Helping Out

"What?!" yelled Mom.

'Cat's out of the bag.' I thought.

Why Mom was yelling, goes back to a few moments earlier when she started talking to Andrew. At first, he had kept everything vague, but after a while, he broke down and told her everything. His mom had cancer, they could not afford the meds for her treatment, and his dad was an abusive alcoholic.

'Not surprised he broke down. Anyone would have broken down after suffering and experiencing everything he did. I'm more surprised he managed to keep it together this long.

It just goes to show that he isn't a bad guy, just a guy who was dealt a shit hand trying to make the most of it. What's that saying, all it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.'

"Oh, honey. Come here. Everything's going to be alright now." she said, hugging him while he cried and tearing up, probably at the thought of all the abuse he had silently endured over the years not to mention her sister suffering without her knowledge.

"Matt." said Dad, and turning to look at him I could see that his usually impassive face was showing anger.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go." he said, standing up out of his chair.

"Okay." I said, his meaning clear to me.

"Wait, you two." Mom said.

"Wait for what? We have to go over there and get Aunt Karen out of there."

"I know we do Matt, but what are you going to do about Richard when you get over there? Beat him up?" she asked.

"Yes." said Dad.

"Jeff, we can't do that. We should call the cops. That way we'll be able to actually do something and get that bastard thrown into jail."

"No, don't!" said Andrew, removing himself from the hug.

"Andrew?"

"Don't call the cops. Mom will be sad. She still loves him." he said while wiping his tears.

"Okay, we won't call the cops. We'll just go over there and talk and we'll bring you both to live here. How about that?" she said to which he nodded.

"Good. Let's go over there now. You go with Matt. Your uncle and I will go in his truck. We'll meet you there."

"Okay. Come on, let's go." I said to Andrew, putting my arm around his shoulder as we walked to my car.

~

The car ride on the way to his house was quiet, a little too quiet for me.

Turning my head to look at Andrew, I see he was staring out the window, lost in his thoughts.

"Sorry for not noticing something was up before, Andrew." I said, breaking the silence.

And it was the truth, the old Matt never noticed anything because he was too caught up in his own life. Not to mention, he didn't really like Andrew all that much because he thought he was a little weird and anti-social, both things that could be linked back to the abuse by his father.

But now that I was Matt, I wouldn't let Andrew suffer on his own because I know what that's like, and it's not fun.

"Not your fault. I didn't want anyone to know." he replied after a few seconds of silence.

"Everything's going to be fine from now on. And if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here. Even if you don't want to talk, if you just want to hang out in silence, or whatever. I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'm here."

"Thanks." he said, looking at me with a slight smile before going back to stare out the window.

~

After parking outside Andrew's house, we only had to wait a few minutes before we could see Dad's pickup coming up the road.

"Do you want to stay in the car?" I asked, thinking it might be difficult for him to face his father at the moment.

"No. I want to get my mom out of here."

"Okay. Let's go." I said before we both exited the car.

"Andrew, honey, you sure you don't want to wait in the car?" asked Mom, as they both got out of the truck.

"I'm okay."

"Okay, stay behind your uncle and cousin with me. Let them go in first." she said.

"No, I'll go in first." he said, with a look of determination on his face.

"Are yo-"

"Mom." I said, cutting her off and making her look at me.

"You're right, sorry." she said, relenting.

With that settled, we started to make our way to the front door with Andrew at the front, me slightly behind him, and my parents behind the both of us.

Once we arrived at the front door, Andrew raised his hand to open it but his hand froze mid-way, and looking at his face, I could see he was nervous. So, I patted him on the back and he looked at me.

"It's now or never. You only have one shot. One opportunity." I said, borrowing the inspirational words of a certain rapper.

Nodding, he tried to open the door, only for it to be locked, so he knocked.

"You don't have your keys?" I asked.

"It's never locked so he can wander in whenever he's drunk." said Andrew.

"Oh."

Not hearing any movement from inside, Andrew knocked again but harder.

"I'm coming!" came a shout from inside the house that could only be one person.

"What?!" said a thin, balding, middle-aged man that reeked of booze with eyes closed from the sun shining right on his face. Also known as my Uncle Richard, thought Dick would be a more suitable name.

"D-dad." said Andrew, voice quavering and body shaking a little.

