PillowFace Read Free

her sole custody of him. That was what finally put an end to all the squabbling. 
    Haley was grateful their parents had put so much faith in her to raise Joel, but was terrified of the obligations and responsibility.  Truthfully, she felt so burdened that it was sometimes hard to breathe. Given the circumstances, she felt she’d done the best she could so far, but understood there was much room for improvement.  Only being twenty-three, her job and own life kept distracting her attention away from her twelve-year-old brother. 
    He’d need her now more than before, especially with school out for the summer. 
    The first weekend of summer vacation had started with the unexpected death of their dog Rusky, a thick haired, five year old hound dog.  He went to sleep at the corner of the house, where the trees from the woods shaded a nice pool of comfort from the heat, and never woke up.  Joel found him around nine last night when he’d failed to come home for his favorite meal of Gravy Train.
    Joel had wanted to tramper into the woods and bury him right then, but Haley had refused. It quickly became a shouting match. She finally said they could go out there together to bury him, and that seemed to have angered him even more.  He’d wanted to be alone to do it.  She understood and even respected that, but she wasn’t going to allow him to go into the woods by himself at night.  He could get lost, hurt, maybe even worse.  After hours of arguing, he’d finally agreed to wait until the morning, and then he’d stomped away to his bedroom and drifted off to sleep watching chainsaw murder movies.
    Him wanting to bury Rusky was the only reason she’d attempted to get him up so early this morning.
    Where’s he at? He should’ve come down by now.
    The phone rang, only once, but it was enough to ground her where she stood.  She knew who it was.  Him .  The one who kept calling.  He was just saying hello.  Unlike last night when he’d offered her the smacking sounds of him masturbating.  Of course she’d hung up, but that hadn’t discouraged him from calling back in time for her to hear a repulsing, whispery moan of ecstasy as he climaxed. 
    “On my way,” Joel cried, jarring her from her thoughts.  She could hear his clumsy, tired footsteps treading from the living room.
    Haley took another sip of coffee, and suddenly felt nervous. 
    How did Mom and Dad do this?
    Joel entered the kitchen, dressed still in what he’d been wearing last night.  His hair was a rustled mess.  Flat in the front, it pushed its way back on his head and stuck up in points. 
    “Good morning,” she said.
    “Hey.”  He squinted at the brightness of the kitchen.
    “How are you feeling?”  She stood by the island, tossing things in her purse as he sat at the table.  He groaned his response.  “That good, huh?”
    “I’ve been better.”
    “Fell asleep watching Chainsaw videos again?”
    “It helps me relax.”
    Hearing him say that made her feel weird.  How can movies depicting scantily clad women being devoured with various gardening tools be relaxing?   She enjoyed reading something with scares and chills, but not blood and boobs. She’d never understand someone’s love for gore, which also made her fear she’d never understand her own brother, either.
    “Are you doing okay, I mean, after Rusky……”
    “Stop it,” he said, cutting her off.
    “If you want to talk about it…”
    “I don’t.
    This was already harder than she’d anticipated.  “Sure?”  He nodded.  “Okay.”
    “What’s to eat?”
    Raising her shoulders, Haley lowered her head while warily grinning.  “Well…”  She grabbed a paper plate from the counter, and carried it to the table like a waitress, sitting it in front of him.  He frowned at the two, rectangle-shaped pastries, burnt in the corners.  
    “Pop tarts?”
    “Yeah……It’s strawberry, your favorite.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    “Uh… no, I’m