June 20th, 2004
Angel Grove, CA
Tommy and I went for the short drive over to my mother's house. I was surprised to see he no longer had the white Bronco he had when we were in school. He had upgraded to a red pickup truck and it dawned on me that it was probably due to his change of colors after I had left. I had to admit that it was more suiting for Jason but it was fun sitting in the cab of the truck with Tommy. He played some music on the way over, songs I hadn't heard in years. We also chatted about the dojo and how work was going for me. He seemed honestly interested in hearing about the theater and what I would be doing there. We had gone to a show there when we were teenagers, a trip our school made us do for some extra credit. It had been a showing of Romeo and Juliet. I had been more excited about the aspect than he had but he still came along without complaining.
Tommy pulled the truck into the drive way of 611 John Street, my mother's house standing tall over us as we climbed it. It was exactly as it had been the last time I had seen it, a two story Victorian style home with white siding and black trim on the windows, doorways, and the porch. The front door was painted a bright red color and had a large glass window in it that was frosted, allowing privacy. The porch was also painted white with a black cast iron railing leading up the wide white stairs. There were usually flower bushes in the front yard but they hadn't been planted there for years. The lawn was kept trimmed though and the maple tree was still in the front yard where I had planted it in the 2nd grade for Earth day with my father. The attached garage matched the house, the white door down and locked with a padlock to ensure no one was getting in. Tommy walked over to my side of the truck and stood next to me.
"Wow. I haven't been here in ages." He said, looking up at the house.
"Tell me about it." I said, grinning up at him. Reaching into my purse, I fished out the house key and started for the front door. I could hear his footsteps behind me on the porch steps as I inserted the key in the lock. Twisting it, the lock clicked and I pushed the door open. The smell of moth balls hit me as I stepped inside. Tommy followed behind me, shutting the door once he was inside.
We were standing in the living room, the large sized room feeling very empty without anything in it really. There were two wooden end tables and a folding metal chair in the middle of the room but that was it. Faded hardwood floors laid under our feet and a soft purple color was painted on the walls. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, light shining off its clear pieces, creating rainbows on the walls. The trim was the same colored wood as the floor, outlining the large window that faced the street and the large one on the other wall. The doorway was also wood and I touched it as we stepped through into the hallway. Here, there was a staircase as well as two more doorways. One led to the kitchen and the other was the downstairs bathroom. I headed into the kitchen, pleased to see that my mother's breakfast nook set was still set up in the far right side of the kitchen.
"I was hoping this would still be here." I said, walking over and touching the taller table. It was a wooden table with painted white legs and white tile onto. There were four white wooden stools tucked in underneath it, a protective cloth tossed over them. The kitchen was painted a warm yellow color, a boarder of sunflowers at the top of the wall. Black tile with white speckles was underfoot, matching the backsplash behind the white gas stove. The old style refrigerator was still here as well, tucked in next to the doorway and the wooden cabinets looked faded but still the original ones when we had bought the house. They were a dark shade of brown stain with chrome handles, wrapping around the left side of the kitchen. The deep white porcelain double sink was filled with paint tines and rolls, now dried and coated in whatever my aunt was painting. I was also glad to see that the dishwasher was still there under the counter next to the sink.
"This makes me think of those Saturday mornings we would all come over for breakfast and your mother would make us coffee." Tommy said, looking around.
"Oh yeah! She would try to make pancakes and she would be horrible at it. Thank god Trini knew how to cook." I replied, pulling the fridge open. It was obviously off and smelled a bit musty inside but not unbearable. I closed the door and saw that the backdoor in the corner of the room was locked. Walking over, I moved the white lace curtain that hung over the window in the door to the side. I could see the back deck and the backyard, the fence standing tall to block anyone from getting in.
"Why do you think Jason is with her?" Tommy asked, smirking at me. I laughed, heading out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.
"Maybe if she cooks him into a coma, he might actually set a wedding date." I said over my shoulder as we climbed the steps.
