Frustrated, Adam Pike funneled all of his concentration into dribbling a basketball, and making the shot into a hoop above the garage on the Pike's house on Slate Street. It didn't matter that he was on the hockey team, and that he hadn't played on a basketball team, much less utilized that hoop that his dad had put up since middle school. He just needed something to do other than think of everything that was going on with his family and his life. He need to somehow escape, except he had no where to go.
It was just that the last two months had been so damn weird, with him and his siblings living at home with their mom, and then going over to visit his dad some nights in his new apartment. It's not like he was dumb; he knew that was going to happen when his parents got divorced, or separated, or whatever it was that they did. He just hadn't thought it would be this different. They had lived one way for all sixteen years of his life, and now his parents just went and changed that and expected everything to be okay. They didn't even give anyone time to adjust. It was almost as if they didn't care.
Okay, he took that back. They did care, and he knew that. His mom made it clear that she was open to talk if he ever needed to, which he appreciated; though he knew he would never take her up on it. And though his dad never really said anything, he always shook hand when he came to visit, and called Adam a "good man." That had to count for something.
He just never knew what to expect anymore. Like with Christmas. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had expected that his whole family, including both of his parents would be together, at least for a few hours. Sure, his parents didn't love each other anymore or whatever, but it's not like they hated each other or anything. He really hadn't thought it would be that much to ask. But then his mom had come into the room that he shared with his brothers, and asked them if they had any thoughts on how to celebrate Christmas. In other words, the whole family would not be together for the holiday. The whole family would never be together again for anything, as far as he could see.
Adam still didn't really know what he thought of the whole situation. At first he had been so mad that he could hardly contain himself. He wasn't really mad any more, as he could see clearly that this had been the right move for his parents. However, he could also tell from observing his siblings that it wasn't the right move for any of them. Byron was really taking it hard, probably more so than anyone. Adam kind of wished that he could do or say something to make him feel better, but that was usually the kind of thing that Byron himself did. He had really never given much thought to who would be there for Byron when the time came. Adam could also tell that Nicky, Margo, and Claire were really upset by everything that had happened by the way that they acted. They never said anything that would make them appear in any way changed. He had never really considered it before, but it must be really hard to be the youngest of such a large family.
Actually, being from a big family was hard, no matter where you found yourself in the birth order. For most of his life, Adam had liked the fact that the Pike family was ten members strong. Sure, it had been annoying to share the bathroom with so many people, but for the most part their size was a good thing. There was always something happening, and let's face it: with eight kids to keep track of, parental supervision is rather minimal. When they had been kids, and his parents had still been in love, things had really been great. Hoever, when he looked back and really thought about it, he could see the signs that maybe should have pointed out to him that things weren't as good as he thought they were. Somewhere along the line his parents had grown apart, Jordan had grown angry, and Margo and Claire had withdrawn into themselves. Somewhere along the line, his siblings had grown past being able to confide in each other, and now all of them were out on there own, trying to figure things out. As far as he could tell, it wasn't working for anyone.
Finally, Adam set down the basketball, and sat down on the front porch. It wasn't until he sat down that he realized how cold it had become. Winter, like Christmas, had crept up on the Pike family. It seemed that everything that had happened lately had been unexpected by Adam and all of his siblings. At this point, Adam hated nothing more in life than surprises. He resolved that starting now he would make things happen, instead of the other way around.
First of all, he would start with his mom. He didn't want to do anything too sappy, but he figured he could get her a flower or a candle or something to show her that he cared about her. And maybe he could go to a basketball game with his dad. He smiled, remembering the games that they had played together every nigh with his brotherst when the basketball hoop had been a new thing.
As for his siblings, he wasn't really sure what to do. Again, that was really more of Byron's thing. But when he thought about it, it didn't really have to be. There was nothing that he could do to save his parents marriage, but he could do something to help out his siblings. Sometimes, in families, the best thing to have is each other.