Fear shot across his father's face, though it was quickly hidden under a mask of sternness. "What, you wouldn't even study it at Willowheath? Where you can be near us? After I've raised you for years?"
"No." He was almost shaking with anger. Echoes of the same conversation played over and over again in his head. "I'm going to York. I'm studying astrophysics. Willowheath doesn't even offer the course I want."
"What's the difference?" His father shouted, standing up from his chair. "Why would you go to all that trouble to get some useless degree? It's not like you'd get a job, anyway. You're being so selfish. Who's going to inherit the bakery?"
"Give it to Shane. Or Robin, when they're older. I'm sure they'd be happy for it."
His father's jaw dropped. "You ungrateful little.."
"You can't call me ungrateful when you're trying to force this on me!" Xeno exclaimed, slightly louder than he meant to. "I've never wanted to work in the bakery; this is your dream, not mine."
"Go on then, leave me like your good for nothing mother!" He shouted, the veins in his neck popping out. "If you walk out that door, don't expect me to let you back in." He looked at him through narrow slits.
Xeno tried to suppress the trembling in his hands. "Whatever. My bags have been packed for the last week, and I'll find someone to stay with for the next one before term starts." He left the room, stalking upstairs. The suitcase under his bed had all the essentials he would need: clothes, toiletries, his calculator and maths books, and a few CDs for the road. He'd been through York's recommended packing list, and he'd covered all the bases, albeit lightly.
Anger gave him strength as he pulled his suitcase down the stairs, swiping his car keys from the windowsill. Rounding the corner to the door, he came face to face with his stepbrother.
"Don't try to stop me." He spat, though he knew his anger was misdirected. A small wave of guilt made its way over the dam of rage he had built.
Wordlessly, he produced a small container of laundry detergent from a bag. "Here. I knew you'd forget."
"Thank you, Shane." He half-smiled before remembering why he was so keen to leave. "You'll.. be okay, right?"
"I'll be all right."
Leaving his stepbrothers behind had long since been one of his biggest regrets, but they couldn't come with him, and he couldn't stay. "Goodbye, Dad." he thought, as the house became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. From small to tiny to microscopic.
And then it was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:
Surely there was another way? There must be somewhere else offering full-time work that's still relatively close, right?
Xeno had continued to search well into the night. He hadn't realised how truly terrible the job market was nowadays. He would have been willing to go for anything else that was full time in the area. The bakery was the best choice for him financially; the others just couldn't compare. Not that Xeno hadn't tried to make them work, of course.
And yet, here he was. Standing outside Baxterson and Son's bakery. When he'd left five or six years ago, he'd promised himself he'd never come back. Maybe things would have changed? He doubted it- his father was one of the most stubborn people on Earth.
He remembered how the conversation had gone. It hadn't been sudden, he'd been wanting to go into astronomy since he was thirteen. At that time, his dad had laughed it off as a phase, but Xeno's resolve had only grown throughout the years. By sixteen, his father had told him that he wouldn't support him if he went into astronomy, and that he should just go into the bakery, like his half brothers would. The Baxtersons had been in baking for centuries, apparently. Handed down from one eldest son to another.
He had had to make his peace with the fact that his father wouldn't support his choice.
Since then, he hadn't really tried to maintain a relationship, and they didn't each-other anymore. The occasional Facebook post was all Xeno really saw of their lives. The door opened with thesame familiar bell sound ringing from above him. He noticed the youngest of his half-brothers, Robin, sitting idly at the counter- he hadn't even looked up from his phone as he had walked in. "Honestly," Xeno thought to himself, "if Dad had walked in, he'd be in big trouble."
As he crossed the familiar checkered floors, he noticed the tables were in the same places they were all those years ago. That made sense; his father was never one for change. Weaving between them, he reached the counter. "Hey, I saw you guys were hiring." He began. "Junior baker?"
Robin's eyes flicked up and did a double take, his eyes widening in shock. "Xeno?"
He was glad that the boy still remembered him. When he'd left home for good, he couldn't have been over seven or eight. "Yeah. It's me." He shifted awkwardly. Was coming here really a good idea? It was too late to turn back now.
"I thought you worked at the museum; why are you here asking for a job now?" He hadn't intended to be mean, but his words scathed the still-fresh wound of his last job.
Xeno noticed Robin had died in whatever game he was playing on his phone. "It's a long story. Where's Dad?" He pointed to the door, still seemingly in awe. Briskly, he walked past him and went into the kitchen.
The familiar heat blasted his face. The kitchen, although it was messy and had a couple more stains on its countertops, was exactly the same as when he had worked there when he was younger. Standing in the middle, commanding his other brother, Shane, was his father.
It took a moment for his dad to notice him; he was too engrossed in his work. Xeno took a moment to look at him. In starkcontrast with the rest of the bakery, hehadchanged. His dark brown hair was now thinner than he remembered, streaked with silver like the scratches on the pans he still refused to replace. He was shorter than he remembered too, though not by much. Despite this, his presence dominated the kitchen, and Xeno still couldn't imagine one without the other.
However, there wasn't time to stand staring; it'd get odd if he just stood in their kitchen for too long without them noticing. He cleared his throat. The pair of them both looked up in unison and immediately froze.
