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Post by suicideXmakeover on Jul 5, 2005 23:06:45 GMT -5
I wish I had an alias. I'm just a loser.
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Post by Kill on Jul 5, 2005 23:13:27 GMT -5
Yes...Hey! That could be your alias, haha. Loser.
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Post by suicideXmakeover on Jul 5, 2005 23:18:50 GMT -5
Um...no thanks.
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Post by whatsername on Jul 5, 2005 23:20:10 GMT -5
Here's the next part. I'm keeping it at Karlas POV.
************************************************** Part Three (If you take the h out of three, you get tree, and take an e out, and you get....TRE!)
I got into the front seat of a black BMW, and sat stiffly. I felt like I didn't want to get anything on the seats or carpet, considering my blood stained legs and colorful shoes. Adrienne started the engine and we were off. To where, I had no friggin' clue. I looked in the mirror and saw Diana and Lauren walk out the Safeway doors, two bags in hand, heads together, deep in conversation.
I felt a bit guilty for leaving them without telling what was going on. But if I told them, they would freak out, and ruin the most perfect job opportunity I would ever have in my young life.
"Wha..? Sorry, I was somewhere else," I said, realizing Adrienne had been talking. She smiled.
" What's your name? Do you think you've got any glass in those cuts of yours?," She said, genuine concern in her voice.
" My name's Karla. Oh, I don't think so. Well, I hope not," I said absentmindedly. I had to catch myself from saying 'Whatsername', how stupid would that have been?! I poked an area near a particularly large cut.
"Ow, shit!" I whispered, hoping she hadn't heard. But her laughter told me she had, but it also told me it was okay. I better not be doing that around her kids though. Jakob and Joseph. Jakob and Joseph Armstrong. Billie Joe Armstrongs kids. Oh. My. Fucking. God. What had I gotten myself into?? What if he was THERE?! What if any of the guys were THERE? What do I do then? Go all googly eyed and start to drool, rooted to the spot? No, definitely not that. We drove along in silence for a while.
"We're almost here," she said, pulling into a very nice neighborhood. Rich people neighborhood. People with 4 door garages and lawns that they don't cut, but gardeners cut for them. Neatly clipped hedges and flowers all in row. The houses were huge and formal. That's what they were. Houses, not homes.
"Here we are," Adrienne said cheerfully, pulling up into a driveway. This house definitely looked more homely. Flowers of every color were mixed together, vines growing up the side of the house, and fallen leaves scattered across the lawn. I started fidgeting with the strap on my bag. Oh my God, oh my God. We were walking up the front steps of the house. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. The door opened. I was going CRAZY inside. But outside, I kept cool. Lauren always said I was a great actress. But I was about to be tested. Who was on the other side of the door? I closed my eyes.
"Mommy, Joey set the kitchen on fire!" a little voice said shrilly.
"What?!" Adrienne hurried inside, gathering Jake up in her arms and carrying him into the back of the house. I was left on the doorstep, door wide open. Did I dare step foot into the household in which my favorite rock star lived. Yes, I decided with a smile, yes I did. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I heard voices from the back of the house. I didn't know what to do. Should I go over there? Stay here, wait for her to get me? Did she forget I was there? Had Joey really set the kitchen on fire? Should I take off my shoes??? Now I was going crazy. Thankfully, a voice answered my prayers.
"Oh! Karla, you can come back here ya know!" Shouted Adrienne from the kitchen-that-Joey-had-supposedly-set-on-fire. I walked slowly farther into the house, following her voice. This place was fucking HUGE. I truned a corner, and there was the kitchen. There was Adrienne by the pantry, and Jake and Joey sitting at the counter, Joey looking sullen. He looked up when my shoes tapped on the linoleum floor tiles. I stood there awkwardly, shifting my weight from foot to foot. Both looked tremendously like their father. Adrienne came out of the pantry with a box of macaroni and cheese and set it on the counter.
