"THAT'S IT, ALAN! OUT!" yelled a woman's voice.
"Come on, Judith, that's not fair," complained a man.
"OUT!" The woman yelled, pointing straight at the door.
The man weakly protested as he was rushed out the door. He had only his coat and some haphazardly packed baggage in his suitcase. "All right, fine, Judith, but we'll talk about this tomorrow."
Judith sighed, clearly stressed out from all the arguing. She went to the bedroom and saw her two kids, Jake and Austin, in their rooms. She knocked tentatively on the door." Everything all right, kids?"
"I'm fine, Mom," said Austin.
"Mom, wha~ Hey! Oww! Cut it out." Jake was interrupted by an elbow from Austin.
"See, we're okay, Mom," said Austin.
"Oh, I don't know, all right, you kids off to bed now. We'll meet with your dad tomorrow." Judith let out a small sob. She hugged Jake and Austin tightly. The kids could only pat her on her back to reassure her. After Judith released them, she said," All right then. Brush your teeth. I'll tuck you into bed today."
"Okay, Mom." Jake and Austin went into the bathroom and started brushing their teeth. While brushing their teeth, Jake asked Austin," Do you think Mom and Dad are getting a divorce?"
"Divorce? Where did you hear that?" asked Austin.
"I know Betty's parents are divorced. So are Amanda's, Sid's, and John's," said Jake.
"Yeah, but it usually happens when the parents are rigid and inflexible. Dad's a wimp, so he'll give in to Mom. Just give it a few days," replied Austin after gargling his mouth with water.
"Hmm, never really thought of it like that," said Jake.
Once they were done, Judith tucked them into their beds. "Good night, Austin," she said. When it was Jake's turn, he surprised her," Mom, are you and Dad fighting?"
"Fighting? No, honey, we're not fighting. We are just going through a rough patch in our relationship."
"So will everything be normal by tomorrow?" asked Jake.
Judith didn't reply, but the silence was worth over a thousand words. "Go to sleep, Jake." She hugged him quietly and kissed his forehead. Before leaving the room, she glanced at her kids, ensuring they were sleeping.
Austin stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, which he shared with Jake. In his previous life, Austin was an avid anime fan. Anime was almost everything that he knew. In fact, he devoted most of his time imagining himself being isekai'd into his favorite anime series, such as Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, and Attack on Titan. Wait, no, that last one would be a terrible world to live in.
Nevertheless, he wanted these worlds because there would be a sense of peace if he knew what he was doing. Imagine his expression when he found out that he got reincarnated, but not into any of his favorite anime. Scratch that, he wasn't even in Japan like he expected. Which meant learning Japanese was a waste of time. Drifting off into his slumber, he pondered how his parental marital problems would fare.
Meanwhile, after Alan was kicked out of his own house, he unlocked his car and sat down. Letting out a loud groan of annoyance, he slammed his head against the steering wheel. "Oh god, where should I go now?"
After venting for a while, he grimaced and decided to call his only and only biological step-brother, Charlie.
"Let's see, now where did I keep Charlie's number?"
Alan scrolled through his contacts to find Charlie's contact, but it couldn't be found. While driving to the Malibu Beach Drive, Alan scrolled through his contacts and clicked the number labelled Childhood traumatiser. While ringing, he braced himself for the upcoming storm.
"Hello, honey," replied a cheerful voice from the other end of the phone.
"Hey, Mom," began Alan," I was just calling you to see if you have Charlie's number."
"Charlie? Why are you calling him so late at night?" asked Alan's mom.
"What? Do brothers need a reason to catch up and have some brotherly bonding late at night?" said Alan in a defensive tone.
"..." No sound came from the other end of the phone.
"I'm serious, Mom, I just wanna talk with Charlie."
"Hmm, no matter. I'll find out anyway, dear. In the meantime, I'll give you what you have asked for."
"Thank you, mother," said Alan.
…
"Mom, are we there yet?" asked Jake.
"Not yet, honey, we'll be there in ten minutes," said Judy.
