“Axe, come have a look at this one.” My boss Roger calls out to me.

I leave the workbench, intentionally bumping into Hart as I pass him by. He responds with an insult which is gladly returned.

The car Roger has set his eyes on is an Audi. We rarely get those fixed here.

“Whose cool ride is this?” I ask, running a finger up the front.

“Not a regular. I hear he moved into the neighbourhood yesterday.”

And his car broke down today. Tough luck.
I say Raven Hill is cursed, no one ever believes me.

Chuckling at my own thoughts, I listen to Roger rambling on about how important fixing this particular car is.

I roll up my sleeves. First things first. Determine the problem with this bad boy here.

I easily slide underneath, feeling around for the right components.

It takes me an hour to come up with a diagnosis. I run it by Roger and he sends me off with cash to get the spare parts from Felicity.

Felicity. We rarely have ladies in this line of business but Felicity really is a force to reckon with. Taking over from her father, she widened his empire so nothing goes by in the world of cars without getting through her.

She and Roger are best friends even if they both hate to admit it. I always tease Roger about it even if it earns me a smack on the head.

That's the problem with me. Always sticking my nose in everyone's business. Yep. I'm nosy like that. My friends are there to keep me in check.

Trent and Gwen. Both hailing from my High School days.

I should have been attending the University like they are but my mother went and spent all my school funds on useless things like drugs and alcohol.

She's my nasty little secret. Having a drug addict for a mother. What else could be worse? Maybe falling into the same toxic patterns.

“Oy! No smoking in here.” Felicity snatches the cigarette from my lips even when I wasn't even intending to light up anything. In here? Everyone knows how much of a bad idea that would be.

I grin. “Roger says hi.” I say, grabbing the heavy package she dropped on the counter.

“Send him the rottenest of eggs from me, would ya?”

Laughing, I wave her a goodbye, heading back to Knocked Up.

Yes, that's Roger's idea. His auto shop is named Knocked Up, paying homage to his dear parents who raised him as a mistake and died sixteen years later in a freak accident.

Back to the present. Few hours later, after installing the new converter for the Audi, I decide to go clean up as it's nearing closing time.

“Caleb said the car was ready.” An unrecognisable voice enquires, cutting through the air with the same crystal clearness of a brook.

“Yes. I had one of my workers take care of it. He's one of the best.” 

Typical of Roger to give the glory to whoever it is due.

“Good.”

I intended to make a hurried escape to the bathroom but seeing how close they are, I would end up bumping into them, so I make a show of rearranging the cartons of plastic stuff when the doors open, and in walked in Roger, and the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld.

He catches my eyes for a few second, and I see the curiosity in them.

Roger's face brightens after seeing me. “Oh! There he is. One of my biggest assets here.”

I lower my gaze, well, bashfully.

What the heck?

“This is Axel Manson. Axel, I'd like you to meet Mr Denver Watson”

The air around us freezes to a stunning degree of cold. Just being in close proximity of the handsome stranger is enough to send me wheeling.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” I respond, without a smile just because I can't trust myself enough not to swoon.

“Likewise.” Denver is not longer looking at me, but at the car. He moves over there with Roger in tow. I just take a whiff of my underarms, cringing at how badly they reek.

“Here are the keys.”

Roger receives the bunch. “Were you going to take a shower?”

I nod. “Yeah. Millicent would have my neck for coming in late.”

Roger chuckles. I've brought Millicent over a couple of times here when she didn't have school, and my boss and coworkers are aware of how demanding the little rascal could be.

“Alright. I shouldn't hold you any longer. Take care.”

Without stealing a glance at Denver, I turn on my heels.

The sun outside was rapidly receding. Families, couples and friends walk by, basking in the last moments of the day.

My day was however far from over. I still have a couple of errands to run for my Nans.

Sighing, I dial up Bertha.

“You! You were supposed to come in like an hour ago.” It's Millicent's class teacher.

It happens like this some days but I try not to make it a regular thing. The poor girl also has a life of her own.

“Work related issues. I'm on my way there.”

“It better be with a burger.”

I chuckle. “Of course. Please put her on the phone.”

A shuffling moment later and Millicent is chewing my ear off about how I'm holding up her schedule for the evening.

I fight back the urge to laugh, and apologise profusely for being inconsiderate.

I love the way my life is, at the moment, well not really because I was forced to shoulder on the responsibility of four siblings when I was just sixteen. Now going on twenty, it  feels so natural being the head of my family.

I had little to no clues about where my
father is, and my mother just comes around late at night, reeking of cigarettes and alcohol.

I don't know when or how it started, but my mother chose solace in the place she felt was best even if it meant ruining her life.

Once she confessed that she needed to die to ease some of the burden on me.

I cried hard that night because I didn't know if it was just the alcohol talking. I couldn't sleep a wink. I still don't, anytime she's home because I fear I might lose her as well.

There was just a lot I worry about, and my friends never failed to tease me about spotting a couple strands of gray hairs on my head.

Gwen.