"Boys, this Karla. She saved me froma bit of a situation back at the supermarket, so be nice," she said to Jake and Joey. I wondered what the 6 year old and 10 year old thought of their mom bringing this strange girl into the house.
"Oh, Joey. I was gone for 10 minutes. 10 minutes! And you just coudn't wait, could you?" Adrienne said, filling a pot with water and setting it on to boil. I noticed a pot in the sink, water running over it, and steam rising above it. Thank God he didn't burn himself.
"Well, anyway. Karla, make yourself at home. I'll be right back," Adrienne said, and disappeared up the stairs. I slowly let myself sink into a seat at the island counter thinger majig that the boys were sitting at. Jake noticed my leg, and asked the obvious question.
"What happened to your leg?" he asked timidly, pointing at it.
"Broken glass. It cut me. Some nail polish bottles fell, and broke. Then this guy blamed it on your mom, but it wasn't her fault, and I told them so," I said slowly, replaying the event in my head.
"Oh," was all the 6 year old said. I could tell Joey understood the situation better.
"That explains your shoes," he said.
"Yeah. But I actually like them better this way," I said cheerfully, lifting up a bloody leg to show my complimentary splattered shoes. It made Jake laugh, and Joey smiled.
"Here we go," said Adrienne, walking back into the kitchen. She was a carrying a small plastic zip-loc bag with white gauze and bandages inside, plus a pair of tweezers. This was going to hurt.
"Ooooh, are you going to operate on her, mommy?" Jake asked excitedly, bouncing in his seat.
"Not exactly. Let me see your leg," Adrienne said, pulling it onto her knee and taking a seat beside me. She inspected it closely. She spotted something, to my dismay, and pulled a shard of glass from my shin. Ow, ow, ow.Then another one. And another. Then she repeated the process with the other leg.
"Does it hurt?" Joey asked.
"A lil," was all I said through gritted teeth.
"Alright. Now to clean these cuts. You're going to have to take off your shoes. Joey, could you run upstairs and get the rubbing alcohol? " Adrienne said, turning to her son. Joey jumped from his seat and ran up the stairs. I realized my pain was just about to begin. This was gonna sting like SHIT, I thought, untying my shoes and setting them on the floor.
"Mommy, why don't you use Daddy's beer? There's a lot of it in the fridge, and Uncle Tre said it has lots of that alcohol stuff in it," Jake said wisely. I couldn't help it, I laughed. I mean, this whole situation was fucking hilarious, and Jake just topped it off. Adrienne let out a deep sigh, and told her not to trust 'Uncle' Tre on too many things. I noticed that she looked at me while she talked, probably trying to fugure out if I was some crazy Green Day fan who was just about to tear the house apart. I mean, I looked the part. Black fingernails, a short, black pleated skirt, a plain green shirt, nosering, eyeliner, choppy hair, and Converses. I only pretended to look at my leg, trying to see how bad the damage was. But I did look up to meet her gaze, so that she knew I had heard what he said, but had no particular interest in it. I passed her little test.
"Here mom," Joey said, banging the alcohol on the table. I groaned at the green liquid inside. Adrienne laughed and dabbed some onto a cotton ball, and then proceeded to dab the cotton ball onto my legs, wiping away blood. I winced and drew in a sharp breath. I had gone through this so many times, usually with Lauren dabbing the rubbing alocohol on my cuts from Him. I pushed the thought of Him out of my head.
Finally, she stopped, and began wrapping gauze on my legs, right up to my knees. I looked like I was wearing very bizarre socks. I thanked her, and Jake said he wanted bandages too.
"Do you want anything to drink?" She said, getting up and walking to the fridge.
"Milk!" said Joey, Jake nodded empathetically.
"I meant our guest," Adrienne said rolling her eyes.
"Uh, a coke?" I asked.
"We only have diet," she said, pulling one from the fridge.
