Chapter 8
"Damn it!" Tina shot out of bed, fumbling with her alarm. She couldn't believe she'd slept through it again, and she began shaking Gene. "Gene! Wake up, Gene! We're late!" Late was an understatement; school started in less than twenty minutes. "Gene, come on!" she repeated, turning away when her brother had sat up, rubbing his eyes.
Throwing open her wardrobe, Tina scanned for clothes, before realising she didn't have any. Well, she didn't have any that were appropriate for school; she couldn't exactly wear her pink party dresses, or her thick winter clothes, not when it was May. Her black catering dress would have been fine, if it didn't carry such horrible memories, so she couldn't wear that either.
Tina ran to the bathroom, and dug through the laundry basket; she pulled out two shirts, a pair of shorts, and a skirt, and quickly sniffed them. Compared to the rest of the clothing in the basket, they didn't smell too bad, and she brought them back to her room. They didn't have time to shower, and there was no hot water, anyway.
The two of them hurriedly got dressed, and Tina self-consciously smoothed down the wrinkles in her shirt, which she now realised was Gene's, but it was too late to change. Her skirt was feeling rather tight at the waist, but again, there was no time to change. "Okay, go brush your teeth," she said, while heading to the kitchen, and hunting through the cupboards. Finding the room freshener, she sprayed it all over herself while simultaneously checking the empty fridge, as if she expected it magically refill itself.
Tina fixed her barrette as she joined Gene in the bathroom, hurriedly brushing her teeth, and mentally checking what was in their backpacks as she did so. They both had their books, and pencil cases, and they had their (poorly done) homework. That was all they needed. "Gene," she said, when her brother had finished, "go get your backpack, and maybe brush your hair." Gene only nodded, and left the bathroom, while Tina continued scrubbing, observing the dark circles under her eyes.
When she'd finished, she grabbed her backpack, and hastily dragged a brush through her hair, so she at least looked presentable, before they left. Their parents wouldn't miss them; they wouldn't even notice the kids were gone, and so Tina didn't feel bad about not attempting to wake them.
As they quickly walked down the street, Tina placed the key into her backpack, her stomach twisting as she realised they didn't have lunches; usually, she made them the night before, but she'd had to stop, as Gene had a new habit of going on late night eating binges. She did, too, sometimes; it wasn't planned, and it helped fill that huge empty void inside her. "We're going to eat lunch at school today," she said, and Gene nodded. Although he continued to talk, he preferred not to, only speaking when it was necessary. They had barely enough for dinner that night, which reminded Tina that she needed to go shopping again. Or maybe she had to do something drastic, like putting locks on the fridge and cupboards? Her hands grabbed the hem of the oversized shirt, balling into fists.
Things had gotten a little better at school; people were treating them normally, although they would sometimes be confronted with a well-meaning but insensitive student, asking about Louise. Tina just didn't answer them, and walked away.
Luckily, they got there just as the final bell rang, and they raced off to class, taking their seats just in time.
Tina actually felt glad she was in Gene's classes; she'd done the work, and although she didn't remember it all too well, it meant that she didn't have to focus; she had too much to focus on as it was.
While the teacher spoke of persuasive writing, Tina looked down at her notebook, twiddling her pen. She began to write a to-do list; something that wasn't needed, but her mind wouldn't rest until it was all done.
'Get home from school
Do laundry
Make dinner
Online food shop
Clean kitchen – wash dishes, clean counters, take out garbage, etc.
Try and get hot water.' That one stumped her. She didn't know how to pay the water bill, and even if she did, she needed to buy food; that was more important. She gave a little sigh, and rested her chin in her hand, staring down at her list.
"Tina? Tina?" Ms Jacobson's voice jolted her back to reality, and she jumped a little. "Are you with us?"
"Oh, er, yes. I am," Tina straightened up, and closed her notebook.
"Okay, then." Ms Jacobson gave her another look, before she resumed teaching.
Tina forced herself to focus; it shouldn't be this hard, she'd done it all before. Even though it was under completely different circumstances, this was supposed to be easy for her. The words on the whiteboard didn't seem to make sense.
She must have done an okay job, as the teacher did not call on her, although she did take note of how tired Tina looked. The poor girl probably wasn't sleeping very well. She knew that the other teachers, as well as Mr Frond, were keeping an eye on them; they still needed support.
At lunchtime, Tina and Gene sat alone, ignoring the stares they were getting. They could sense the stares though; truthfully, it wasn't hard to miss; their friends were sat on the table opposite, looking at them with all the subtlety of a bulldozer knocking down a building.
Tina tried to eat slowly, even though they both took extra helpings of everything. It might not have been the right thing to do, but they were hungry, so there really wasn't any other option.
She kept her eyes focused on her tray, knowing that her peers were watching, whispering, exchanging glances, so she couldn't bring herself to look at them. Jimmy Jr. had barely even looked at her in weeks, and it seemed that Regular-sized Rudy did nothing but stare at her. She knew he followed them around school, wanting to talk to them, but the words were always dying on his lips.
If the Belcher kids had had less to focus on, they might have had the time to feel sorry for Rudy; he'd lost his best friend, and now he spent every break-time sitting against the wall, watching the children play.
When they had finished eating, they did not go out into the playground; instead, they remained sat at the table, gazing down at their empty trays.
"Tina? Gene?"
They looked up to see Zeke sat opposite them. "Y'all wanna come outside?"
"No, thanks," said Tina, looking back down at her tray.
"Ya sure? We can play some Ga-ga ball."
"No," was all Gene said, and Zeke looked downtrodden.
"All right," he said, not one to push people into doing things they didn't want to do. "If you change your mind, I'll gladly play with ya." He stood, hovering near them. "T-Bird, ya still got my number?"
"Yes," Tina didn't lift her eyes from the tray.
"Okay, well, remember, y'all both can call me any time, all right? No matter what."
"Sure," said Tina, and Zeke walked away, looking back over his shoulder at them. They didn't look over at him, and continued looking at their food trays.
Tina waited until the last few kids left before she stood up. The bell would be ringing at any moment, so they had to start moving soon. She slowly walked through the cafeteria, avoiding Hildy's eye. When she was sure no-one was watching, she pulled a brown paper bag from her pocket and grabbed some uneaten fish sticks, placing them in the bag. Chancing a quick glance around her, Tina moved to the next table, and did the same thing again. It didn't occur to her that the fact she had prepared for this was a sign that something was wrong. In her mind, she was doing a good thing; whenever she bought food, it was gone in a day, maybe two if she was lucky. She would take whatever extras she could get. The only downside was that the food made her backpack smell, but that was a small price to pay; at least they could eat an actual meal tonight.
When she had filled the bag, she placed it into her backpack and she and Gene left.
"Tina?"
She jumped slightly, and looked behind her to see Mr Frond approaching.
"Yes?" she she gripped the straps of her backpack tightly.
"I'd like to see you and Gene in my office, please."
"After school?"
"No, now." He indicated for them to follow him, which they did.
Frond sat down at his desk, observing their messy hair, their wrinkled clothes. "You know my office is always open, right?"
"Yes," said Tina.
"Is there anything you wanna talk about?"
"Like what?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't notice that her hands had clenched, which had become her 'new thing'. The groaning and hyperventilating would never cease, but this new 'tell' was less obvious, which helped her a lot.
"Well, how are things at home?"
"They're fine."
Frond hesitated.
