“I thought you were working,” Phil said, positioning himself in front of the door so that his mom wouldn’t see me.

                His mom glared at him. “No I’m not working tonight. I told you I wasn’t working tonight. Are you deaf?” She shoved him out of the way and her eyes landed on me. She glared at Phil.

                “So you think I’m working and you just invite people over to the house? Is that it Phillip?” she demanded furiously. “This is MY house! Not yours! You know you’re not allowed to have anyone over here! Or are you just disobeying me now? Is that it Phil?”

                Phil shook his head wildly. “I’m not disobeying you. Nick was just helping me with my homework,” he said, sounding confused again. He gestured at his homework on the floor.

                His mom glared and slapped him. The sound of it had me wincing. She shoved Phil and he stumbled back a little before catching his balance.

                “What happened to your arm?” she asked, glancing at the four cuts.

                “You fell when you got home last night. You tried to catch yourself on my arm,” Phil said, frowning to himself and glancing at the cuts curiously. I noticed that his mom did have really sharp looking nails. Ouch.

                She slapped him again, this time harder. “Don’t give me your fucking attitude Phil!” she snapped.

                Jeez. And I thought MY mom was crazy.

                “Sorry mom,” Phil said apologetically.

                “No! You’re not sorry! You’re never sorry! I spend all this money on you, I raise you, I do all this shit for you, and you disobey me. How stupid are you Phil? Can’t you ever do anything right?” she shrieked, grabbing him by his arm and digging her nails into his skin. I watched in horror, not sure what to do.

                Phil winced and got a guilty expression. “Sorry mom. I just wanted him to help me with my homework,” he said honestly.

                “No one needs to help you with anything Phillip. You’re a fucking idiot and you always will be. You’re too stupid for school. You know what? I bet you’ll drop out. You’re not going to do anything useful or successful with your life. Why? Because you’re a dumb piece of shit who can’t even obey his mother,” she screamed, releasing him and punching him in the chest.

                Phil winced again and rubbed his chest. “Sorry,” he repeated, slipping into his childlike mode.

                “You’re pathetic. Next time I catch you breaking my rules, I will break your fucking arm again Phillip,” his mom snarled before slamming his bedroom door.

                Phil came back over and sat across from me, frowning. “I thought she was at work,” he said with a shrug.

                “Are you okay?” I asked, panicked. Jeez! His mom had just fucking abused him!

                Phil gave me a confused look. “Duh. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

                “Uh…your mom just hit you?”

                He glared at me. “She did it because I was bad. I’m not supposed to have people over my house. I knew that. What, your parents don’t punish you when you break their rules?” he asked defensively.

                I raised an eyebrow. “Phil, my dad just grounds me.”

                “Oh,” he said, looking confused again. Oh my lanta. This boy.

                He shrugged again. I motioned to his arm where the four cuts ran down to his fingers. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Punishment?”

                He shook his head, glancing at them. “Nah. My mom came home from the bar and she fell. She tried to catch herself. It was an accident.”

                My eyes widened a little as I looked at the healing cuts on his face. “Like the cuts on your face were an accident?” I asked slowly.

                He nodded. “Yea. She got home from the bar before I got home from Angel’s. I came home late and she got mad and threw two glasses at me. Oh hit my hands and shattered and the other shattered above my head. It was an accident,” he said, looking unconcerned.

                Phil impatiently pointed at his homework. “Now let’s finish this!” he snapped.

                I nodded and got back to work helping him with his homework, occasionally glancing up at his shut door. I was afraid his mom would reappear.

                We finished and Phil put his homework away, zipping up his bag. He took my hand and pulled me over to his bed, sitting us down on it together.

                “I like you Nick,” he announced. “You’re not a pussy. You’re tough. But you’re not overly tough. I like that a lot.”

                I tried to keep my face casual, not wanting him to see my guilt. If he knew how terrified being around him made me…

                I shrugged. “Yea, I guess you’re not bad either. You’re pretty sexy, and not bad in bed,” I said and smirked.

                “You’re confident, aren’t you?” he asked, a dangerous smirk on his face now.

                “I like to call it my fag swag,” I said smugly.

                “I like your fag swag Nick,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me gently. I deepened it, wanting more of Phil after the other night.

                Phil tangled his hands in my hair, pulling me closer to himself. I licked his bottom lip and slipped my tongue in. Our tongues rubbed together playfully.

                Phil suddenly jumped away from me. He gave me an apologetic glance. “My mom,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t want to get in more trouble. She’s already mad at me.”

