What They Left Behind Read online

They tried to get along as best they could without their father, but it was hard. They were basically taking care of themselves. Bryan’s schedule became more unpredictable. Sometimes he would come home and sometimes he wouldn’t. When he came home, it was usually late and he was never exactly sober.

  One night in June, Gennie woke up to open the window and let the cool summer air waft into their bedroom. She looked over at Ben. He was fast asleep; his arms sprawled out with a small puddle of drool on his pillow.

  “Ugh,” Gennie said, chuckling. Then she heard a truck with a bad muffler coming down their road. When she saw the headlights of a rusty 1952 Chevy pick-up, she jumped back into bed. She didn’t want Bryan to catch her still awake.

  She heard the truck’s engine idling, then the garage door opening. The engine became louder as Bryan drove into the garage.

  The garage door closed but the engine was still on. He’s drunk, she thought. She prayed he would fall asleep and suffocate on the fumes. She felt guilty for thinking that, but at least then they would have a chance of going to a foster home with decent parents.

  A minute later, the engine switched off and Gennie heard nothing. She soon fell asleep.

  “Get the hell up!” Bryan shouted in their room some time later.

  “Why?” Ben replied groggily.

  “I need dinner!” Bryan’s words were so slurred they were barely understandable.

  “There’s leftovers. Just go heat them up. It doesn’t exactly take an Einstein to do that.”

  Gennie opened her eyes just in time to see Bryan flying into a rage. He grabbed Ben by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. Then he smacked him hard across the face several times.

  At first, Gennie was stunned, but then her instincts kicked in. She took out her Dad’s Smith & Wesson revolver she hid under her pillow and pointed it directly at Bryan’s greasy blond head.

  He stopped as soon as he heard the safety click off.

  “You don’t know how to use that,” he said.

  “Try me,” Gennie replied.

  He let go of Ben’s shirt.

  “I guess I’ll heat up those leftovers, whatever they are.”

  “Good idea,” Gennie replied.

  Bryan left the room as quietly as he came in. Gennie had the gun pointed at him until he closed the door.

  She looked at Ben. His face was red and he was gasping for air.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” he whispered. He brushed the tears falling down his cheeks.

  “Do you want a hug?”

  “No,” he replied. Without looking at her, he returned to his bed.

  Gennie went to bed too, feeling an enormous amount of remorse. She was sure Ben blamed this whole incident on her. She was the one who didn’t want to go to Seward.

  The next day was their last day of school. Their final report cards were horrible. Gennie barely passed the last quarter, getting mostly D’s and a few F’s. Ben failed everything, and his teacher wrote in her precise script that he would have to repeat eighth grade again. Gennie knew the best decision for them would be to leave.

  That night Bryan was gone again. They went to bed at one o’ clock in the morning but were unable to sleep. Gennie tried to read a book but she couldn’t concentrate on it.

  “Ben,” she finally said, “I have something to tell you.”

  “What?” he replied, his eyes closed.

  “I think you were right. It would probably be best to go to Seward.”

  He opened his eyes and frowned.

  “Finally came to your senses, huh?”

  “What happened yesterday was the last straw. I didn’t know Bryan was going to be such a jerk.”

  “You’re okay with switching schools and making all new friends?”

  “Yeah, what about you?”

  “Well, I’m going to drop out.”

  “What! You can’t do that!”

  “It’s the best thing, Gen. I don’t want to be the oldest middle schooler in history. It’s embarrassing. And that way I can take care of Eva’s mom during the day.”

  “We only have a couple more years of school. Why don’t you just finish them up?”

  “No,” Ben said, “I’ve decided already. No more school after this.”

  “I know you’ll change your mind when we move out to Seward.”

  Ben said nothing. He just turned away from her and fell asleep.

  The next day Ben called the Dougherty’s and said he would take them up on their offer after all. Dick was thrilled and said his family was going to visit his mother-in-law next week. They would pick them up and take them to Seward on Monday.

  Bryan usually spent the entire day with his girlfriend on Saturday, but today he came home around three o’clock. Gennie was adjusting the rabbit ears on their TV and Ben was upstairs taking a nap.

  “Hello,” she said cheerfully.

  “Hi,” he mumbled. He sounded drunk again.

  “I’ve got good news.”

  Bryan plopped down on the plush pink sofa, one of the few things from their mother they actually used. He looked at the TV listlessly.

  “Don’t you want to know what it is?”

  “No,” he said flatly. “I don’t care about girly crap.”

  “It’s not girly crap. Ben and I are leaving.”

  His eyes widened and he sat up a little straighter. “You mean leaving as in moving out?”

  She sat in the matching chair across from the sofa. “Yep.”

  Bryan looked surprised at first, but then his light blue eyes darkened.

  “Who’s going to make my supper, then?” he demanded.

  Gennie stood up in front of him, blocking the TV.

  “You are going to make your own supper,” she said, pointing a finger at his chest. “We’re getting out of here, whether you like it or not.”

  Bryan stood up. He was easily a foot taller than she was. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said calmly.

  Gennie wasn’t intimidated. She laughed. “Oh, yes we are. Monday morning the Dougherty’s are going to be picking us up and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.”

  He frowned slightly. “You think so, huh?” he said without emotion. Before Gennie knew it, he punched her in the face so hard she fell to the floor. Before she realized what was happening, he was on sitting on top of her, hitting her face repeatedly. She tried to cry out to Ben, but because of the blood in her mouth, all she could make was a few garbled yelps.

  “Hey, what’s going on down there?” she heard Ben say. His feet were running down the stairway steps. She hoped he had the gun with him.

  Bryan lunged at Ben while he was still on the stairs. He had the gun with him, but when he tried to fire it, it simply made a clicking sound. Bryan grabbed hold of the gun and they struggled with it. Gennie tried to yell stop but nothing came out of her throat. Bryan snatched the gun away from Ben and in one swift movement hit him over the head with the butt end of it. He curled up in a ball at the foot of the stairs, his arms covering his head. That was the last thing Gennie saw before she slipped into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 4: June 23