“Really? You don’t know?”
“I wouldn’t ask if I did.” Her tone told me in no uncertain terms that I was to finally use my brain.
“Wow. What a loving family I have. Took them six days to notice that their youngest child moved out.” I said, looking her dead in the eyes.
While her friends’ eyes widened at this scoop about their friend’s private life, Ava herself was stunned for a moment, trying to understand what I just told her.
“Wh ... What!? You can’t move out! You’re only sixteen!”
“No, I’m not.” She just stared at me like I had a stroke or something, so I sighed and explained it to her. “Not that any of you noticed, since you were busy with Golden Boy’s return from college that day, but I’m seventeen, Princess, so I CAN move out.”
I was intrigued to see her shoulders slump and her eyebrows knit. Her entire facial expression looked like she was just about to say “Oh crap!”. This was highly unexpected. But I continued.
“So, do me a favor. Call your parents, and tell them I moved out a fucking week ago. If none of you assholes even noticed it until now, they shouldn’t act like they care about it. I wonder what set them off, though. Was it your mother who noticed first because my chores weren’t done? Or was it your father who wanted to complain that I hadn’t paid my rent this month?” Her two friends regarded Ava with doubting looks after hearing that.
“Why do you keep saying ‘your parents’ and ‘your mother’? Aren’t you siblings?” Joan asked.
“Tell me, Joan. Imagine Jenny didn’t come home from school today. No note, no call, she just ... vanished without a trace. How long do you think it would take you and your parents to notice? Would it be less than the week it took Ava to notice that her little brother was gone, or longer?”
Hearing that, Joan looked at Ava with shock and disbelief. Ava was visibly uncomfortable with the way this conversation went, and tried to change the topic away from their misgivings.
“But ... where did you move to? Did you move in with Tess?”
Now, she was no longer just uncomfortable. She downright paled when she noticed the look I gave her as soon as I heard Tess’ name, and took a step back when I stood up.
“No, I’m renting my own apartment. Now, if you’re quite done with this public shitshow...?” I said, and moved past her out of the cafeteria.
I checked my phone and realized I had received a barrage of texts and calls from Claire, Aaron, Grandma and Grandpa. The texts were all the same, just asking where I was, pleading to call them. So, I decided to call Grandpa back, who was at the top of the list of missed calls.
“Tim!?” I heard his concerned voice.
“Yeah, I just saw all your missed calls. What’s up?” I said, playing dumb to see if they would tell me anything other than Ava had.
“Where are you, kiddo?”
“Having my lunch break in the school’s cafeteria. Where else would I be?”
“Well... ” My relaxed tone seemed to irritate him. “Susy and I just arrived here this morning, but when we wanted to put your birthday present in your room, it was basically abandoned.”
“Of course it was, I moved out last Saturday. Now, listen, my lunch break is over and I gotta get to my next class, so if there’s nothing else...”
“You ... Wait! CLAIRE!” I heard him scream, sounding quite angry. “What do you mean ‘moved out’!? Where did you move to? And a damn week ago!?”
What followed were the muffled and barely audible sounds of an argument, though I wasn’t really interested in what was happening in that house, so I interrupted them.
“Listen, I really need to get to class now. I’ll come around the house on Saturday. Bye.”
I hung up before either of them could say anything more. After classes were over and I was on my way to work, I saw they had called me three more times. I didn’t care anymore. If they had just forgotten about the date, I could overlook it. What actually made the difference was finding the leftovers in the trash can on my birthday. And the grandparents were no better in my book. They had told Claire to fix this crap, just to immediately vanish again for a year. As far as I was concerned, they were in absolutely no position to lecture anyone about familial bonds and obligations.
The following day, I managed to avoid Ava at school and the family’s calls, until I came back from work and found Granny and Grandpa standing in front of the apartment complex. They were talking to Paul, who gave me a desperate look as soon as he noticed me.
“Dude! Finally!” he called out in relief, like I was somehow supposed to know they would be waiting for me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, looking between their faces.
“We want to talk to you. So we asked your employer, who told us you’re living with this young man now. Though, he’s refusing to invite us in.” Granny explained, like this was supposed to make any sense to me.
“Ma’am, I already told you, we don’t live together. We live in the same building, not the same apartment! I can’t just let people I don’t know into his home!” Paul explained in a mix of patience and desperation.
“Sorry, Paul! Grandpa ... didn’t I tell you I’d swing by the house tomorrow?”
“Now listen here, Kiddo! We came here...” he started annoyed, but I was in no mood for his tone. I was finally free, and I was NOT going to take that baggage with me into my new life.
“Alright, stop right there! Let me make this perfectly clear from the start, Grandpa. I didn’t move out on a whim! It cost me a fucking fortune to set this place up, after I spent months finding it. I moved out because I’m done taking their shit!” I paused to make sure he got what I had said, without wanting to reveal too much in front of Paul. “Now, this is my home. Either you respect it or you can fuck off right now.”
Grandpa was taken aback for a moment, surprised about my demand and tone. It seemed like he wasn’t too happy with me speaking to him like that, when Grandma stopped him by speaking up.
“You’re right, Tim. We’re sorry.” she said, throwing her husband a side glance. “Please ... can we go inside and talk?”
I looked at her for a moment, trying to gauge her sincerity. Then I led them into the building with a nod, and offered them a seat on my sofa while I went into the kitchen for something to drink. When I came back into the living room, however, Grandma was gone. I found her in my bedroom, sitting on my bed with a thoughtful expression on her face, as she took in the dull and empty surroundings. I watched her for a minute, until she finally noticed me standing in the doorway.
“Oh! I’m sorry, pumpkin!” she said with a sad smile. “How are you feeling?” she asked, in a concerned tone.
“I’m fine.” I answered, not sure whether she was apologizing on her daughter’s behalf, for enabling her, or for sneaking around my apartment. Then I moved towards my desk. “How was the drive?”
“Fine, fine. Tim ... where is all your stuff?” she asked, causing me to look at her in confusion while consciously keeping my smile up.
“What do you mean?” I noticed Grandpa standing in the doorway as I asked her that.
“I mean, why is it so empty here? Your room in the house only had three pieces of furniture left, so we thought you just took it all with you, but what little you have here looks and smells brand new. And where are all your personal things?” she clarified impatiently.
“And where is the furniture?” Grandpa added. “The second bedroom is completely unused, and the living room is only furnished with the bare minimum.”
“I only took my clothes and computer with me when I left. The furniture here looks new because it is. So, what you saw in my old room is basically how it looked before as well. My personal belongings are here.” I said and opened the middle drawer, pointing at its contents.