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I Should Go copyright 2013 nikkipattinson
I Should Go
Chapter Eleven
I made it to Friday without murdering Jasper and without hurting Mom's feelings. It took most of my self-control to accomplish both of these tasks. So, when I rounded the corner of my block and saw Mom's car and another one that I didn't recognize in my driveway, I was understandably concerned. Not just about who Mom had at my house, but also about how I was going to keep from saying something that I might regret later when I found out who Mom had at my house.
I picked up the pace and was on the porch in one leap. I opened the door and called out, "Mom! Where are you? Why are you here?" That's when I smelled the cleaners. "Jesus Christ, Mom! What are you doing?" I moved to the first window I came to and opened it. "It smells like a chemical plant in here." I continued to move around the room opening windows.
Mom came down the stairs and said, "Would you watch your language. I'm not the only one here."
"Who's here?" I asked as I started for the kitchen to raise the window in there.
"Stop!" Mom screamed.
I tripped over my own feet as I came to an abrupt stop at the door of the kitchen. I turned to my mother and said, "What the hell?"
"We just waxed the floor in there. Don't walk on it for at least another hour."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Mary Whitlock and I are 'we,'" Mom said sarcastically. "We're cleaning for tomorrow."
"I don't need you to clean my house. It's clean enough. I'm not a nasty person. I keep it pretty neat."
"It's clean enough for you, tadpole. It's not clean enough for guests. We're doing the things that you wouldn't think of doing."
"Why were you upstairs?"
"Well, people will be going upstairs."
"Oh, hell, no they won't. This is a strictly first floor shin-dig. Tell Mrs. Whitlock to get back down here."
"I will do no such thing. She was gracious enough to help me with all of this."
"I thought you had Jessica," I replied as I started for the stairs.
Mom was on my heels. "Jessica planned the party, but Mary and I put together the guest list and mailed the invitations and now we're getting the house ready."
I entered my bedroom and saw Mary Whitlock going through some of my unpacked boxes. "What are you doing?" I asked her.
"Oh, hi, Edward," she said as if going through another person's things was normal and accepted social behavior.
I turned to my mother. "What is she doing?"
"What I asked her to do. We're trying to figure out what to do with these boxes."
"My life is no longer my own," I mumbled. "Leave the boxes alone, Mom. No one will be in here."
"We'll have to give a tour of the house, tadpole."
"Not in here," I insisted.
"It's just a bunch of junk, Esme," Mary said.
"Junk? That is not junk. Those are collectibles. I just haven't decided where I'm going to put them yet. Get out of those boxes." I walked over to one of the opened boxes, closed it, and moved it out of Mrs. Whitlock's reach.
"There's comic books in here," she said as she totally ignored me and moved to another box.
"Graphic novels!" I exclaimed.
"We can probably put all that in the attic," Mom said. I stared at her with horror.
"What?" I asked.
"We'll just put it all in the attic to get it out of the way."
I took a calming breath and softly said, "You do not put comics or graphic novels or the collectibles that are associated with those comics and graphic novels in an attic. Do you understand me? These boxes... they never go anywhere like an attic or a basement where there are temperature and moisture extremes. This 'junk,' as you call it, is very valuable. It stays here. I will figure out where I'm going to put it later. You do not touch it. Do you understand?"
"It's comic books and dolls, Edward," Mom said as she rolled her eyes.
I shook all over with barely contained anger. "Don't touch them!" I screamed.
"Okay, okay, calm down. And don't yell at us." Mom looked at the boxes and sighed. "Can we move them to the other bedroom? We can close the door and not let anyone in there, I guess."
"I'll move them," I said quickly. I grabbed a box and started for the door. I turned and said, "I don't really want anyone up here at all."
"It's a housewarming party, Edward. People will expect to see the house. That includes the upstairs. We can keep them out of your 'comic book' room, but the rest of the house is fair game."
I growled under my breath and went into the spare bedroom. It was completely empty. I hadn't planned on having a roommate; therefore I saw no need to furnish it. I had been contemplating making it a display room for my collectibles, but I'd also considered displaying them in the living room. The only thing that had stopped me from putting them out downstairs was the weekend that Jasper, Emmett, and I got high. I had to consider the possibility of that happening again. I didn't want Emmett to do something that I might have to kill him over.
I set the first box on the floor and went back for another one. Mom was stacking them outside the door of my bedroom so Mrs. Whitlock could vacuum.
"Don't stack them," I whined. "And I can do my own vacuuming. Seriously, you both can leave now."
"Okay," Mom said dismissively. I knew by her tone that they weren't leaving. I took my boxes to the other room and sat down on the floor. I opened one and took out a first edition Wolverine figurine... mint in the box.
"Oh, Wolvie, help me to not kill my mother before Sunday." I put the figurine to the side and pulled out a very rare Rogue action figure from the early nineties.
I continued to go through the boxes, pulling out certain figurines and arranging them around the room. I got so into going through those boxes that I didn't realize how late it had gotten. When Mom came into the room to tell me that they were done and leaving, it was dark outside.
Mom sat next to me on the floor. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I just want tomorrow to be over. I hate these things. Remember how I never wanted a birthday party? I don't like being the center of attention. It's not my thing... it's your thing."
"I know, tadpole, but it will be good for you to get re-acquainted with everyone. You need to make some friends."
"I have friends," I whined. "I have Jasper and Emmett."
"More friends... different types of friends."
"You mean women."
"I want grandkids."
"It's getting late. Don't you need to go?" I said as I stood and helped my mom to her feet.
She sighed and kissed me on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow at noon. Get some sleep." I nodded and walked her downstairs to the front door.
"Thanks," I said reluctantly. She shrugged and gently slapped my cheek before walking out the door.
