Why You Shouldn't Lend A Bad Boy Your Clothes

by Philline Harms

  “They aren’t my parents. I mean, it’s my dad but not my mom. Hunter took this the day of the accident.” I gushed and sunk onto Darryl’s chair. “I totally forgot about it, but now I remember. I remember, Red! He’s cheating!”

  Red looked absolutely lost by now. “Why are you so happy about that?”

  Hunter’s words echoed through my head again. Maybe this can come in handy…Now, you finally have something against your father.

  “I can do something now. I have a way out. Fuck, Jade. I have a way out!” I laughed for the first time in days. “Thank you so much. You’re an angel.”

  Red’s features finally lit up with understanding. “Shit. Are you really gonna do this?”

  “I would be the world’s biggest idiot if I passed up this chance now, wouldn’t I?”

  Red pressed a hand to her chest and sunk back against Darryl’s desk dramatically as she declared, “I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of you in my entire life.” Before I could reply, she called out, “Hey, baby! Jules is gonna ruin his parents’ marriage so he can be with lover boy!”

  “Wait, what?” we heard Darryl calling from the shop. Seconds later, he slithered into the room. “You’re insane.”

  “Perhaps a little.” I agreed. “But I’m sick of being locked up, hushed, not listened to, not being understood, and not being able to be with my boyfriend. So if splitting up my family is the last resort, then to hell with it. My family went to shit years ago.”

  For a few seconds, Darryl and Red just stared at me. Then I suddenly felt squished between them as they both went to hug me, Red wrapping her arms around my waist from one side while Darryl was pulling me against his chest, knocking all the air out of me.

  “Hey, Jules?” Darryl asked.

  “Yeah?” I panted, struggling to breathe but not wanting them to ever let go of me all at the same time.

  “If what you’re planning to do doesn’t work out, you can come and live with me for a while.”

  I twisted so that I could look up at him. “Are you…Are you serious?”

  Darryl nodded solemnly. “Of course. I’m living in the apartment upstairs, right above the shop. There’s a spare couch that’s uncomfortable as hell, but…at least you’d be out of your parents’ reach.”

  “Thank you,” I said, a disbelieving smile spreading across my face.

  “No sweat, little guy,” Darryl answered.

  Behind me, Red laughed and ruffled my hair before she let go of me. “After a week, you’ll want to move out. I guarantee you that. He is awful at cooking, never cleans his room, and snores like a seventy-year-old.”

  “Oh? You didn’t seem to mind all of that for the entire last month when you basically moved in with me.” Darryl huffed.

  Red just smiled sweetly and swiftly kissed his cheek before skipping out of the room. “You like having me around.”

  Darryl glared after her for a second, then he turned back to me. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get to work then.”

  ***

  It was my dad who picked me up from work. He narrowed his eyes at me when he saw me looking remotely happy for a change but didn’t bother asking about it.

  “Hello, Dad,” I said as I got into the passenger seat.

  Instead of replying, Dad turned the radio as high as possible and didn’t spare me another glance. I, on the other hand, couldn’t take my eyes off him. Knowing he had been cheating on my mom for months made me see him in an entirely different light.

  Glancing at his hand resting on the steering wheel, I couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had slipped that ring on his finger into his pocket before, disregarding any thought of his wife and children.

  Did he feel guilty all those times? Did he kiss my mother and thought of another woman instead? Did he compare them in his mind? Did he think about leaving us?

  I chose not to dwell on it too much. Yes, I hated my father for what he had done, not only to me but to my mother as well, but the thought of splitting my parents up made my stomach churn.

  Luckily, the ride back home didn’t take long, and I was able to flee my father’s unyielding silence as soon as the car rocked to a stop. I followed my father into the house in silence, but we had barely closed the door behind us when the bell rang.

  When Dad opened the door, I nearly yelped in surprise when I saw who was standing in the threshold

  Loaded with a bag and a pile of blankets, Alexis smiled politely at my dad. “Good evening, Mr. Hatcher.”

  “Alex? What are you doing here?” I asked, coming up behind my father to get a better look at her.

  Alexis looked pointedly at me. “Hey, Jules. You invited me over for a sleepover, remember?”

  “Oh! Oh, yeah. Of course!” I said and turned to my father. “Dad, Alexis will be staying here tonight. Is that alright?”

  My father looked utterly confused. “You never mentioned an Alexis…”

  “That’s because you never talk to me anymore.” I pointed out.

  “I really hope it’s alright that I’ll sleep here.” Alex chimed in. “See, my parents are out of town, and I don’t really have anywhere else to go right now…”

  “Of course. You’re welcome to stay,” Mom immediately said from the other end of the corridor. “Come on in!”

  “Thanks so much, Mrs. Hatcher. I really appreciate it,” Alex said happily and nearly shoved my father out of the way in her hurry to get inside.

  “Wait, let me carry something,” I muttered and took the blankets out of her hands. “My room is upstairs.”

  Alexis, still smiling, followed me up the stairs and into my room. There she dropped her bag and settled on the edge of my bed.

