Description
apparently digital art is better when someone tells you that you've been doing it backwards all this time.
Any way, first illustration for my brand new Tumblr
Baby's first tumble, and the story for this illustration here: deadsy-doodle.tumblr.com/post/…
PUNK ROCK RUINED MY LIFESECTION ONE: SMOKE & MIRRORS
Grim reached the front door of home from his walk from the high school, staying after for detention. He noticed a random unfamiliar car in the driveway, and Sara’s bike was also there. He walked in and noted his little sister doing her homework in front of the tv, she had brought home some of her school lunch and was snacking on it.
“Mom home?” He asked tumbling his backpack off his shoulder.
“Yeah.” Sara said quietly between nibbles and writing.
“Fuuuuck.” He groaned, slumping his shoulders as he went to his room. The sun was starting to set so he turned on his corner lamp, sat on his bed tuning his guitar in the dim light. Hearing his mother and a mystery guy moaning through the wall, and the headboard grazing against the thin drywall. He banged his fist against the wall a few times and yelled.“Oh my god! Shut the fuck up!” he rolled his eyes as the sounds didn’t stop. “Fuck this.” He said getting up. He grabbed Sara’s arm and dragged her out of the house with him.
“Where are we going?” she asked the sixteen-year-old.
“A friend’s house. This is bull shit. I can’t handle it anymore.” He said tugging her along as he walked quickly. They walked about a block down the road until Grim knocked at his friend Morty’s door and his father let them inside.
“Morty’s in his room.” His father said as Grim brushed passed him in the doorway. Grim took his little sister into the room and slammed the door. Morty was smoking pot out his window, turning his head with a jump.
“Hey.” He said after huffing out. The stale smoke spiraled and he waved it out the window.
“Fucking bitch.” Grim said shaking his head.
“who?”
“My mom, dumbass.” He said directing Sara to sit down on the green plaid chair as he sat on the bed and took Morty’s pipe. He took a few hits and tried to calm down, taking a few moments for it to take to his mind.
“What?” Morty asked, moving his long curly red locks out of his eyes, tucking them into his beanie a little better.
“She’s boning some dude and won’t even take care of my sister. Fucking slut bitch.” He said shaking his head. “Had to get out of there.” He said in a stiffened smoky breath passing the pipe back.
“Hungry?” Morty asked getting off his bed and scooting a shoe box out of the crack between the bed frame and the wall. He gently put his stash in the box and tucked it back into its hiding place.
“Starving.” Sara’s quiet voice said meekly from the corner of the room. Morty took them to the kitchen and pulled out a pizza box from the fridge. “Just gotta heat It up.” He said handing them napkins. Morty’s father came into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge and took a slice as well. he cracked open the beer and asked if everything was alright.
“Just can’t be at home right now.” Grim said sort of brushing him off. Grim gave Sara a slice of pizza and chomped into his own.
“you’re welcome to spend the night.” Morty’s father said walking away slowly. A few hours had passed between the friends talking, Grim tucked his little sister into Morty’s bed the two of them went out with a baseball bat smashing mailboxes, Grim noticed the unfamiliar car was still at his house, he smacked the aluminum bat against the car’s mirror and broke it off. The mirror dangled from the car and the glass glimmered in the moonlight.
“Fucker.” He said spitting at it. He lifted it up again and smacked the bat into his mother’s windshield. The crunch sent a satisfying chill up his spine as he pulled the bat back again. Morty’s hand grabbed onto it and wouldn’t let it come down for another blow.
“You’re gonna be in deep shit.” Morty said looking around and ready to flee the scene.
“I don’t give a fuck anymore, Morty. I hope she kicks me out, I can’t stand her. She doesn’t care about us, she just worries about getting laid.” He said in a heavy panting, ears pinned back and his eyes were wide, the moonlight gave their green tint an eerie glow. The aluminum bat fell to the ground as Grim slumped, trying to calm himself down.
“you sound irrational Grim.” Morty said frightened a bit.
“Maybe I fucking am! I don’t even know anymore, I feel like I’m losing my mind!” He weakly deflated onto the ground and held onto his knee, resting in the shards of glass at the bumper of the car. He heaved in deeply and felt the blood rush to his head and create a migraine, a mental nose bleed of congested thoughts and emotions.
“you’re going off the deep end…” Morty said helping him up after a few moments. He walked him back to his house and the two smoked again in the backyard, Grim finally soothing himself into a slow swirl as he heaved in with a toke and out with baggage.
It wasn’t until after school the next day that Grim and Sara spoke to their mother. Grim got home an hour late per usual and glared at her as she sat with Sara making up excuses.
“We’re not fucking stupid.” Grim said as he went down the hall to his room. “You probably didn’t even come out to check on her.” he called as she was turning her attention to him.
“Don’t talk to me like that, god damn it Grim!” she screamed. Grim turned in his door way and stared at her for a moment in disgust, his ears perked forward and alert, tranquilly unpleasant.
