Head hanging, Johnny pushed open the French glass doors and slowly stepped into the house. It was late, past dinnertime and dusk was falling. He was sort of expecting a greeting from someone. Anyone. Questioning him, asking why he'd missed dinner, yelling at him. But there wasn't anyone. Instead, the only thing to greet Johnny was the sound of more fighting. He could hear the muffled voices floating downstairs through the floor. It had been going on nearly non-stop for two days. Johnny shook his head in disgust.

Dragging his feet, Johnny slowly ascended the stairs to his bedroom. He was sick of the unceasing battle between his father and his sister. Angela would scream until she was hoarse, getting herself worked up into such an emotional state she was near collapse and in turn, his father's angry voice would grow so loud the entire house shook. The rage was like some terrible, frightening monster, ripping and tearing at Johnny's sanity.

Johnny paused at the landing, listening to the argument intensify. He was growing continually fed up with it. The grating cries, the caustic remarks, it had all been ebbing away at his consciousness, weakening his self control.

With a final scream, Angela burst out of the room and plowed down the hallway. She was in an enraged haze, agitated beyond reason. There was fire in her eyes and her entire body was tense, her teeth gritted, barely allowing air through. She stopped short and stared at Johnny, surprised and upset.

Johnny's face twisted and contorted in disapproval as he peered at her through tired, blood-shot eyes. "Why," he started, "why do you keep doing this to yourself?" he asked anguished. Angela stared at him, her eyes growing wide. She was far beyond rational and certainly not in control of her emotions. As her breathing quickened, she fixed Johnny with her eyes. "Doing what?" she growled, narrowing her eyes. Johnny let out an exasperated breath and gestured towards her. Angela shook her head in revulsion. "Just leave me alone." she muttered. "You wouldn't understand." she added scornfully, turning away.

Johnny's mouth dropped open. He reached out and grabbed Angela's arm, spinning her around to face him. " What do you mean, I �wouldn't understand'?" he said, his voice low and tense, his eyes burning. Angela looked at him, her eyes wide. She had never seen Johnny like this. What was happening? Angela shook her head and tried to squirm out of his grip. "Let go!" she grumbled. Johnny kept staring and her, not appearing to have heard anything she had said. "Do you think I'm stupid or something? Do you think you're the only one with problems? How do you think I feel? Huh? Did it ever occur to you that I have feelings too?" Angela struggled to free herself from his grip. She desperately wanted to get away from him. It wasn't Johnny anymore. This was someone else, some part of Johnny that she had never seen.

"Let me go!" she cried. Johnny shoved his face in closer to Angela's and lowered his voice. "I am so sick and tired of this. The world doesn't revolve around you. Things happen. Things change! It's beyond control! You can't do anything about it. Not a damn thing!" he crowed. Johnny seemed to find this fact hilarious, as if something inside him had snapped. Angela's eyes darted about the room, wide and fearful, her breathing labored. "What's wrong with you?" she gasped. Johnny threw back he head and began to laugh, tightening his grip on her arm. Angela twisted around, trying to break his hold. "Let go of me! I said LET GO! You're hurting me!" she screamed. Johnny just gazed at her with a condescending look on his face. "Stop it!" Angela whispered frantically, fighting back tears. She took a step backward and swung her free hand as hard as she could at Johnny's face.