Kyle2: Difficult times

Avett looked at his house uneasily. All the lights were on, indicating people were up. Sighing heavily he decided he’d just have to hear through a big lecture rather than trying to climb through his window which was two stories high, with no trees or anything nearby that would help him climb in through his window.

With a heavy heart, he opened the door to the main room and his whole family surrounded him. Aline hugged him and started crying. Jon looked at him with huge eyes and Sebastian demanded “Avett, where have you been. Mum has been unconscious for a while now. We called Dr.Evan. He is looking over mum now.”

“What? What happened to mum?” Avett said now, alarmed as he made his way to his mother’s room with his little sister clinging to him. His mother was very pale and unconscious.

“Mom” he called out, running to sit by her side.

The doctor looked at him and shook his head. Avett looked at him, his eyes widening in horror. That look of defeat on his face couldn’t mean what it means, he thought. Sebastian was the first one to ask for confirmation “Doctor, how is mum?”

Dr. Evans sighed heavily “I can’t do anything for your mum now Sebastian. She is dead. I am sorry.”

“No. She was fine tonight when she went to sleep. She was perfectly fine before she started screaming in the middle of the night.” Sebastian said, obviously not wanting to believe it.

Jon and Aline flung themselves at their mother and started crying on her bosom. Avett sat down beside her stunned. He just sat there for a while only noticing when the old doctor squeezed his shoulder and said “Rebecca was a good woman. I am sorry Avett.”

Avett just nodded as tears streamed down his face as he lowered his head near her neck. He loved his mother greatly. Sebastian squeezed his shoulder and sat beside their dead mother taking her hand and kissing her forehead. For a while they just stayed that way until Avett broke off and said “She always said, if someone died they should be buried as early as possible for the angels to take them to heaven.”

Sebastian nodded at that. His mother was a religious woman. He got up to make arrangements for her funeral while, Avett helped the doctor out and consoled Jon and Aline.

After the funeral the next day

Avett thanked the people who came for his mother’s funeral. He looked at Princess Kylie who had attended the ceremony with her grandmother. Few royalists were there because they knew Rebecca and that had attracted a lot more people than they had counted on. The Queen Lenore had generously made a huge payment for their mother’s services, to her children. Avett and Sebastian had decided they would use that money for the school fees and university fees of Jon and Aline.

Princess Kylie came and said her condolences to everyone. She said she was very sorry for their mother’s death, as if she could have prevented it. Avett wanted to grab her and let her soothe him of his heart ache. But all she did was give a regal nod at him and he couldn’t say a thing about last night or her promise to marry him with her grandmother and bodyguards around her. As they left Sebastian looked at him and said “Bro, we need to talk.”

Avett looked at him gloomily and asked “What is there to say Seb? Mom is dead. How are we going to manage without mum?”

Sebastian looked at him seriously and asked “Were you with the princess last night?”

Avett looked away and said “Can you just leave that alone?”

“No. I can’t. Were you with her or not Avett? I need to know.” He said insistently.

“Yes, I was with her Sebastian. What do you want? Shout at me for not being there? Go on. Shout at me if that is what you are waiting for.” He snapped at him.

Sebastian looked at the wide eyed Jon and Aline before saying “Calm down Av. You are distressing Jon and Aline. They need us now to be calm. They need to know they can depend on us. Behaving like a loon wouldn’t help, Avett.”

“Behaving like a loon? What are you talking about? I know it is me who would have to look after Aline and Jon without your help. You would run away to whatever place you go to. You weren’t there before. You wouldn’t be with us in the future. But now you talk as if you would be helping. What are you trying to say Seb? It better be something you would uphold.” He hissed.

“I am helping Av. I am sorry I left mum and you alone to look after them okay? But you are avoiding something. Last night when you were with the princess she woke up screaming “stop it princess”. I have a feeling it was Princess Kylie. Tell me what that was about?” he asked looking at Avett gravely.

“I.. I have no idea.” Avett said giving him a puzzled look. “I don’t know. Maybe it was a bad dream.”

Two weeks later

Fourteen days have passed yet it seemed like fourteen years to Avett. Avett sighed heavily as he tried making breakfast for Jon and Aline. They were up already. Aline was still crying every morning after he woke her to go to school. She missed her mother who woke her up to go to school. Jon was more discrete. He just stared out the window and locked himself in his room. Avett was worried about both of them. He looked at Sebastian who was looking at the oven that was now smoking like a chimney and coughing.

Avett quickly grabbed a towel and pulled out the tray. So much for making cookies. They were all burned black. Sebastian gave him a sheepish look as Avett glared at him. “I thought you were keeping check on the time.” He said.

