Chapter 2: Pass the blame

Loud hard music flowed into the living room when Dave walked down into the kitchen for lunch. He hadn’t bothered to turn off his music because he was the only person home. His dad was probably out getting drunk and all his friends had blown him off again.1

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Dave startled almost dropped his sandwich on the floor. Composing himself he casually walked over to the front door and peered through the peephole. On the other side of the door stood a woman, in her late 20s with big brown eyes and flowing red hair. 2

Opening the door Dave looked her up and down once then sighed. “Sorry my dad isn’t home right now Charlotte…”3

Charlotte was Dave’s dad’s secretary romance. She was about thirty years younger than his Dad. Dave always found his dad pathetic for finding women that could be his daughters to sleep around with. Charlotte in particular looked like she could be Dave’s age. She was beautiful, with a slender body and curves that made her very sensuous. On one hand he could see why his dad had seen something in her. The low-rise jeans and spaghetti strap tanks that she wore accentuated all the right places and made all the men’s eyes wander. 4

She smiled shyly. “Oh, he said he was going to be home in about fifteen minutes, mind if I come in and wait?”5

“Sure, I guess… sorry about the loud music. I will go and turn that off.” Dave replied opening the door and walking back to his sandwich on the counter before heading for the stairs. “Make yourself at home.”6

“Thanks, Dave right?” She asked politely, “I’m sure your dad will be home soon.”7

“Yeah, like I said, make yourself at home.” He replied slightly annoyed.8

He grabbed his sandwich and walked upstairs. He went into his room and after turning the music down slightly, flopped onto his bed. He turned on the television and started flipping through the channels aimlessly. It didn’t take him long to realize there was nothing on. He sighed deeply and took a large bite of his sandwich. 9

Getting bored quickly, he put his half eaten sandwich on the nightstand next to his bed and walked over to his computer. Turned on the power he set about browsing his online lyrics site for some new comments or opinions on the songs he hoped one day would go on an album. 10

Dave seemed to have a lot of free time on his hands after being fired from the gas station, where he had worked part time, for punching out some guy who was hitting on Angelina, the only girl that worked the night shift. He had really given the guy a beating and had only gotten off getting charged because Angelina said he was protecting her. 11

In his spare time when his dad was out he took the opportunity to plug his guitar into his amp and jam to all his favorite songs and write some of his own. Dave had big dreams about playing in a rock band some day. In grade eight, three years earlier him and his friend Anthony had started to screw around with songs and music and had scored some gigs around the local shops and restaurants in the town where they lived. But when Anthony overdosed a year ago Dave had lost the will to act on his dreams. Now in grade eleven and thinking about the rest of his life, he was starting to rethink the idea of being a rock star.12

After a while of screwing around on the computer he heard his dad come home and the front door slam as usual as he made an entrance. He was probably piss wasted and not in a good mood. Dave wondered why Charlotte would want to be with him when all he did was abuse her and beat her. His dad was careless with woman and viewed them as property, yet he still seemed to have a new one in his room every week.13

Dave’s dad was a chronic alcoholic. He had developed the over obsessive habit four years earlier when Dave’s mom had died. She died in a fiery car crash that killed her and about thirty other people. It was a big intersection crash. Two semis and about ten other little cars were involved. When Dave’s dad has received the news he was devastated and instead of working through it he began to drink. Dave new his dad drank to forget, but even Dave knew that it would never work. 14

As he heard his dad and Charlotte come upstairs he leaned over and turned his music back up. Sticking his headphones in, he attempted to block out the sounds of what was going on in the other room beside him. This was all starting to feel like a routine to him.15