I walk into the house, embraced by the chaotic siblings. The house was barely enough to contain all of us, but at least, we had a place to sleep.

Tanner, and his friend Sean are seeing Stranger Things while Pearl relaxes her head on Gwen's leg as she braids her hair.

Nana should be preparing dinner, I infer from the lovely smell coming from the kitchen.

Millicent breaks off from my grip and runs to join her sister and my friend.
That's when they realise my presence.

“Grandpa's home.” Gwen teases.

The others laugh, including Sean. Rolling my eyes, I walk to the kitchen. Nana is dressed in one of her boubous, a pink one, and her hair, although graying, is plaited in cornrows.

“Good evening Nana.” I say, putting the groceries on the mini island.

She smiles at me over her shoulder. “There's leftovers from lunch if you want that, or you can wait.” She suggests.

I've seen enough of my mother to see how much resemblance there is between the two women. It's like I'm seeing my mother but an advanced version of her.

“No. I'd rather wait to unleash the beast.” I pat my stomach.

Nana smirks. “Alright. Set up the table, Sean's eating here. His parents are at it again.”

Well, this home is just like a refuge for everyone. Gwen comes here to escape from her stepsisters, Joey, from his parents who are too engrossed in their lives to bother about their son.

I don't mind them at all. My Australian best friend, and Tanner's American.

The more the merrier, they say, right?

“Where's the twins?”  I ask, going to wash my hands in the sink.

Cassidy and Casper are the twins that look like each other so much that it's creepy sometimes, to outsiders.

“At the backyard, with the bugs again. They said something about their Agric practical.”

I peep through the window, snorting when I see Casper chase after his twin with something in his hand. “Or an excuse to roll about in the mud.”

Nana laughs. Gwen strolls in, hands tucked in the pocket of her baggy jeans trouser, she's wearing an orange turtleneck even if I often call her Velma from Scooby Doo whenever she wears it.

“I should go now.”

I shoot her a look. “Anything come up?”

Nana is also watching as well.

She shrugs. “It's just Tanya being her usual self. I have to go.”

I feel for my friend in times like this.

Nana being herself, hugs Gwen. Sighing, I excuse the ladies by taking out the plates to the dining table.

“I helped run a bath for Millie.” Pearl tells me.

At fourteen, she's almost at my shoulder. Quite an impressive height,I must say.

“I owe you one.”

She straightens the table cloth. “You owe me a lot of favours, bro.”

“And how was school?”

Pearl shrugs. “No one likes school. I still don't like it.”

“After all these years?” Tanner chirps in from the living room.

“Yeah. Especially after all these years.”

I never got to finish my High School because of how my family became, maybe one day, I'd get to chase after my dreams.

“Leaving already?” Pearl asks Gwen who's holding a Tupperware containing leftovers from lunch that Nana must have pressured her to take.

Gwen rubs my sister's shoulders affectionately. “Yes, honey drop. I'll see you some other time.” Her eyes dart to me. A small signal that we'll chat on the phone.

Our sessions always span till the early hours of every morning.

After Gwen leaves, Nana asks the boys to turn off the T.V, and we all sit around the table, even Cassidy and Casper had snuck back into the house at some point.

Once dinner is over, Tanner and Pearl  who are on kitchen duty clear the table, Sean volunteering to help.

Millicent follows Cassidy to their shared room while Casper lingers to tell me that he needs a textbook for Maths.

“It's not easy keeping up with their demands.” I comment, catching the concerned look from my Nana.

“You're overworking yourself, Axel.”

I stare down at the tomato sauce that had stained a portion of the table cloth. “I have to give you all a decent life.”

“At the expense of yours?” There, that accusatory stare is there again on Nana's face. She follows up every expression of mine to see what information she could garner.

“I don't mind Nana.”

“Axel-”

“-leave the worrying to me, Nana.”
Pushing back my chair, and picking the empty plate, I head to the kitchen where the trio are talking about whatever.

Tanner glares at me for dumping my plate in the sink but no one stops me from leaving.

I check up on Cassie and Millie. Millie's asleep, thankfully while Cassie's studying.

“Had a nice day at school?”

Her  brown hair's already in a ponytail, and she's in her Dora The Explorer Pajamas.

Cassie shrugs. “Okay, I guess. I'm trying for the swim team tomorrow.”

“I’m certain you'll be picked, don't fret.” My attempt at stifling a yawn doesn't work because she notices.

“You should get some sleep now-”

“Mom-”

“I can deal with Mom myself, Axel.”

Cassie and Casper are 16, Pearl 14, and Tanner's 13. Millicent's 9 Among them all, it's Pearl I trust to handle certain issues like our mother. She's the most mature of all of them.

I shield the others as much as possible from the drugs and alcohol but I'm certain they're not completely ignorant. I just hope none of them pick up bad habits like I did.

For as long as I breathe, I would make sure none of my siblings get to experience same things and mistakes as mine.

Hopefully.

how did that go for a first chapter? What are your thoughts about Denver meeting Axel for the first time?