Chapter 10

Mom and the girls left for their shopping adventure as soon as everyone was dressed and ready to go. All of them rushed out of the house and jumped into Mom’s car, not one saying goodbye or giving me a wave, nothing. I was a little bummed but decided to spend the day in my room playing Tecmo Bowl, as I slowly whittled away at the pillowcase of candy I had collected trick-or-treating. I couldn’t think of a better way to forget about how everyone just left me home without so much as a wave as they left.

I wasn’t paying attention to the time, the game taking up all my attention.

“Sam!” Dad yelled from downstairs in the kitchen.

“What!” I answered, raising my voice so he would hear my reply.

“Do you want some lunch?”

“No!” I had no desire for a cold ham and cheese sandwich, which was what Dad always made when Mom wasn’t around for lunch. I should have said no thank you, but I was deep in my game with a pile of wrappers strewn in a haphazard pile next to me on the floor. I had eaten so much chocolate and peanut butter over the last couple of hours, my stomach would be sufficiently stuffed for the next day or two.

“Have you been eating candy all day?” Dad called up the stairs, his voice accusing.

Shit! “No...” I answered weakly, but I took too long, and he knew that’s exactly what I had been doing.

I didn’t hear a response from Dad, which made me nervous. I didn’t dwell on it because the game was too close at that moment. I was playing against the Raiders with the Giants, and I needed to focus or Marcus Allen and Bo Jackson would run all over me. Playing against the Raiders wasn’t nearly as bad against the computer as it was when I played against Sara. She would only use the handoff to Bo every time we played. I had told her I thought it should be illegal because there was nothing I could do to stop it. She didn’t care. She would just laugh and run circles around my defenders, who were diving around like her player was a greased hog.

The final score was forty-two to twenty-eight, and I was sweating. I was still undefeated for my season, which was playing with only one team against everyone else. I was just getting the next game setup, against the Browns, which would be easy, when Dad came into the room. He had a cold sandwich on a paper plate for me with a pile of potato chips on the side.

“Sam, is this what you have been doing all day since your mom left?” Dad’s tone of voice was sharp, obviously not pleased with what he was seeing.

Hearing his voice shocked me and I visibly jumped from my sitting position. At the same time, I tried to sweep all the wrappers closer to me, hoping that my legs would hide the evidence.

“You better get this all cleaned up before your mom gets home,” Dad told me, pointing to a few M&M wrappers and Milk Duds boxes I had missed in my haste to clear the crime scene. “Here, eat this and quit eating all that candy.”

Dad placed the plate on my bed, shaking his head as he did so and walked out of my room. I sat there in place, the controller in my hand and didn’t move for a full minute after Dad had walked out. I didn’t even look at the wrappers I had missed, thinking that if I moved, I would only solidify my guilt.

I heard Dad make some noise downstairs and I knew it was safe. I grabbed the plate to see what he brought me. It was a basic tuna salad sandwich, nothing fancy or weird like mom would make. She loved to put boiled eggs or even celery in hers—both of which were awful. The one good thing was the fact he had put a generous pile of potato chips on the plate. It even seemed like none of the chips were broken, so I didn’t have to eat the dregs of the bag.

I decided to eat the chips. I didn’t have room for the sandwich, not that I wanted to eat it in the first place. The chips however, I had plenty of room for. Mom and the girls got home just before I was about to square off with the Forty-Niners. That game was going to be my Super Bowl, but I was interrupted by Mary and Sara as they barged into my room carrying large white plastic sacks bursting with stuff.

“Sam, your mom is so awesome!” Mary announced, dropping her bags onto my bed. “We went shopping, and she even bought us lunch at the food court, and I got a plate of beef and broccoli with fried rice.”

Mary was talking so fast I could hardly keep up and honestly, I didn’t even try to. I was about to finish off my perfect season. There was a lot of moving and bustling around behind me. I heard the rustle of bags and squeals of excitement, but I tried to ignore them. I had just kicked off to start the game, playing defense first and I was focused on keeping Jerry Rice and Roger Craig under control.

“Sam, you aren’t even paying attention!” Sara exclaimed. “Come on, let’s go to my room.”

I was in the middle of a play, and I managed to pick the computer’s play for a sack. I turned to look only to find that the girls had left, taking their bags with them as they left. I finished my game, which I won easily, but that was obviously the wrong decision. I put the game away and turned off my television and went to check on the girls. Sara, Mary, and Amy were all in Sara’s room going through their bags.

“Hey,” I said as I leaned my head into Sara’s room, expecting the girls to be excited to see me. That wasn’t the case at all.

Sara and Mary both looked at me. The look on Sara’s face told me I was worth about as much as the dirt on the soles of her shoes. Mary gave me an apologetic look but didn’t say anything. I knew what that meant, I fucked up. I watched the three girls for a minute, and it was only Mary who looked at me more than once but never made a move towards me or offered a word of encouragement. I sighed heavily and then walked downstairs to the living room where Mom and Dad were cuddled up on the couch watching a movie.

Dad saw me sit down across from and raised an eyebrow at me in question. I just shrugged and sank into the cushions. I tried to ignore the fact that I was shunned by the girls, which sort of worked, for a while anyways. When the movie we were watching ended, Mom got up, saying, “I am going to make dinner. Why don’t you go try again with the girls?”

She gave me a warm smile, telling me I should go upstairs but I was hesitant. I knew the girls would shun me again, but with Mom’s suggestion I did just that. To no one’s surprise, the girls ignored me when I informed them Mom was starting dinner. I hung my head, walked back down the stairs, and retook my seat. Dad grimaced, seeing my attitude written all over my face. The idea of going up to my room and staying there was sounding better and better every second. I only made it another ten minutes or so before I ended up heading back to my room. I started up a game of Castlevania, one of my newer games. This was a game I had never beaten, and it didn’t take long before I was totally engrossed.