"Did you know the school has breakfast club every morning? It's not much; mainly cereal and fruit, but it's a way for students to get to know each other, and make some friends. We also have homework club, if that interests you, along with other after school clubs."
"We don't have the time for clubs," said Tina, although the breakfast club would take a lot of strain off of her.
"Well, at least have a think about it. You don't have to if you don't want to," he assured them. "It's okay to ask for help if you're struggling, you know," he said kindly. The kids said nothing. "It's okay to struggle, but you don't have to do it alone."
"We're fine," said Tina, and she looked over at Gene, who nodded.
"We're fine," he repeated.
"Okay," Frond nodded, trying to approach the subject delicately. "There's no time limit. We'd like to help you in any way we can."
"There's only one thing that will help, Mr Frond, and it's something that can't be done," said Tina flatly. She was beginning to understand what he was saying. "I know we don't look great, but I don't care. I just don't. I don't care if my hair is neat and tidy, I don't care if our clothes aren't neat. I don't care about any that."
"Of course," Frond nodded. "I can understand that. No matter what you choose, we're all here to support you both."
"Okay. Thank you. We're gonna get to class now."
At Frond's nod, she and Gene left the room.
The house was silent when they returned from school, just as they knew it would be. And it was still dirty, which had long stopped surprising them. They surveyed the grubby floors, the dusty pictures and surfaces. There was no sign of Bob and Linda, who were more than likely in their room, in an alcohol-induced blackout.
"They're sleeping," said Gene, and Tina nodded.
"Yeah," was all she found she could say. "Come on," she led him into the living-room, where he sat down on the sofa, gently holding his locket. Gene appeared to have regressed slightly; Tina could think of no other explanation as to why he seemed so oblivious, to put it nicely. It was like he hadn't even noticed that Linda and Bob got blackout drunk every day, or that Tina was effectively running the house.
Crouching down by the television, Tina placed a CD in the DVD player, and turned up the volume. It was one of the albums of that Japanese singer Louise liked; Tina still couldn't pronounce her name – something Sparkle? She felt like this was what Louise wanted her to do, and so that's what she was doing. The music wasn't really Tina's style, but the happy, energetic beats drowned out the silence.
If Tina was honest with herself, she would have never guessed that Louise liked this kind of stuff; the singer was the epitome of cute; dressed in lace and frills, and her high-pitched voice would have put Snow White to shame. But she'd seen the music videos, and it had all clicked; cute, but weird, and very creepy.
Tina sat down in the chair. Why hadn't Louise shared this with her? She would have listened to the album, watched the videos. She wouldn't have judged. In fact, Tina liked some of the songs; it could have been their thing. She got up, and switched the CD off.
"Why'd you turn it off?" asked Gene.
"I don't feel like listening to it today," she said, putting on some cartoons. "Gene, I want you to do your homework," she handed him his backpack, and took up her own. Hovering in the doorway, she made sure that Gene had at least taken the book out, before she went into the kitchen. She placed the fish sticks, the apples, and the bread rolls inside the fridge, and pulled out her notebook, scanning her list. First up, laundry.
Tina grabbed a pile of dirty clothes from the basket and put them in the washing machine, using the tiniest amount of detergent from the nearly empty bottle she possibly could. Pressing the button, she waited for the cycle to start, before turning back to the fridge, taking the fish sticks back out and placing them in the oven. She also took some eggs, and cracked those over a pan.
While they were cooking, Tina made her way to her bedroom, and found her purse. It was empty, so she went to her piggy bank. Also empty.
Her stomach swirling, Tina, as calmly as she could, retrieved the laptop from the living-room, and took it to the kitchen. Sitting at the table, she checked her online savings, and her stomach clenched even further when she saw that she had nothing left. She'd forgotten that she'd spent it all.
Tina bunched her fists into her hair, and stared at the screen until the colours seemed to explode, biting her lip. What was she supposed to do? The restaurant was still closed; there was no way Tina could run it by herself, and so they weren't making any money.
Releasing her hair, she tapped a quick anxious tune on the table, before getting up to search the cupboards. No bread, no pasta, no crackers, no potatoes, no soup. Basically, unless she found some money, they were screwed. She wished, not for the first time, that they had kept their chicken; free eggs every day would be a big help.
There was cheese in the fridge, but it was stale, and she wanted to save the apples and bread rolls for breakfast. While she was there, Tina decided to hide them in her secret place in her room. At least they still had that, but it was dwindling as well. She didn't want to use any more of it unless she absolutely had to, and she did have one more option.
Slowly opening her parents' bedroom door, Tina crept inside. It stank, it smelled of alcohol, mustiness, vomit, and sweat, and she pulled her shirt up over her nose.
Carefully stepping over the numerous bottles littering the floor, trying not to wake her snoring mother and father, she went over to the dresser, and opened the top drawer. Fighting the urge to groan, to hyperventilate, she grabbed Bob's wallet. Just her luck, it was empty, as was Linda's. Even their "secret" money stash was gone, and so Tina had no option but to take their cards. She also grabbed their phone.
Heading back into the kitchen, she took a towel and pulled the fish sticks from the oven, setting them aside to cool slightly, and then she removed the eggs from the pan.
She turned back to the laptop, and signed in to her parents' bank accounts; a little trick Louise had taught her. Tina would have never imagined ever needing to use it.
Only of the cards had anything on it, and it was $10. A quick look at the browsing history told her that several amounts of wine had been ordered recently, so that would explain it. She was already thinking of the best place to hide the cards.
Tina plated up the fish sticks and the eggs, and found a few slices of ham to go with them, before calling Gene in.
"Thanks," he muttered, sitting and at the table and digging in. The food was mostly warm, but it was food, so they couldn't complain, and when she had finished, she went back onto the laptop, and logged onto the Fresh Feed online store.
"Okay, pasta for a dollar, in the basket. Some bread, also a dollar, in the basket. More eggs, potatoes, tomato soup; six cans for three dollars," she muttered as she shopped. She had three dollars left, so she had to make them count. "Okay, ham, cheese, and cereal. Done." She was so glad Fresh Feed had a dollar menu, and they did next day delivery. And, as they lived locally, it was free, so, finally, they had a bit of good luck.
She also noticed a Facebook notification for an event coming up next month. Wagstaff school were going to hold a lip synching competition at the local community centre, in order to "raise funds for the Louise Belcher Memorial Garden. Tickets will be $5 on the door, and everyone is welcome to attend. Students, parents, and teachers will be battling it out on stage, and audiences can vote for their favourite by purchasing raffle tickets."
Right. Mr Frond had mentioned something like that. Tina wasn't sure if she was going to go. On the one hand, it sounded like a fun night; a bunch of school kids dramatically miming to classic songs. On the other hand... Knowing why they were doing this... it wasn't that Tina didn't appreciate them, but that knowledge of why they were fundraising would surely put a dampener on the evening, wouldn't it?
When Gene had finished eating, Tina sent him back into the living-room, where he was curled up on the sofa with the photo album of Louise, and Tina began to clean the kitchen. She had found that she actually preferred all the cleaning; it kept her mind busy, and it made it easier for her to sleep. One thing she didn't like was that it left her without any time to visit Louise, and she felt incredibly guilty about that. She had no money to spend on flowers; technically, she could, but then they wouldn't eat, and she hoped Louise would understand. Louise wasn't a fan of flowers anyway, so it shouldn't bother her too much, right?
