"See you tomorrow, guys." Freddy Jones opened the door and bid goodbye to his bandmates.
"Bye Freddy!" they said in chorus.
Band practice is over. Freddy waits up for his mom to pick him up. It was already 6:00 in the evening. He twirls his drumsticks with his fingers to relieve himself of the boredom. Suddenly, sounds of an automobile can be heard from the corner of the street.
"That must be Mom." He whispered.
But it turned out that it's not. It was a silver Mercedes Benz driving past him.
"Whoa. Who the hell's in there?" he said, looking at the silver car as it turns around the corner. Shortly after, a BMW arrived and stopped in front of him. His mother was on the back seat and the car is being driven by their driver, Alex.
"Hey honey. How's band practice?" his mom said.
"Fine." Freddy responded, opening the car door and jumping inside it..
"Did you have fun?" his mom asked, smiling.
"Well, yeah. We've doing so great." Freddy said back. His mom smiled at him, looking very proud of her son.
"Ready to go, madam?" Alex the driver asked.
"Yes, Martin. Let's go." Freddy's mother said. Alex started the car and drove on.
"Well, at least you found something productive to do, instead of causing trouble and always being sent to the Principal's office."
"I still am." Freddy said without thinking. His mother gave her "that look". He quickly revised the previous sentence. " Oops, no, I mean, yeah, mom. I'm a good boy now."
Then, he gave a seemingly convincing smile that hides the fact that he's still a complete troublemaker.
"I'm glad to hear that, son. Now, if I ever hear that you've been causing trouble again, I am going to ground until the end of the century, young man!" his mother gave him warning and "that look" that only mothers can do.
"I promise. I'm going to be good. I'm not going to be Chuckie anymore." Freddy said, smiling sweetly.
"Frederick Jones! What do you mean by 'Chuckie'?""
"Just joking, mom!"
Their car just drove along until they've reached the suburbs. Freddy went back to staring out the car window. They passed along a large house with a silver Mercedes Benz just arriving. He remembered seeing this car earlier. A little girl with red hair and dressed in a lavender dress stepped out of the car and ran inside the house, nearly tripping in the steps. Not very far from there, they reached their own house, also a big one, but not as much as the other house they've just passed by. Still, the Jones residence looked very majestic. Martin stopped the car, opened the door and went outside. He opened the door for Freddy and his mother. Freddy stepped out of the car immediately and prodded his mother on the shoulder.
"Mom, who's living in that big house we just passed by?"
"Oh. That would be the Blakes. They just moved in two days ago. They're from London. I think your father is friends with Mr. Blake. I haven't met him once." His mom explained. Freddy remembered the little redhead girl stepping out of the car and nearly tripping on the steps.
"Is the redhead girl his daughter?" He asked, chuckling. He's thinking about how clumsy the girl is, almost tripping on the steps without even looking it was there.
"Yes." Said his mom. "I don't know her name, though. But I think she's going to attend Horace Green. I just don't know when. Come on, let's go inside. And why are you laughing, Freddy?" His mom said, opening the front door of their house.
"Nothing, mom." Freddy said, still chuckling. He walked inside his house and shut the front door quietly.
"Marnie, we're home!" his mom shouted.
"Hey there!" Marnie, their nanny greeted them. "You're just in time. Dinner's ready."
"Good! I'm starving!" Freddy said, rubbing his stomach.
"Hey kiddo! How's band practice?" Marnie asked.
"Rockin'." Freddy said, doing a 'Rock On!" sign. Marnie flashed him the same sign with her hand. She served dinner for them. They were about to eat, when Freddy suddenly spoke up.
"Aren't we gonna wait for Dad?"
"Oh, I wish we could, but you know how Dad could be. Right, honey?" His mom said, looking at the empty seat beside hers.
"Yeah. He always says, 'Talk to you later, son', but never really does. I barely see him at all, Mom." Freddy said, disappointed.
"I know, honey. If he's not on a business trip, he's always on his office until dawn. I barely see him, too, Freddy." His mom said, a sad expression on her face.
"Let's just eat, okay?" Freddy said, taking a spoonful of his food.
"Alright." His mom said. "After dinner, do your homework, okay? No T.V, computer, or drums until you've finished all of it."
"Okay, okay." Freddy responded, an expression of disgust on his face. "I hate homework."
"What's that?" His mom asked, an eyebrow raising.
"Nothing."
After dinner, Freddy went upstairs and into his room. He took his drumsticks and placed them on his table. As he looked at the other contents of his bag, (books and notebooks full of assignments) he frowned.
"I'll do it tomorrow. I'd just copy off Katie's or Zack's, then I'm done." He thought. "Or I can borrow Summer's? Of course, she has all the correct answers…"
He removed his uniform and took out a shirt and a pair of shorts from his closet. He changed into these and went out of his room. He went down to the stairs and on to the living room. He grabbed the remote, plopped down on the couch, and turned on the T.V He flipped the channels, screening each one, then flipped on to another. He watched T.V for hours until bedtime. But Freddy's the sort of kid that doesn't believe in the thing called bedtime, so he still kept on watching T.V
"Freddy, bedtime!" His mom shouted from upstairs. He ignored her and still watched "South Park" on Comedy Central. And it's not really the kind of cartoon he's allowed to watch. Kenny got killed. Again.
"Freddy, I said bedtime!" his mom shouted again.
"Okay, I'll be right up." He said. But he didn't move from the couch. Pounding footsteps came down from the stairs.
"Frederick Jones! Bedtime, now! And how many times have I told you, do not ever watch anything at Comedy Central?!? Turn that off right now!" His mom glowered at him.
"Okay, okay. I'm going to bed!" Freddy said, turning off the T.V and got off the couch.
"You should've done that earlier! No T.V for the rest of the week, young man!" His mom said, her voice shaking.
"Aww, mom!"
"Don't you start with me, Freddy! Bed, now!"
His mom pointed at the stairs. Freddy had a sour expression on his face and gave her an angry look. He stomped his way upstairs and slammed his door. Starting tomorrow, Freddy is banned from the T.V. And he still hasn't done his homework yet.