Indie-licious Blog Hop - Indelible (8)

Happy Sunday Everyone! In the last teaser for Indelible, we got a peak into Sam's life when we met her daughter, Karrie, and friend Molly. This week we will look into Judd's life. Please remember, this is an unedited first draft. Enjoy!

Judd

            I turned onto the street I grew up on, barely noticing the fading, dilapidated houses lining it, and slowed down to stop in front of Dad’s house.

            It had once been a brilliant blue, but not long after Mom’s death, my dad had painted it beige. He’d painted the entire thing beige. Inside and out. It was like, with her gone, all of the color had gone out of our lives. I guess, in a way, it had.

            I left my helmet hanging off my bike, sure that the punks in the neighborhood knew better than to mess with anything of mine.

            I walked through the overgrown grass and up the cracked path. I remembered how tidy and sweet this place had been when I was a little kid, and felt a familiar twinge of regret as I reach the stoop.

            The screen door had been torn off the hinges and placed on the stoop next to the door, so I moved stray strands of screen out of the way and got my key to let myself in.

            Damn… The smell that hit me when I opened this door was nothing like Mrs. P’s, it smelled like straight ass. What seemed to be a mixture of B.O., stale beer, molding food, and cigarettes, melded together in a horrendous odor that had me gagging a bit as I rushed over to open the windows.

            I looked around in disgust. My dad had done a lot of damage since the last time I’d been by. I’d straightened the place up then, but you wouldn’t know it to look around the space now.

            After I got the windows open, I walked through the house looking for my dad.

            I found him in the back bedroom, the one he used as the T.V. room. My mom didn’t believe in having a T.V. in the living room, she’d said the living room was for socializing and spending time with the people who were important to you. It was one of the few things my dad still adhered to, even all these years after her death.

            The television was on mute, but the pictures flashed across the screen, lighting up the room like a strobe light. Dad was passed out in his recliner, last night’s T.V. dinner on the table next to him, surrounded by a twelve pack of empty beer cans.

            I walked over and touched him lightly on the shoulder.

            “Hey, Dad, why don’t you go lay down in your bed?”

            He jerked and snored a little louder, but didn’t wake up.

I looked over at the picture of my mom on the wall. My lips turned up at the sight of her long dark hair spilling over her shoulders, and the big smile that had always seemed to be on her face.

I missed that smile.

I straightened up and pulled my hair back, deciding it may be best to just leave Dad as he was, as I went into the kitchen to grab a trash bag.

            An hour and three trash bags later, my dad was still asleep in his chair, but the television was off and he was covered up with one of my mother’s quilts. I shut the windows and locked up behind me, breathing a sigh of relief as I got on my bike and drove back towards campus.

 

 

I know, I know... it was another long one, but I couldn't find a good place to end it. I wanted everyone to get to know Judd a little better! :)

Don't forget to stop by the other participating blogs - http://indieliciousblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/teaser-sign-ups-421.html