Chapter 6: Up and Addams

Jeremy awoke and stretched his arms above his head and yawned. He'd stayed up late the night before with the Addams family children and had only gone to bed around 2 am, despite the pleas of Pugsley to stay up a little longer. It was almost 8, and despite still being a bit tired, Jeremy wanted a start on the day.

He got out of bed and pulled on the shirt he'd worn yesterday, as well as laced up his shoes before heading downstairs. It almost felt like another dimension; waking up in someone else's house and coming down for hopefully some breakfast. He'd have to get used to this.

He turned down the hall toward the kitchen area, but not before catching the scent of breakfast already in the process of being made. He smelled bacon, and the waft of… pancakes? Maybe waffles.

He started following the scent, as he'd actually yet to even see the kitchen. Hopefully the smell would lead him to the right place, and hopefully not some witches hut hidden within the Addams family home, where she lured new visitors into her red brick oven and baked them into pies.

Jeremy rubbed his eyes some more. He couldn't decide if he was still waking up to think such a ridiculous thing or if he was actually being rightfully precautious. I mean, with the events of the night prior he wouldn't be surprised if there was more to the household than he'd only glimpsed last night.

He followed the smell and thankfully it showed him into a eggshell white kitchen, with black and white elongated diamond floor tiling. Not what he'd expected. He expected more red. Or maybe for some odd reason yellow. Don't know why.

There stood Lurch leaning over the stove (Quite literally leaning over it. He had to duck his head under the cabinets that mounted above it.)

Jeremy, being the awkward one that he is, tries to think of what to say, or how to approach the tower of a man. Does he say good morning, does he ask how he is? Does he ask what he's cooking and does he expect to be offered any? Should he make himself a bowl of cereal? Does he order in or go out for breakfast? Should he wait for the Addams?

"Hurmm." Lurch grunted with a smile, pulling Jeremy out of his own head, which he was found more often these days than not. He turned and offered Jeremy a plate, that had 2 sunny side up eggs, some bacon, some sausage, and a piece of buttered toast.

"Wow." said Jeremy astounded, looking down at the plate in his hands then back up towards Lurch. "Thank you." he said smiling at him.

Lurch smiled and turned back toward the counter to grab his own plate. Jeremy sat down at the table as Lurch set down his plate, and went to grab some coffee.

As Jeremy and Lurch sat there enjoying their breakfast, enjoying their coffee the slow churn of a machine's humming grew steadily from outside. It grew louder and more distinct, and soon was joined by laughter.

"Mr. Lurch, what is that?" Jeremy asked finally. Turning around in his chair to try and look out the window. He could see the courtyard outside, but anything further was blocked by the wraparound of more of the house.

"Hrn. Hrmrmm?" grunted Lurch with almost a bit of a shrug as he bit down into his mug. This caught Jeremy by surprise. Not so much Lurch not knowing the sound of machinery, but the fact that he literally bit down into the ceramic mug, and began chewing it loudly as he pulled up a newspaper from his lap.

"Huh… Thank you, again Mr. Lurch." Jeremy said as he stood up with his dishes and headed toward the sink to rinse them off. Not before trying to bite down on his mug though, quickly finding it clink against his teeth. 'That's not happening' he thought to himself as he stole another glance at the butler enjoying his mug and newspaper at the table.

Jeremy slipped out the door into the courtyard and followed it out and around the house. The sky was partly cloudy, but the rain didn't look like it was coming back any time soon. The ground was slightly damp, but not enough to sink his feet into. Jeremy strolled around the perimeter of the house and took note of the beautiful architecture surrounding him.

Eventually he'd found the source of the noise. There was Mr. Addams with a pair of dirty brown goggles on, sitting on a mobilized wood chipper. He was throwing dead bushes and what looked like… giant… Mario plants? Into the churning mouth of the machine.
"Good morning Mr. Addams!" Jeremy called out over the noise.

Mr. Addams did nothing but maniacally laugh as he tossed in another plant.

"Uh- Good Morning! Mr. Addams!" Jeremy called out again. Jeremy started treading carefully over toward the wood chipper and finally Mr. Addams took notice.

