Prompt Contest - Eavesdropping

Another bump!
This driver certainly has a death-wish I thought as I repositioned myself on the tattered seat at the back of the double-decker bus. I lay still on my back, hidden from sight as someone walked down the aisle. I stared aimlessly at the pale roof above me, reading some of the rude and offensive graffiti spread across the windows and walls.

I was dressed informally with my school uniform and even though my watch read 09:55 at this point. I had no interest in going there. I continued to stay aimlessly into the pale void ahead of me, listening intently to the slow beatings of tunes performed by my iPod and the occasional rattle of the bus’s engine.

I had no interest in anything at this point in my life, I was fifteen years old and felt the entire world weigh down upon my shoulders, you see to put it as simply as possible; my father decided to have an affair a couple of weeks ago now and left my mum at home with no money and no support for me or my two younger brothers. He disappeared of the face of the earth and left us there to rot like a bad memory or horrifying nightmare.

My mother hasn’t stopped crying since then and I soon became fed up of it. My youngest brother Tommy just acted like nothing had happened and Tyler had kept quiet the whole time, my mum continued to confide with me her ‘feelings’ and ‘worries’ and I soon felt that she was only using me for a verbal punching bag.

I hadn’t been going to school now for a couple of days now, instead using my bus pass to catch almost every single available bus to travel away from my hometown as much as possible. From morning to night, I was there.

Another bump, this one much more focussed on the left hand side of the vehicle.
Did he just mount the curb? I thought; an awkward smile came across my face as the bus bounced on the spot and returned to its original height.

Soon, the bus came to a halt yet again, no doubt another bus stop to pick up other patrons.
If only they knew of the horrors I laughed to myself and smiled a cheeky grin. I soon heard the sound of approaching footsteps ascending the twisting staircase onto the second level. I ignored it; I was doing more important things.

Mum will be expecting me to listen to her day when I get back from ‘school’, I just wished she wouldn’t keep talking to me about Dad. Yeah, I hated his guts too but I don’t want to keep thinking about him.

Soon, the inevitable sounds of people talking from nearby broke my concentration; I opened my eyes and slowly lifted my upper body to sneak a peek through the chairs to the newly arrived passengers within my empty domain. It took a while at first, but I suddenly realised that I recognised them both. In truth I could only see the back of their heads from five rows ahead of me, but I knew them and knew their voices. They belonged to my mum’s best friends, Karen and Louise.

They had been around the home quite a lot recently which I was rather thankful for since Mum would decide to unload on them instead of me. Giving me the chance to do what I wanted.

I unplugged the headphones from my music player and decided to listen in, unknowns why but the curiosity was to tempting.

“I’ll ring her shortly and tell her we can’t come by”
“We’ll both talk to her; we’ll tell her we’ll come tomorrow instead”

Are they talking about Mum? I wondered.

“Well, we can’t be there all the time. She needs time to build her strength up, to come out and about with us.” Karen spoke reasonably.

“She’s been having trouble dealing with her emotions lately though; you know she’s having trouble with her kids. Daniel especially”

My ears immediately perked up at the mention of my own name, I knew now without a doubt that they were talking about my mother, and me.

“Daniel’s a sweet boy, just confused I reckon. He probably hasn’t had a proper method of dealing with his father’s departure yet so he’s being…well, a teenager at the forefront of it.”

“I can understand that Louise, but his mother depends on him to be strong for her, to give her support. He is still young and not completely aware of what is going on. If she continues to lean on him, he may start to act out”

What? Like avoiding school to sit at the back of buses listening to music all day? I reflected, suddenly realising how selfish that sounded.

“In truth Karen, they just need a nice sit down together and unload all of their feelings to one another; it could help in the long run for both of their recoveries”

As they continued to talk aimlessly and clearly unaware of my presence, I started to wonder and think harder on what my mother may be going through at this very moment. How she would be feeling without Dad being there. I also wondered what it would be like to raise three children alone.

Five stops later, Karen said her goodbyes and departed at her stop, another two after that and Louise vanished as well; leaving me behind to wonder on their kind yet honest words about my family’s condition, about my behaviour and about my mother’s feelings.

They were right of course.

I was being selfish and unfair. And I knew that deep down what I was doing wasn’t right for me, or for my mother.

Another three bus stops and I would be home, and I could see Mum and explain what I had been doing and that I was sorry.

Yeah, I think if I’m honest. We would be alright.



Word Count: 999