Daniel and his step-dad, parking in the driveway

"Damn moving trucks," Jack, your step dad says with a sneer as he breaks the peace and quiet of the neighborhood by pressing down the horn for a good second as he passes by the target of his ire.

"Relax man," you say, wincing at the sudden outburst. predictable in hindsight.

"Hell no. Those people move shit for a living, they should know how to park out of the way. They almost got us decapitated with that lift gate!"

You rolled your eyes. Had he kept the speed limit he would have seen the truck coming a mile away. "Fine. They probably should have been more careful."

"Damn right they should have," Jack said as he rolled up into your driveway. "Go open the garage door and help me lift this cooler inside."

You rolled your eyes but muttered an agreement as you promptly got out of the car. No point arguing with Jack when he was in a mood like this, and the quicker you did your chores the more likely he was to leave you to do as you pleased. You went inside the house and gave yourself a quick glance in the hallway mirror. No big hair disasters or stuff that Jack would find amusing to avoid telling you about. If you've tried to pull down the sun visor mirror he'd never let you hear the end of it.

The guy could spend a few seconds every now and then to give himself an extra look. You weren't that self-centered a guy, but at least you didn't walk around with crumbs in your beard. What your mom saw in the guy you have no idea.

You spent only a few seconds before moving on into the garage. Ten more seconds would give him an excuse to honk the horn again. You unlocked the gate and pressed the switch. The remote unlocking the door have been dead for years and Jack didn't want to pay to fix it. He said it was easy to hack for burglars.

He was getting out of the car, the engine turned off the moment you'd started opening the doors. "Come on now," he gestured for you to move under the opening gate and join him at the back of the car. You sighed as you squatted below the garage door.

--

As you placed the cooler in the back of the garage, Jack went outside to lock the car and told you to close the garage again. That was your cue to get out of his sight. Not out of ear-shot, mind you, but step one of two. Five minutes of Jack rummaging the kitchen for snacks usually was enough to know he was done with you. You sat down on a wooden chair in the living room, next to the hallway upstairs and you pulled out your phone.