Aubrey was not expecting to be hoisted into the air. She was now instantly regretting her decision.
"Aubs!" Kel swung her around in an incredibly sternum-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you've finally come around!"
"GYACK!" Aubrey wiggled one arm free and proceeded to BONK Kel on the top of his head. "Just hold on one second, you dolt!" Kel dropped her and cradled his head.
Aubrey took the time to dust herself off. "If I'm doing this; I need to at least make an effort to apologize to Basil."
"You could always get him flowers!" Kel pointed out. "I get him flowers all the time. I've become a master at making flower crowns!"
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Sounds great, Kel." What a basic-ass apology that would be. Basil didn't need any more flowers. He probably knew every type of stick in a 20-mile radius. He could get any kind of plant he wanted around here.
Except.
"Actually, Kel that's brilliant."
"It is?"
Mikhael's family gets flowers like once a month from his relatives overseas. They normally changed them out after they cleaned out the bakery; which was today. Mikhael would keep the flowers and try to give them to girls either at school or at the park. Not gonna lie; it worked a few times. Just have to swing by his place tomorrow and see if he's got any.
"Yeah. I can probably get the flowers. I'll meet you in front of your house tomorrow."
BEEP! BEEP!
The kids looked outside. It was a familiar pickup truck.
"Oh, it's Dad." Kel looked over at Aubrey. "Hey Aubs, if you aren't busy, do you wanna play video games at my place? It's been kind of lonely ever since Hero left, and Basil is never really in the mood for it."
"Oh! Uh, sure. I got nowhere to be." Aubrey watched as Kel threw all the trash away and went to the register again. "What are you doing? Your dad is waiting for you!"
Kel shooed her away. "Keep him talking! I'll be out in a second."
Whatever. Aubrey rolled her eyes and walked out. "Can't forget this." She went into the bushes and pulled out her bat. They threaten to call the cops if she brings it inside anywhere. Fucking lame.
Kel's dad whistled as she approached the car. "Heyoo, Aubrey! Been a while."
She gave a little wave. "Hey."
"I see you walking around town, well you ain't hard to miss looking like Hubba Bubba. Why you got that bat, tho? This is a nice neighborhood."
She was already seething. SO lucky Kel fed her, and that this was an adult she was talking to. "I like to walk alone. Never know who needs a good swing in the teeth." A quick practice swing to demonstrate, a few feet from his face.
"Ahahaha!" He laughed. "I heard that. Don't worry kid: I get it. I still can't go back to Juarez after the shit I used to get up to. They'd cut my fucking head off. Even had to give my kids white boy names just in case."
"Wha-" Aubrey stood there frozen. Before she could even begin to discern a response, Kel walked out with a full bag. "Hey Dad!"
"Hola, mijo!" His dad caught a burger throw and tossed the keys back in return.
"Wait, he's driving?!" Aubrey pointed her bat at Kel in disbelief.
"Yeah, why not?" Dad already unwrapped the burger and was taking his first bite. "Mmmph, not bad. He drives better than Hero did at his age. Now that one was a nervous wreck."
Kel and his dad sat up front talking about how they were gonna sneak the burgers in. If Mom smelled some she would want some, and no way in hell was Dad letting his pregnant wife eat fast food. They couldn't sneak it outside since Hector would smell it and he'd go crazy.
"What if you went inside and came back out with the Ziplock bags to put them in?!" Kel made a steady turn.
"Now that's using your head, son!" Dad finished the burger and balled up the wrapper.
Aubrey just observed from the back seat. While the interior had been cleared recently, she should see the worn faded patches on the seats, the scratches on the door, and those forever stains in the leather that just never went away. It had been a while since she'd sat in a car. A few rides around town with Basil and his grandma; afternoons exploring the surrounding area would turn into getting whatever ice cream they wanted from Other-mart.
Silent rides with Mom to the dentist. She was doing everything to hold the pain in. Toothache was something she had never experienced before and any suction of cold air drove her to tears, not to mention that Mom was
They came to a stop. Home.
Dad got out first, throwing his wrapper in the big trash can before dipping into the house. Hector's doghouse was empty.
Kel drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "So, uhh..." He started blushing. "How's my driving, Aubs?"
No response from the backseat. Aubrey seemed lost in thought.
"Aubs?"
"Oh! Uh...it's cool." Her fingers twitched, gripping the backseat. "When did you get your driver's license?"
