Chapter 3
Mikey sat at the edge of Gerard’s bed, Gerard curling up in a corner with his sketch book. Neither of them said a thing, but it didn’t make a difference. It felt safer to just be near each other, than to be alone. They could hear the drunk fighting downstairs, the screaming and the crying, the sounds of slaps being thrown, items being smashed into. Mikey used to never let Gerard see what he was feeling about it, but Gerard knew it hurt him just as much as it hurt Gerard. And both of them knew by now that they had to avoid their parents when their parents were drunk at all costs, to avoid getting slapped around themselves.
He remembered that when he was still only 4, their parents were fighting and Gerard could sense that Mikey was upset, even though Mikey was trying to seem brave for his brother. Gerard had came into Mikey’s room and they spent the entire night together with a flash light, and they both got under the covers and Gerard tried to keep Mikey distracted by telling him stories until they both fell asleep. And ever since then, when their parents drank and fought, they always stayed together.
Gerard put down his sketch book and moaned, pressing his hand against his forehead. “God, they really did a number on me.”
Mikey turned to face him. “What are you gonna do?”
Gerard shook his head, and then gritted his teeth tighter. “I’m staying home tomorrow. I feel like I can’t move.”
Mikey crawled across the bed closer to Gerard. Closer up, he could see just how badly Gerard got beaten up that day. There was still dried blood along his shirt and he had barely an inch of unbruised skin.
“How’d you make it home, anyway?”
“I don’t know. I just, I knew that I had to, somehow.” Gerard replied uncertainly. “I just walked. I didn’t feel anything, really.” He tried to sit further up, pain searing through his body. Mikey helped him lie back down on the bed and got up, walking towards the door. “Why don’t I get you something? I’m sure we have some pain killers somewhere.”
Just then, they heard the sound of something breaking, followed by more yelling. Mikey shivered.
“No, stay here.” Gerard quickly said. His eyes filled with panic and he reached out and tried to pull Mikey back, despite all the pain it caused. “We’ll just wait until it’s over, like we always do. If Dad sees you, he’ll beat you too and I won’t be able to come and help you.”
Mikey felt a lump growing in his throat. He should be used to it by now, but he hated feeling so helpless, so useless, and so scared of everything going on. He hated the way the house reeked of booze at night and how screams vibrated off the walls. He hated how their parents fought so much that the entire neighborhood could hear them. He hated when their parents yelled at them. He hated when his father beat him and he hated when he watched Gerard take the beating in his place. Why did some people even have kids, if this was how they’d treat them?
Mikey turned the lights off and got under the covers next to Gerard, watching Gerard’s face as Gerard’s eyes darted across the ceiling, around all the walls, and back again. Sometimes he felt like he and Gerard were complete strangers, but most of the time, especially when their parents were like that, he felt as though nobody could be closer than the two of them.
“I’m scared.” Mikey whispered into the darkness. Gerard nodded, and then remembered that Mikey couldn’t see that.
“Me too.”
Mikey pulled the covers tighter around him and curled up slightly.
The fighting got louder for a moment, and then stopped all together. It didn’t take long for Mikey to decide that the silence was worse.
Gerard leaned his head against Mikey’s. “Forget about them. It’ll all be over in the morning.” He said.
“Yeah,”
But it’d start again the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that. But neither of them said that. They both just shut their eyes and fell asleep.