CHAPTER FIVE: LEO

I got up a little early and decided to go for a run because I couldn't sleep, which wasn't a new problem for me because living with my parents wasn't always peaceful; it got to the point where I rarely slept at night if they were around.

So I changed into my running clothes, checked on Shane to make sure he was still asleep so he wouldn't wake up and notice I was gone, and when I was certain he was sound asleep I quietly left the apartment, gently locked the door with my keys, and then I made my way to reception.

When I got outside, I stretched for a few minutes, then jogged for a few minutes before picking up my pace and starting running while reminiscing about our lives with my parents.

*Flashback*

I woke up to find my father was standing over me, looking down at me with an angry expression on his face. I wasn't surprised by this because it was his usual expression. What had made him so upset that he had to enter my room without asking after I had specifically told them not to do that? As I sat upright, I saw the bottle in his hands and realized that he was intoxicated. Which wasn't surprising?

"Get up, you moron, that whiny brother of yours is crying again, shut him up before I do," my father said, taking a sip from his beer; it's been three years since he lost his job at the local prescient, and believe me, this man standing before me was once a good cop and father, but he destroyed his life and ours by getting involved with greedy cops.

I rushed out of my room to check on Shane, who was crying as my father had said when I entered his room. I went to sit on the edge of his bed and gently pulled him in for a hug "What's the matter, kiddo? Why are you crying?"

His sobs subsided as he responded to my question. "I had a nightmare that you left me here; you and Dad were arguing as usual, but you stormed out the door. I tried calling you, but you did not answer ". Shane said as he drew away, wiping his tear-stained cheeks, "Please, Leo, don't abandon me. I promise not to cause you any problems."

"Listen carefully, Shane. I will never leave you. You're stuck with me forever. You're the Robin to my Batman. No one, not even the jerk in the living room, can change that "I explained in a soothing tone as I hugged him tightly before kissing his temple. "Now I need you to go back to sleep because you have school tomorrow. I'll be right there if you need me."

Shane took a few minutes to fall asleep, so I tucked him in and left his room quietly so I wouldn't wake him. I went into the kitchen to get something to drink when I heard the front door open and close. When I looked at the time, it was ten o'clock, which meant Denice, our dear mother, had returned from her waitressing job.

"Hello Denice, how was work?" I asked, I know it's strange that I call her Denice since she was my mother but she lost that right a long time ago, so she doesn't deserve to be called mother or mum by me.

"Good, how is your brother?" she asked. "He is asleep, he was asking for you today? He wanted to know if you would come for his program tomorrow?" I explained, knowing it was useless to tell her because she was going to say no like she always did.

"I can't come because I have something to do that day; tell him I'm sorry and that I'll make it up to him later," she said as she took the leftover lasagne I made for dinner from the fridge to warm up.

"That's what I thought you would say, I don't even know why I bother asking you when you say no all the time" I scoff as I turned to walk away, I couldn't even stand looking at her sometimes

"I don't want to argue tonight Leo, I'm tired so give it a rest"

"You're his mother, try to act like it once in a while so he knows you give a shit about him" I said before working out on her and headed straight for my room.

Not only does she not participate in his school activities, but she also ignores him at home and rarely speaks to him, causing the poor kid to believe he has done something wrong that has made her angry with him.

Due to their absence in his life, I would be the one to accompany him to school whenever he had any activity that required a parent or both parents to attend, and the excuse they always gave was that they both never had time to come.

Which made me wonder why they were so distant from him; he never asked for much, he got good grades, and he behaved exceptionally well for his age, so he didn't deserve the shit they were putting him through.

I didn't mind how they treated me because I was used to and tired of their scumbag behavior because my childhood wasn't exactly peaceful either, but Shane deserved better.

My father lost his job when I was ten, and it really messed with my head. I began to fail as a result of all of the responsibilities I had at home, and then Denice gave birth to Shane, and I had to care for him as well, which I didn't mind because I loved having a little brother.

When I was twelve, my father took me for a drive; it had been a while, so I was relieved that he was back to his old self. After driving for a while, we came to a stop in front of an abandoned warehouse; he got out of the car and came over to my side, dragged me out of the car into the warehouse; as we got closer, I heard loud music and a lot of yelling.

In the middle of the warehouse was a makeshift ring and chairs surrounding it, with people seated on those chairs throwing money into the ring where two guys were hitting each other and they were both covered in blood, the fight went on until one of them was knocked out, then the referee announced the winner and stuffed a large bundle of money in his bloody hands.

My father placed me in the ring after it was completely empty, locking the door behind him so I couldn't escape. I begged my father fervently for him to open the door but he paid me no attention as he went to take his seat .

While I was distracted, a man twice my size entered the ring with me and looked at me as if he wanted to squeeze the life out of me. With nowhere to run, the bell rang, and the man attacked first, but I was able to slip away because I was quite skinny, but I wasn't able to stay away from his clutches for long because he grabbed me and began punching me repeatedly to ensure I felt everything.

