Free Incomplete by Lindy Zart Page B

room.”
    He laughs at that, tugging a long-sleeved red shirt over his head.
    “Did you brush your teeth?”
    Aidan makes a face. “No.”
    “You better. You don’t want to offend Lily with your puke breath.”
    “I don’t have puke breath,” he grumbles, but I know he’ll brush his teeth now. Aidan has a crush on Lily. Not that I blame him—it’s entirely too easy to do.
    I go to my room and throw on a pair of jeans and a brown shirt with a black and gray-striped jacket over that before I thunder down the stairs with my jaw clenched.
    They’re in the kitchen, standing on either side of the island. Tracie Lee’s blond hair is wild and matches her eyes. A white bathrobe knotted tightly at the waist makes up her outfit. My dad’s arms are crossed over his chest, the look on his face a mixture of sorrow and anger. He is more presentable as he is actually dressed, wearing jeans and a blue shirt.
    The kitchen is spacious, painted an apple red with white cabinets and wood floor. Some of my best memories took place in this room; cooking with Dad, food experiments with Aidan, baking cookies with Lily. That all became less frequent as the years went by. It saddens me. I want that little bit of happiness in this house back.
    “What’s going on?” I demand, trying not to look at my mom. Her face is swollen and her eyes are red. With every year that passes she appears to age about five.
    “Your dad was just telling me how the three of you are going to play basketball. Good for the three of you. Glad you’re such a team,” she says sarcastically, clutching a coffee mug between her hands.
    “Your mom is feeling left out, even though she doesn’t play basketball, and she’s usually still in bed at this time anyway,” my dad says, glaring at his wife.
    “That’s a stupid thing to argue about and Aidan can hear you.” I point to the stairs. “Maybe you should think about him the next time you decide to shout at each other over something so ridiculous.” I’ve said this before and it didn’t help. Nor will it help now. That isn’t even what they’re really arguing about. They obviously hate each other and bicker about anything.
    I shift my jaw back and forth, wanting to race up the stairs, grab my brother, and get the hell out of this place and never come back. I eye the coffee mug as my mom lifts it to her lips. I know it’s laced with whatever liquor she found first. She freezes when she sees me watching her, looking away with guilt etched into her washed-out features that used to be pretty.
    “You guys ready?”
    I turn to my dad. “Uh…can we postpone it about an hour? Lily and I are going to take Aidan out for breakfast.”
    He frowns slightly, probably at the thought of being left alone in the house with his wife. “Sure.”
    “Grayson, I thought maybe we could do something later today? After you play ball with your dad, I mean.” A glint of hope makes my mom’s dull blue eyes almost shine.
    “Wouldn’t you rather just drink?”
    Her face falls at the same time my dad says warningly, “Grayson.”
    I swing around to glare at him. “What? It’s not like it isn’t true.”
    Aidan stumbles down the stairs, edging warily into the kitchen. His big brown eyes go from my dad to my mom to me. I set my features as blank as I can and offer a small smile. His shoulders relax.
    “Hi, honey,” my mom says, moving to hug him.
    She doesn’t try to hug me anymore. The last time she attempted it she was drunk and I flung her arm away. She hasn’t tried since so I guess she was lucid enough to remember the incident. That was three years ago.
    “Ready, Aidan?” My voice is cooler than I mean it to be, but Aidan doesn’t seem to notice. He leaves my mom’s arms and moves to the door, waving to our dad before walking through the door.
    I follow him out.
    I don’t know all the details of my mother and father’s union. I know they met, obviously had sex, and she became pregnant with me. I know they thought