Over His Head
Ninety minutes later
Drake was doing a good job at fooling people at the dinner table. He only had to deal
with the parental units. At this very second Josh was probably getting yelled at by
Helen at the Premiere over something trivial and Megan called to ask if she could
sleep over her friend's house. Besides no one was going to deny an adolescent boy
second or third helpings so he was able to hide some cornbread squares and one
plastic container of chocolate and vanilla swirl pudding on Josh's chair.
"Drake, you are hungry tonight." Audrey said stirring vanilla creamer in her coffee.
"Yeah. I didn't eat much."
He tried to remember if he put the empty beer bottles in the neighbor's recycling bin
earlier?
"You ate a whole tray of pizza." Walter commented as he himself had big second
helping of the roast Audrey made.
It wasn't difficult to figure out that Walter and Josh shared many personality traits.
"I'm still hungry." That was partly true. If he wasn't worried about Denise and the
situation he could be eating even more than he was.
He just wanted to bring her up some dinner.
There should have been a grand plan brewing in his brain, but the truth was that Drake
Parker was not thinking of the whole picture. They were just teenagers trying to do
their best. He wouldn't violate his sister's trust in him and say to his mom at the dinner
table, "Hey, you know the baby girl—MY TWIN sister that you gave up for adoption is
upstairs taking a nap in my bed?"
Because Denise was right about the fact, regarding the adults wanting to make the
situation all about themselves and their life choices.
Would Audrey fight for her daughter? Would Denise's adoptive mother fight even
harder? Does Walter even know about this? Drake did not want to find out.
The only thing that mattered was waiting for Mom and Dad to get wrapped up in their
mundane conversations about the electric bill and to call the plumber because the
kitchen sink was acting up again. Then Walter would go to the TV following the
traditional male gender role and Audrey would clean up.
Sometimes, he, Josh, and Megan had to help out with the dishes, but tonight was the
only night that counted and it gave Drake the perfect opportunity to sneak the food and
a can of Mocha Cola upstairs. He opened the door quietly to find his sister sleeping
soundly. It probably was her first good sleep in ages. The jewelry box was open on the
floor. It was empty which made Drake smile. Denise probably opened it up in bed and
it fell when she tossed and turned.
He realized he forgot a spoon for the pudding and was on his way to get one from the
kitchen when Josh was about to enter.
"Be quiet, Josh, Denise is sleeping." Drake whispered who left without even enquiring
about how the picture session went for his new work I.D. badge.
'He's in over his head' was the first thought Josh had. He didn't even get to rant about
Helen chewing him out over his tardiness. Was this how it was going to be?
"You have no idea what you're doing, brother." Josh whispered aloud as he threw
himself on his bed.
"H-hey," Denise stretched and rubbed her eyes awake, "Hi, Josh."
"I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, I have to use the little girl's room. No one else is upstairs?"
"No."
"Hey, Denise, did Josh wake you up?" Drake said, holding a white plastic spoon from
a fast food take out place it was the only thing he could grab in a hurry without Audrey
seeing him.
No, I did not wake your sister up!
"No, Drake. I woke myself up. Is the coast clear? I need to use the bathroom."
"Yeah. They're both downstairs."
She climbed down the ladder.
"I brought you some food."
Corn bread, pudding, and a can of soda, it was a feast not made for royalty, but it was
the best that Drake could do at the moment.
"Thank you."
"I can get you some more later when my Mom's done in the kitchen."
"This is fine. Thank you for the pin Drake, I love it." She kissed him on the cheek.
Josh didn't know if he should say anything or if he should keep his mouth shut. He
didn't know why he didn't listen to his gut instincts.
"You are in way over your head, Drake."
"What is that supposed to mean, Josh?" Of course the raised eyebrow and voice
came with that.
"Nothing---"
"You wouldn't have said it, if it meant nothing. God forbid we have to get dressed in the
bathroom—I thought you were supposed to be the compassionate one?"
Boy, was he clueless.
Denise came back and felt like they had just stopped talking. They had to be talking
about her. No. Josh was talking about her. Drake was defending her.
"Did I walk in on something?" She couldn't help but ask anyway.
"No," Drake went to get his red Fender that was against the wall, "Everything is fine."
Josh smiled as he took a book out of his knapsack, but Denise could tell it wasn't
sincere.
She wasn't really hungry, but Drake went through the trouble of bringing her up some
food that the least she could do was eat something. The pudding would just slide
down.
"Thanks again, Drake."
"No problem."
There was no doubt about it as evening fell over San Diego that no matter how well
meaning he was, Drake Parker was in all over his head.