Fortunately, I survived the match, but when I turned to search for my father, he was with the referee from before, and he handed my father some cash and my father fucking smiled, I was covered in blood and bruises, and that mother fucker was smiling like he had won the lottery.

After that night, I began fighting in the void to pay for his drinking problem. And that's how I ended up getting beaten up every last Saturday of the month until I met my best friend Ripper, who taught me how to fight after seeing me get beaten up to the point where I couldn't even walk out of the ring myself, and after a few classes I started winning my matches because he was a really good teacher.

I was drawn out of my thoughts, when I heard my Father and Denice fighting again. I put on my headphones to drown out the noise, but I could still hear them arguing, which meant they were going to wake Shane up sooner or later, so I left my room and followed the sound of their voices which led me to the kitchen. I didn't care if they started hitting each other while they were hurling insults at each other in the kitchen. All I wanted was for them to stop shouting.

"Can you guys tone it down, Shane? School is tomorrow and I don't want you to wake him up."

"Sh...ut up you bas...tared and go back to your room," my father said, his words slurred.

"Leo, go back to your room, your father and I were just talking," Denice said, turning to face me.

"I really don't care what you guys were talking about, just keep it down," I said, turning back to go to my bedroom.

"I'll teach you some respect, boy," my father said before I heard a loud crash on my back and found myself falling to the ground. Before I passed out that night, I remember Denice standing there watching everything happen and doing nothing to stop him from attacking me.

*end of flashback*

When I got home from my run, it was already six o'clock in the morning, so I took a quick shower and went to wake Shane up. I looked around and found him in the bathroom brushing his teeth; when he saw me pop my head through the door, he quickly rinsed off the tooth paste.

"Hey little man, good morning," I said, and he signed "good morning" before coming over to give me a big hug. "Someone is a little too excited this morning." I chuckled, and he punched me in the stomach.

He stuck his tongue out at me before shoving me out the door and closing it. I laughed at his shyness before going to pack his stuff into his bag. So now all we had to do was get ready because we had to leave earlier than expected because I had to get our lunch from Rudy's Diner.

After he finished washing up, he went to get dressed, and I went to my room to get ready as well.

I chose a pair of black shorts, a black hood, and my black Jordans, and when I was finished dressing, I went to check on Shane, who was wearing the same clothes as me except he was wearing a white hood instead, and when I was sure he and I were ready, we left for Rudy's.

When we got to Rudy's, i saw we had time to get breakfast so we had a quick breakfast and i got him lunch and after i took him straight to school

When I arrived at Shane's school, I had to tell his teacher that he couldn't speak and would have to communicate through his phone or paper, and to my surprise, she accepted it without complaint and assured me that she would help him if he needed it as well as try her best to make him feel comfortable, and for some reason I knew I could trust this woman and she would keep her word, so Shane and I said our goodbyes and I was off to my own school.

On getting to school I parked my truck in the school parking lot. Before going in I asked for directions to the principal's office from the security guard at the school entrance. I thanked him and followed his directions and found it eventually with time to spare before homeroom.

I knocked on the door and heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door, so I opened the door and walked in. The principal was seated at her desk and welcomed me with a smile as I shut the door behind me.

"Hello, you must be Mr Smith, I would like to welcome you to Riverview high school, my name is Thompson, and I hope you enjoy your time in our school and town." Principal Thompson smiled as she spoke.

"Um, thanks," I replied, not knowing what else to say.

"You don't need to thank me, but first you need to find the staff room, which is down the hall on your left. Go in and say you're looking for Mr. Hunter; he will lead you to your classroom".

"All right, Ma, have a nice day."

"You as well, Mr Smith," Principal Thompson said as she ushered me out of her office.

I followed her instructions and walked down the hall, turning to my left; boldly written on the door in front of me was 'staffroom,' so I knocked, entered, and asked the first woman I saw. She pointed to a man in his early twenties, so I approached him, and before I could say anything, he spoke first.

"You must be Leo Smith; welcome; I'm on my way to address your classmates, follow me so i can introduce you" Mr Hunter said as he picked up some books from his table, motioning for me to follow him, and I did. We left the staffroom room and walked down the hall, passing the Principal's office and two or three other classrooms before arriving at mine.

When we walked into a class everyone stopped talking and just stared at the two of us. "Hello class this is Leo Smith he will be joining us for senior year, let all welcome him because he is also new to our school and town,"Mr Hunter said and I felt kind of irritated by this man for some reason, "Leo would you like to introduce yourself"

"No" I mumbled

"I see, so have you a seat then, you can take the empty chair beside Miss Marcos" Mr Hunter said in an annoyed tone as he pointed at the empty chair, I went to my seat I noticed that the Miss Marco he spoke of was the girl from the dinner, Athena.