“Fuck you.” He said calmly then closed his door and locked it. Grim pretty much avoided her the rest of the night.
“You have to come out to eat.” She yelled though the door after trying her best to unlock it and push it open. She banged on the door every hour trying to get him to come out for his round of emotional and physical abuse.
“The hell I do, I’ve gone longer than a day without food before.” Grim yelled from his bed as he was layed back reading the insides of his CD covers.
“You kidnapped my daughter, I can call the police.” She said louder.
“Go for it. Then they can take us away to child protective care.” He shouted fumbling to put the sleeve back inside the current CD case.
“you ungrateful bastard.” She said bitterly letting the words bite through the door.
“Thanks mom.” Grim said rolling his eyes in sarcasm as he tossed the CD case to the floor and started on the next.
“You’re going to school tomorrow, you have to come out for that. Your homework’s out here.” Grim just laughed heartily. The next morning Grim headed out for school and walked with Sara to her grade school. She seemed troubled and uncomfortable.
“why do you and mom hate each other?” she asked.
“Sara, one day you just learn the facts of life, and some people are just not good.” He said stopping in front of her school.
“But you break and steal things.” She said looking up at him as he was lighting up a cigarette and adjusting his backpack on his shoulder.
“It’s for existence, what mom does is self-interested.” He said looking at her dryly with the fresh cigarette taught in his somewhat hairy lip.
“oh.” She said quietly.
“Make sure you eat lunch today. I’ll go by the store on my way home and get some stuff.” He said leaving her, she walked to the school door as the bells rang.
Grim walked the next four blocks to his school. He was fifteen minutes late as usual. He walked into class and sat down in the back corner of the room.
“Nice of you to join us Mr. Grange.” The teacher said as the other students stayed silent, one jock snickered from across the room and Grim glared his green daggers at him. As class went on Grim just put his head down on the desk, slumped forward and smelling the nicotine caked into his jacket sleeves.
A kid next to him whispered “Grim…” he looked up at him with his dark ringed eyes. “Is it true that you carry a knife?” he asked quietly.
“Wanna find out?” Grim asked sarcastically and reaching into his pockets with an edgy jump.
“Just asking…” he said bitterly. “I like knives.”
“Just shut the fuck up and leave me alone.” Grim said with a grimace on his face, not wanting to be this random kid’s friend.
“Boys, is there a problem?” the teacher asked quietly. They shook their heads. As the bell rang the teacher called to Grim. “Grim, your grades are slipping, you’re fighting to keep your head above water here, son.” He said looking up from his papers. Grim gave him an apathetic shrug and let out a light sigh.
“Is everything alright at home?” he asked concerned.
“Why does that matter?” Grim asked defensively with his ears swiveling.
“Just wondering if we need a parent teacher conference.”
“You don’t scare me, and my mother would never come.” He said shaking his head.
“What about your dad?” he asked.
“Never met the guy.” Grim said shrugging and pushing his bottom lip out and his eyebrows up. His piercing on his brow bobbed up with his expression.
“well at least ask your mother if she would come.” The teacher said writing a note.
“Look, dude. The only thing my mom comes to is a guy in bed.” He said trying to just shut him down. He put the note back in his hand and walked away, leaving his teacher speechless. He went to his second period and spent his time leaned against the wall flicking pencil lead at the backs of girl’s heads.
“Seriously, Mrs. Hawk, do something.” One said turning around and glaring at him. Grim was sent to the hall so he started wandering for a while, he walked down and peeked into classrooms, waving at his friends and the members of his shitty punk band.
“Grim.” Mr. Mckentire said noticing him at the drinking fountain. “Do you have a minute?” he asked. Grim looked up a little surprised and took a step back from the drinking fountain, wiping the water off his muzzle
“Don’t take me to the principal about what I said earlier.” He said looking stressed, ears flicking back in discomfort.
“Are you acting out because of problems at home?” his teacher asked with dipped ears and a concerned expression.
“I’m a bastard.” Grim said looking up at him.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself…” he said uncomfortably.
“No, literally, I am a bastard.” He said sucking in his bottom lip and holding his arms out.
“there’s counseling provided…” his teacher said trying to reach out to his struggling student.
“No, no, no no” Grim said wringing his hands. He tremored at the thought of talking to someone who knew and thought he was crazy, being just another statistic in their day and another file in their portfolio. Using artificial happiness and knew he couldn’t trust himself with a prescription like that, besides would it even help? It was too expensive to ever find out.
“I just want to hold on until the end of the day, when I can go into my music appreciation class with my friends and be alright, and then literary analysis after that. Just leave me alone! I’m fine! Just sick of people assuming they understand or anything”
“well, if you need help, you can come to me.” His teacher said backing off, unsure of how to defuse a ticking time bomb.
At the end of the day Grim walked home with a quart of milk and some cereal, as well as a loaf of bread and some peanut butter from a close by grocery store. As he walked through the door he handed the peanut butter and bread to his sister and put the rest away. His mother sat at the table smoking a cigarette waiting for him to come home.