"Ah! Mr. Hawthorne. Good morning to you." Mr. Addams said, turning off the machine and pulling up his goggles. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good Mr. Addams. You? What're you doing?" Jeremy replied, looking over at the shredded shrubbery that sat in the trailer catch behind the mobile wood chipper. What a mouthful that is.

"I slept quite alright, I had to get up early though to get rid of the evidence though." Mr. Addams said looking behind him at the trailer he was filling. "Morticia, hasn't quite noticed yet but I uh… May have forgotten to feed a couple of the more 'active' plants in her garden the week she was gone."

Jeremy walked over to what was left of the dead mario looking plants and looked them over. They were dried up, and seemed to be… mutilated?

"And this is what happens to them when they're not fed?" Jeremy asked.

"Huh?" Mr. Addams said in confusion before quickly adding "Oh! No, these aren't the more active plants. These are the victims."

Jeremy's eyes widened at such a conviction.

"What?" Jeremy asked turning to Mr. Addams "You mean to tell me something else did this to these plants?"

Mr. Addams looked down at the dead plants before him and then at the glass greenhouse obscured by black bars around it behind him with almost a ghostly look in his eyes.

"Yes…" was all he said.

'Okay. Totally creeped out by the greenhouse then.' Jeremy thought to himself.

"...Oh… Well, what kind of plants were these?" Jeremy asked regaining his composure and turning over the plants head with his foot.

"Well, it's one of Morticia's side projects. Hydnora Africana plants are a very… aromatic predator species of fauna." the spaniard answered as he adjusted his leather gloves on his hands. He wore a white T-Shirt and some black coveralls for this outdoor labor.

"Aromatic… like they smell? Do they smell good?" Jeremy asked as he leaned over to sniff the dead plants as Mr. Addams reached a hand out to try and stop him, but not fast enough.

"Phew! Ew! That smells so sour! What the hell?!" Jeremy jumped back holding his nose.

"That's why it's one of her side projects." Mr. Addams said as he pinched his nose, but then pulled away just as quickly cause the smell was also on his gloves.

"As I was saying. The Hydnora Africana plant is a very aromatic predatorial fauna. It smells like shit, and uses that smell to lure it's prey into it's mighty jaws. Dung beetles a lot of the time."

"Excuse me? That doesn't smell like shit, that smells like rotten milk and lemons." Jeremy said still scrunching up his nose and eyes.

"Precisely. Good observation. Morticia thinks the plant looks beautiful, and has been trying to breed out the Aroma. Clearly… not too well." Mr. Addams stated. "She's still working on it, and I'm glad these won't be missed too dearly."

"That's incredible Mr. Addams." Jeremy said honestly "but oh man, how close is she to getting the desired effect?"

Mr. Addams looked pensive for a moment then shrugged.

"No idea. I'm not a plant guy. That's more cousin Fawna's area of expertise." Mr. Addams answered honestly.

"Ah. I see…" Jeremy said, before taking another look at the greenhouse behind them. "Then… what made the predator the prey?"

Mr. Addams leaned over from his seat on the mobile wood chipper and looked at Jeremy "I think that's a question you ought to ask Mrs. Addams. I think she'll gladly show you." Mr. Addams said with a smile before pulling his goggles back over his eyes. "Well, what are you going to do today Mr. Hawthorne?"

Jeremy turned to Mr. Addams and shrugged. "I actually don't know Mr. Addams. I thought maybe I'd go and see Martin. Maybe go bowling or something."

"That's a splendid idea,-" the goggled man said with a grin as he patted his pockets and found not what he was looking for. He patted himself down some more and looked over himself before turning his attention toward the outdoor table by the house. "Damn."

Jeremy looked behind him and then back to Mr. Addams.

"I left my cigars and lighter over there would you get that and light one up for me?" Mr. Addams asked.

Jeremy nodded and walked over to the table and grabbed the two thick cigars, and silver plated lighter from the glass table, before coming back.

