Achieving Unbroken
Chapter Twenty Nine

—

"And you're standing on the edge, face up;
'Cause you're a natural"
Natural | Imagine Dragons

—

Jason
[Sunday, January 21st, 2012]

Music pounds obnoxiously in my bedroom as I try to drag myself through my dumb math homework for the night. Through the music, I hear a tapping noise — someone at my door?

"Yeah?" I call out. Dad cracks my door open and pokes his head through, taking a moment to glance around my room that still has some moving boxes piled in the corner.

"Remember those guests that I told you were coming for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah," I say again.

"Well, they're gonna be here in a half an hour, so try to clean yourself and your room up a bit." Saying no more, he slides out of my room and swiftly closes my door behind him.

"Wait, who is gonna be in my room?" I yell after him. It's too late; he's gone.

Rolling my eyes, I gladly pack up my homework and shove it back into my backpack. I then do my best to pile up the moving boxes in my closet, afterwards pulling the comforter up to cover my bed and make it look relatively presentable. I grab a clean shirt and some jeans to change into, and mess with my hair until it meets my standards.

I give my bedroom a last scan before padding downstairs to talk to Dad.

"Dad?" He pops out from the living room, looking nicer than he normally does. "Who is coming over? You're being weird."

"It's a couple people who I'm very excited for you to meet. It's very important," he walks briskly into the kitchen; I follow. "Is your room clean?"

"Yeah."

He nods, and proceeds to busy himself around the kitchen.

"Wait, you're going to cook?"

"Just tacos," he responds. I throw my hands in the air while he isn't looking, driven mad by the fact that I'm not getting any real answers. But, apparently he does see me, because he follows up with "what, you don't want tacos?"

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"

"You know, your brother didn't ask this many questions when I told him to clean up."

"Joey probably wasn't even aware of his surroundings. Was he playing video games?"

Hesitating, Dad replies.

"... Yeah."

"Then he's clueless."

Exasperated, he rushes around the kitchen to get the ground beef cooking and everything prepared to serve up. While he does this, the doorbell rings. His face flushes with panic as he turns to me.

"Make sure your brother is ready, and be on your best behavior when you both come back downstairs," he points at me, and hurries me out of the kitchen. I don't hear him answer the door until I am up the staircase and in front of Joey's bedroom door.

Slowly, I open it, not even bothering to knock.

Joey doesn't notice me at first, focused on his game, but I fill with relief when I see his room somewhat organized and him dressed in a similar outfit to me. I walk over to him and pat him on the back. He jumps, throwing his controller on the floor and causing his headphones to go slightly askew.

"You scared me!"  He whines. I yank him into a standing position by his arm, taking his headphones completely off for him.

"Dad's guests are downstairs and he wants us to meet them. Don't be weird," I instruct to my younger brother, grasping him by the shoulders. He shrugs, and looks up.

"I'll try."

Knowing that that's the best I'm going to get from him, I let out a deep sigh and push him in front of me so the two of us can go meet the mystery guests. We silently creep down the stairs side by side, and we both tense up when a woman's laugh is heard from the kitchen. Joey and I give each other a cautious look.

We get to the bottom of the stairs, but still can't see who the guests are. Him and I walk to the right so that we can see through the doorway to the kitchen, and my eyes feel like popping from their sockets at the sight of who is in the kitchen.

There's a woman. She looks young, and has red-ish hair, similar to Mom's. Her lips are painted a pale pink, and she is wearing a shirt to match. Alongside her is a boy; very small, smaller than Joey and I. He is basically clinging to the woman's side.

"Oh!" Joey and I hear, and all of the sudden, I realize what's going on. The woman just saw us. "Stephen, the boys came down to join us!"

Joey and I both inch back, just the tiniest bit. Dad exits from the kitchen, and plants himself behind us so that he can usher us into the kitchen with them.

"Boys," he starts. "This is Penelope, and her son, Carl."

Joey doesn't laugh, but I feel his body shake beside me as he holds it in.

"Penelope and I have been... Seeing each other, for awhile now. And we both wanted you to meet." Dad beams at the woman who is apparently named Penelope. She gives him a wide, excited grin back.

"Seeing each other? As in..." I trail off, struggling to think of the right word.

"Dating." Dad finishes. I nod, he nods. Penelope moves around the kitchen and stops in front of us, getting onto her knees to match our eyes.

"It's so nice to finally meet you both. You two are all that your dad talks about." She turns to me, and I can tell that she's thinking about something. "Jason?" She addresses me, holding out her hand for a shake. I smile, and accept her hand. "And Joey!" Penelope brings her hand to Joey to do the same thing.

They shake hands, but I can see on Joey's face that he's shell-shocked by the suddenness of the situation.

Then, Penelope brings the little boy — Carl, I guess — to formally meet us as well. He shakes our hands, as instructed by his mom, but he's slightly confused.

"He's four, I'm trying to get him in the habit of shaking hands," she explains. I just smile and nod; Joey remains expressionless.

"Uh, dinner, you guys?" Dad pipes up. We all hurriedly race to get our tacos and sit down at the dining room table. Dad sits at the head; Joey right to his right and Penelope at his left. Carl is next to Penelope and I am next to Joey.

The five of us start eating quietly and awkwardly, and Penelope tries to fill in the silence with some comments and questions.

"You know, I met your father at his office. A good friend of mine is his secretary, and I was bringing her lunch, and he came out to ask her something. We both introduced ourselves, and I was stumbling over my words like a wreck. I was so embarrassed," she shakes her head, remembering that day.

A voice in my head goes: did we ask how you met Dad? But I don't say it out loud.

"Gosh, you thought you were embarrassed?" Dad piggybacks. "I was a mess." He smiles fondly.

Silence falls upon us once again. Penelope attempts to spark conversation.

"So, Jason, you're in... Fourth grade?"

Keeping my head down, I nod in response.

"Lift your head when you answer someone's question, Jay. And use your words," Dad whispers in my ear. I immediately flip my head up.

"Yes, I am. Fourth grade."

"And Joey, you're in second grade?"

"Yeah," Joey responds.

The five of us continue to eat in tense quietness. Penelope and Dad make conversation, but mostly with each other; as us three kids don't seem to want to talk.

Dinner goes by in a flash, and Dad begins to clean everything up. Joey and I take our dishes to the sink, and Joey and I return to the dining room to see Carl staring uncomfortably around the room. Knowing that Dad would want me too, I walk over to him. Joey stays where he is, on the other side of the room.

"Hey," I squat down in front of him. Glancing under the table, I see his feet swinging back and forth out of boredom. He looks at me, eyes swimming with a mix of hope and fear. I reach my hand out. "Wanna come up to my room? We can watch TV or something," I offer.

His face lights up, and his small hand clasps onto mine while he crawls out of the chair. Him and I race out of the dining room and up the stairs, the two of us laughing as we try to beat each other to the top.

I didn't see Joey, or his angry expression, as Carl and I left.