VI
I sped walked my way through the school to get to the principals office as soon as I heard that Peter had humiliated Flash. I almost didn’t believe it until I even heard the quiet kids talking about it. How people had found out about it so quickly, I wasn’t sure. But it really did spread like wildfire.
I rounded the corner and saw Uncle Ben talking to Peter in hushed tones. “Is that understood?” I approached them cautiously. Ben then turned once he saw me.
“Hey,” I muttered, trying to gauge how upset either of them were. Peter nodded to me as an acknowledgement.
“Hey, Alina, how are you?” Ben asked with a sigh.
“I’m alright…” I nodded before turning to Peter. “What happened?”
Ben shook his head, clearly disappointed. “He did something stupid to get back at some kid for what he did to you.”
“No, not cause-” Peter cut himself off by sighing. “Flash was being his typical asshole self,” He explained, looking down at me. “I couldn’t just not do anything.”
“Yeah, you could’ve,” I argued, shaking my head. “Now what? Did you get suspended?”
“Community service hours,” Peter told me almost embarrassed. I shook my head, looking down at the ground.
“She looks familiar,” Ben said. I looked up and noticed how he was looking behind Peter and I. Both of us turned to see Gwen standing few feet away from us. As soon as we turned around, she diverted her eyes as if she wasn’t looking our way. “She’s the girl on your computer.”
“Oh, yeah,” I agreed, remembering the pictures from a few nights ago. Peter frantically shook his head at his uncle.
“Yeah, he’s got you on his computer!” Ben said loudly to get her attention. I snorted and nodded to confirm what he was saying.
“He does,” I said, earning a shove from Peter. “Ow.”
“I’m his probation officer,” Ben said, causing me to snort again. “Don’t forget Aunt May. Nine o’clock.”
I watched Uncle Ben walk off, amused by his brave sense of humor. Peter just glared at his uncle’s retreating figure. When he turned to look at Gwen fully, he made sure to squint his eyes at me as a warning. I simply grinned at him.
“He’s a character,” Peter laughed nervously. “He’s my uncle.”
“Who happens to be your probation officer,” I joked, causing Peter to glare at me.
“Nope, just my uncle. Who’s a pathological liar, not my probation officer,” Peter stammered out. I shrugged in disagreement. “He thought you were someone else”
“Man, you don't have me on your computer?” Gwen teased with a grin, stepping closer to us.
“He does,” I said before I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket. I pulled out my phone, the caller ID reading ‘Anne W.’ I showed it to Peter and he gave me a nod. “See you at home?” He hummed and nodded as I slowly backed out of the hallway.
“Hello?” I answered, pushing past the exit doors. The air hit me in the face harshly, the cold wind nipping at my face.
“Hey, Alina,” I heard Anne's voice sound bitterly through the phone. “Your dad is on his way to the airport right now, he wanted me to call you to tell you?”
“Why isn't he calling me off his phone?” I asked, standing outside the doors. I looked around waiting for her to say something. “Wait, I thought he didn't come home until later this week.”
“He messed up and…” She sighed and I furrowed my eyebrows with confusion. “He will tell you when he gets back.”
“No, Anne, tell me what happened,” I demanded, looking around incredulously.
“Your dad lied to me, Alina,” She said finally. “He got me fired, and he… he could’ve gotten your potential scholarships taken away.”
“What do you mean, what did he do?” I asked, nervously fiddling with the strap of my bag.
“Ask him when he gets home,” Anne said with a serious tone. Her word sounded final. “Bye, Alina.”
I walked through the side door of the Parker household, propping open the door as I put the key back under the doormat. I locked the door behind me and walked through the kitchen to the dining room. I just stood there for a moment, deciding what to do. I was home alone in a home that wasn’t even my own.
I felt like I was intruding. No matter how many times they reassured me I was at home with them, I didn’t feel comfortable making myself at home when they weren’t there. I tried to pretend like I was at home. Even when I was going to take a shower, I would usually tell Peter I was going to take a shower and stand there until he said, ‘Okay?’. Then I would run off to the shower.
When Ben and May were off at work and we woke up at noon– well, I would wake up at noon– and I would want to get something to eat, but then feel too weird to even make scrambled eggs until Peter wakes up.