Mr. Addams stuck one of the cigars in his mouth before pocketing the other. Jeremy flicked the lighter open and held the flame under the end of Mr. Addams current cigar as he puffed.

"Thank you Jeremy" Mr. Addams said after dragging on his cigar, and pocketing the lighter roughly with the thick hide gloves he wore. However, he pulled out a small fold of a couple of bills and handed them over to Jeremy.

"You have a good day on the town, on me Mr. Hawthorne. I take you'll likely head home at some point today and bring over your things?" Mr. Addams asked.

Jeremy was in kind of awe at the $100 dollar bills, in his hands and looked at Mr. Addams "Uhh, y-yeah. Probably. Mr. Addams I don't-"

"Excellent, Excellent. You go run along. The day is young, and I have to finish this before my beloved Raven crows my name this morning- Your car is in the garage at the front of the house." Mr. Addams said as he stuck the cigar between his teeth with a grin. He turned on the machine again with a maniacal chuckle as he pulled forward to grab the next plant in his path to throw into the chipper.

Jeremy couldn't help but smile at the sight he was leaving and began walking around to the front of the house.

An hour later Jeremy pulled up in front of Martin's house and walked to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited less than a minute before his mother answered the door.

"Jeremy! So nice to see you." Ms. Jones said as she pulled Jeremy into a hug. She was only 5'5 but she still managed to get her arms around Jeremy's upper shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"It's nice to see you too Ms. Jones" Jeremy said, hugging her back tightly. "Is Martin here?" He asked.

Ms. Jones pulled away smiling and turned her head towards the hall in her house "Martin! Someone's here for you!" She yelled. She could definitely be loud when she wanted to be. She smiled again at Jeremy and stepped over to let him inside.

As he did Martin ambled out his room with grey joggers and a black tank top. "Ma, who's here this early?" Martin started as he pulled his earbuds out, and looked up to see Jeremy standing in the living room next to his mom.

Martin smiled and walked over with his hand out toward his best friend.

"Hey! Didn't I see you just last week, tough guy?" Martin said pulling Jeremy into a bro hug. "Why, didn't you tell me you were coming over?" Martin said pulling away and holding up his phone. "We have these things called phones for a reason."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and smiled "Yeah, yeah. Call me old fashioned. I wasn't even expecting to be here this early." Jeremy admitted.

"What did you do, sleep drive over here in the gas guzzler known as 'The Beast'?" Martin laughed.

"Actually, no." Jeremy said turning his head "I actually slept over at the Addams's."

Martin looked at Jeremy, then started walking around him and looking him over.

"No vampire bites… No stitches… No rods… No Spiders… Huh. You sure you slept over at the Addams house?" Martin asked once he'd checked Jeremy over.

"I'm sure. Stop it. They don't go turning people into monsters. They're good people. Honestly, really good people." Jeremy said pushing Martin's hand away as he poked at his chest.

"Hm. Well, as long as you're intact, but just give me the word and I'll head over with my baseball bat." Martin said with a nod and a thumb towards his bedroom where he kept his little league bat from when they were 12.

"You should bring your football gear instead, it might protect you a bit from the man eating spider that guards the house." Jeremy said turning away with a small smile as he headed to the kitchen.

Martin stood there wide-eyed for a second "Jer- Jeremy quit playin." he said following him.

"You have breakfast yet Jeremy?" asked Ms. Jones as she plated a couple more eggs and sausage from her skillet.

"I did actually have a light one, but I can wait for Martin to eat his. I was thinking we would go bowling today before I have to drive back to Palmer to get my things." Jeremy said as he sat down at the table, followed by Martin.

"Ohh. Did you find a place here for College?" Martin's mom asked as she brought over two plates and sat them in front of either boys. Jeremy was about to interject, but she patted him on the shoulder and shushed him.

"I- Yeah. I got someone to rent me out a room for pretty decent over here. Once I start my part timer at the market, it'll be easy to keep a hold on."

"Well, that's good. I'm glad you found a place, such a shame though that Union ran out of rooms. You and Martin could've been great roommates. That's one of the great college experiences you never want to miss out on" Ms. Jones said reflecting on her college days. "I'm still best friends with some of my college roommates." she added.