"A few weeks ago." He undid his seatbelt and took the key out. "Dad and Hero were teaching me over the summer, and when we learned Mom was pregnant, they had me take the test. Ace'ed it first try!"
"Nice!"
They could hear Hector popping off inside the house.
"Ack! Hector! You're gonna ruin this whole thing!" Kel clutched the bag.
Aubrey got out. "Maybe I can help."
Dad came out with the Ziplock bags, Hector right behind him barking up a storm and hopping on his hind legs. As soon as he saw Aubrey, his entire focus snapped to her.
"Woah! Woah!" Aubrey stumbled back as the dog practically dropkicked her. Hector proceeded to slobber over up interrupted for the next 45 seconds. "Alright, boy, I get it! Nice to see you too!" She held her bat up, away from his lunging teeth. "Nononono this is not a fetch stick!"
"Aw, he remembered you!" Kel scooped him up. Hector tried to writhe out but Kel held him in place. "You missed Aubrey too, didn't you Hector?! Good boy! Good boy!"
"So what do you want to play?" Kel was rolling through his pack of game discs.
Aubrey crossed her arms. "Whatever you wanna play." Honestly, Aubrey sucked at 1v1 games and was dreading whatever fighting game she knew was coming. Oh, he was going to stamp her into paste and never let her hear the end of it. Kim and Vance were demons in Third Strike and Darkstalkers. She also sucked in Call in Duty, although it was hilarious to play with the grenades.
"How about SSX Tricky?" He pulled out an orange disc. One of the people on it seemed to be riding a... snowboard?
"Uh..."
"This game is awesome, Aubs! You gotta try it!" Kel popped it in. The opening cutscene was a bunch of characters doing tricks. The music was pretty nice! "Hero and I already unlocked everything in the game. Pick whoever you want."
Zoey. She flipped through the boards. Chaos seemed like a fun one.
Kel, of course, had to backseat game the entire time. "Flick the stick at the start to get a head start! Let go of your tricks before you hit the ground. If you fill up the meter you can get faster! You have to get back to normal before you hit the ground after a trick!"
His constant chatter was annoying but at least it was helpful. And then she realized he wasn't talking. Whenever Kel wasn't talking, you should be on alert. She looked out of the corner of her eye. Kel had one in his hand and—what was he doing? He was writing something on the rapper with Sharpie.
"Kel!" His mother called out from the master bedroom. "Did you feed Hector before you left?! If not, time to get it done! And when you come back up, bring me some pickles!"
"Alright!" Kel put the controller down and walked out.
Curiosity overcame Aubrey, and she glanced over at the burger. the words wrapped around but it amounted to—
To Sunny: Hey man! hope your doing well. Aubrey and I are friends again. We miss you.
Speak for yourself Kel. She put it back undisturbed. She felt the urge to say something as Kel came back upstairs. Fuck it. It was Kel's money.
Kel walked back in and scooped the burger up. "Sorry! Gotta go again. Be right back. Again."
Resist the urge to go follow him. It's fine. She kept playing. It was fine. It was fine. It was fine.
It was bullshit. This wasn't the first time Kel's done this for Sunny; he was moving way too routinely about it. She had the urge to ask how many times but any answer he gave would just piss her off. And what had he gotten in return? Sunny didn't answer the door; his parents did. Kel would have never been able to keep quiet about that if he'd talked to Sunny. So he's just been giving Sunny burgers and God knows what else for God knows how long and gotten jack shit back. You don't deserve him, Sunny. In one day, I've been a better friend than you've been in four years.
"Mom! Dad!" Kel polished off another soda. Can Aubrey stay the night so we can watch Toonami?"
"You know the rules!" Mom was very much not happy. "If you stay up, you better be ready to get up! You will not be falling asleep in the house of the Lord!"
"Got it, Mom! Love you! Goodnight!" He looked at Aubrey. "We have to go downstairs now to watch TV. And stay quiet."
Kel was a lot of things. Quiet was not one of them. He had his hand on the banister, and every step he took, and loud creak would emit from the stairs. Literally some haunted house shit. She went down it just fine.
Kel was plopped up on the couch with snackies. He was certainly excited about whatever Toonami was. "Here we go!" he rubbed his hands between bites of Pop-Tarts. "Sweet, we're starting off with Transformers!"
Transformers? Oh, so this was just cartoons. Come on, Kel. You're built like a tractor and you're still obsessed with toddler TV?