“Still not talking?” his mother asked in her harsh voice as she glared at him moving throughout the house.
“Here’s a question for you… You sat on your ass all day, why the hell couldn’t you go buy some food?” his green eyes locked onto her blue ones from the fridge.
“I couldn’t drive!” She yelled back at him. She put her cigarette out in the ash tray forcibly, smushing the filter into the glass.
“You’re drunk all the time, should be a pro by now!” he said going red in the face with another fit of rage. She stood up at this point, gripping onto the edge of the table in anger.
“Somebody smashed my windshield and my friend’s mirror with a baseball bat, you little prick!” she screamed grabbing him. She slapped him across the face and pushed him to the floor. He looked up at her, feeling the sting and impression from her nails and palm. He calmly got up and headed to his room, ears pinned and his head hanging low. He sucked his lip in trying not to lash out physically toward her. “you’re grounded!” she yelled. “I’m not done beating your ass, you wanna act like that this is what you’re gonna get!”
He ignored her, sat on his bed and hugged his knees to his chest. The throbbing on his face and a hot sting of angry tears burned with the ringing in his ears. He heard her yelling at Sara to go to her room. Grim let go of his knees and cracked his head against the wall, just trying to numb it out. He sprawled back there thinking for a long time, the house still and brooding. Every little memory courses through his head as his eyes searched through what was burned in his mind.
After what felt like forever he sat up and picked up a backpack, he started stuffing clothing into it, his favorite CD’s and his book of songs for the band. He shoved his picks and extra strings in the bag and the money he had saved up from small house shows and venues. He flung it onto his back and strapped his guitar around his back as well. He pulled the door open, the house was dark, everyone locked away. He quietly walked out the front door and trudged down the road.
He stopped by Morty’s house and knocked on his window, Morty jumped up from his bed and turned his bedroom light on. He opened the window and Grim looked at him with stern eyes. “I’m leaving town.” He said in a hushed voice.
“Shit, really? Where?” Morty asked looking around outside.
“I might have a place to stay, I can’t stay there any more man. I’ll still come out for band shit, but I’m done.” He said shaking his friend’s hand. Grim started backing away and made his way down the road a little further. After another fifteen minutes of walking he went down the street to Crue’s house.
Crue was a bundle of weird memories and emotions for Grim, she was an amazing bassist and they had shared a lot of firsts together. He quietly snuck around the side of her house and found her window and just as he had done before knocked lightly and woke her up. She turned a lamp on and was bundled up in her blankets.
“Wow nice pajamas.” Grim smiled as she shivered in the cold night air.
“What do you want? It’s like 1 AM.” She said in a groggy voice.
“I’m leaving.” He said leaning on the window sill. “Don’t worry about the band, but I wont be around school and shit.” He said looking at her brown eyes.
“You’re running away?” Crue asked quietly a little surprised.
“It’s been hard.” Grim said shaking his head and pushing his forelock up with a stressed hand. Crue looked at him for a moment before leaning out the window and giving him a kiss.
“What was that for?” he asked pulling back confused.
“Luck, I guess.” She said in a smirk.
“I gotta go, see ya, bitch face.” He said walking back out into the night, even more confused than before.
He walked for miles, the air growing cold and his nose starting to run. Cars passed slowly, he felt their stares. He reached the next town deep into the morning and rested at the park. He pulled a bag of weed out of his coat, packed his pipe and lit it. He dragged deeply from the pipe hugging his freezing hands to his chest and his knees over them. After his short hit break he got back up in the freezing night and kept walking, a little calmer. he reached the home of his grandmother around 7 am. He knocked on the door hesitantly and quickly straightened himself out a little when she opened the door.
“I’m sorry, Grandma, but can I stay for a while?” he asked looking like he was about to pass out. She brought him inside and took him to a guest bedroom. He sat on the bed and slumped over in relief and exhaustion.
“What’s going on?” she asked caringly.
“My mom, she’s not taking care of us.” He said rubbing his eyes tiredly.
“she’s out of control again?” she asked looking sad.
“Yeah, I just can’t stand it anymore, she’s been really bad lately.” He said pulling his wet shirt off. His grandma took it from him and held onto it to put in the wash.
“Go take a shower really fast then get some rest.” She said leaving the room gingerly.
The next morning he woke up and started coughing violently. His grandma tapped on the door and came in and felt his forehead. He had slept nearly a whole day and his body was an aching mass of heavy limbs and fur.
“You’ve got a fever.” She said as he wheezed. “come get something to eat and a hot drink.” He rolled out of the bed and went down to the kitchen for a while. Getting some breakfast he sat down in the living room. His grandmother brought him a cup of tea.
“Grandma, what the hell is this?” he asked taking if from her.
“It will help with your cold. Please watch your language.” She said sitting down with her own cup.
“Oh shit, sorry grandma, bad habit.” He said with a smile as he ate his cereal. They conversed in pleasant small talk for a while.
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