"Ma, we are already best friends." Martin said as he nudged Jeremy "Besides, I think it's a little different for guys. I mean, I kinda hate my current roommate at Union." Martin said plainly.

Ms. Jones looked at her son, then back on how she remembered college guys. She quickly got back to making her plate. "Yeah, okay. Probably. College boys are pretty nasty creatures, but not you my little man." she said as she pinched Martin's cheek sitting down beside him.

"Ma!" Martin groaned as Jeremy snickered taking a bite from his sausage and egg.

"Oh I'm just teasin' you." Ms. Jones said as she swatted Martin's shoulder "You're worse. You have full access to a shower here and ya never do unless I tell you." She added.

Jeremy almost choked from laughing on his breakfast and Martin looked at him.

"Man, that isn't true." he defended himself "she just come home after I get done with my workout."

"What do you bench press? Your laundry basket, which has been filled the past 2 weeks?" She asked him. Jeremy loved how Ms. Jones can one minute be the sweetest motherly figure, then roast you and your mom the next. She'd just fried some eggs, and now was barbequing her own son.

Jeremy followed Martin's directions to the Garwood Lanes bowling alley, only getting lost once while driving. Once there, he bought them two games, a pitcher of coke, and BBQ wings.

They blew through almost 3 hours between 2 games, the food, and talked about what was coming this semester at college, what they would do in what free time they had between class and when work started, and of course… girls.

"One. How have you only dated ONE." Martin asked.

"One's not bad." Jeremy said

"No, it's not. But it's not normal in your kind of predicament." Martin said. "I mean, no homo bro, but you're not a bad lookin' dude, and this girl wasn't even a serious thing. If it were one of those budding highschool sweetheart stories, then yeah, one girl throughout highschool would make sense. But, no. You went to homecoming with her in 10th grade, and dated for like 2 months before you guys broke it off."

"And? It was a good 2 months, we just didn't really connect after that." Jeremy said sipping on his coke.

"My point is, you've been all about your studies. Like I've known girls that said they liked you but you didn't seem approachable in that way."

Jeremy looked into his drink and mulled it over. 'Yeah… maybe he's right. I don't want to be single through college, but it just doesn't cross my mind to go out of my way to look into a relationship. What do I expect, someone to fall into my arms?' he thought to himself.

Jeremy looked up and around, hoping he wasn't actually going to catch someone falling over into his arms. Sometimes he let his mind wander a bit far. He wasn't going to beat himself up about it. It passed, so it passed. He's in a better headspace now than he was in highschool where his anxiety ruled over his life it seemed.

Not that it was crippling, but it made it hard for him to take risks and push forward with maybe the 2 other girls that caught his interest ever in school.

Martin finished off his wing and wiped his hands on a napkin, before getting up to knock down his last frame of pins. First shot, gave him a 7-10 split to knock out.

"C'mon. You can do it." Jeremy called out as he finished the last of the wings.

Martin breathed out and launched the ball toward the pins, only managing to knock out the 10 pin.

"Damn. I swear that is an impossible shot." he said before coming back to their table.

Jeremy shrugged "Anything's possible. You gotta put your mind to it, but you'd know all about that Mr. 'I'm gonna be able to date, work on my studies, my job, and my football all at once'"

Martin gave him a look and then shook his head smiling.

"You lucky you're my best friend." Martin said as he began taking off the bowling shoes and swapping them for his own. Jeremy following after.

"I think you mean, you're lucky, that I'm your best friend." Jeremy said.

They gathered their things, dropped off the shoes and the dishes at the counters before heading out.

"Would you mind helping me get my things from home to bring to the Addams's?" Jeremy asked as they buckled into The Beast.

Martin was checking over his phone messages and shrugged. "Yeah, we can do that. I don't got nothing else to do today." he replied.

"Great." Jeremy said shifting the car into reverse "Then you won't mind helping me bringing it up to my room at the Addams house." Jeremy said with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, sure." Martin said before stopping his scrolling on his phone "-wait, What?!"