"I only drink diet," I said with a laugh. She handed me the coke and proceeded to pour the boys glasses of milk. I cracked open my can, and took a long sip. It was very soothing. Jake looked at me curiously.
"Do you think you're fat? Because you're not. You're very pretty," Jake said. Joey slapped him on the back of the head and I snorted into the can. Adrienne looked reprovingly at her sons.
"No, I just don't like how sweet regular sodas are. And I don't like milk," I said, still laughing.
Jake's eyes got wide, and he said, "You don't like milk!?"
I shook my head and stuck my tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue out back, and I made mine longer. Then he did too. This kid was really funny. I took another sip of soda as Adrienne set the glasses of milk down. She sat.
"So, how old are you?" she asked kindly.
"I turned 14 in March," I said. Joey's eyes lit up.
"I'm born in March, too!" he said, I grinned at him.
"How do you two feel about Karla babysitting you two tomorrow night?" Adrienne asked her kids.
Joey wrinkled his nose.
"I don't need a babysitter," he said decisively.
"I'm going to go out to dinner with Daddy and the guys tomorrow. I'm gonna be gone for a while, so yes, you DO need someone to watch you," Adrienne said.
"Daddy's coming home? Can we see him?!" Jake asked, eager faced. Joey looked interested, too. Hell, I was interested, but I didn't show it.
"You can see him after tomorrow. Him and the guys have to do something out of town, then they'll be back and stay for a week," she said happily. At this, both boys rejoiced. I wondered how often they saw Billie....Green Day was touring for American Idiot.
"I can play with Tre!" Jake said excitedly. I wondered if that was a safe thing.
"I want Karla to baby sit. As long as it isn't Mrs. Figg," Joey shuddered. Jake didn't look too happy about this Mrs. Figg either.
"Will you play games with me?" Jake asked. I smiled at him and nodded.
"Well, I guess you've got the job. Can you make it around 6:30 tomorrow?" she asked. I could tell she was hopeful. But I didn't need anymore encouragement.
"Yup. I'll be here," I said grinning.
"Oh, thank you SO much! You're an angel!" Adrienne said relieved. Far from it, I thought.
"Do you wanna stay here a little bit?" Adrienne asked. Why the hell not?
"Sure," I said, hoping I didn't sound too eager.
"Do you wanna play cards?" Joey asked. I agreed and he ran to get a deck.
"What do you wanna play?" he asked, returning. Adrienne started on the macaroni and cheese.
"Anything you want," I said, feeling happier than I had in a long time. And that's how I got into playing about 50 thousand games of Go Fish, losing every single time. I was really frustrated. Joey was really good at keeping a straight face and making moves wisely. I decided to teach them a new game. They were eager to learn. It was a card game called Pietistenskaat (Yes, this is a real game, and it is super hard and super fun). It was rather hard to explain, but Joey quickly caught the gist of it. Jake got very confused and just watched.
"Oh, I get it! So, when you have this, but this is in the middle....." Joey said about 15 minuets later. He finally understood it and we played a few rounds to make sure he got all of it. He was a very fast learner.
"Lunch is ready," Adrienne announced," Karla, do you want anything?"
"Um. Do you have some fruit? Like an apple or something?" I asked, feeling stupid. I wasn't big on lunch.
"Sure thing," she said, throwing me an apple. I caught it and Joey looked at me strangely.
"Are you some sort of health nut?" he asked. I scowled at him.
"Joey!" his mom said sharply.
"Nooooo. I like my fair share of junk food. I'm just never really hungry at lunch. Now, dinner. That's a different story," I said, taking a sizable chunk out of the apple. Joey smiled.
"I'm always hungry," said Jake.
"Oh, dinner. What do you guys want for dinner tomorrow?" Adrienne asked. I would have already eaten, and I told her so. We decided on pizza. Just something I can put in the oven. We finished lunch and I continued my game of Pietistenskaat with Joey. It was nearing 4:30 when I said that I should go.
