Bittersweet

Chapter 35

"How old was he at the time? And she was gone for nine whole months on a business trip? Didn't your dad ever get suspicious?" I ask showing him that I still am.

"He was fourteen and no because she wasn't gone for nine whole months, she left when she started showing, which is still a long time but like I said earlier my dad was blindly in love with her."

So that means he is twenty now. I nod my head telling him to continue.

"She didn't even recognize him until he told her that he's her son. My dad almost divorced her the moment he found out that she cheated on him. Somehow she convinced my dad that it was a mistake and that she never mentioned it because she didn't want to ruin their relationship and she regrets it and all that bullshit. My dad was so in love with her that he even believed her" He shakes his head in frustration.

"Wow" My thoughts tumble out.

"He didn't forgive her right away, they would still fight here and there and my mom started drinking even more , which I didn't even think was possible. But since they didn't really pay attention to me I reached out to my brother because I had questions. At first I hated him. I was young and thought he ruined my family. But he didn't stop trying to get to know me. Eventually I grew fond of him. We both were together all the time. We did everything together." He says running his hand through his hair.

"Did you meet his dad?" I ask.

"No, his dad had left, that's what gave him the courage to find my mom" He continues. "He had no where to stay so I would let him sneak into my window at night and he would leave before my dad woke up. I knew my dad didn't want him around because it just reminded him of what mom did. To this day my dad doesn't know about Cameron and I."

"He shouldn't have done that to you brother" I say instantly regretting it.

"I know, I don't think so either!" Austin agrees, his eyes slightly lighting up.

"So then what did he do while you were at school?" I asked him.

"He was trying to find a job but since he was only fourteen, no one would hire him" She says looking sad.

"Oh right" I realize.

"Yeah, so I would end up giving him all my pocket money that my dad would give me, so that he could buy things for himself, like clothes and food. Although I used to always pack a little extra food so I can share with him during lunch times." He says pausing to look at me. "We used to always meet at a near by park for lunch." He smiles thinking back. A smile creeps up on my lips upon seeing his.

"Since no one was really looking after me I started hanging around with the wrong crowd I guess. Cameron and I started doing things that...weren't good" He hesitates to say.

"Like what?" I ask curiously. He looks at me contemplating whether to answer my question or not.

"You're ju-" He starts but stops by rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"What?" I ask frowning.

"Nothing" He says removing his hands from his eyes. Why does he do this so much. It's killing me to know what he has to say about me. It also scares me. What if it's something I don't want to hear? "We started doing drugs and stuff" He says quickly as if trying to get away from the subject. I can see he's a little uncomfortable with the topic so I decide to let it be.

"So then how did you guys end up in a gang?"

"That happened through the people we hung out with." He shrugs. "The place where Cameron eventually got a job at didn't treat him well, and when he heard about selling from another guy and how much you can make with it, he started." He says playing with the corner of the pillow cover.