with the smoking pistol extended outward. Her eyes are fierce and cold.

"Get to the table, TJ!" She yells as two more men burst in. She fires at them, missing one of them firing through their shoulders. A large gloved hand yanks my hair back and this time I scream as I feel my scalp stretch making my eyes water.

There's a bang and the hand releases me. I crawl quickly toward the table, squeezing between my sister and cousin. There's five more shots that resound through the air. Five more bodies that hit the floor with thuds.

I'm not sure how long we sit behind the table, but I can hear my parents' heavy breaths close to us. They move slowly to the table and peer over at us. Their guns are still raised in front of them. I look up at the wall behind me and see thick tomato sauce splashed against the wall, bannisters, and picture of my parents, sister, and myself outside in a park when I was younger.

I look up and see my mother's light blue shirt stained with sweat in the back. There's a creak that comes from the front door and she quickly turns prepared to fire at anyone who dares crosses inside.

"What's the hell is going on?" Andrew sobs through thick tears. I cannot answer him because I am wondering the same thing myself. I peer around the wooden table leg at one of the fallen men in the gray and yellow uniforms. On the shoulder is a square patch with three letters embroidered on it. DGD.

Who the hell are these people? Why are they attacking my house? What did they want?

"Is everyone okay?" My father's voice barks through the air.

"Dad…Dad I'm scared." Natalie trembles, her eyes wide and streaming.

He turns slightly to her and says "I know. We have to get out of here, c'mon on—

But something cuts him off. The house trembles and I feel the floor I am pressed against jump violently.

The ceiling shakes and small dust particles floated down in front my face. I brushed them away quickly and teetered on my fingertips. I searched any sign or source of the disturbance.

Then the house shuttered again. There was a crackling sound that stretched overhead. I saw the ceiling tear and rip horizontally above our heads as we looked up. It reached all the way to the backdoor into the living room from where I could see. My mother and father looked nervously at each other. I held my breath.

Suddenly the front of the house blasted and pulled apart. I screamed and heard my sister screech as the ceiling fell down around us. Dust flew madly around the air obscuring my vision. I felt it shoot into my lungs, making me hack and cough. I gagged and spat my dirt-filled saliva out on the now grimy kitchen floor.

Natalie screamed as my parents both emptied their guns at the scene in front of them. Whoever they were shooting at must be dead. As many bullets as they emptied, they could not have survived.

The firing stops and I hear my mother and father take a step back. I decide to peer up over the table and I see their backs and faces turned slightly to each other. The house is ripped apart and open to the front of our neighborhood. The kitchen window, sink, oven, and counters are all destroyed on the ground in front of them. The wall is still falling in thick chunks. I try to see what has my parents frozen in place. But a brilliant vivid white light begins to glow and cast shadows around me. I feel everything go deaf in my ears.

The light is growing brighter and hotter. I feel it blaze against my skin.

I look up and everything is moving glacially. Everything is bathed in the wicked incandescence engulfing my home. My Dad turns back and look directly at me, his eyes wide and full of something I have hardly ever seen in them before. Fear.

The light comes closer. My mom looks at him and reaches her right hand out. My father takes it with his left as the light shrouds their bodies.

"No…" I feel myself say weakly the sound returning to my ears.

Then the light explodes and I feel my body rocket upward from the impact. My sister goes flying and Andrew is thrown away from me.

I scream. I scream. My home is blasted apart.

I call for my parents. I call for them. Their bodies fade away. Shatter in the light.

I scream.

Until I hear nothing.

Feel nothing.

*tears* back to the present next chapter! Natalie POV. hope you're enjoying the story!