Austin idly watched the cars on the opposite lines. After waking up in the morning, Judy whipped up a quick breakfast and brought them on a car ride. Although she did not specify what was happening, based on the small bag packed with a couple of clothes, Austin guessed that she was probably taking them to their father…wherever he was.
"Can boats go on roads?" asked Jake.
"Yeah, boats travel on land, planes dive underwater, and cars fly in the air," said Austin sarcastically.
"Then why is that boat on the road?" asked Jake.
"What are you talking about?" Austin looked towards the window to see a light green colored boat with wheels driving on the road.
"It's just an Amphicar," said Austin. The driver noticed two kids staring at him, so he took the smoking cigar out of his mouth and waved. Jake and Austin waved back, not sure how to respond to the friendly driver.
"Cool! Do you think Dad will buy one?" asked Jake, leaning closer to the window to catch a better glance.
"Yeah, sure, when dad becomes an old rich man with a beach house," shrugged Austin.
Austin wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, but at that moment, he saw a sign depicting a wave. Under the wave were the words 'Malibu Beach 3 miles ahead'.
"Mom, are we going to Malibu Beach?" asked Austin.
"We're going to your Uncle Charlie's house," said Judith.
"Who's Uncle Charlie?" asked Jake.
"You don't remember?" asked Austin." He was there for your sixth birthday."
"Hmm, not really."
"Well, I remember him being drunk all the time. How come we haven't seen him since?"
"Because Charlie is a piece of crap!" snapped Judith. Austin didn't say anything. Jake nudged Austin, probably to ask him to do something, but Austin did not care about Judith's excessive reaction. Judith was already going through enough stuff. She did not need a kid asking repetitive questions to her.
…
After a while, their car stopped in front of one of the houses located in the Malibu community. Austin could spot several fancier than general sports cars for show in the community. Unfastening the seatbelt on himself first, he sighed at his brother, who opened the door of the car and ran to the path leading to the door.
"Not that house, honey. The other one with the number 1402 on it."
"Oh, I knew that." Jake changed tracks and trampled over the neighbor's green grass. Poor neighbors, having a kid trample their freshly mowed lawn. Upon reaching the house's driveway into the garage, Jabe began to do some fancy maneuvers. He ran in between the garbage and recycling bin, jumped over a rake, and for his grand finale, he tripped spectacularly. "Ouch," he exclaimed. His elbow was bruised. Small flecks of red could be spotted on his white skin.
"Honey. I told you not to run." Judith lifted Jake. Jake lifted his elbow for Judith to take a closer look. "Mom, I think I need a Band-Aid."
"Let's go inside and wash it first, Jake," said Judith. She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open the door.
"How did you manage to trip on a flat surface?" asked Austin.
"Some idiot left a rock on the sidewalk. Who does that?" said Jake.
"Well, someone who doesn't expect a kid to randomly parkour across his property."
"What's parkour?" asked Jake.
"It's basically where you jump from building to building for attention, but in a sport form," said Austin.
"Cool!" said Jake. "By the way, doesn't that rock look squished?"
Austin looked at the rock, except it looked flattened at the top. Recognizing that it was a fake, he responded," It's a fake rock."
"Why would you want a fake rock?" asked Jake.
"I don't know. Most people keep fakes for decoration."
"What the! There's a key inside it." Jake exclaimed as he looked under the rock.
"Some people keep a spare key in a hidden location in case they forget their keys."
At that moment, their father, Alan, opened the door. "Hey, Judith." Alan rubbed the side of his forehead. It was a habit Austin noticed Alan repeat whenever he was stressed. Judith scoffed. She w
"Couldn't Uncle Charlie keep this key in the pile of rocks in front of the lawn then, so that it's not too obvious?"
"Sure," Austin took the rock from Jake's hand and tossed it into the pile. "Now, Uncle Charlie won't have to worry about robbers stealing the spare key."
"Wow, we are good nephews to Uncle Charlie." Jake admired his 'idea'.
Austin sighed, his face contorting into an exasperated look.
"Should we tell Uncle Charlie?" asked Jake.
"No, let's surprise him."