"I doubt that. He's a chicken shit when it comes to that stuff." Tommy replied, coming to a stop next to me at the top of the stairs. The landing, which was carpeted in soft grey shag carpeting, wrapped around the top of the stairs and headed into the hallway. On the left side of the hall, there were three doors. On the right, two more doors were set. I headed to the right, going to the first door. This was my mother's old bedroom and I saw that it was still painted a light blue color when I opened the door. It was empty, a rug rolled up in the corner that used to be downstairs in the living room. I moved on to the next room which was our guest bedroom. It was a smaller room with beige colored walls and white trim, tan carpeting on the floor. There was a twin sized bed in here, propped up against the wall near the closet. A door was in here that attached it to the shared bathroom that was also attached to my childhood bedroom. The next door in the hallway led to the bathroom, a white and red painted room with tile on the floor and a claw foot bathroom with an added showerhead to it. I thought about the hour long baths I would take as a teenager, dragging my phone in here so I could talk to Aisha, Tommy, and Trini on the phone. I tried the water in the sink and nothing happened, telling me that it was shut off.
The next door led to the attic and when I tried to open it, I noticed it was locked. I knew the key was here somewhere and I would need to find it once we were moved in to see what was up there. Last I knew, Mom had put all of my father's stuff up here that he didn't take with the divorce. The very last door was my old room. I found myself holding my breath as I turned the door knob. I felt Tommy behind me as we walked inside.
"Wow." He whispered as I looked around. My room was one of the larger rooms of the house, Mom and Dad switching with me right before the divorce happened. I should have known something was coming when they even redecorated it any way I wanted. There was wall paper on the walls, a darker pink color on the bottom and a soft one on the top half. The floors were a soft pink shag carpeting and wooden trim lined the room. Even now that I was older, I still liked how this room made me feel. It was warm and familiar, something I felt ache in my chest. My bed was also still in here, set up in the corner. It was an old styled bed, a metal frame that had been painted with gold paint on the headboard and footboard. Walking over, I ran a finger over the bar and smiled.
"If this isn't a blast from the past." I said, sitting on the mattress. Tommy nodded, tucking his hands in his pockets.
"I remember spending a lot of time in here." He said, leaning against the door frame.
"Remember when I used to have those movie nights when my mom worked late? I can't even remember how many times you all would just crash here because we would fall asleep. She'd come home to find six teenagers crammed in here on the floor." I stared down at the floor, picturing Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Tommy, and I all huddled on the floor on top of my blankets and pillows. Jason and Trini would be near each other, still not ready to admit their feelings. Billy would be reading, no matter what we were doing. Unless we let him pick the movie which we only made that mistake once after he made us watch a four hour documentary about the molecular makeup of an atom. Zack would be taking up the most room by sprawling out with all the snacks he could find in my kitchen. Tommy and I would be snuggled up together in the corner by my bed. Never on my bed, just near it. Later, when the three would leave and Adam, Aisha, and Rocky came along, our movie nights would change to Aisha's since I ended up living with her once my mother moved to Paris to live with Pierre.
"I seem to recall a time your mother came home and caught just the two of us in here. I thought she was going to have my hide for sure." He said, smiling over at me.
"I had completely forgotten about that! Wasn't it the night that Rita and Zedd sent down that rat mole looking monster? We weren't even doing anything that night. Imagine if she knew what went on when she wasn't looking." I said, putting my hand on the mattress.
"I didn't know your mother could be so scary until that night. I still think it's awesome she never told my parents though." Tommy walked over and sat on the other side of the bed, his back to me.
"Tommy…" I said, glancing over at him. "Never mind."
"What is it?" He asked, bringing his knee up so he could turn to see me.
"It's nothing. I just was talking to Jason the other day about his fear of actually getting married. He said that it was because he's afraid of splitting up with Trini someday."
"That's crazy. He and Trini are perfect together. I don't think they would ever split up." He replied.
"I know but he said that everyone said the same thing about us." Silence fell between us and Tommy turned away from me to look out the window.
"That was a long time ago, though." He finally said. "He can't use what happened with us to stop him from being with Trini."
"I told him the same thing. I told him that we weren't the same as them either. You can't really compare a high school relationship between kids with an adult relationship between them." I shifted so I wasn't looking at him. "Tommy, what did you think about our relationship?"
"What does it matter? It ended." He replied.
"Not that part. Everything before that. Now that you're an adult, do you look at it like a serious relationship or just two kids thinking they were in love?" Tommy stood up.
"I'm going to get my tape measure from the truck and measure the doorways." He moved to leave the room.
"Tommy, wait." I said. He stopped and huffed, his back to me. "Please."
"Kim, why do we need to do this now?" He asked, turning back to look at me. "It's been five years. You're married now. Why does defining what I thought our relationship matter to you?" I stood up, hugging my arms around myself.
"I don't know! It's just something I need to know, okay? Now answer the question."
