InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Ho hum."

Jayden Alexander Delacroix (likeafirestar) wrote in nevermore_past,
@ 2017-01-21 23:41:00

Current mood:	scared
Entry tags:	isaiah delacroix, jayden delacroix

WHO: Jayden, Isaiah and Richard Delacroix
WHAT: Being bros
WHEN: We can't remember years but Isaiah is a senior in HS and Jayden is a sophomore and it's set in October near the beginning of the school year
WHERE: Their home in Baton Rouge
WARNINGS: Family violence

It was a dim hope, but Jayden honestly hoped when he stepped through the door of his home, his father wouldn't have been contacted about what happened at school that day. It was already late in the evening, since Jayden had immediately gone to do a shift at the soup kitchen after school. Part of him wished he could stay out until his father went to bed, but the cooks tended to think they needed to take pity on him and send him home early.

With his heart pounding in his throat, Jayden walked into the house, locking the door behind him. The entryway was dark and Jayden nearly hit the roof the second he heard his father's voice issue forth from the gloom. "Your teacher called me this afternoon."

A light above them flickered to life, and Jayden stared up at his father who looked furious. "Uhm...oh?" Jayden, in fact, knew exactly why his teacher had contacted Richard, but for some reason he felt like playing dumb.

"They said you caused a scene in the hall."

It wasn't true. Some jerk had pushed him into the lockers and held his face hard against the grate while several others crowded around and called him names. Jayden had hardly caused the scene, but Richard always blamed his bullying on him. "It wasn't me-"

"You bring it on yourself!" Richard suddenly yelled, and Jayden took a fearful step back. He hadn't even had a chance to hang his coat up. He was still holding his backpack. He just wanted to escape to his room. "What is wrong with you!"

"They hurt me-"

"Perhaps you need to get hurt if you let this kind of thing happen," Richard growled at him. Jayden dropped his head, his stomach turning to ice. "I am sick of constantly hearing about you causing problems at school!"

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walkabrokenline
2017-01-21 06:01 am UTC (link)

Isaiah had gone immediately from school to the mall. He had a part-time job at GameStop, which his father didn't love, but he approved of Isaiah working, so he kept going. And it was a great excuse to be gone from early until late.

He trooped in at the tail end of the argument, his forehead creasing in confusion at the scene before him. "What's going on?" he asked, removing his coat and scarf. "What happened?"

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likeafirestar
2017-01-21 06:10 am UTC (link)

"None of our concern, Isaiah," Richard growled at his son, before pointing viciously at Jayden. "You are a constant disappointment! Every week I hear about you causing trouble!"

Jayden had stopped replying, instead choosing to shrink down as Richard advanced on him. He was fairly sure if he said something Richard would hit him or send him to bed without dinner, and Jayden just wanted to get through this and go on with things.

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	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 06:15 am UTC (link)
	"The hell it's not," Isaiah replied. "I've never heard of Jayden causing trouble, and I'd think I'd know, the school isn't that big. Leave him alone already, come on." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

likeafirestar
2017-01-21 06:21 am UTC (link)

"I get calls from the school every week!" Richard shouted at Isaiah in protest. "You are weak like your brother," he hissed, and Jayden knew he meant Jesse. Not that Richard ever said Jesse's name any more.

"Those boys did it to me!" Jayden finally protested, since Isaiah's words gave him a small amount of bravado.

"Because you're a degenerate!" Richard bellowed. "They can smell it on you. Why can't you be more like Adrian!? He's off doing God's work and I'm stuck here with you two!"

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	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 06:27 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, because he's getting picked on, and they're probably wondering why you don't care!" Isaiah retorted. "And Adrian probably left because he was sick of putting up with you, and the mission work let him get the hell out of here." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	likeafirestar 2017-01-21 06:31 am UTC (link)
	Richard spun on Isaiah then, backhanding him across the face. Jayden yelled out, jumping forward and trying to push himself between Richard and Isaiah, but Richard pushed him back. Jayden tripped over his feet,crashing into the door hard. "Keep out of this, you pansy!" he yelled at Jayden before glaring at Isaiah. "How dare you speak to me that way!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 06:35 am UTC (link)
	Isaiah stumbled back, tripped over his bag, and only managed to keep from falling like a tree by grabbing the door frame. "Because you're an asshole," he shouted. "You treat us like shit for things that aren't our fault, you constantly talk down to us, and you basically ignore us until we've done something 'wrong'. Are you really surprised?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

likeafirestar
2017-01-21 06:39 am UTC (link)

"You little shit!" Richard yelled, and he went to hit Isaiah again, but Jayden yelled and stopped him.

"It's my fault! I'll be better, okay!? I'll try to be better, please."

"Get upstairs, both of you! Don't come out for the rest of the night! I don't want you in my sight," he yelled, and then he spun on his heel and left them.

Jayden turned to Isaiah and sniffed hard, trying not to cry.

