Page 56 of Run Away Home: Tempered

I leave and walk back down the hallway. I notice the door to the linen closet is open. It’s overflowing. There are towels, papers, tools, and other junk all over the floor.

“Danny!” I yell.

“What?”

“What happened to this closet?” I walk back toward the living room.

“I needed to take a shower.” He throws the controller down. “Great! Now I lost. Thanks.”

“You made a huge mess!”

“I wanted a specific towel.”

“All the towels are the same! Now you can pick all that up before Peter gets home. I don’t want to listen to his mouth.”

“Nah. I’ll just leave it. I love hearing him bitch and yell at you. It’s my favorite.”

“Okay, but I’m not the one who did it! You did it. So, he’ll bitch and yell at you, not me.”

“I didn’t do it,” he says, smirking at me.

I stare back at him. We are in a full-on staring contest.

“You know what? I hear all the crap you have to say about me. You think I’m lazy? You’re lazy. You’re a big, lazy baby! Just to prove to you I’m not the lazy one, I’m going to go pick up the huge mess that you made. You can sit there and whine, and complain, and play car soccer all you want until Peter gets home.”

“Awesome. Thanks, Hayley.” He picks the controller back up.

“Fucking brat,” I mumble under my breath.

Back at the closet, I start folding the towels and stacking them on top of each other. Hand towels, beach towels, shower towels... Hmm, maybe they aren’t all the same.

After all the towels are picked up, I organize the other shit Danny ripped out of the closet. He did this on purpose! Okay. It’s okay. Let’s see... I’ll put sheets to the left, pillowcases to the right, I’ll put all of the tools back in the toolbox that they fell out of. The lightbulbs can go on the very top shelf, even though that giant baby will still be able to reach them from there.

I sigh.

Okay, random papers... I flip through some packets on the ground. Looks like our car and renter’s insurance policy. I wonder how much that costs? I flop onto my butt and start reading.

Life insurance? A two hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy? I read the entire page. My name is on here. Danny’s name is on here. We’re...beneficiaries?

So, wait, if Peter dies we get one hundred thousand dollars each? That’s insane! I’ve never even seen ten thousand dollars, let alone a hundred thousand dollars.

Why would he buy this? Just another fucking secret. This isn’t even a good one. It’s a boring one. Everything has to be a secret with him. Every little thing. It’s really stupid.

I collect the papers, pull out my cell phone, and take a picture of each document—front and back—then I put them neatly away in the closet and close the door.

Peter

Hayley’s in my room, sleeping in my bed. I guess she’s moved in permanently now? We should move into her room instead. It’s bigger! Oh well.

I change quickly into my pajamas and place my dirty work clothes into the laundry basket. I lift up the covers and get into bed, laying with my back toward her. I feel her turn over. She puts her arm around me.

“Hey,” she says groggily.

“Are you staying in here now?”

“Do you have a problem with it?”

“No. Not at all. How was your night?” I turn slightly to face her.

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