Sebastian said in surrender “Hey, I am sorry okay. I just got caught up with the news of the war and forgot. You are the one who know how to cook. I’m just hopeless with the kitchen stuff. I just wish mum had bought a cooking robot.”

Avett sighed as he looked at the scrambled eggs and bacon he had made for breakfast. “Just pour some milk for everyone, Seb” he said with a tired sigh. Being a parent was hard work, he was finding out. Already he was exhausted. He had to wait up for his brother and sister every night. Do the grocery. Clean the house. Do almost everything. Sebastian helped. But most of the time he just made a disaster or he wasn’t available because he had to go to work.

“Seb, could you go and bring Jon and Aline out? I think I am just coming down with a headache.” He said running his hands over his face.

Sebastian looked at him worried “Hey, I am sorry I am so useless most of the time Av. I do feel guilty that you are the one doing almost everything. I’ll try to see if I could ask for a holiday or something. But this is the end of the financial year Av. Getting a holiday now would be really hard for a financial executive, not to mention I had taken almost all the holidays available to me already. Take some pain killer or something, Av. Maybe that would make it go away. You are not coming down with a fever are you?”

“No. Just a headache. A pain killer should do.” he said, going out of the kitchen to set the dining table.

He watched as Sebastian went in to Jon’s room. A while later Sebastian came out with Jon and Aline. They both looked depressed.

Aline said sulkily as she sat on the sofa and turned on the TV “I don’t want to eat.”

Jon sat at the table but looked at the breakfast and complained, making a face at the food “Scrambled eggs and bacon? Can’t we have anything else for breakfast? I am tired of eating bacon and scrambled eggs every morning. Is it going to be a salad again for dinner too? I am just sick of it. I am not eating.” He pushed the plate away and got up.

Avett tried to hold on to his temper but he failed. “Sit down Jon and eat that, Aline you too.” He said through gritted teeth.

Jon glared at him “I am not eating this garbage one more time.” He wailed like a big baby.

That did it for Avett. “Oh shut up you spoiled little brat and turn off that darned TV Aline. And you Jon, why don’t you make your breakfast and dinner yourself? Maybe you can make something better. I am sick and tired of doing things around this place when no one obviously cares about the effort I am putting into it. If you come home early perhaps I could get up earlier and make something better. I have work to do too, Jon. It’s not like I am sitting home to come up with better recipes for you people. Even if I make the effort it would go into the garbage can at the end of the day, because by the time everyone is home its three thirty or four in the morning. What the hell are you doing that late at night anyway? You are just fifteen years old. It’s not time for you to stay out that late.”

“So you object me being with my friends, is this about it? I came at three thirty only a few nights.” Jon said glaring at Avett.

“Only a few nights? Only? You make it sound as if it’s just something casual. You never came home earlier than 12, after mom died Jon. And that stinking thousand studded friend of yours, what’s his name, Manley or something, stinks alcohol and marijuana a mile from where he stands and that guy named Crow or whatever smokes like an old chimney. Your so called friends are loser drug addicts Jon. Where the hell did you meet them anyway? They are ages older than you. I will have to ground you if you keep doing this. Don’t force me.” Avett said angrily getting up from his chair.

“I hate you Avett. You can’t ground me. You are not my father or mother. Who are you to ground me anyway? Manley told me you can’t control me. You can’t be my guardian because you are only four years older than me. Manley will help me. I am going away. I hate staying here. I have my freedom too. You are just jealous of Manley and Crow because they are cool.” He yelled bitterly.

Meanwhile, Aline was raising the volume of the TV to such a high that they couldn’t even hear each other yelling.

“Shut up you two” Sebastian roared. But at that moment Avett punched Jon’s face and Jon tried hitting him back. It was stopped effectively by Sebastian as he grabbed Jon and locked him in his arms strongly. He glared furiously at Avett and asked “Have you gone out of your mind Avett?”

Jon started crying and Avett stepped away furious at himself and getting more furious by the second with the sound of war bolters that were coming from the insanely cranked up TV.

“Stop this. Stop it, Aline” he yelled at Aline who looked at him fearfully as he grabbed the remote. He was going to turn it off when something caught his attention. It stopped him dead in his tracks. It was saying Zeus and Kylie’s marriage had been expedited once again. They were getting married in two days time. He felt pole-axed as he looked at the video of a shyly smiling Kylie with Zeus Alexandriov. Betrayal made his blood boil in fury and his eyes see blood. Dropping off the remote on the sofa he hastily started walking out as he heard Sebastian calling him, asking him to stop.