She put some water in a pot, and set it on the stove, and then pulled the clothes out of the washing machine, transferring them to the dryer. When she had done that, she ran a bath, filling it halfway with cold water. She then filled the rest of it up with the hot water from the stove. "Gene! Bath's ready!" she called. "Make sure you're not in there too long," she said, when he came into the bathroom, "and your pyjamas are on the toilet seat," she pointed, and then left him to it.
While Gene bathed, Tina sent a quick text to Pop-pop: 'went to counselling, now going str8 to bed as we are tired.' She didn't feel good about lying so blatantly, but if he thought they weren't going, then he was going to want to come round, and she didn't want that. She was running out of space to hide the empty bottles, and if he saw that they were very low on food and money, then he would be angry at Bob and Linda, and it wasn't their fault. It was no different to the texts she had sent to Gayle, Teddy, Mort, as well as Al and Gloria.
That Nadia lady hadn't yet returned, which Tina was glad of. She didn't think that counsellor could help much, anyway; not with her parents the way they were.
They would be fine; all she had to do was find a way to make some money, and then everything would be fine.
The very next day, it seemed that she had found the answer to her problems. Late for school once again, Tina and Gene were walking down the street when they heard a voice calling to them. Turning, they saw Mr Fischoeder approaching on his golf cart.
"Hello, Belcher brethren!" he hailed, as the kids stopped, and he climbed out of the cart, his white suit pristine, eye patch firmly in place.
"Hello, Mr Fischoeder."
"And how are we today?" he asked, his expression unusually soft.
"We're okay," Tina said.
"That's good to hear. Terrible thing to have happened; terrible, terrible thing," he muttered. "Luckily, I've never experienced the loss of a sibling; of course, Felix is prone to up and leaving on a whim for his travels, but it's not quite the same, is it?" He chuckled lightly, looking down at the kids. "I take it you're aware that your parents haven't paid their rent since February; that's three months now."
"Yes, Mr Fischoeder," Tina's stomach twisted, and she had to fight back a wave of vomit.
"Of course, under the circumstances, it's completely understandable," he said, and she relaxed slightly. Maybe, she thought, maybe he could help them out? He was their landlord, after all. Not that she expected him to just hand them money for free, but maybe she could do some odd jobs around his house? She could clean – she was getting pretty good at that – or she could do yard work, or even deliver his mail? He surely wouldn't object. Okay, he was a bit eccentric, but he would help them out, right?
"Um..." she tried to gather up the courage. "M-Mr Fischoeder -"
"Of course, I am running a business here," Fischoeder carried on, not hearing her, "and this will be the last month that I don't expect rent. I have to make money, too, see?"
Tina's words died on her lips, as he jumped back into the cart. "I shall see you next month, burger babies!"
Tina didn't know how long she stared after him, feeling a mixture of illness and dread. She was in trouble.
"Are you coming?" asked Gene, not noticing her white face, her clenched fists.
"Sure," she whispered, forcing her feet to move.
Later that evening, while Gene was doing his homework, Tina opened the laptop, and her fingers hovered over the keys. She hadn't dared do this at school; she couldn't risk anyone seeing. Nervously, she typed in 'how to make parents stop drinking.' She now knew that she couldn't get the rent money by herself; it was down to Bob and Linda.
Unfortunately, every webpage she visited told her that her parents had to want to get better themselves, and gave no information on how she could hurry that process along. Okay. She needed money, and she had no way of getting it. And if she didn't get it, they would be kicked out. And if they were kicked out, then they had nowhere to stay...
Hyperventilating, Tina dashed to bathroom, fearing she was going to be sick. She stayed for a while, wondering if it would catch her unawares, but when it didn't happen, she returned to the kitchen, tugging on her hair. She grabbed an apple, and began munching anxiously. She reached up and grabbed her locket, gently rubbing her thumb over the cool metal, the little curly engravings on the front.
As soon as she had finished, she grabbed another, knowing she shouldn't, but not caring. Tina ate the entire bag of apples, before she crawled into her bed and fell asleep.
Days later, walking down the halls of Wagstaff, the Belchers headed for Tina's locker. There was a small group of kids nearby; Jimmy Jr., Zeke, Tammy, Jocelyn, a bunch of kids from Louise's class, and some others whom she didn't know. When they saw her approaching, they quickly left, bar Zeke, but Tina didn't have the energy to care.
"Hey, guys," Zeke approached them as Tina opened her locker.
"Hey," said Tina.
"So, uh, we were thinking of goin' to Falafel on a Waffle after school. Do ya wanna join us?"
"No, thanks."
"Okay. Can I ask why, though?"
"We don't like falafels, or waffles," she lied.
"Oh, well, that's okay; we could go to Reggie's Deli, or Caboose Kabob? I know ya like Pie in the Sky."
"No, thanks," she repeated. "I just don't feel like it."
Zeke's face fell slightly.
"All right; I understand. If you ever change your mind, let us know."
"We will," Tina concentrated on gathering her books, while Zeke walked away. As soon as he was gone, Tina pulled her parents' cards from her backpack, hiding them at the back of her locker. She had it all planned out; whenever she needed to buy food, she would bring the card home, and then hide it when she had finished. Then, the following day, she would return it to her locker. She hoped that if her parents couldn't buy any alcohol, then they would stop drinking. They had to, right?
Closing her locker, she stared intently at the metal, before forcing herself to walk to class, both she and Gene clutching their lockets. She understood that they were trying to cheer her up, to make her feel better, but she didn't want to be around them, and besides, she was broke. Plus, the apartment was a mess; it seemed to have dirtied itself over night, so she had that to look forward to when she got home.
"Well? What did they say?" asked Jimmy Jr., when Zeke had returned.
"She said no. I gave her different places, but they didn't wanna go."
"Oh. So, what do we do about the, you know, thing?"
"We'll do it anyway, but keep it quiet; we don't want them to find out."
"All right."
"The other kids know not to say anythin', don't they?"
"Yeah; they all said they'd keep it a secret. Hey, what made you decide to do this?" Jimmy Jr. stopped walking, and looked at his friend.
"Have ya seen 'em?" Zeke said. "This is the least we can do. And it'll be ready tomorrow."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." They walked into the classroom, and took their seats, and spoke no more of what they were planning. Tina did not join them, as she was still taking classes with Gene, and Zeke hoped that none of the sixth-graders accidentally spilled the beans. He didn't want to embarrass the Belcher kids.
At break-time, Mr Frond was distracted by his crocheting by a knock on his office door. He looked up and saw that it was Regular-sized Rudy, who looked conflicted.
"Mr Frond?" he asked, taking a step forward.
"Yes, Rudy? What is it?"
Rudy sat down in the chair, fiddling with his hands.
"I – I feel like I did something wrong," he admitted, looking up at the counsellor.
"Why? Tell me what happened." Frond put down his knitting needles, and placed his hands on the desk.
"Well, a couple of days ago, in between third and fourth period, I was in the hall at my locker, when Peter Pescadero came running down the hall. He tripped over something, and fell, and did, like, a forward roll, and then slid along the floor. I laughed."
"Is that what you feel bad about?" asked Frond, and Rudy nodded. "Well, I'm sure Peter's fine, and it's normal to laugh at something you find funny -"
"That's not it," said Rudy. "I feel bad for laughing because... I shouldn't be laughing. It felt wrong to be happy," he finished.
"Why?"
