that night

he was living there again, but i had taken his room
his few belongings were jammed into the room across the hall
you tried to ask a question without actually asking it once
i already had problems and you were looking for answers
you were afraid and i hated that you would even ask
but i knew you didn't want to, so i let it go
we both pretended as if it was nothing
she had been away at college, leaving the bigger room
my room was the size of her closet
and she wasn't even there
and so i decided to move all her stuff, all of my stuff
i had permission, so i made the move
without her knowledge
i went to bed that night in my new room
but i didn't sleep
commotion heard downstairs
yelling, screaming, faltering cries
tears... i could feel the tears
my body tensed with fear
the stairs, they were at the stairs
something had been done
something had been discovered
something had been hidden
the crying was broken with screams
from both sides
a calm third party, trying to get through
trying to convince him, trying to be a support
but she demanded
there was fear and anger within each word
i was paralyzed and silent
my eyes frozen, staring at the door
my ears catching every motion, every word
down the hall, the world was ending
they came and they left, with him
now I heard only silence
no more screaming, no more yelling
but there were still tears
the next day was thanksgiving
she came home, angry with her new room
she should have been thankful
thankful she hadn’t been there the night before
three feet from the terror
she didn’t know, she couldn’t know
we were told to keep quiet, no one else needed to know
one did and made assumptions
assumed it was purposeful, to get attention, to ruin the holiday
i grabbed some carrots and walked away,
walked away from it all