"Aaaaaw! But we didn't get a chance to play ninja!" Jake said, disappointed.
"Don't worry, we'll play tomorrow," I said, ruffling his hair. He poked me in the stomach, and I fell over, pretending to die from his evil poke of death.
"I win!" Jake said, jumping over to me and continuing to poke me. I groaned each time, pretending I was suffering.
"Okay, let her go," Adrienne smiled down at me. I opened my eyes and stopped rolling on the ground. I pulled myself to my feet and Adrienne offered to drive me. I told her that would be great, and Jake gave me a giant hug around the legs. Adrienne pried him off me and I followed her to the car. She dropped me off at the Safeway. She was a little confused, but I didn't offer any explanation.
I waved good bye and thanked her.
"No, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye," she waved and drove away.
I slowly walked back to Diana's house. I had been gone for three hours, and they were probably worried sick. Before I even knocked on the door, it opened and Diana pulled me inside. She dragged me up to her room, where Lauren was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
"What the hell happened back there?" Lauren and Diana asked at the same time. I laughed, and took a deep breath......
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Post by whatsername on Jul 5, 2005 23:23:13 GMT -5
Lauren is a real person. So is Diana. You're stealing Lauren's identity. I should tell her, lol.
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Post by suicideXmakeover on Jul 5, 2005 23:29:42 GMT -5
I like this story a lot.
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Post by Kill on Jul 5, 2005 23:50:54 GMT -5
Oh, well then. Nevermind! She just acts like me is all. Lol, goooooood story. I cannot wait until she actually interacts with the guys.
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Post by whatsername on Jul 6, 2005 9:01:27 GMT -5
yeah, sorry thats taking so long, but i don't wanna rush it, ya know? actually, go ahead and steal laurens identity. i'm sure she'll be thrilled.
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Post by Kill on Jul 6, 2005 11:50:25 GMT -5
Okay! And yeah I know what you mean about the whole...rushing thing.
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Post by whatsername on Jul 6, 2005 22:25:07 GMT -5
Part Four
"I still don't believe this," Lauren said, massaging the goo into my hair. I stared up at the bathroom ceiling.
"Yeah, me either," I said. Diana was busy painting her nails, sitting in the empty bathtub. Lauren was dying my hair black, as I went over what happened last night for the billionth time.
"Are you sure it was her?" Diana asked, inspecting her nails.
"How many people have a 10 and 6 year old named Joey and Jake, who have an 'Uncle' Tre?" I asked sarcastically, straining to look at her from my uncomfortable position in the sink.
"Alrighty. You can lift your head," Lauren said, stripping the plastic gloves from her hands. I wrapped a towel around my neck and sat up.
"What are you gonna do if any of the guys are there?" Lauren asked, taking a seat on the toilet. I had worried about this. Should I act stupid, and pass up a perfect opportunity to meet the guys? I, being the biggest Green Day fan in the world (Diana and Lauren liked to argue about this), and having the chance to meet them face to face.....well, it was a big deal.
I sighed and turned to look in the mirror. The black was shocking, a shade that shone blue in the light. But, I liked it. There would be no parents screaming at me, asking what the hell I had done to my hair. 'But you wish you did', said a little voice in the back of my mind. Now where did that come from?
"I say you act as if you don't know who the hell they are," Diana concluded, closing the bottle of nail polish. Lauren stared at her.
"Act as if you don't know who they are?! What the hell is that supposed to do?" Lauren demanded.
"Well, for one, Karla will be more likely to be called again to baby sit, get to know them better. When Adrienne finds out she doesn't care about them.....being who they are....she'll feel free to welcome her back," Diana said logically.
"Hmmmmm." Lauren thought about this.
They continued contemplating, until it was time to wash my hair out. Lauren did the honors, and half an hour later, I was officially goth looking. Diana shook her head at me, looking at my reflection in her bedroom mirror.