"Because – because my best friend is dead. It's only been three months; shouldn't I still be sad? I am sad, because I miss her, but I shouldn't have laughed, because it wasn't right." The boy tried to articulate how he was feeling.
"I think I understand what you mean," said Frond. "You feel as though being happy is disrespecting Louise, and her memory, and you feel that you need to keep mourning her."
"Yeah, that's it!"
"Remember what I said: there's no right or wrong way to grieve? Well, it's true. I know you and Louise were close, and I know her death affected all of us. If you feel like laughing, then laugh; it's okay." He knew not to say things like 'Louise would want you to be happy', because it wouldn't help. "You can always talk to me," he offered. "I'll help in any way I can. Just know that you're not doing anything wrong. There's no rule that says you have to be sad for this amount of time, or that you have to start being happy after this many months."
"Really?"
"Really," Frond confirmed. "Just remember, it's okay to be happy. It doesn't mean that you've forgotten about Louise, or that you don't care about her."
"Thanks, Mr Frond." Rudy slid off his chair. He didn't really feel better, but it was a relief to know that there wasn't something wrong with him.
He still felt bad, though, and he wasn't entirely sure whether it would ever go away. Rudy didn't really see how things could get better, because he was never going to see Louise again, and it wasn't fair.
Pulling his inhaler from his pocket, he brought it to his lips and pumped it, and continued walking down the corridor.
Heading onto the playground, he spied Zeke, Andy, Ollie, and a few others playing Ga-ga ball, and after a brief hesitation, he climbed into the pit, and joined the game. Zeke flashed him an understanding smile, but did not say anything.
Rudy didn't really feel better, but then, he didn't expect to. However, the game did help to take his mind off Louise a little bit, and he was very grateful for that.
Tina was extremely glad to get home, to get some peace and quiet. It seemed to her that the staring from the other kids had started up again, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could handle it.
The following day, there came a knocking at the door, and Tina, whose insides now twisted with worry whenever that happened, ignored it. Even when it continued, she refused to get up.
"The door is knocking," said Gene.
"I know."
"Why don't you answer it?"
"I don't want to," she said, and Gene thankfully did not press the subject.
When the knocking had stopped, she went over to the window, and peeped out. She couldn't see anyone, but she saw something outside their door.
Heading down the stairs, she opened the door a fraction, making sure there was no one around, before she fully opened the door. There was a large box directly in front of her, and Tina bent down and cautiously lifted one corner. She could see plastic bottles but couldn't figure out what was in them.
Another quick, cursory check to make sure no one was there, Tina picked up the box and brought it inside.
Crouching down behind a car parked outside Jimmy Pesto's, Zeke peeked out from behind the bumper, watching silently. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Tina take the box. He hoped this would help them out.
Carrying it into the living-room, Tina placed it on the floor, and knelt down.
"What's that?" asked Gene, looking down at it, relinquishing his hold on his locket.
"I don't know." Tina lifted the flaps and looked properly inside, and her jaw dropped. Inside were bottles of shampoo. There was toothpaste, money, food, along with deodorant, and many other household essentials.
Tina brought a hand up to her mouth. She didn't know who had sent this, but she was extremely grateful. "Let's eat," was all she found she could say.
With Gene following her, Tina brought the box into the kitchen, putting it on the table. She pulled out bread, grapes, cheese, soup, cookies, ham, lettuce, beans, yoghurts, chicken nuggets, among other snacks.
Hunger getting in the way of logic, Tina cooked almost everything up, and they ended up having a veritable feast. Even while she was eating Tina knew it was wrong; they should be saving their food, but these ham and cheese sandwiches, with grapes dipped in yoghurt, plus a side of nuggets and beans, was just too good to pass up.
For the first time in a long, long time, they went to bed with full stomachs.
They had been able to properly brush their teeth that night, as well, without having to use the most tiniest amount of toothpaste, and tomorrow evening, they would actually get to bathe and wash their hair.
The only things that were missing from their (much appreciated) mystery hamper was laundry detergent and washing up liquid, but at that moment, Tina wasn't too concerned about that. They had food, proper food. That was more important.
Less than a week later, however, Tina was eating her words. Not literally, though there were times where she was so hungry that she wanted to. But not only were they running dangerously low on food, they were completely out of bin liners, detergent and dish soap. And money. So, now they had very little food, no clean clothes, no way to clean them, and no money, and Tina had resumed tugging on her hair whenever she was alone.
Laundry wasn't that big of a problem now; for some reason, many of Tina's skirts and jeans didn't fit her any more, and so she had resorted to wearing Gene's clothes, using a belt to hold them up. It meant less laundry, but now they had ended up hanging the clothes off the railing on the fire exit, so they at least smelt fresh.
Perhaps the hardest thing was keeping visitors away. Teddy still came by every day, and Gayle had come by a few times, though Tina wouldn't let them in the house. Fortunately, they believed her lies about her family either going to counselling or taking a nap, or anything she could think of along those lines. She wasn't sure whether or not she was glad that they believed her.
Bob and Linda wouldn't be good company anyway; when they weren't sleeping or passed out, they were either drinking or drunk.
Many a time had Tina been just too anxious to hear the door knocking; other times, she played music so that she couldn't hear anything, and if she couldn't hear the knocking, then she didn't feel sick. She couldn't stand feeling like were snakes writhing around in her stomach.
But that evening, there came a knocking at the door, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, the person, whoever it was, wouldn't stop.
"Tina!" called a voice, and she groaned; it was Pop-pop. She curled up in her chair, hoping that he would eventually give up and go away. "Tina? Gene! Answer the door!" The knocking continued relentlessly, and Tina curled up even smaller, as though he could see her. "Tina!" came his voice again, and Tina reached up, and began to pull her hair.
"It's Pop-pop," said Gene, not getting up from the sofa, nor looking at the window.
"I know," Tina whispered.
"Why don't you let him in?"
"I don't want to," was all she could say, drawing her knees up to her chest. But the knocking continued, and seemed to get louder the more she ignored it. She closed her eyes; he'd have to give up and leave sooner or later, right?
"Tina! I'm not leaving until you answer the door!" Pop-pop yelled, and Tina groaned, and slowly got up.
She headed down the stairs and opened the door a crack. Big Bob was looking down at her, his face a mixture of relief and worry.
"Hey, Pop-pop, what's up?" she hoped she sounded casual.
"Didn't you hear me knocking?"
"N-not at first."
"That's okay. Well, open the door so I can get in."
Tina's breath quickened.
"No! I mean, no; that's okay. Everything's fine." She smiled widely, but Big Bob didn't look convinced.
"Well, let me in anyway; I want to see my son," he said, and Tina began to groan. "Tina? You okay?"
"We're fine. We're all fine, so there's no need to come in. Ha, ha." She plastered on another wide smile, but Big Bob frowned lightly.
"It's all right; I just wanna see how he's doing."
"He's fine, Dad's fine, everything's fine," Tina gabbled, but this didn't ease Big Bob's worries at all.
"Tina, what's going on?"
"Nothing!"
"Come on, sweetheart." He gently pushed her aside, and then opened the door, heading upstairs. Tina could only follow, dreading his reaction.
Big Bob stood in the kitchen, horrified. He could only stare, too shocked to speak. The room was filthy and grimy; there were dirty dishes piled high in the sink, and there were overflowing bin bags everywhere. The sides were littered with empty food boxes; dried, encrusted food stains, and the floor was filthy. Dust covered every available surface, and flies were buzzing around the bin and the food containers. There was also a lingering smell of dampness, and all around staleness.
