#cjclark93

He slowly walked up the steps to the porch and fished his keys out his pocket, making sure not to make much noise. He had to be sure that the peace surrounding his home was real...

And lasting.

However, when he opened the door, he was hit by the familiar sound of two voices going back and forth at each other, one feminine, but gruff and intimidating and the other masculine and softer, but just as piercing. They were muffled, however, and Jordan closed the front door behind him, his mood sinking lower than it already was.

The shouting matches were still going on, just in his parents' bedroom.

Walking past to his bedroom, Jordan decided to make his presence known. Once inside, he loudly shut the door behind him. The voices immediately quieted down and his parents started to converse quietly. Jordan took off his bag, letting it drop to the floor, and flopped down on the bed. About a minute later, he heard footsteps approach and a knock on his bedroom door followed soon after.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened to revealed a tall, lean brown-skinned man with a dark brown buzzcut. He made his way towards the bed and leaned over it, a half-smile on his face.

Jordan already knew that this was Darell's way of avoiding the current situation. Having practically half of his father's genes, he sometimes did this as well. Despite himself, the young man smiled back in the same way.

"You tired?"

"I'm sprawled out across my bed, "Jordan replied. “Proof enough?”

"Good answer," Darrell said, sitting on the side of the bed. "Rough day, huh?"

"Oh, it was fine," Jordan responded, sitting up on his elbows. "Until I walked in the back door of Starbucks. Some of the customers thought that it was mandatory for me to memorize their order by the very next day. Let’s see them try to remember what the usual was after all those orders."

Darell chuckled softly. "True. True. Well, that's the working world for ya."

"Huh," Jordan looked down. "Good thing we have Jehovah to help us out, huh?”

His father hesitated, something that was starting to become less and less of a surprise.

"Yeah."

The phone rang, interrupting the slightly uncomfortable silence. Jordan picked it up immediately and a woman's voice asked for Mr. Tyson. He handed the phone to his father. "It's for you."

Darrell grabbed the phone. "Hello? Oh! Hello, Bar-I mran, Ms. Worthing. I don't care whether we're at work or not, you're still my boss."

He walked out of the door as he continued to talk, nearly bumping into Malvina. She came into Jordan's bedroom and sat down in the black office chair near his desk. She crossed her legs and took a long look at her son, her face showing weariness from the earlier ordeal.

"Fit like min(1)?" she finally asked, folding her hands on her lap.

"Tired," he groaned truthfully. "If this is the career world of Satan's system, I don't want any part of it…"

"Unfortunately, we hae tae be," Malvina sighed. " ’n’, na, it wasn't about ye."

Jordan sat up straight. "I didn't say that .."

"But ye were wondering it," she said.

Jordan silently admitted that the thought did cross his mind.

"Mum, I hate to ask..." Jordan started, scratching his neck. "But...why didn't Da come to the meeting?"

"...Ah wish ah knew masell(2)," Malvina admitted. "But ye know how yer faither is. He loves avoiding th’ subject, especially serious ones."

"Does he seem a little less motivated to do spiritual things?" Jordan leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "It might be my imagination, but..."

"Ye've noticed it tae?" Malvina looked up towards the ceiling. "A've been trying tae encourage him, but...it seems that ever since he wis read off as a pioneer two weeks ago ‘n’ even before then…Ah guess he juist got knocked off his rocker a bit.”

Jordan only raised an eyebrow at his mother. She returned the stare.

“What?”

“Maw, you’re 34…” he said. Malvina sent him a sharp look.

“ ’n’ what’s that supposed tae mean?” she asked, crossing her arms. Jordan only looked away, smirking a bit.

“Nothing…”

“Right…” She stood up, leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "A'm worried about him juist as well as ye are. But what Ah don’t want ye tae dae is start tae go doolally(3) with stress from being concerned."

"Yeah, I know," Jordan sighed.

"...Wantae pray about it?"

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(1) How are you?

(2) myself

I'm turning 21 tomorrow...I'm super tired right now.

And I finally realized that there was one certain roadblock that was preventing me from feeling and even knowing if I was ready for a romantic relationship. And as I slowly climb over the block, I'm also slowly feeling better about my prospects in finding a marriage mate and actually feel like it's possible for me now.