After crashing at a friend's house for the next two nights, Kevin found himself haggard and hungry as he lugged himself across town to his Mother's trailer.
Walking slowly through the grimy trailer park, Kevin smiled slightly seeing that his Mom's car wasn't parked out in front.
"Still at work... won't have to listen to her Bitch for a while at least," Kevin told himself as he cockily strode home.
As he neared Pam Ralston's residence however, Kevin became perplexed by the sight of the front door swinging wide open despite the fact his Mom wasn't home.
Cautiously scaling the front stoop, all Kevin could think in his bitter mind was that one of Pam's convenience fucks was still in the house, lounging around while she was at work.
Reaching out for the ramshackle screen door's latch, Kevin carefully let himself in, scanning the living room as if he were an investigating officer rather than the Son of the woman who lived there. Setting his overnight bags on the floor, Kevin's attention was pulled towards the bathroom down the hall, where the sound of the hissing shower told him where the visitor was located.
Balling his fists together, Kevin's already simmering anger started to seethe as he contemplated meeting the man that Pam Ralston had brought home for the night. As he was standing there waiting for the person in the shower to finish, the image of a strange purse resting on the rickerty couch in the corner caught his attention. Gliding quietly over to it, Kevin dropped his hand inside the inviting opening of the purse and pulled out the worn wallet.
Flipping it open, Kevin saw the driver's license picture of one of his Mother's friends, Jackie Smithson.
"Bitch," Kevin groaned underneath his breath as he dropped the evidence back into the purse.
Jackie was one of his Mom's best friends and most loyal drinking buddies. She also had a nasty habit of dating really bad men who often used Jackie's face and body for batting practice whenever the booze and jealousy couldn't find a good medium ground. Kevin couldn't count the times Jackie had come running to Pam's over the years to spend the night with two black eyes, or worse.
Hearing the shower shut off in the bathroom, Kevin pivoted his body toward the door down the hallway and patiently waited for Jackie to step out. Keeping his eyes riveted on the knob, Kevin fought the urge to crack a wicked smile when the door creaked open and the freshly shower frame of his Mother's best friend stepped out, oblivious to the fact that Kevin was standing only 15 feet away, clad only in a skimpy and soaked towel that barely concealed her bosom.
"AAARGGHHH," Jackie instantly screamed when she saw the brooding young man standing there, intently watching her.
Confused as to whether to cover her mouth to muffle her shrieks of shock or to use her arms to cover her near nakedness, Jackie tripped her way back into the bathroom, slamming the door so forcefully in the process that the whole trailer shook.
"You scared the shit out of me, Kevin," the unsettled older woman screamed from the safety of the bathroom.
Turning his head, Kevin barely acknowledged Jackie's venomous tirade as he disappeared into the kitchen to find something to settle his growling stomach. Kevin surveyed the contents of the fridge for about two minutes when he heard the bathroom door open again. Hearing Jackie rapid, angry footsteps ease up the hall, Kevin turned to see her enter the kitchen, this time dressed in a tee-shirt and a pair of cut off jean shorts.
"You shouldn't walk around the house naked," Kevin grunted stoically up to Jackie when he made eye contact with her, cringing over the two purplish and black circles that lined her eye sockets and cheek. "Get into a car wreck, Jackie?" Kevin almost asked out loud.
"... And you should learn how to knock before you come into a house.. your Mom said you moved out... You scared the Hell out of me," Jackie spat as she lit a Virginia Slim, this time in a slightly calmer tone, almost as if she were expecting an apology from Kevin.
Sensing her want for an apology, Kevin turned his gaze away and ignored the woman standing beside him, deciding his hunger outweighed his need to be liked at that moment.
"Oh.. Fucking well," Jackie huffed realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with the 18 year old boy.
Several minutes of silence passed between the two as Kevin ate and Jackie chain-smoked.
"Are you going to be here all night?" Kevin grumpily asked, breaking the malaise of silence.
"Probably," Jackie bitterly replied, in a frustrated tone of a woman that didn't have anywhere else to go.
The two continued to sit on opposite sides of the cramped living room, each trying to out brood the other until the sound of gravel crackling in the trailer's driveway caused each of their ears to spring to attention. Pam Ralston was home from work.
Tapping her cigarette out, Jackie lunged off the sofa and went to meet her best friend at the door. Kevin sat in the chair and patiently kept his focus trained on the front door, waiting for his Mother, who he hadn't seen in over a month, to walk through.
The instant their gazes met, an acidic and uncomfortable expression washed over both their faces.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Pam bristled, quickly sensing the tension between her son and her friend. "I don't have any money if that's why you're here!"
"I don't need any, " Kevin immediately replied, brushing the crumbs of his sandwich off his lap and onto the floor. "I just thought I'd come by to say Hi and that I love you," he added with sarcastic bombast.
Walking past the two women, Kevin burst through the door without saying another word, leaving Pam and Jackie standing there wondering what just happened.
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