"Now we all look alike," Diana said. True. We all now had black hair. Diana, whose real name was Seo, but didn't like to use her Korean name, had black hair cause she was, well, Asian. Lauren had more brownish hair. She also had the most perfect complexion in the world, perfectly, naturally, tan. Her father was black, and mother white. She seemed to have gotten the better parts of both races. Both Diana's and Laurens eyes were brown, mine, a silvery gray I was very proud of.
"So," I said slinging an arm around each of their shoulders,"we can pass as sisters."
Lauren snorted, "Hardly!"
I laughed and threw a pillow at her.
"Hey, have you even thought about what you're going to wear?!" Lauren asked, catching it.
I blinked. "Uuuuh. No?"
Lauren tsked, and started throwing clothes outta Diana's drawers. She didn't mind. We shared our clothes. Together, we had one giant closet. She produced a pair of loose, hip hugging, black cargo pants. I shrugged my acceptance. I really didn't care.
"You definitely can't go in that shirt," Diana said, pointing at what I was wearing. She had a point. It was a black t-shirt with Kerplunk! written on it, and Green Day on the back.
"Hmmmmm.....," Lauren mused, digging farther into Diana's closet. She threw shirts all around, landing on her desk, computer, bed, even the window sill. One hit her desk lamp, and it went crashing to the floor. Lauren ignored it.
"Could you please stop dismantling my room? I would be much obliged," Diana said graciously.
"Aha!" Lauren shouted. She had supposedly found a worthy shirt. It was just a plain dark red beater. Why the hell not? I put both pieces of clothing on.
"So?" I said, posing.
"Good, but you're missing one thing," Lauren threw a black, silver studded belt at me. I sighed and wound it around my waist.
"There? Happy now?"
"Perfect."
My cell phone rang. It used to have a Green Day ring tone, but I changed it last night. I wondered who would call me? Only Diana and Lauren knew my number. I glanced at the ID and it flashed 'Adrienne'. We had exchanged numbers last night.
Confused, I picked up.
"Hello?" Adrienne answered in a stuffy voice, as if she had a bad cold.
"Karla? I'm sorry to call you now, but do you think you can come over now, if it's okay with you?" She sounded as if she'd been crying.
"Sure," I said, worried,"Is something wrong?"
There was a sniffle on the other line. "My husband has been in a car crash. He's in the hospital now, and I should go to there right away."
"Oh my god," I whispered. Diana and Lauren looked at me, very confused.
"Can you make it?"
"Sure. Sure, I'll be there in 15 minutes!" And I hung up.
"I've gotta go!" I said, grabbing my bag.
"Why? It's only 4 o'clock! What's wrong?" Diana asked, getting up from her bed.
"Billie's been in a car accident, and Adrienne has to go see him! Oh my god, this is fucking crazy!" I said, heading out the front door by now.
"What time will you be back?!" Lauren shouted after me.
"Dunno, I should really stay with Jake and Joey. They must be worried," I said distractedly. I really needed to go.
"Call us!" Lauren shouted as I started to run.
"And, remember! Act oblivious!!" Diana shouted. I just hoped there would be a Billie Joe Armstrong to act oblivious to. I ran full speed down the sidewalk.
****************************************************** DUN DUN DUN!
Heh heh heh. I like the way this is going. I'm evil.
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Post by whatsername on Jul 6, 2005 22:27:12 GMT -5
I have parts 5 and 6, and parts of 7 thought out. This is going far from what I had originally planned, but it's better this way. Sorry Green Day isn't in this part either. You'll catch a glimpse in 5, and full on in 6, 7, 8, etc. I know, I suck.
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Post by Kill on Jul 6, 2005 22:49:32 GMT -5
AWESOME!
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Post by suicideXmakeover on Jul 6, 2005 23:05:18 GMT -5
OH MY GOD! That's such a good story...write more...do it.