  As soon as the door was shut behind me, I carefully asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I thought since prom is tomorrow, you might be feeling a little down,” Alex stated. “Hunter is devastated that you guys can’t be there together, so I thought maybe you’d feel the same, and you’d like someone to keep you company.” When she saw the look on my face, she added, “Don’t worry. Hunter’s taken care of by Adam and Liam.”

  “Oh. Alright. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She laughed. “So, any plans on what you want to do tonight?”

  “Uhm…There actually is something I wanted to do. Did Hunter tell you about my dad?”

  “That he’s cheating? He mentioned it.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Is it true that you want to tell your mom?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  She nodded slowly for a few seconds. I felt increasingly uncomfortable under her thoughtful stare, so I was glad when she finally said something. “You know that you might lose your father, right?”

  I only shook my head. “He lost me a long time ago.”

  Alexis considered that for a moment before she got to her feet. “Alright. Then I’ll be there and try to help. If you want me to, that is.”

  “That’d be great, actually,” I said, suppressing a relieved sigh.

  When another person was around, my father was less likely to throw a fit.

  “Okay. Let’s get it over with then, right?” she asked, nudging me with her elbow.

  Instead of replying, I opened the door and led the way into the living room where my parents were watching TV. I was suddenly immensely grateful that Maya was in her room upstairs so she wouldn’t have to witness all the drama that was about to take place.

  Alexis closed the door and leaned against it, sending me an encouraging smile.

  My parents still didn’t look at me, so to get their attention, I grabbed the remote and simply turned the TV off. Both their heads snapped up instantly, one face filled with confusion, the other with disdain.

  “We need to talk.” I began, gathering all of my courage.

  “We don’t need to do anything,” my father hissed. “Now turn the damn thing back on.”

  “Andrew.” My mother quietly warned after sending a cautious look
at Alexis.

  “Don’t worry, Dad,” I said coldly. “I’ll make it worth your while. I’ve got quite an interesting story to tell, so lean back and enjoy.”

  “Julian, what on earth—” He started, but he got cut off immediately.

  Alexis had her arms crossed over her chest and looked completely calm and collected when she said, “Hush, Mr. Hatcher. You will want to hear this one.”

  My father stared daggers at her, but she only replied with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smirk twitching around her lips.

  When my father remained silent, I began.

  “This is the story of a man who was a loving husband and the proud father of three children he loved more than anything else. He had a great job, a great car, and a great home. His life was perfect, or at least that was what one might have thought,” I said and couldn’t quite keep a sardonic tone from my voice.

  My father was quiet now, watching me warily as I started pacing around.

  “But one day, he found something out about his son that he didn’t like. At all. Because of his old childhood trauma and learned intolerance, he chose to hate his son instead of trying to understand him. Does this sound familiar?” I asked sharply, looking at my father.

  His face was a mask of anger and displeasure as he stammered, “What are you trying to—”

  “Don’t worry. This will get even more interesting. Especially for you, Mom,” I said. “The man became even more bitter and hateful after the death of his first son,” I said, even though the words stung on my tongue. “He started looking for a way out. He tried to distract himself with work, alcohol…and women.”

  I paused, not only for dramatic effect but to be able to fully enjoy the look of shock on my father’s face. His jaw was slack, his eyes bulging. He looked like a caricature of himself.

  “So, while his wife was at home with his children, he went out with other women under the pretense of attending business meetings. Who knows how long he would’ve done that if it wasn’t for his son, who caught him red-handed? And who, now, will put an end to this.”

  The more I talked, the more the words started to spill. I couldn’t stop, but I didn’t want to anyway. It felt good, saying these things. It felt good to escape the silence I had been forced into. A video started all of this, and now I was going to end it with pictures.

  Dropping the phone into my mother’s lap, I said, “And now it’s your choice, Mom. I gave you everything you need to know. What are you going to do with it?”

  Chapter 38

  There was no confrontation. No shouting, no tears, no drama. Nothing.

  Instead, my father left the room the second my mom pointed at the photo and uttered a quiet “Andrew…Is this really you?”

  Afterward, my mother didn’t speak a single word. Sitting there, silent and unmoving, she looked at the picture for minutes.

  After a while, Alexis left her post by the door and walked out into the corridor, motioning for me to follow her. I glanced back at my dumbfounded mother one last time before I left the room.

  Alexis was standing by the front door and handed me my jacket wordlessly. I shrugged it on as I made my way to her car, a small black Chevrolet. I didn’t ask where we were going. Truth be told, at that moment, I didn’t really care as long as it was away from my parents.

  Alex didn’t try speaking to me and turned some music on instead. After a few seconds, I recognized “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses.

  I raised a brow at her but didn’t comment. She just grinned and turned the volume higher until I could feel the bass thrumming beneath my feet.

  It was only after a few minutes that I realized where we were heading. “Really? To Nate’s?”

  Alexis shrugged though her cheeks turned pink. “What? He told me to come over whenever I need him. Right now, you do, so I don’t think he will mind if I extend his offer.”

  “How many times have you been here before without telling me?” I teased.

  “A few times? But it’s not like—” She stopped herself and scowled at me. “Stop laughing! You and Hunter aren’t much better.”

