Ever since Dallas was arrested, Travis has been real, well, different, not himself. I worried about him and always asked if he was okay but he just gave me grief.
At dinner that night, I wasn't the only one to question his behavior. At first no one was talking at all. And Travis was typically the chatterbox of the family.
"Travis, dear, are you alright? You've seemed to be very quiet these last couple of days." Mom asked.
"I'm fine. Everything is… fine." He hesitated at the end because he knew everything wasn't fine. I think we all knew it but didn't want to put him on the spot.
"It's Dallas, okay! Ever since he was arrested I've just been thinking if he's the kind of friend I want. And I don't think he is." He confessed, finally. He excused himself from the table and went to his room.
"Okay, that was awkward." I joked.
"Typhani, go upstairs and make sure your brother is okay." Dad instructed.
"Why me?" I whined.
"Because he might actually tell you." Mom explained.
I dragged myself upstairs to Travis's room. When I got to the door I plugged my nose just in case there were any exposed dirty clothes that smelled. I slowly opened the door and saw that Travis was on his bed.
"Go away!" Travis demanded.
"I can't Mom and Dad sent me up here. And I'm not going down until you tell me what's wrong." I said.
"Well fine I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone but Mom and Dad." He said.
"That was easy. Fine, I promise." I agreed.
"When Dal was arrested, I got really scared. Then you told us that he was just angry. I think it was really stupid for him to steal something for that reason. I just don't want my friends to be delinquents. Is he still gonna be your friend?" He asked.
"Of course he will! He will always be my best friend no matter what." I stormed out of the room, angry with Travis for asking a stupid question like that.
I was still hungry but I decided to skip finishing my dinner, so I went straight to my room. I could sneak down later tonight and get a midnight snack.
Later that night, my stomach was growling like crazy. Around 11:30, I snuck out from my room to the kitchen. I heard people talking downstairs and I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to listen.
"He was arrested for Pete sake. I don't want her hanging out with delinquents. It's bad enough all her friends are boys." Mom explained.
"Honey, that's one person. She's been fine all these years, nothing bad has happened to her." Dad defended me. That was surprising.
"Okay, what happens when she does get hurt? Are you going to believe me then?" Mom pointed out.
"I don't know, Ann. Can't we just forget about it and get to bed. I mean she's responsible. She'll figure out the right thing." Dad said.
Before they could catch me I ran upstairs to my room. I was thinking how Mom didn't want me to be friends with my only friends and how Dad was okay with. It was weird because Dad was the strict one and Mom was more sensitive. I was surprised that Dad didn't blow up and come up to ground me.
When I got to my room, I went right to sleep. My eyes were watering up and a tear ran down my cheek. What happened if I really wasn't allowed to be their friend anymore? My life would be… over. Soda meant more to me than anyone in my whole life. I honestly did love him. And Darry, Pony, Steve, Keith, and Johnny were my best friends in the whole wide world. Dallas, well, there was something special about him, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I finally drifted to sleep hoping all the bad memory of last night would be gone. I woke up with red, puffy eyes probably from when I was crying last night. But I gave those memories a rest and went downstairs. The downstairs was filled with the aroma of waffles. My brother Johnny was back for another visit and brought Jane and Alice with him this time.
Today was the day Mom took us out to go school shopping. Normally all my friends and their moms' came along but this time my family was going by ourselves. Especially since Dallas's mom was gone, there was no point in us all going with our moms. So this time it was my whole family plus my oldest brother, Johnny and his family.
My breakfast was sitting on the table ready for me to eat. I sat down and covered my waffles in syrup. Travis was his usual quiet self and Maxy was talking gibberish like always. Dad was reading the paper and Mom was busy around the kitchen.
"Typhani, you and I are going to stay back for awhile. We need to talk. Then I'll take you out later." Dad announced.
"What, is she in trouble?" Travis joked.
"No, she's not in trouble. Stay out of their business." Johnny hit Travis in the back of the head.