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Post by Kill on Jul 6, 2005 23:10:32 GMT -5
Du it! lol
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Post by whatsername on Jul 7, 2005 14:33:11 GMT -5
Loooooong part.
******************************
Part Five
I couldn’t believe I had memorized how to get to Adrienne’s house, but I guess the mind does funny things when you need it to. I raced down the street, passing the identical houses of the suburbs, until I reached the right one. I glanced at my phone and realized I had run a mile in 8 minutes. I grabbed the stitch in my side as I went through the front door without knocking.
I heard crying in the back, which I assumed must be from the kitchen, and headed there. Adrienne was sitting at the table, crying into her hands. She looked up when I came in.
“Thank God you’re here. Thanks for coming on such short notice,” she gave me a watery smile.
“Sure….thing,” I panted. I needed to run more often. I heard a pair of feet running down the stairs, and two seconds later, Jake burst into the room.
“Who are you?” he said confused, which made me confused. Did the kid have short term memory loss?
“It’s only Karla. She just dyed her hair. Jake, be nice, and tell your brother too. I’m going to go to the hospital to see daddy. Mommy will be back later,” she said, giving Jake a reassuring hug. I could tell he was about to cry.
“Shhhh. Don’t worry. He’ll be fine,” Adrienne patted him on the back. She seemed unsure herself though, and I was worried too. She set Jake down and grabbed her car keys and purse off the counter.
“I have your number. I’ll call if anythings up. Pizza is in the freezer. You have my number, right?” Adrienne said, wiping her eyes.
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll be fine,” I said quietly, picking up Jake and setting him on my hip. He was very close to letting tears fall. This was a very resilient six year old.
“Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, heading out the door. I followed her.
“Don’t rush yourself. Stay as long as you need to. I’ll be here,” I said.
“You really are an angel,” she said, getting into her car. I smiled, she smiled back, and pulled out of the driveway and down the street. I looked at Jake, who was now eye level with me.
“If you’re an angel, where are your wings?” he asked, sticking a thumb in his mouth. I laughed and carried him inside, shutting the door behind me.
“Where’s your brother?” I asked curiously, setting him down. He looked up the stairs.
“He’s in his room, and won’t come out.”
“Oh…”
“Are you really Karla?” I blinked down at him, confused.
“Yeah, of course. Don’t you recognize me from yesterday?”
“A lil,” he nodded. And then poked me in the stomach with that evil poke of death of his.
I immediately fell flat on my back, closing my eyes and sticking my tongue out. The perfect cartoon dead expression. He giggled, and I got up.
“Let’s go see if your brother’s okay,” I said, starting up the stairs. Jake followed at a run, and lead the way.
He stopped in front of a closed door with a ‘Keep Out’ sign on it. I gently knocked on the door.
“Go away!” came the reply from inside.
“Ummm. It’s Karla. I just wanted to tell you I’m here, and I’m gonna get the pizza started.”
“Yay!” Jake shouted, “I want cheese!”
“No! I want pepperoni,” Joey shouted through the door.
“Cheese!”
“Pepperoni!”
“CHEESE!”
There was a frustrated sigh from inside.
“Well, I dunno what pizza you’re mom got. But, if you come out, I’ll make sure that half the pizza is pepperoni, and the other half cheese,” I said reasonably. Silence.
Then I heard the lock click, and the door slowly open. Joey was standing there, with tear stained cheeks. He quickly wiped his face. I bit my lip. What was I supposed to do? I gave him a hug, cause it was the only thing I could think of. I felt him stiffen, then relax in my arms. Poor kid.
“Let’s get started on that pizza, k?” I said.
Both boys nodded and followed me down the stairs. The pizza in the freezer was pepperoni, much to Jakes dismay. I peeled off the pepperoni on one half, and added it to the other, so it was almost completely covered. Joey was pleased. I searched through the fridge and found some regular nacho cheese in a bag and sprinkled it on Jakes half. Both boys rejoiced after I put it in the oven, and told them it would be done in 15 minutes. It was 4:58 p.m. according to the green light from the oven clock.