  I grinned. “Didn’t say we were.”

  “Then stop looking so smug!”

  “I’m just happy for you guys,” I said honestly.

  She was silent for a moment, smiling faintly. Suddenly, she asked, “Are you nervous about what your parents will do now?”

  “I thought I would be, but I’m not. I’m just worried for Maya and what an impact this might have on her. But I don’t regret it if that’s what you mean. Not after everything I went through because of my father.”

  “Maya will be fine,” Alex said reassuringly. “She’s got you. And she’ll have Hunter.”

  “Does he like children?” I asked curiously. For some reason, I couldn’t really imagine Hunter playing Barbie or drawing with Maya.

  Alexis laughed. “They scare the hell out of him. But I’m sure he’ll love your sister.”

  A grin spread on my face at the thought. “God, Maya will adore him. She usually latches onto any new friend coming over, but I feel like she’ll love Hunter even more.”

  We pulled up in front of Nate’s house only a few minutes later. His parents’ car was nowhere to be seen, which I took as a sign they weren’t at home.

  Nate opened the door after the first knock. He wasn’t wearing anything other than some sweatpants that were hanging low on his hips. His hair looked slightly wet from the shower he apparently just had, and drops of water were still glistening on his slender body.

  “Hey, man,” he said as he saw me, a surprised look on his face. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered and stepped aside so he could see Alexis behind me. “Coming here was actually her idea.”

  Nate’s face flushed bright red as soon as he spotted her. “Oh, h-hey, Alex. Sorry, let me just, uh…” he stammered and nearly tripped over his own feet in his hurry to run upstairs.

  Alexis was grinning widely as I winked at her and followed Nate into his room in the attic.

  He was just pulling a tank top over his head as we entered.

  “Didn’t need to put that on,” Alex said innocently, studying her nails as she perched on his desk.

  Nate looked like he was about to faint where he was leaning against the door, so I cut in. “Sometimes I forget that you and Hunter have been friends forever and wonder where these phrases are coming from. Then I remember, and I’m not surprised at all.”

  “You don’t even know the half of it.” Nate snorted. “Sometimes I’m one hundred percent convinced she’s trying to give me a heart attack.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’d never do that,” Alexis said. After a second, she added, “Not before prom. I need a date.”

  “Please. You could have anyone,” Nate replied, not looking happy about this fact in the slightest.

  The mocking look on her face slowly morphed into a genuinely sincere one. “And what makes you think I want anyone else when I can have an adorable, songwriting, hilarious, mixtape making, gorgeous, clever guitarist?” she asked.

  Nate stared at her like she had just grown a second head. Then he suddenly crossed the room at lightning speed and the next thing I knew, he was kissing Alexis like his life depended on it.

  I grimaced and flopped onto his bed face first.

  After what felt like hours, I felt the mattress dip and dared to look up at Alex and Nate sitting down on each side of me, looking more than a little disheveled.

  “Speaking of prom,” Alexis said as if nothing happened while simultaneously smoothing her hair down with one hand. “Jules might be there tomorrow.”

  Nate looked at me in surprise, so I quickly recounted everything that happened today. Afterward, we talked and talked and talked. About my parents, about tomorrow, about next year, everything.

  The longer we talked, the stranger the atmosphere around us got. It was full of anticipation and anxiety, hope and nervousness, yet
no one dared to say it out loud.

  The quiet before the storm.

  ***

  I returned home alone the next day. Alexis, Nate, and I had gone to school together after spending half the night sitting together on Nate’s bed, so I only returned home late in the afternoon.

  Anxiety was making my heart race as I stepped through the front door, curious to know what my mother had decided to do in my absence. Turned out, she didn’t do anything at all.

  I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was when she told me, “I don’t know what to do, Jules. He hasn’t been home all night. I know that he’ll return this evening though. He called and said I better decide what to do until then.”

  “Don’t tell me you consider forgiving him. Mom, he lied to you. He lied to all of us. Hell, who knows for how long he has been cheating? Maybe this isn’t even the first time,” I said, leaning against the kitchen table and looking down at her sitting in her chair.

  She took her glasses off slowly and placed them onto the table in front of her with shaking hands. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale.

  “Juley, I know that you’re angry at him—”

  “Aren’t you?” I interrupted her harshly. “Mom, what he did…It wasn’t…It wasn’t okay. Are you just going to completely disregard that and pretend nothing happened so you can stay with him? So you have someone to make decisions for you and tell you what to do? Are you really that much of a child?”

  Mom winced like I had punched her and looked down at her intertwined fingers. “You’re not fair. It’s not that easy. He—”

  I felt my patience wearing thin as I looked at her pathetic, pitiful figure. She looked at me with wide eyes when I tightly gripped her hand and held it up to her face so she could see her wedding ring still glittering there.

  “Yes, Mom. It is that easy. He cheated on you. Where do you think he is right now? Where he spent the night?”

  “Oh God,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “You think he was…with her?”

  Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at her naivety, I said, “Yes, Mom. And you know that’s not the only thing he’s done wrong in the last few months.”