"Fine. I guess now that I think of it as just some silly little fling kids have." He replied, looking down at his feet. "I mean, I'm sure I thought differently back then but now, I can see it for what it really was."
"Are you sure?" I whispered. He nodded, raising his head to look at me. He smiled.
"I value the friendship part now more than anything." I returned the smile, walking over and giving him a hug. He wrapped his arms around me and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Me too. I really did miss you, Tommy."
"I missed you, too." He whispered. "Now, let's get this stuff measured."
Tommy measured the doorways for all the rooms, jotting down the measurements on a piece of paper for me. While he did that, I looked around and saw some more pieces of furniture in the basement. There were a couple of dressers, an entertainment center and end tables here. IT would help me save some money, most of them just needing a good cleaning. I dragged the smaller things upstairs, putting them in the rooms upstairs. I had decided that Nick and I would move into my mother's room and we would keep the guest room as a guest room. My old bedroom would do well as a nursery once we were able to get pregnant. I tried not to let myself picture it too much and give myself false hope but it was hard to do once I was standing there.
Once Tommy was done measuring things, he helped me move the dressers upstairs and put the guest bed together. While we worked, we talked about old times and memories we had together. Even though he didn't mention it exactly, I knew he was dancing around the subject of the night I had lost my virginity to him. It had occurred one Friday night after a long battle with Lord Zedd and Rita. We ended up coming back to my house, him unable to wind down at home. My mother was out for the evening with Pierre, leaving the house to us. Things started out innocent enough, just watching a movie in my room. But for some reason, I turned and looked at Tommy and told him that I was ready to move on to the next step if he was. I'm not going to say it was magical and the stuff of romance novels because it wasn't. Any girl who has lost their virginity will tell you that. But, it also wasn't magical. Tommy was super gentle and caring throughout the whole thing, making sure I was okay and if I needed to stop. We finished the task, going at it a couple more times that night before he left.
It's funny now that even as an adult, that night still feels so fresh to me. I know most girls aren't as lucky as me when it comes to their first times. I could recall my roommate at the gymnastics school saying her first time had been in a sleeping back in their pastor's backyard and the guy never called her back after that. But like most things, Tommy was different. Following that night, we continued to be physical but I didn't think of it as being the same as our friends. Rocky and Aisha were like bunnies, going at it all the time. And Rocky would brag about it with the guys, Tommy telling me in secrecy once. Aisha would tell me, making it sound like a chore most of the time for her. Tommy and I weren't doing it every chance we had but we did have an active sex life. And it was fantastic. Granted, I've only be with two guys in my life but Tommy was definitely more talented in bed than Nick. I would never admit that to Nick in my life but it was true. He wasn't bad either but different, I suppose. Where Tommy is caring, gentle, and passionate, Nick was all about getting the job done and trying to re-enact things he had seen in porn. Some of my older friends in Florida and my mother even had said that this was common in marriages as they go down the road. I didn't much enjoy it but I never complained, especially once we started trying to have a baby. Things do get stale but I didn't like being objectified to acting like a porn star to please my husband.
"Thanks for your help today, Tommy." I said, locking up the front door.
"No problem." He replied. He held out the paper with the measurements on it.
"I'll have to see if Jason can let me use his truck to deliver this stuff tomorrow." I folded up the paper and tucked it into my purse.
"He has a tournament tomorrow." Tommy replied. "He'll be at Stone Canyon all day." I groaned.
"Terrific. Where else am I supposed to get a moving truck in such short notice?"
"I can help." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "I can fit anything in the back of my truck that you want to get."
"I can't ask you to do that for me. You've already done so much."
"You're not asking. I'm offering. It's fine. The dojo is only open for private lessons on Saturday and Rocky is the only one booked. I can pick you up and we can head over to the second hand store first thing in the morning. I've got nothing else going on."
"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah. It'll be fun."
"If moving furniture on a Saturday is your idea of fun, you need to get out more, Tommy." He laughed, nudging me with his arm as we walked towards his truck.
"What can I say? I'm a workaholic most days. You should have seen me when we were getting the dojo set up. I'm sure Rocky and Jason still complain about the amount of time they had to help me."
"I wish I had been here to help." I said, stopping by my side of the truck. He stopped too.
"I wish you were too. You'll have to come see it sometime. I didn't have any help with designing the interior decorating so don't judge me too much on it."
"I promise I won't. I still can't believe that you opened the dojo. It's nice to see that you followed your dreams, Tommy."
"Not all of them, I suppose." He said softly before heading to his side of the truck.