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	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 06:42 am UTC (link)
	Isaiah let out a huge breath, picked up his bag, and peered at Jayden. "You OK?" he asked quietly. "Come on up, I've got some food in my bag if you're hungry. I didn't figure he'd remember we need things like dinner." He mounted the stairs to their rooms, wanting to be away from here as quickly as he could. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

likeafirestar
2017-01-21 06:46 am UTC (link)

Isaiah was the one who had been hit, but here was was asking if Jayden was okay. Jayden was constantly weak and pathetic and no wonder he was such an easy target.

He nodded though, because he was hungry, and he wanted to get the hell out of the entryway. He followed Isaiah silently, until Isaiah's door had closed behind them.

"I'm sorry," Jayden apologised quietly. It wasn't the first time Isaiah had been hit because of him.

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walkabrokenline
2017-01-21 06:50 am UTC (link)

Isaiah tossed his bag onto the bed, and he followed after it, sinking down gratefully. "It's not your fault, Jayden," he sighed. "Dad's a raging asshole, I swear he's just looking for an excuse now."

He grabbed his bag, opened it, and took out a bag of fast food. It wasn't great, but he got a mall employee discount and he was able to bring home more for about the same cost.

He divided it between the two of them, then asked, "What about you, are you OK? Some idiots messing with you again?"

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	likeafirestar 2017-01-21 07:00 am UTC (link)
	Jayden's stomach lurched at the smell of grease and oil. He was suddenly starving and he shoved several of the fries into his mouth before sinking down onto Isaiah's bed. "Doesn't matter," he said, with his mouth full. "How's your face? Is it going to bruise?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 07:03 am UTC (link)
	"Matters to me," Isaiah muttered, before taking a bite of burger. "And I doubt it. He's hit me harder than that before. If there's any marks, I'll just tell people I ran into something. It's worked before." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	likeafirestar 2017-01-21 07:08 am UTC (link)
	Jayden's face twisted in disapproval, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He grabbed a piece of a burger and took a bite as well. "Thanks for the food," he said quietly. "I tried to tell my teacher not to call him. They probably think I'm being self-deprecating, not trying to feel safe in my own house." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 07:15 am UTC (link)
	"Not a problem," Isaiah told him. "Figured he hadn't fixed anything. And I fucking swear, the teachers in that school can't see past the ends of their noses. They're idiots. I hate this town." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	likeafirestar 2017-01-21 07:19 am UTC (link)
	"Me too," Jayden whispered. He inched closer to Isaiah as he chewed, wanting to feel close to someone. "I think they think they're helping. At least the guys from school didn't hit me this time. Just held me against the lockers." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 07:23 am UTC (link)
	Isaiah shimmied sideways so he could be next to Jayden. "Wouldn't surprise me," he sighed. "Dad's probably convinced them that we're all just...useless, or something, I don't know. And while I'm happy that they didn't hit you, they shouldn't be hitting you at all. Assholes." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

likeafirestar
2017-01-21 07:29 am UTC (link)

Jayden just shrugged and he leaned his head against Isaiah's shoulder. "Can I stay in here with you tonight?" he asked quietly. He used to sleep in Adrian's room a lot, stretched out across the floor beside Adrian's bed. Adrian was gone now, and Isaiah was the only person Jayden had left. "I keep having nightmares. The ones about Mom again."

He didn't remember much about their mother, but he had seen enough photos to know what she looked like. He constantly dreamt of her death while he stood on and watched, unable to change it, unable to stop it. On occasion it was Richard who murdered their mother in front of him, and sometimes it was a faceless person. A car crash. A fire. The medium changed, but the end result was always the same.

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	walkabrokenline 2017-01-21 07:42 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah, course," Isaiah replied, resting his cheek briefly on top of Jayden's head. He didn't really want to leave Jayden on his own tonight, especially after their showdown in the entryway. "Do you want to talk about them?" he asked softly, not wanting to push Jayden if he didn't want to say anything. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	likeafirestar 2017-01-22 05:09 am UTC (link)
	"Just always the same," he muttered. "Are you sure your face doesn't hurt too bad? I can sneak down to get you ice?" The thought terrified him because if Richard caught him there would be hell to pay, but for Isaiah he would do it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-22 05:23 am UTC (link)
	"No, it'll be fine," Isaiah sighed. "Or at least, it's not worth you getting caught by dad. But if you ever do want to talk about them, I'll listen. Feels like we're all each other has." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	likeafirestar 2017-01-22 05:31 am UTC (link)
	Jayden's chest ached for a moment, but he didn't say anything. Instead he moved off the bed, standing so he could head towards the door. "I should go get my sleeping bag. I'm so tired." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	walkabrokenline 2017-01-22 05:40 am UTC (link)
	Isaiah wished he could tell Jayden he didn't have to sleep on the floor, but his bed was the one he'd gotten when he was 12, and once he'd hit his growth spurt, it was just about too small for just him. "Yeah, alright," he said through a yawn. "I'm gonna get my pajamas on and brush my teeth." (Reply to this) (Parent)