He brought a hand up to his mouth. Words couldn't explain how guilty he felt; he should never have left them alone for this long. He crossed over to the fridge, and opened the door. Nothing in there except for a few slices of bread, and some grapes.
"Pop-pop?" came Tina's quiet voice, standing in the hallway with Gene. Big Bob hadn't said anything for several minutes.
"Right," he said, looking around him, his face set. He didn't need to see the rest of the house. "Pack some clothes; you two are gonna stay with me for a while."
Tina and Gene stared at him, before exchanging glances.
"We – we don't have any clean clothes," Tina admitted, hanging her head.
"It doesn't matter; I'll wash them, just go and pack some stuff. Don't forget your school stuff."
Again, Gene and Tina only stared, before they silently heading off to Tina's room. They hadn't been expecting this.
When they had left, Big Bob left the kitchen and headed to Bob and Linda's room. Bob was sprawled out on the bed, while Linda was on the floor. A quick check told him that they had passed out, or were sleeping, and he shook Bob's shoulder, but got no response. He then left, unable to stay in the smelly room littered with empty bottles for any longer than he had to.
He went to the stairs, waiting for Gene and Tina, who soon appeared, with Tina pulling a little suitcase. "You ready?" he asked, and they nodded. "Okay, let's go." He ushered them down the stairs and out the front door.
Once in the car, Tina turned around and looked back at her once happy home, feeling that it would never be a place of joy again.
At Big Bob's apartment, he immediately ran a hot bath, and put the dirty clothes in the washing machine. "Right, Tina, you hop in the bath, and then, Gene, you can get in afterwards. Your clothes won't be dry, but I'll leave some of mine out."
"Okay," was all Tina could say, heading to the bathroom.
When both kids had bathed, they sat in the kitchen dressed in some of Big Bob's oversized nightshirts. For the first time in ages, they had been able to properly wash their hair, using actual shampoo and conditioner instead of soap, and they now felt clean and refreshed.
The kids couldn't help but feel overjoyed when Big Bob put two plates in front of them, piled high with mashed potatoes, ham, and peas; an actual hot, properly cooked meal. It was bliss, and tasted even better than it looked. Big Bob worked on his own plate while Gene and Tina had third helpings of everything, each bite filling that awful, ravenous feeling in their stomachs. When they had finished, they remained at the table, too full to move, remembering what it was like to eat like that every night.
"Pop-pop?" asked Tina quietly. "Are we gonna call Mom and Dad?"
"No," said Big Bob. "We'll wait and see how long it takes them to notice. Until then, you're gonna stay here."
"... Okay."
The three of them still sat at the table silently. Tina played with her cutlery, tapping them against her empty plate, while Gene leaned back in his chair, the feeling of a full stomach rendering him mute.
"Tina?" Big Bob said after a while. "Why didn't you tell me what was happening?" He wasn't angry; he could only imagine how hard it was for her.
"... I don't know," she said truthfully. "I guess.. I didn't want anyone to see."
"I would've helped; we all would have. Tell me how long it's been like this."
"Um, since... since Louise left. Since she was buried," Tina hung her head, her face red. "Mom and Dad drink all day, so I've been trying to cook and clean and everything."
"Oh, sweetheart," Big Bob placed his hand on her shoulder. "You should have come to me. What else?"
"Uh, when we started running out of money, I had to use my savings, and Mom and Dad's money, and take their cards, and then take food from the school cafeteria." Saying it out loud made it seem so terrible, when it hadn't seemed that bad in reality. She hoped she wouldn't get in trouble for stealing.
"You poor kids," Big Bob sighed. "If I'd have known... Why didn't you use the money?"
"We did, but it all disappeared."
"No, the funeral money," he said, and Tina blinked. "The money that was leftover from Louise's funeral," he explained gently. "We only spent around eight or nine thousand dollars, and last time we checked, there was over $150 grand in the fund. There could be more, but you could have used that."
"But... that was for her funeral," said Tina, and Big Bob had to smile a bit.
"Tina, any leftover money from stuff like that belongs to the person it was raised for, or their family. It's yours to do whatever you want with."
Tina still felt a little confused; it was a funeral fund, so it was supposed to be used for a funeral.
"But – it's..." Tina felt embarrassed, but Big Bob understood.
"You can use it for anything you need to," he assured her. "If you need me to help with any of that stuff, I will."
"Okay." Tina looked back down at the table, while Big Bob cleared their plates.
"Come on," he said, turning to them, "let's go into the living-room."
Tina and Gene followed their grandfather into the small, cosy living-room, where they all curled up together on the sofa.
Grabbing the remote, Big Bob flipped through the channels, settling for a movie, an old childhood favourite, and they watched quietly.
Bob stumbled drunkenly into the kitchen, not noticing the mess. In fact, there was only one thought in his fog filled mind: 'I need more wine.' He searched the cupboards, swaying on his feet, and mumbling to himself. His hand slipped off the counter, sending several empty food boxes crashing to the floor, but Bob didn't even notice.
The only thing his brain could comprehend was the fact that there was no alcohol in the house, and that was something he needed to rectify. He was cognitive enough to recognise that.
Using the counter to pull himself up, Bob sluggishly opened the fridge, and took a slice of bread. As he ate it, he squinted around at the filthy kitchen. Something at the very back of mind was telling him that something was wrong, but Bob was too drunk to make sense of it.
Bob washed down the bread with a glass of water, not registering the dirty glass, alcohol the only thought on his mind.
Swaying with drunkenness, Bob headed blindly over to the table and sat down heavily. He set the glass down harder than he intended to, the loud thud making him cringe. There was an open school book on the table, and he stared at it, trying to figure out what it was. Bob knew he had seen one of the those things before. He was sure there was a reason for this book to be where it was, and it slowly dawned upon him, a coherent thought making its way to the front of his brain. Right, Gene and Tina. Right. That was it; he had other kids.
He waited for a moment, but they didn't come out of their room, and so Bob went there. Tina probably knew where his credit card was, and he needed to order more wine.
The room was empty, and Bob blinked. He looked inside Tina's wardrobe, under her bed, even in the drawers, before searching the rest of the house. Tina and Gene weren't in the living-room, nor were they in Gene's room, and when he couldn't find them, Bob instantly sobered up.
"Linda!" he cried, racing to the bedroom. The horrible smell of sweat and vomit hit him for the first time and made him gag, but he went over to the bed, and shook his wife awake. "Lin! Lin, wake up!" he continued to shake her until she rolled over onto her back, her hair messy and greasy, her glasses lopsided.
"Wha-?" she whined, and her breath caused Bob to gag again.
"Lin, I can't find the kids! Gene and Tina aren't here," he told her, willing his heart to slow down. He found himself so anxious he was unable to keep still, and he kept bouncing on the spot, and wringing his hands. Linda sat up so fast he was surprised she didn't get whiplash.
"What?!" She leapt off the bed, her eyes wide and full of fear, having instantly sobered, as well. "What do you mean?"
"They're not here," Bob said, grabbing his hair. "I've got no idea where they are," he admitted, his voice small.
"Okay, okay, okay," she muttered, beginning to pace. "Where would they have gone? Did they leave a note?" she asked, and Bob shook his head. "Right, then we've gotta go out there and find 'em!"
Right," Bob nodded. "I'm gonna call around, and see if anyone's seen them."