Maybe it’s the way my father raised me. He was always comfortable in a respectful way. If it’s someone you’re close with, be comfortable. And if you’re not, pretend that you are. It’s how you command a room even when you don’t think you are.
But there was no room to command now. Just an empty house. My best friends house that he happens to not be in at the moment. So, I just went upstairs to his room and sat there doing homework.
As I slowly made my way through the piles of homework, assignments, and notes, it got later and later with no sign of Peter. Or any of the other residents of the home. I looked at the time, 8:50 .
Then, I heard my phone buzz on Peter’s desk. I reached up from the floor and grabbed the device. I saw Aunt May’s caller ID show up in the screen and I looked at it curiously. Then I answered.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, Alina, sweetheart, are you with Peter?” I heard her voice say, concerned. Then I remembered what Ben had said before he left.
“No, is everything alright?”
“He was supposed to be here to pick me up,” She started, sounding worried. “But it’s alright now, don’t worry.”
“Oh, is he there now?” I asked, relieved that she wouldn't have to make it home alone.
“Um… No, but it’s alright, I can make it home,” She told me, trying to be reassuring.
I scoffed, “Absolutely not, I’ll go get you,” I told her. She started protesting but I cut her off, “No, May, it’s okay. I’ll take the bike and-”
“No, you are not driving me in that thing,” She said sternly.
“I’m the safest driver there is,” I argued, getting up from the floor and scrambling around to find my shoes. “New drivers are always the safest. That’s a proven fact.”
May fell silent, “I’m walking to the subway station, right now.”
“I’ll be there before you get there. Promise,” I said, grabbing my Vans and struggling to get them on without untying them. “Be careful.”
I got to the station way sooner than May had expected. I caught her a whole block away from the station. When I got to her, she was hesitant to even put on the extra helmet. But then she worked up the courage to get on after I promised to not go above 30 miles an hour. It definitely made some people angry on the road but I wasn’t going to take any chances.
“See, it wasn’t that bad,” I chuckled when I turned off the bike and got off of it. May huffed as she took off the helmet. She handed it to me before she started smoothing out her clothes and hair. I snorted when she tried to get off unceremoniously. I rushed to her side, grabbing her hand and helping her balance herself as she stepped over body of the bike.
“Yeah,” She agreed bitterly, causing a quiet laugh from me. I took the helmet form her and we walked to the house.
We slowly made our way into the kitchen. I put the helmets on the ground of the entrance right before entering their second front door that actually led into the house.
As I stepped through, I heard May call for Peter. The silence that followed made me look at her curiously. She called out his name again. Nothing.
“Can you call him?” She asked me. “I think we'll get lucky if you're the one calling him.”
I sighed through my nose and started dialing Peter's phone. It rang once, twice… no answer. I called again. This time, it went straight to voicemail.
I joined May at the dining table and shook my head, “He declined both times.” May sighed.
“It's alright, I'm sure he's fine,” She said. I responded with a reassuring nod. “Are you hungry? Do you want me to make something?”
“Oh, no, it's fine,” I said, shaking my head. “You don't have to make something for me.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, “Are you hungry?” I pursed my lips and opened my mouth to protest, but she beat me to it. “That's it, what do you want?”
“No, no, no, no,” I insisted, getting her to stop from standing up. She crossed her arms and glared at me playfully. “Let's just order a pizza. I'll pay.”
“Alina Brock, you are not paying,” She declared. “You are a guest in my home, I'll pay.”
I shook my head again. “I might be a guest but my stay is definitely overdue. Let me pay, please.”
“You know you're always welcome here,” She said sweetly. “I'm paying.”
I gave in. “Okay…”
She in fact did not pay. When the pizza got there, I ran to the door, paid, and grabbed the pizza before she even knew what was happening. I happily took advantage of the fact that I am much faster than her at this age.
I was going in for my second slice when Ben got home. He greeted us before asking where Peter was.
“We're not sure,” I said, shrugging. Both of us were expecting him to brush it off but instead, he got serious.
“How did you get home?” Ben asked May, crossing his arms.
“Well… Alina came to get me,” May said nervously before she quickly tried to reassure him, “But we were fine. We're safe now.”
“No, that's not okay, May,” Ben said tiredly. He ran a hand through his gray hair. “Peter was supposed to be there to pick you up, not her. No offense, Alina, but something could’ve happened to either of you. Thank you for going to get her. But this was Peter's responsibility.”