"Yeah, you're the one to talk, stupid." I said. Johnny was butting into our business just as much as Travis was.
"Okay, the three of you, knock it off." Mom instructed. Though Johnny had family, he was still a kid inside; after all he is only twenty. Travis went upstairs to get dressed and Max followed.
"Once they leave we can talk." Dad put his newspaper down and put his coffee cup in the sink.
What in the world would Dad want to talk about with me? Then the light turned on. Mom and Dad's talk last night. He is gonna tell me to get new friends and be all serious and what not. Well he can ground me, torture me, or anything he wants to do to me, they will be my friends for eternity.
"We'll see you two later then." Mom, Travis, Max, Johnny, Jane, and Alice walked out the door.
"So, our little talk begins now." Dad started.
"I admit it, I was on the stairs listening to you and Mom talk about my friends last night but I really don't care what you say about them. They are going to be my friends no matter what!" I shouted. It was true; I didn't really care what he said or did. I went to my room and slammed the door shut. The tears came down like a waterfall. I heard the footsteps coming up the stairs. I buried my face in my pillow so he wouldn't see the tears stained on my cheeks.
"Typhani, sweetie, calm down." Dad shouted from the stairs. "Can we just talk about this?"
I opened the door and sat back on my bed. Dad walked in slowly and silently. I didn't even look at him. He sat beside me on the bed. "Listen, it's not that we don't want you to be their friend. It's just that we're worried. I mean they're boys and you're a girl and you guys are different."
"We're not that much different. Dad, please don't make me do this." I pouted.
"If it doesn't make you happy, you don't have to do it." Dad sacrificed his worry for my pleasure. Plus, I would never listen to him anyway. I was never good at listening.
Later I decided I didn't want to go shopping. I just stayed in my room and thought about my friends. Mom and my brothers came home around dinner time. Then Mom started cooking after everything was unpacked. She also surprised me with a new outfit.
I didn't talk much during dinner. I didn't eat much either, just played around with the food on my plate with my fork. I couldn't stop thinking about what my dad had said to me. I got up from the table and dismissed myself. I put my plate in the sink and went upstairs to take a shower and go to bed.
Before I went to bed, I went to open the window to let some fresh air in. That night I had a nightmare. I started to sweat because I was so scared. The noises sounded so real, it was like it was right in my room. The dream I was having was about our family being robbed. The burglar was coming through my window and they planned to attack me. He came over and I got up and screamed. The mysterious man came over and covered my mouth.
"Shut your pie hole, Typhani." The voice shouted.
"You know my name?" I tried to say with my mouth covered.
"It's me, Dallas!" He cried. Dallas released his hand from my mouth.
"What are you doing here in my house eleven o' clock at night?" I asked.
"I'm tired of my parents fighting." He started.
"Your mom came back?"
"Yeah, for now," Dallas said with a bit of sarcasm, "But that's not the point. I'm just tired of hearing them fight. Can I please just stay here 'til my dad realizes I'm gone?" He proposed.
"That could be forever. You know your dad could care less about you. So who knows how long it will be 'til he notices his unwanted son is missing." I argued.
"Can I stay or not?" He begged.
"Yes, but if you're caught I'm going to pound you." I gave in. "You're sleeping on the floor!"
I gave him a few pillows and a blanket and he made himself comfortable. Once I was back in bed, I fell asleep right away. Dallas started snoring and kept me up all night. I tossed and turned and eventually threw a pillow at his head. He turned over but did not stop his snoring. I put my pillow over my head to block out the noise.
Morning came and Dad came to wake me up. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my arm.
"Typhani, Dallas, wake up, it's morning." Dallas? Why would he tell Dallas to wake up?
"Dallas? What are you talking about?" I groaned.
"I didn't say anything." A voice mumbled in my left ear. Then it hit me. I had totally forgotten about Dallas. My dad was gonna kill me! He gave me strict rules to never let any of my friends come into my room; he was afraid we were gonna kiss or something. I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen because I didn't think any of the boys liked me in that way.