Without waiting for an answer, he hurried into the living-room, and picked up the phone. He didn't dial Teddy or Gayle; he couldn't deal with them right now. They would just be too much. Instead, he dialled Jimmy Pesto's.
"Hello?" came Pesto's voice.
"Jimmy, it's Bob Belcher. I was just wondering – have you seen Gene and Tina today?" he asked as calmly as he could.
"Uh, no. No, not today. Why?"
"No reason; I was just wondering," said Bob, and he hung up before Jimmy could say another word, and dialling his father. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try.
"Hello?"
"Uh, hi, dad. I was – I just wanted to know when you last came here." Bob wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Why, is something wrong?"
"It's Gene and Tina; we can't find them. We woke up and they're gone," said Bob, feeling every inch a terrible father.
"I have them; they're here with me."
"Wait, are you serious?" Bob gripped the phone so tightly he thought it would break.
"Yeah, they're right here."
"Oh, thank God! Okay, we're on our way!" Bob hung up again, his knees buckling. "Lin!" he called, his voice rattling. "They're at my dad's." He couldn't stop shaking.
"Let's go!" Linda appeared as if from nowhere, her bag dangling from her arm.
Bob knew he should be driving, but he didn't feel drunk, and their wallets were empty, so what choice did he have?
The drive to Big Bob's was tense, but it was also filled with relief. Neither Bob nor Linda spoke; instead, they focused on getting there as quickly as they could. Tina and Gene must be feeling so scared and confused.
Arriving at the diner, Bob opened the door to the apartment, only for Linda to accidentally knock him out of the way as she bolted past him.
"Babies?! Kids, it's Mommy!" she cried, running up the stairs, gasping for breath. Gene and Tina appeared at the top of the stairs, along with Big Bob, and she hugged them fiercely. "Oh, you're okay! You're okay!" she cried, kissing them both all over their faces, too emotional to notice how they cringed away from her breath.
Bob's knees buckled when he saw them, and he suddenly felt very weak. He managed to walk over and hug them, too, his breath shuddering.
Big Bob guided them into the living-room, where they sat on the sofa and chairs.
"I'm so glad you're safe," said Bob. "How did you get here? What happened?"
The kids only looked at their grandfather, and Bob and Linda followed.
"I came over, and once I saw what the house looked like, I brought them here," Big Bob admitted. "I tried to wake you," he added.
"Why didn't you call, or leave a note?" asked Bob. That was what he couldn't comprehend; why did his father have to literally strike fear into his heart? He didn't get it.
"I had to wait and see how long it took you to notice." Big Bob sighed. "Maybe the kids should stay here with me for a while."
"No!" Bob snapped. "It was only a few hours!" Okay, he and Linda had been drinking a lot (okay, more than a lot) lately; he could admit that. But was that really reason enough to do this?
"Bob, they've been here for two days," said Big Bob, and Linda suddenly felt like she was falling. How had it come to this? They were terrible parents. "I didn't call because I had to see. You know it's May, right?"
"That can't be right," said Linda, her eyes wide, and full of shame. "No, that can't be!"
"It's May, Mom," said Tina in a small voice, and Linda shook her head, reeling.
"No, no; it hasn't been that long. That's impossible."
"Look," Big Bob sighed and got off the sofa. He stood facing them. "In the nicest possible way, you've got to pull yourselves together -"
"Oh, how dare you," Bob spat. "How dare you. What makes you think that you can just tell us -"
"I understand what you're going through," said Big Bob, but his son was too incensed to listen.
"My baby is dead!" Bob screamed, tears pooling in his eyes. "Don't say you understand, because you don't! You've never lost a child!"
"No, but I lost my wife."
Upon hearing that, Bob was floored; he had never even thought about that, thought about it from his dad's perspective. "I had to watch her slowly leave day by day." Big Bob hesitated, looking at his family. "I'm saying this with love; I know you're grieving, but you have two other children who need you, and you need to be there for them. Just like I needed to be there for you," he looked straight at Bob. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me, and nothing can make up for that," he said to his son, who could only stare at him. None of them could think of what to say. Bob tried not to think about his mother too much – that is, the thin, sickly, weak thing she had become toward the end. Hearing his father mention it was like Bob was hearing it for the very first time, and he wondered if he had subconsciously blocked it out.
"I don't understand it," said Linda eventually. "She should be here, my baby should be here, and she's not, and I don't understand why she isn't here. I feel like I'm in a nightmare."
Big Bob nodded understandingly. He definitely knew that feeling.
"Listen, I gotta tell you something, and you're not gonna like it, but you need to hear it. That pain that you're experiencing? That's never gonna go away; it just gets easier to live with. All you can do is learn to manage it."
That wasn't what they wanted to hear, not at all. It was bad enough that Louise was gone, but they had to feel this terrible and broken for the rest of their lives? Unfair didn't even begin to cover it. "It hurts; people who have never experienced this will never know how much it hurts. You're always gonna miss her, and that's okay. I miss her like crazy. It's okay to be sad, angry, happy; anything, it's okay. But you can't let it take over your life."
Bob opened his mouth, intending to tell his father why the hell shouldn't he let it take over his life? But then he realised the three reasons he couldn't do that were sitting next to him. They needed each other.
"It's hard," he admitted, "I can't just go back to normal."
"No one would expect you to." Big Bob sat down. "Perhaps this is my fault. We never really mourned your mother. I was so desperate for things to go back to normal, mainly for you, that I just carried on with my routine."
"I don't know what to do," Linda admitted. "Nothing makes sense any more."
"Do you know that they've arrested that boy for manslaughter?" said Big Bob, and they all stared at him, open mouthed.
"What?" asked Bob, and his father nodded.
"Over a week ago. They called me when they couldn't get hold of you. I didn't let you know right away, because I still wanted to give you space, but then you wouldn't answer my calls."
"Logan's going to jail?" asked Tina.
"Hopefully," Big Bob told her. "I know his family have already got a lawyer, and you'll need to get one, too."
"Wait, wait." This was all too much for Bob. "They've arrested Logan? Why has it taken this long?"
"I don't know. They said something about getting everything together. But they've arrested him, and as he's sixteen now, they're trying him as an adult."
"Good," Linda muttered. "He deserves to rot."
"He does," Big Bob agreed, "and there's going to be a trial. I don't know when, but they'll keep us updated. If you want, I can try and help you find a lawyer."
Bob nodded dazedly, his mind more clear than it had been in months. A lawyer, yes. That's what he needed to do. He couldn't allow Logan to get away with this; he needed to be punished. A lawyer; Bob could find one of those, of course he could. Now he knew that he really needed to get his act together, not just for Louise, but for the rest of his family, too.
They spent the night at Big Bob's, with Gene and Tina sleeping in Bob's childhood bedroom, and Bob and Linda curling up in the living-room. Though the kids drifted off rather easily, Bob and Linda felt terrible about what they had done, and were unable to sleep right away.
"Kids, we're so, so sorry," Linda sniffled the next morning, her eyes red and face wet. Bob sat next to her, looking equally distraught.
"It's okay," Tina said, not wanting to make them feel any worse than they already did.
"No, it's not," Linda insisted. "We shouldn't have done this to you; we shouldn't have let it get that far. Well, I promise you, babies, that your dad and I are never going to drink again." Her eyes, still red, had a look of determination in them. "Things will be different," she assured them, both herself and Bob pulling their children into a hug.
"It will never happen again," Bob said. "We're going to be there for each other, and support each other."