I sat there silently, gnawing at my bottom lip nervously. Ben sighed and started walking to the front door.
“Ben, where are you going?” May asked, annoyed.
“I'm going to wait for Peter. And when he comes back, he's apologizing,” Ben answered. “To both of you.”
“That's not necessary,” May tried to argue. But Ben just held his hand out to stop her. He walked out the front door, leaving us in silence.
It was clear when Peter got home from the way he stopped up and how Ben started yelling at him. May and I were sitting on the couch, when he got home. She stood up and waited for Peter to come inside.
“Be a man. Get there and apologize,” We heard Ben's voice yell from outside the door. I watched Peter shuffle into the house, keeping his eyes on the ground.
When he looked up, he made direct eye contact with me, “I'm sorry, Aunt May, AJ, I got..”
“Honestly, you don't have to apologize,” May told him calmly. I nodded with her. “It's your unc-”
“The hell he doesn’t,” Ben interjected angrily. May said his name to try to calm him down. But to no avail. I stammered, trying to think of something to say to ease the situation but coming up empty.
“Look, I’m sorry, I got distracted,” Peter explained. “That’s why-”
“Oh, he got distracted,” Ben repeated condescending. Peter muttered a ‘yeah’ quietly. “Your aunt, my wife, and your best friend, had to walk 12 blocks alone in the middle of the night. Then wait in a deserted subway station because you got distracted.”
“It really wasn’t that big of a deal,” I tried cutting in. Ben just shook his head. “We’re fine now.”
“Yes, sweetheart, honestly. We are both capable of walking home alone,” May added.
“You will not defend this boy!” Ben yelled.
“We’re not defending him!” May tried to argue back.
“You are defending him!” Ben sighed and turned to me. “Alina, I get it, you’ve known each other for years, you do wrong in each others eyes. But you are way too young. Thank you for looking out for her, but this was his job.” I sighed defeatedly, unsure of what to say.
May stepped forward. “Ben-”
“Listen to me, son,” Ben started loudly.
Peter nodded, looking down at the ground. “Yeah, go ahead,”
“You’re a lot like your father. You really are, Peter, and that’s a good thing. But your father lived by a philosophy, a principle really,” Ben began comparing. I looked between the two of them, taking note of the way Peter’s eyes started watering. “He believed that if you could do good things for other people you had a moral obligation to do those things. That’s what’s at stake here. Not choice. Responsibility.
“That’s nice. That’s great,” Peter started bitterly. “That’s all well and good. So where is he?”
My shoulders drooped at his words, “Oh, Peter…”
“What?” Ben inquired as if he had misheard him. I wished I had too.
“Where is he?” Peter repeated, shrugging. His voice wavered slightly and tears started threatening to fall. “Where’s my dad? He didn’t think it was his responsibility to be here to tell me this himself.”
“Oh, come on, how dare you?” Ben said outraged.
“How dare I? How dare you!” Peter yelled back, tears spilling from his eyes now. I just wanted to run over and hug him.
“Peter thats-”
“No, Alina! You should know exactly what it feels like!” He yelled back, causing my own tears to begin welling up. “Shouldn’t your mom be here too! She walked out on you too! Shouldn’t she at least want to call you on yourbirthday!”
I bit my lip to keep it from wobbling as a tear streamed down my face. I looked down at the floor, letting out a shaky breath. “I-I don’t…”
I just heard Peter breath in deeply and begin walking out of the door. “Where are you going?” Ben called out after him. “Peter, come back here, please.” Just as he said that, Peter slammed the door behind him. It shattered.
I jolted from where I was frozen in the living room and watched the glass fall to the ground. All four of us stood there stunned before Peter ran down the stairs from the porch and walked off. I wiped the tears from my eyes and started to walk after him.
“No, no, leave him alone for a little while. He’ll be all right,” May said to both uncle Ben and me. I sniffled and nodded, feeling such a strong urge to go after him. Ben on the other hand, began wading through the broken glass after Peter.
I stood back silently with May, replaying the conversation in my head over and over again as Ben called out for Peter. I swallowed harshly and took a deep breath to calm myself down, reminding myself that they would be alright. They would either make up before they got back, or it would be resolved when they got back.