"Andrew, what the fuck are you knocking for?!" he said, opening his eyes to see his son only for him to lay eyes on people he didn't expect to see.

"Wha-"

"You son of a bitch! Where's my sister?!" said Mom, getting right to the point, and ignoring the whole letting Andrew take care of it thing we had semi-discussed only moments earlier. But maybe it was for the best she did that because I noticed that Andrew had stopped shaking and seemed more confident with my Mom taking the lead.

"Debb? W-what are you doing here?" he asked, nervous at what her presence meant.

"I'm here to get my sister and my nephew out of here! How dare you lay your hands on your child?!" she said, storming to the front of the group.

"Like hell you are! She's my wife! And so what if I hit him, he's my kid! Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?!" he said, going from being on the back foot to getting angry.

'Seems like he still cares for his wife. Or at least that's what he thinks. It's more likely that he feels superior to her and without her around he'll have to come to terms with what he's become. So he keeps around just to make himself feel good. As for the abuse toward Andrew, it stems from jealousy. He's jealous that his wife shows more love for Andrew than she does for him, so he takes it out on Andrew. What a loser.' I thought.

"Are you out of your mind?! Listen to yourself! Look at what you've become!" she said.

"What?! You bitch!" he said, swinging at her.

Feeling that things might turn physical, I was paying close attention to his movements to make sure I could stop anything that was coming. And seeing him swing at my mother got me angry which made my PK stronger, allowing me to pull his arm away from her and toward empty air, causing him to stumble onto the ground.

But before I could do anything more, my dad intervened.

Picking him up from the ground and slamming him against the wall, he got his face close to his.

"If you ever swing at my wife again, I'll kill you." he said, deathly serious.

'I don't think he's kidding. Seems like dad has a past.'

"You son of a bitch! Let me go!" said Dick, trying to struggle out of Dad's grip, to no avail.

"Go. I got him." said Dad.

"Come on boys. Quickly." said Mom, dragging Andrew and me inside.

"Where's Karen?" she asked Andrew, who was lost in thought.

"Andrew!" she said, clapping her hands to get his attention.

"S-sorry. Mom's over here." he said before leading us to a bedroom where a sickly pale and gaunt Aunt Karen was laying on the bed with a nasal cannula, asleep.

"Oh, Karen." said Mom, tearing up at the sight of her sick sister before going up to her and grabbing her hand, causing her to stir awake.

"D-debb?" she said, confused at why her sister was there.

"Karen. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't help sooner." she said, crying.

"W-why are you here?"

"Andrew told us everything." she said, wiping her tears.

"Andrew." said Aunt Karen, looking at him for confirmation.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I couldn't take it anymore. I don't care about Dad hitting me. I just want you to get better!" he said, tearing up as he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry, honey. I've failed as a mother. I'm supposed to be taking care of you, protecting you. I can't even do that." she said, crying as she hugged him.

"Stop. You did your best."

"Thank you." she said, as they silently hugged for a while.

"Karen, why didn't you say anything? You know I would've helped you in a heartbeat." asked Mom.

"I know, Debb, but I didn't want to burden you with our problems."

"We're family. We're supposed to help with each other's problems."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't forgive you. Not until you let me help you get better."

"You always were one for guilt-tripping me. Haha- cough cough."

"Good, that means it works." said Mom, smiling while wiping her tears.

"I'll go with you, but please, don't call the cops. He's a good man. He's just lost his way." pleased Aunt Karen.

"Okay, I won't. But if he ever tries anything, I will call the cops."

"That's fine. I know he can change."

"You always did see the best in people."

~

After Aunt Karen agreed to allow us to help her, Mom called for one of the ambulances from the hospital she works to transport her there.

Meanwhile, I helped Andrew get anything he would need to live with us.

"Underwear?"

"Haha, I got some." chuckled Andrew.

"Without holes?" I joked.

"Screw you." he said smiling.

"You look happier already."

"Mm. Thanks."

"What are cousins for? Now, come on, let's go." I said while helping carry a box to my car.

On the way to my car, we passed by Dick sitting in his chair drinking a beer in silence, but seeing us pass by, he just stared with a dead fish look in his eyes.

And seeing that, I knew he wouldn't change. And he would be back.