Disclaimer: I don't know the rest of the song…
Friends No Matter What
Part 3 - 3 Years Ago
By Travis Blink
************************************************************************ ~Present Day~ "Ororo, Evan, over here!" The two turned to see Mr. Daniels waving at them. Mrs. Daniels was with him. Evan and Ororo ran over to them and Evan hugged his dad while his aunt hugged her sister. Then they switched. "How was your trip?" asked Mrs. Daniels. "Restful," said Aunty O as Mr. Daniels hailed a cab. "Thought provoking," mumbled Evan, scanning the city and taking in everything. The wreaths on the street lights, the Salvation Army Santas, the fake reindeers and sled in Marcy's display store window. Evan hated Christmas and Kwanzaa. They were a constant reminder of what happened three years ago. When everything went wrong. ************************************************************************ ~3 years ago~ Jiggle Bells came on through out the house, singling that the doorbell had been rung. "Evan, get the door!" yelled Mrs. Daniels. "David," she yelled at her husband. "Take that song off my doorbell!" "Oh, come on. Where's your holiday spirit?" "You should've asked me that two bottles of Aspirin ago." Evan ignored his parents and answered the door. Pietro and Wanda stood on the stoop. Wanda was holding pies and Pietro had a bag of gifts. "Merry Christmas," they said, cheerfully. "And happy Kwanzaa," said Pietro, remembering that Evan's mom celebrated Kwanzaa and therefore, Evan did too. "Thanks guy. You too." Wanda headed into the kitchen with the pies. Evan heard his parents greet her and he followed Pietro into the living room. "Hey, man," said Evan. "Where's your mom?" "She forgot the soda and went to the convince store to pick some up." The Maximeffs had been responsible for bringing the desert and drinks to the dinner. "She told us to go ahead without her, and that she'll be here soon." The two kids went off to play a video game. Wanda soon joined them. An hour later, the kids trooped downstairs. Mrs. Maximeff hadn't arrived yet and Mrs. Daniels was wondering if they should go ahead with dinner or not. Wanda was getting worried and Pietro wanted to go look for his mom. Jiggle Bells filled the house. Mr. Daniels got up to answer the door, but Pietro ran past him with Wanda and Evan hot on his heels. Pietro threw opened the door, but instead of Mrs. Maximeff standing there, a policeman holding a picture was. From the angle that Evan was at, he could see that it was the Maximeff Family Christmas picture. In it, Mrs. Maximeff was sitting with the twins behind her, each on a different side. It had been taken only a week before. "Mr. Maximeff, Mrs. Maximeff," started the policeman. "I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this…." ************************************************************************ The day that Mrs. Maximeff was laid to rest was bitter and cold. Nobody said much at all at the funeral or the gathering afterwards. The gathering was held at the Daniels. A lot of Mrs. Maximeff's friends showed up. They made up for the fact that Mrs. Maximeff didn't have any family, just the twins. People stood in groups, talking quietly among themselves about Mrs. Maximeff. Evan was sad, but he was more mad. Mrs. Maximeff was a kind, loving person, who would never hurt another being. Ever. To have her taken away like that because of a gun - happy teen who wanted to rob a store just for kicks pulled the trigger. Evan hoped he fired in hell. He looked around the room, searching for Pietro. Wanda was upstairs in the guest room, resting. The twins had been staying with the Daniels until the state could place them in homes. Evan didn't see Pietro in the room and decided to look outside. He was sitting on the back porch steps and Evan went to sit next to him. "Hey." "Hey." "How are you doing?" "How do you think I'm doing?" snapped Pietro. "My mom's dead, my sister's in denial, and I don't know what's going to happen to us." "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help." "You know how you can help?" asked Pietro. "You can promise to be my friend no matter what happens. Can you do that?" "Yeah." "Yeah what?" "We'll be friends no matter what."