"How?" asked Gene.
"I'm not sure," said Bob honestly, "but we'll find a way." At least, he hoped they would. They had to try.
They all knew it was going to be a lot harder than it sounded, but at least they had each other.
Big Bob offered to drive them home, but Bob and Linda declined.
"Listen," he pulled them both aside before they were due to leave. "I need to apologise, too," he said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I didn't want to intrude, but I should have done something sooner."
"It's all right," said Bob. "It wouldn't have done any good," he said honestly. "We needed that kick, and we probably needed to get to that point first."
"I'll help out more, whenever I can," Big Bob promised. He gave them a final hug, and then they left, all of them feeling determined.
When they arrived back home, they instantly got to work. Bob and Linda threw out every single drop of wine, and they all pitched in to help clean the house. They swept, they vacuumed, they mopped, they scrubbed and dusted, and wiped, and decluttered until the apartment looked better than it had in years. The only room they didn't touch was Louise's.
"What's all this stuff?" Bob came into the living-room that evening, holding a huge pile of envelopes. "There's packages addressed to us, too." He couldn't help but wonder if he had been drunk shopping again.
"Those are things that people sent to us. I never opened them," said Tina.
"Oh. Right." Bob didn't need to open them to know what they were. "I don't want to read them," he said, more to himself. He didn't have the strength.
"I'll put them somewhere." Linda took the envelopes from him, and left the room. She put them all, along with the parcels, up in the attic. Linda told herself that they weren't trying to forget about Louise; they needed time to deal with everything.
A few days later, the restaurant was open. It was almost just like old times; Bob was grilling, Linda was working the counter, Tina was serving and bussing, and Gene was back in the burger costume, handing out free samples, only without his megaphone this time. But the Burger of the Day board was blank, and Linda no longer sang or greeted new customers enthusiastically.
Bob and Linda had quit cold turkey; those first couple of days had been the worst, they had actually been shaking with the withdrawal symptoms. But the pain of that was slowly easing, and they found that throwing themselves into work provided a great distraction.
It was very busy; Teddy and Mort were there, of course, both of them sat at the counter. In fact, there were so many people that Gene had to come inside to help run food.
Bob could only remember a handful of times when it was this busy. He remembered longing for days like this, to be making money hand over fist, with several patties on the grill in front of him, rather than the usual one or two. But he was just going through the motions; it was all muscle memory, anyway, and there was no longer any joy in it for him. He'd give all this money and business up in a heartbeat to have Louise back.
They had many customers whom they recognised; Gretchen, Randy, Nat, among many they had never seen before. It was obvious these strangers wanted to talk about Louise, but Bob and Linda had told their kids that anyone asked them anything inappropriate, then they were free to tell them to leave.
All day, the family kept waiting for that maniacal cackle, the sarcastic insults, the groans and growls when she could no longer get away with not working, but they never came.
None of them bothered to put on a smile; they were polite and attentive, and that was good enough, and screw anyone who dared to complain about the service.
"Are we ready?" asked Bob, a few weeks later, as he locked up the restaurant, and his family nodded. "Let's go, then."
In silence, they walked to the car, and made the drive to the Seymour's Bay Community Centre. Outside the door was a large sign which had the words "Charity Lip Synching Competition Tonight" written on it. There was already lots of people heading inside, flashing lights could be seen from the windows, and loud pop music could be heard.
The Belchers stared at the sign, trying to work up the strength to go inside. They eventually managed to get out of the car, and they walked towards the building. This would mark one of the first times any of them had left the house since Louise had been buried, barring school, of course. It seemed silly, but Bob and Linda couldn't help wondering if things had changed. Everything had changed for them, but what about everyone else? It felt weird to see people go about their usual lives; didn't they realise that the whole world had stopped?
They were the only ones who didn't have to pay; Bob and Linda wouldn't have cared either way, but others felt that it didn't seem right to make them pay towards their own child's memorial garden. As they stepped inside, Teddy approached them, giving them each a hug. He'd been rather quiet lately, as though he was afraid of saying the wrong thing and upsetting them, but he still turned up to the restaurant every single day.
"Hey, Teddy," said Linda, forcing herself to smile, as they walked further into the room. There were dozens of round tables covered in white cloths, decorated with confetti, and pink napkins were laid neatly over the white china plates. In the middle of each tables was a large LED candle, and a small vase filled with pink flowers.
At one end of the room was a stage, which took up most of the wall, and had a backdrop of black velvet curtains. The lights from above shone multi-coloured shapes over them every so often, and there was a DJ next to the steps. Olsen Benner was there with her cameraman, and they were setting up their equipment. Tina hoped desperately that she wouldn't speak to them.
Clusters of pink and green balloons adorned the room, and against the wall opposite the stage, was a long buffet table, filled with treats and snacks.
"It looks.. nice," said Bob, looking around, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.
"Yeah," said Linda, taking his hand and squeezing it.
They made their way over to one of the front tables, the one which had a reserved sign on it, where they sat down. The room was rapidly filling with more and more people, but the Belchers didn't look at any of them, instead focusing on the empty stage. Bob didn't want to accidentally make eye contact with anyone, in case they came over to talk. He didn't think he could handle it.
None of them had bothered to dress up, although a lot of the others had a little bit. But the Belchers didn't see the point, and had arrived in their everyday clothes. Bob realised he hadn't been paying attention that morning, and had accidentally used one of Linda's belts; hers had always been much longer than his, for some reason.
Big Bob arrived, and hugged them all, before taking a seat.
Teddy brought them drinks; water for Bob and Linda, and Cokes for the kids, while he himself nursed a lemonade. That was what you did when your friends quit drinking, right? You supported them by quitting with them, so as to not let them relapse. At least, that was what he had heard.
After what felt like several hours, everyone had finally arrived, and Mr Frond stepped on stage to applause.
"Good evening, everybody," he began. "I'm Phillip Frond, and I'm the Wagstaff school counsellor. We're so happy you could all join us tonight. Every cent raised will go towards the Louise Belcher Memorial Garden. In just a moment, our first act will come out and perform; we have special numbered raffle tickets that you can purchase for a dollar a strip, which will go towards voting. If you look to the back, we're also selling noise makers and party horns for fifty cents each, to encourage and support the performers." Frond waited while the crowd applauded once again. "There will also be prizes for first, second, and third place. Let's do our best to make this a fun and great night, and please welcome our first performer – Rudy Stieblitz!" Frond led the applause and stepped off stage, and Rudy walked up to the microphone. He was wearing a long, black, curly wig, and he smiled nervously.
As the performers were all encouraged to dress up – the more accurate, the better – Rudy was also wearing a blue dress (really his mother's shirt) with a large belt, but his normal shoes; heels would be a disaster waiting to happen.
It wasn't until the music began that Bob recognised who Rudy was dressed up as, and he attempted to smile as Rudy began to mime to "Love Is In Control" by Donna Summer. He didn't know Rudy had become a fan.
Despite his asthma, Rudy proved himself to be a very capable and funny lip syncher. He had the hand movements and facial expressions down to a T, and the crowd went wild for him. Many of them had run over to the back table and purchased horns and noise makers, which they then used enthusiastically.
Rudy even threw in a few dance moves, taking the microphone out of the stand, and moving about the stage. His robot wasn't half bad, actually. He finished by raising both arms dramatically, and nodding at the audience, a big smile on his face.
