I walked into the house and headed for the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. I paused for a moment in the doorway and stared at our kitchen table. I didn't recognize the man sitting there and it was strange to see him reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Never in my life had I seen one of my mom's many men sitting at our kitchen table. They usually came in did their business and left. He sensed my presence or more likely he heard me come in. I saw the friendly smile on his face turn into a grimace at the sight of me.
"Damn, kid" He said getting up and motioning for me to sit in the chair he was using. "Take a seat and I'll get you something to put on that." I stood there frozen in my spot. What the hell was he getting at? But I shrugged it off and took a seat. He took a raw steak out of the refrigerator and put it in my hand. I just sat there staring at it as he poured himself another cup of coffee. I stared at his still half full cup on the table. Damnit, now he's just dirtying up some more dishes for me to wash.
"Here." He said placing the cup in front of me. I stared up at him with a blank face, not quite knowing how to react to this.
"You have to hold it on your eye." He said bringing my hand up so the cold steak was placed directly on my swollen eye before taking a seat across from me. I took a long
drink of coffee and peered at him with my one visible eye from over the rim of the cup. He gave me a wide smile and took a sip from his cup then picked up the newspaper. I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" I said in a stern but confused voice. He calmly sat his coffee and paper down neatly before answering me.
"You're mom got into a bit of trouble last night, I was there to help." He said looking directly into my eyes. I snorted and rolled my eyes.
"Surprise, surprise." I said sarcastically. He gave a half grin and his eyes turned sympathetic.
"It happens a lot doesn't it?" he asked.
"More than you could imagine." I said before I could catch myself. He didn't looked shocked at my response, he just quietly considered it.
"Let me get a look at that eye." He said getting up and coming towards me, I jumped up and backed away.
"It's alright." I said not letting him get close to me.
"O.k., I'll take your word for it." he said sitting back down and picking up his paper. I slowly sat back down in my chair and sipped gingerly on my cup of coffee. After a few agonizing minutes I realized he wasn't gonna leave on my account.
"What kind of trouble did my mom get in?" I said looking up at him. He neatly set his paper aside once again as he paused to consider my question.
"I'll give it to you straight," He said looking into my eyes. "She was drunk, really drunk, and high too. The guy she was with wouldn't keep his hands off her. She kept telling him to stop touching her, but he wouldn't. So I made him stop and kicked his ass in the process. Then I brought your mom home. She passed out right after she laid down. I spent the night on the couch, to make sure that bastard didn't decide to show up here." He stopped and I stared at him, momentarily speechless. I don't know how I could tell, but I knew deep down that he wasn't lying to me. I knew the kind of creeps my mom dated. He might of called me a kid earlier but he wasn't treating me like one now, and I liked that.
"She just doesn't think," I said with a hint of anger. "She's never thought about the consequences."
"Maybe that'll change sometime, sometime soon." He said with a strange look on his face. I snorted loudly, bringing him out of his momentary fantasy.
"She'll never change." I said looking at him coldly.
"Everybody can change." He said meeting my stare head on.
"Look, you seem like a good guy, but what the hell do I know, I've known you for what, thirty minutes? I don't really know who you are and what you're like." I said hastily.
"I am a good guy." He said defending himself.
"Well if you are, you're the one that's gonna have to change. Cause my mom don't go for good guys." I said taking another sip of my coffee.
"Maybe because she hasn't had one yet." He said leisurely taking a sip from his
cup as well.
"That's the damn truth." I said with a laugh.
"Looks like she ain't the only one that picks bad guys." He said looking at me seriously. I laughed out loud.
"I got into a fight with a girl and if you think I look bad you should see her." I said with a hint of pride in my voice. "And her friend" I added wanting to give Angela credit for her part.
"So you whipped two at the same time?" He asked with a small smile on his face.
"Na, me and my best friend." I said staring at the table wondering what it was about this guy that made me say things I would never dream of confiding in a stranger.