                I nodded in complete understanding. Oh my lanta his mom scared the hell out of me. And she apparently had Phil brainwashed into thinking that that was the proper way for a parent to treat their child.

                “I want to hang out with you. This weekend. We can go to the beach. The one that people rarely go to,” Phil said, his tone announcing that if I refused to go, he wouldn’t be a happy Phillip.

                “Maybe,” I said, pretending not to be interested. “If I’ve got nothing better to do.”

                But inside, I was beyond excited. I really was crushing on Phil, and I was starting to understand him better. Hanging out with him could be a disaster, but then again, it could be a great time.

                “Oh trust me Nick; you’ve got nothing better to do,” Phil growled, that dangerous smirk reappearing on his face.

                He leaned forward and kissed me deeply. He pulled away and ran a hand through my hair, staring into my eyes.

                His hand fell back to his side and he leaned back on his bed. Comfortable silence fell between us. I could hear the sound of a TV from Phil’s living room.

                Phil sighed and sat up after a few minutes. “You better get out of here. If she decides to have a drink anytime soon, she could get really pissed,” he said, jumping up.

                I got to my feet and followed Phil to his bedroom door. He led us out to the living room, where his mom was watching TV on the couch. She glanced up and glared at Phil.     

                “My friends are coming over tomorrow Phil. Because this is my house, I can have my friends over. And you know what that means. I see you anywhere near this house tomorrow, and I will fuck you up so badly you’ll wish you knew your father so that you could kick his ass for creating you. Stay at Angel’s or something. Just don’t come around here, or I’ll be pissed. And don’t you let me catch you disobeying me ever again,” she spat.

                She pulled her arm back and chucked the TV remote at Phil. He ducked just in time and the remote hit the wall and fell to the ground.

                “Sorry mom. I’ll stay at Angel’s tomorrow,” he said with a shrug, straightening back up.

                He took my hand and pulled me through the kitchen to the garage door. “Bye Nick. Remember, this weekend, it’s you and me. And if you don’t come to the beach, I’ll kick your ass,” he said and glared at me.

                “I’ll be there,” I said, waving my hand dismissively. Phil glared and nodded. He kissed me quickly before shoving me out of the door and shutting it.

                I left his house and began to walk towards my house, realizing how far away Phil lived. Jeez, and he had walked home from my house before.

                I felt awful for Phil. No wonder he was so mean and had so many mood-swings. I would be the same way if I had to live with someone who treated me like that. And poor Phil thought that that was normal.

                “Nick?”

                “Don’t kidnap me!” I screamed, jumping away from the car in surprise.

                My dad raised an eyebrow at me, leaning out of the window of the police car. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

                “Oh. I went over to Phil’s house to help him with his history homework,” I explained, relaxing. My dad wouldn’t kidnap me. At least I don’t think he would…

                “Well, this is a dangerous neighborhood. Get in and I’ll drop you off at home. You should’ve called mom for a ride,” he said.

                I got in the car and buckled up as he took off down the street. I shrugged and leaned back against the seat. “I didn’t think to,” I said honestly.

                “Well, I don’t like you down here. Next time invite this Phil kid to our house. What’s his last name?” he asked.

                “Brooks,” I said.

                Dad made a face. “Probably Rachel Brooks’s son. I definitely don’t want you there Nick. If that’s your friend’s mom, she’s bad news. Invite him over from now on,” he said, shaking his head in disgust.

                “Yea. She seems kind of crazy,” I said and made a face at the thought of the way she treated Phil.

                “Oh yea. We’ve had problems with her before. I don’t want you over there.” Dad sighed as he pulled into our driveway.

                He glanced at me and gave me a small smile. “Well, bye Nick.”

                I opened the door and unbuckled my seatbelt. I paused and glanced back at my dad. “Bye dad. I love you,” I said seriously. My thoughts had shifted to Phil. I couldn’t even imagine my life without my dad in it.

                He seemed a little surprised. “I love you too Nick,” he said and gave a wave as I shut the door. He pulled out of the driveway and I watched until he had disappeared down the street.

                I went into the house and up to my room. I shut my bedroom door and fell back on my bed, smiling to myself. This weekend would be just me and Ph-

                Kenneth. Oh my lanta I forgot about Kenneth.

                I sat up and groaned, burying my face in my hands. “Why can’t my life ever just be easy?” I moaned. Well. This could be a serious problem…