“Okay, at 5:13, it’ll be done,” I said, clapping my hands together.
“Let’s play games!” shouted Jake. I nodded, and Joey shrugged. Jake ran into his room and got out several board games. Jake and Joey argued about what to play, and we decided on Candy Land. It was already time to pull the pizza outta the oven. I grabbed oven mitts and pulled out the perfectly melted cheese and pepperoni pizza and set it down on the stove.
“Let’s eat first,” I said, stripping off the mitts. Joey showed me where the plates and glasses were, and I cut and distributed the pizza. Two slices of cheese for Jake, two slices of pepperoni for Joey, and one of each for me.
“You wanna watch tv?” I asked, pouring them glasses of milk, and getting a coke for myself.
“Mommy doesn’t allow us to eat in the living room. Only dad lets us do it sometimes,” Joey said sadly. Gotta keep conversation going away from Billie, I thought desperately.
“Uh, Jake, could you go get me a towel? Like a giant beach towel?” I asked quickly. Joey and Jake looked confused, but he went to fetch one. He came back with a giant Blues Clues towel which I spread on the living rooms crisp, white carpet.
“It’s a picnic!” said Jake excitedly.
“We’ll eat in the living room,” I said, putting a finger to my lips, “Just don’t tell your mom. It’ll be our little secret.”
The two laughed and we laid down on the towel along with our pizza. We ended up watching three movies and various tv shows. And yes, we had eaten the ENTIRE pizza. It was nearing 10 o’clock when Jake started dozing off. I decided it was time for bed. I didn’t expect for Adrienne to be back anytime soon.
I sent them upstairs to get their pajamas on, when the phone rang. I hesitantly picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi Karla, it’s Adrienne. I just wanted to check up on you.”
“Oh, everything’s fine here. We had a bit of a pizza dilemma, but that was solved. I’m sending them to bed now. How’s your husband doing?” I asked anxiously. She let out a deep sigh. “He seems okay. He’s got a fair few cuts and bruises, and a broken arm. But the doctors say he’ll be okay. He just needs rest.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good news. Stay with him as long as you want. I can crash on the couch.”
“You don’t have to do that. But I can tell your stubborn,” she said, laughing a little, “You can stay in the guest room. Make sure to tell your parents where you are.”
“Yeah….I will,” I said, picking at my nail polish. In other words, I would call Diana.
“Well, don’t stay up too long. Um, two guys might be coming over. Their names are Tre and Mike, their the boys’ godfathers, so don’t panic or anything,” Adrienne said. I laughed, a knot forming in my stomach. Tre and Mike?! HERE?!
“They’ll probably not be there til 11, so don’t wait up.”
“Okay.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
And she hung up. Billie Joe was okay, and Tre and Mike were gonna be here around 11, AND I’d be spending the night. I picked up my cell and punched Diana’s number.
“Hello?!” she nearly screamed. I pulled the phone from my ear.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Oh my god, what’s happening?”
I explained everything from the pizza, to the accident, to Billie being okay, Mike and Tre, and me spending the night. There was a long silence. We talked a little more, before Joey came down the stairs, wondering where I was. I had promised to read a story.
“I gotta go.”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
“Oh, and Karla?”
“Yeah?”
“Act oblivious.”
“Sure thing, bye.”
And I hung up and followed Joey back up the stairs into his bedroom. Jake was laying on the bed with a book in hand. It was a collection of short stories. I made myself comfortable on the bed, Jake curling up on my left side, Joey to my right. I read for a long time, and the even breathing told me both boys were sound asleep. I rubbed my eyes, and looked at Joey’s neon clock. 10:48. I told myself I’d stay awake, but fell asleep on the bed just as the front door quietly opened downstairs.
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