Gabe and Angie Crotchman were not one of the best couples on earth. But they were close to it. They had never disagreed before. They both loved criticizing their neighbors garden. They loved telling each other how much they hated their home in San Jose, California. And they despised their two adopted sons, Jake and Aaron.
Those two boys were always in trouble. They forgot to do the work. They didn’t do the gardening for Gabe. They ate too much food. They went to sleep before bedtime. In Angie’s opinion there was nobody worse than Jake and Aaron.
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Jake sighed. He and Aaron had just weeded the garden, watered the plants, done the entire family’s laundry, massaged Gabe’s back, clipped Angie’s toes, vacuumed the entire house, and cooked dinner, all the while being criticized by Gabe and Angie.
They wearily brushed their teeth, changed into tattered pajamas, and climbed into bed. He looked up at his ceiling as he had every night for as long as he could remember. And sighed.
“Hey Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever wondered how life without Gabe and Angie would be?”
“Only for about every single moment of my life.”
“No, really,” said Aaron. “what if we ran away?”
“Are you crazy? Have you for a moment thought that we would be nobodies without a home or address if it weren’t for our step- parents?”
“Well, how worse can it be? They treat us like dirt stuck to the bottoms of their shoes,” argued Aaron.
“No way. I’m not going. I hate this place as much as you, but no way!”
Aaron sighed. He knew that voice. There would be no arguing with Jake any longer. Or maybe, just maybe, he could convince Jake otherwise. But it would take a lot of work.
He waited until his twin fell asleep. Then he crept out.
The next morning, the boys were awakened by Gabe’s loud screams.
“My food! Where is everything? Boys!”
He was nearly bursting. Gabe only woke early for one thing: food.
“Boys! Which one of you did this? If you don’t tell, I will beat you so bad you’ll be black and blue and disown you!”
“Did what?” Jake asked in confusion. “What happened to your food? Did you run out?”
Gabe struck Jake on the face. “As if you don’t know! All my food is gone!”
Aaron’s blood was boiling. “Don’t touch my brother! All you thank of is food! And why is it that when something’s wrong, you always think we’re to blame?”
“Aaron, let it go! I’m fine! Gabe, we didn’t touch your food! Please stop blaming us!”
“Didn’t touch my food, eh? I’ll show you. We’ve given you food for your stomachs and a roof over your head but you are the most ungrateful children possible. It’s time I taught you boys a lesson.”
And saying so, he grabbed Aaron by the ear and pulled him out of the room. Then he threw him into an old closet and locked the door.
Aaron started coughing. It was musty and dark, and hard to breath. Maybe stealing the food from the fridge was a bad idea. But if he was to run away, he had to have food. It was necessary. He only hoped that Jake was okay.
Jake was hungry. And cold. He shivered. It was cold in the basement. That was where Gabe had locked him up. Poor Aaron. He knew he was locked in the closet. It was worse there than in the basement. He knew Aaron had stolen the food. He saw that shifty look on his brother’s face.
“So Aaron still wants to run away,” Jake thought. “Well, I’ll just watch. Maybe this is a good idea after all seeing how Gabe treats us.”
The boys were not let out until dinner time. Even then, they were given nothing to eat. The two silently went to their room.
“Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“I took the food I just wanted to prove he could run away. I’m sorry,” said Aaron.
“No, it’s okay. What you did showed me that we really should run away. I agree.”
“All right. I think we should go now.”
“Are you crazy? We need a plan!”
“No time for that.” said Aaron. “It’s now or never”
Aaron soon convinced Jake, and the two set out, long after bedtime. Jake never looked back, glad to be rid of the place he was forced to call home.