"Thank -" he paused to use his inhaler, "- you." Rudy got his breath back, as Frond returned to the stage.
"Rudy Stieblitz, everyone!" he cried, and more cheering arose. "Our first act of the night! If you wanna vote for him, then buy the raffle tickets marked 'number one'!"
"Whoo! Go, Rudy!" called someone from the crowd, and Rudy smiled again, before stepping offstage.
"And now for our next act; real double trouble, these ones," Frond joked, and the audience laughed politely. "Please welcome Jimmy Pesto Jr. and Zeke Carson!"
Dressed in identical leather fringed jackets, and matching wild 80's wigs, Zeke and Jimmy Jr. ran out onto the stage, pumping their fists.
"Y'all ready to rock?!" yelled Zeke, holding his inflatable guitar over his head, and the audience whooped. "Good! Let's get this party started!"
The instant the music started, everyone recognised the song, and many of them got to their feet, clapping. After all, was there anybody who didn't know "Livin' on a Prayer"?
The two boys completely rocked the stage; they played their air guitars like their lives depended on it, and headbanged to the very appreciative audience. Jimmy Jr. danced his heart out, adding some basic breakdancing moves in, while Zeke kicked and jumped his way across the stage
By the time the song had ended, they were both out of breath, but they looked pleased with themselves.
"I think we're all out of breath after watching that!" said Frond as he came back up on stage, and the crowd whooped and cheered. "Zeke and Jimmy Jr., everyone!"
After a few more acts – including Tammy and Jocelyn miming and dancing to "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé – it was time for the interval. This was the part the Belchers were dreading. People were going to come up to them and talk to them about Louise. Logically, they knew they were going to have to interact with others sooner or later; they couldn't hide away forever, tempting though it was. They were just not ready at that point in time. So, they remained at the table, nursing their drinks, staring at their cups.
"So, uh, who's your favourite so far?" asked Teddy after a few moments' silence.
"I think Rudy's been the best one so far," said Bob, not taking his eyes from his water.
"I liked Jimmy Jr. and Zeke," said Tina quietly.
"I don't know who I'm gonna vote for," Teddy said, casting a look around him. He saw Marshmallow approach out of the corner of his eye, and he shook his head slightly. She nodded respectfully, and moved away.
The Belchers and Teddy each purchased a strip of raffle tickets, trying to feign enthusiasm in the act.
"Why don't we keep it a secret?" Linda suggested, her voice dulled. "That way, it'll be more interesting when we see who the winner is."
"Okay." Gene turned his tickets face down, and resumed staring at the stage, the lighting detailing the circles under his eyes.
Tina tapped her fingers against the table, her eyes darting about. She recognised so many people, but she really, really didn't want to speak to anyone. But then she saw two people that made her stop and stare – Tim Butler and Charlie Wilkins. She didn't think they would be here.
"Tina?" Linda had noticed Tina staring, and she turned around to see what her daughter was looking at. "Oh." Now, Linda was staring.
One by one, the rest of the family turned and looked, all of them silent as they gazed at the two men who had given up five days of their lives to comfort Louise.
Tim and Charlie were by the stage, talking to Mr Frond. Bob wanted desperately to talk to them, but he also didn't, and he continued to stare, holding his glass tightly.
As if they could sense they were being watched, the two policemen turned around and caught the Belchers gaze, and then they approached.
"Hello," said Tim quietly.
"Hi," Bob choked, his grip on the glass tightening.
For a moment, none of them spoke. What could they say? To Tim and Charlie, nothing seemed appropriate. 'How are you?' ' You're looking well.' They couldn't say that, but Tim thought he must say something, and so he opened his mouth. "Thank you," said Bob, before Tim could say anything. "Thank you for being there for her. I know she appreciated it."
Linda squeezed his hand, and Bob squeezed hers back.
Again, the two policemen were lost for words; they could hardly say 'no problem', or 'it was nothing'. Charlie suddenly remembered the two of them telling jokes to stop Louise from crying, and he knew he wouldn't ever forget her bossing everyone around.
"We're glad we could help in some small way," said Charlie quietly.
Of course, nobody could have known just how comforting it was for Louise to hear consistent, reassuring voices during her ordeal. It had given her some sense of familiarity, and the fact that they had always been there had helped her a lot. Louise may not have shown it, but she had been truly grateful for Tim and Charlie.
Linda, unable to meet their gaze, only nodded in their direction.
"We hope the garden can be installed soon," said Tim. The local police station had made a donation to the fund, but several of the officers were donating individually by attending the competition.
"Us, too," said Bob, staring over their shoulder. God, he really wished he was at home right now, with a beer. He held his glass even tighter; he didn't need a drink, he didn't need a drink. The event would be over in less than two hours, and then they could go home. They didn't have to hang around and socialise; they could just get up and leave. Just two more hours; 120 minutes.
Though it might be selfish, Bob couldn't wait for that moment. It wasn't as though he didn't appreciate what everyone was doing; he truly did, he just didn't know how much longer he could stay in this hall before it became too much.
"All right, everybody!" called Mr Frond at the end of the night, after the rest of the acts had performed. Those ten minutes when the judges – Mort, Nat, and Critter – tallied up the scores, had been agonising for the Belchers, as it was another passage of time when people wanted to approach them, and all they could do was sit and stare, and hope nobody else spoke to them. "I'm pleased to announce that tonight we have raised... $427 for the garden!" he cried, and the crowd whooped in delight. "And now, for our winners. The scores have been counted, and we have the top three acts right here!" He waved a sheet of paper, and the audience fell quiet. "In third place... Millie Frock!"
Millie, who had given a dramatic, emotional performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings", walked up onto the stage to applause and cheering. She gave a watery smile as she was presented with a $10 gift certificate to Moo's Clues. "Thank you, Millie!" Frond applauded her off the stage. "Great job. And in second place... Zeke Carson and Jimmy Pesto Jr.!"
Whooping and fist pumping, the two boys raced to the stage, grinning widely. The two of them were given a $20 gift certificate to Moo's Clues, which they were very pleased with.
"Love it! Thanks, y'all!" Zeke yelled, before leaping off the stage, followed by Jimmy Jr. The audience had to laugh at their enthusiasm, bar the Belcher family.
"Okay," Frond chuckled, stepping back into the centre of the stage. "Okay, and the winner is... Rudy Stieblitz!"
Again, the crowd cheered and clapped as Rudy came up onto the stage, and was given a small, plastic, golden trophy, and a gift certificate to Fro-Yo Mama. He gave a polite nod and smile to the audience before heading back to his seat.
After Mr Frond had thanked everyone who had contributed, be it prizes or decorations or music, the event was officially over, and the music started up again.
As soon as it had, the Belchers, Big Bob, Gayle, and Teddy all stood and quickly left the room without speaking to anyone. Some might call it rude, perhaps, but anyone who would say that wasn't someone the Belchers cared to know. They needed to get out of there. They'd already made a huge hurdle, and it had drained them. Nobody could blame them for wanting to get away.
Once they had made it outside, they finally felt like they were able to breathe. The room had been almost stifling, and it wasn't due to the amount of people crammed inside. None of them spoke, but they headed to the car as quickly and quietly as they could, desperate to go home.
Outside the apartment, Big Bob and Teddy gave the family a final hug, before they left to go their separate ways.
~ X ~
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Zeke is a saint.
Hopefully the Belchers can start to try and rebuild their lives now.
I'd love to know what you thought :)