"What were ya'll fighting about?" He asked curiously.
"Just stuff." I said with a shrug, not wanting divulge anymore information.
"I'm sure there's more to it than that but that's good enough for me." He said reclaiming his paper and disappearing behind it. I sat there and finished my coffee then got up.
"I'm going to take a shower and get dressed." I said heading out of the kitchen.
"Got big plans today." He said, his face still hidden behind the paper.
"Oh yeah, I'm booked solid for the rest of the year." I said sarcastically and headed upstairs followed by his booming laughter.
I wiped the fog off the mirror and smiled slightly at my reflection.
"I do look kinda tough." I said out loud before wrapping up in a towel and heading towards my room. After throwing on some cloths and deciding that makeup just wasn't an option I headed back towards the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. The phone rang as I was walking through the living room. I glanced at the clock 10 am who'd be calling this early I thought as I reached for the phone.
"Yeah?" I said into the receiver.
"Can I talk to Cindy?" A male voice said.
"No." I said "Who is this?"
"This is Joe, we've been seeing each other for a week." He said a little agitated.
"I can't keep up with all the guys she sees." I said laughing because he thought I'd remember him.
"Stop being a wise ass and put her on the phone." He said with anger.
"Sorry Joe," I said exaggerating his name. "But she's in bed. Probably still worn out from you trying to force yourself on her." I slammed the phone down and turned towards the kitchen. Before I could take one step the phone rang again.
"Yeah" I said picking up the phone, my voice was rigid from anger.
"Put your fucking mom on the phone you little shit, this has nothing to do with you." His voice was full of venom and slightly slurred.
"Look you drunk bastard. You can talk to my mom whenever the hell you want to. But I'm not waking her up for your sorry ass." I yelled slamming the phone down again. I took two deep breaths and turned to see that the guy from earlier was still here and leaning in the kitchen doorway.
"Who was that?" He said glancing at the phone.
"Joe" I said making a face and holding my hands up to make quotation marks. He gave a small laugh just as the phone rang again. I sucked in a deep breath. I hate when
people call and call and keep calling. I reached for the phone but he beat me to it.
"A smart man like you should know when to quit." He said his friendly voice turning cold and callous. There was a pause in the conversation and I saw his tight, stern face full of anger and loathing soften and relax once again. I small tinge of pink crept onto his cheeks. I wondered what brought on the sudden change in mannerisms.
"Oh, sorry about that son. I thought you were someone else." He said before handing me the phone and shrugging slightly. He was still blushing when he walked into the kitchen.
"Hello?" I said confused by this whole situation.
"Hey Ava, didn't think you would be home so early." Ponyboy said with a small laugh.
"Yeah well, I am" I said simply.
"Who answered the phone?" He said curiously.
"Honestly Pony, I have no fucking idea." I said with confusion. There was a pause before he spoke.
"So your mom brought a new one home?" He said with a hint of worry.
"Yeah, but it's different. I don't know I'll explain it to ya later." I said hastily, not wanting to discuss it with him while the guy was in the other room.
"Everyone's out right now, why don't you come over?" He said.
"Alright" I said hanging up the phone and going into the kitchen. I made a bologna sandwich and stuffed half of it into my mouth.
"I guess I'll see ya." I said pulling the back door open.
"Hey," He said stopping me in mid step.
"You're mom told me she had a daughter but she never mentioned your name." he said looking at me expectantly.
"Avalon." I said looking at him then at the ground. She didn't mention having a son, I thought, my disbelief turning to anger in an instant.
"My name's Sean Callahan" He said looking at me with intense eyes. I met his gaze and gave a brief nod before walking out the door. I smoked three cigarettes on my way to Pony's. It didn't help, the anger just kept growing. How could my mom tell him about me and not mention one word about my brother. I racked my brain trying to form a good reason but as always I failed. My mom never had a good reason for the things she did. Even a remotely sane reason would have done. But she never had one of those either.