The show came on and, uhhh... the art style was drastically different from what she remembered. But hell, that was definitely Optimus. "This is Transformers? It looks different from what I remember."
"Well, its anime now!" Kel was bouncing up and down on the couch. "It's so good!"
"Anime?"
He stopped bouncing immediately. This was an emergency. "Wait, you don't know what anime is? Aubrey, what do you watch all day?"
Whatever Mom watched. Mostly shitty daytime reality TV. Maury and Springer. All the fucking time on weekends since they got extra episodes. Then she'd switch over to TBS and watch whatever was on there. Sometimes she'd fall asleep and that's how Aubrey could catch parts of Braves games, sometimes the whole thing if Mom was drunk sleep enough. And general channel surfing to round it all out. The last time Aubrey watched something she wanted...God, she couldn't even remember. She did remember the smash against her head. Everything going blurry. Face inches from the floor. Mom yelling. Always fucking yelling, and then she grabbed her and
It was definitely more intense than the Transformers she was used to. I mean it was still silly giant robots running around and shooting lasers, but everything seemed a lot more dark. The dialogue was kinda heavy. She looked over at Kel, who had been engrossed since the opening ended. Woulda guessed you like the original show more, honestly.
The show went to commercial and Kel was instantly shaking her, asking for her opinion. "It's good! It's good! Let me go!" It took multiple punches to get the oaf off of her, but it worked. Kel began raving about Transformers, and he lasted through the entire commercial and was only getting warmed up as it came back on. I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT A STARSCREAM IS.
Transformers finally ended, and next up was Dragon Ball Z.
"Alright DBZ!" Kel was somehow even more excited about this.
"What is that pink thing in the bumper?" Aubrey recoiled. It looked like someone shit out bubblegum.
"Oh, that's Majin Buu! He's the main villain, but he's not really a villain. So, there's this guy called Babadi—"
"Is that what everyone at school says I look like?!"
"Just the color! Just the color!" Hopefully, Aubrey would never learn that he was the one that got that whole thing started.
They kept watching for a few more hours. Not gonna lie this anime shit was kinda kick-ass. She didn't know anything that was going on but it was still pretty cool. For some reason, Kel had stopped explaining everything. She looked over.
He'd flopped over and was currently snoozing on the armrest of the couch.
Lightweight. It was only...4:30 in the morning. Well, if Kel was asleep, she might as well go too. Swing by Mikhael's while everyone is at church, get the flowers, go see Basil. Sounds like a plan.
She laid back on the couch and closed her eyes, letting herself drift off.
Man, she forgot how comfy this couch was. Today had honestly been pretty kick-ass. It was September but it was still decently warm. The bright blue sky looked like it had been laced with whipped cream. Burgers with Kel. Video games. Anime. Fucking...awesome.
What do you do on nice days like this, Sunny? Do you really just...lay there? Well...if that's what you want...I hope you're-
You haven't fed Bun Bun since you left.
Her eyes shot open. Shit shit shit shit.
She had to get out of there. Now. If Bun Bun gets too antsy and makes too much noise—
SHIT.
She stood up and the remote fell off the ground and hit the floor with a smack. She locked over at Kel. Still asleep.
Just gotta get home and feed Bun Bun. She walked into the kitchen. They kept a spare key in the drawer. Leave it under the doorstep. She wrote a note and pasted it to the fridge. Actually, while she was in the kitchen: what was there at home?
Mom, actually doing something fucking healthy for a change, buys packs of cheap mixed vegetables from Other-mart semi-regularly. Semi.
Rule of thumb for rabbits: if it wasn't green, don't feet it to em. Berries were the exception. Funny enough, they actually didn't like carrots all that much. Bugs Bunny was bullshit.
She would eat the corn and carrots, and Bun Bun would have the brussel sprouts and green beans. When she couldn't do that, she'd have trash bags of grass ready to tie Bun Bun over. getting that grass was fucking tedious to all hell but it was a lot better than letting Bun Bun go out and eat. Rabbits took hours to get themselves full despite having that tiny little body and there was plenty of opportunity for foxes, hawks, and snakes to get him. She was NOT going to let that happen.
She opened the sink, where they kept their plastic grocery bags. The cupboards swung open silently. Their mom once showed them a cool trick where only a little olive oil could get rid of that haunted house sound effect creak.
Plenty of cans in here. Surely they won't miss one or two. She put in a can of spinach and a can of peas. Bun Bun's had peas before. Spinach was his favorite though. She looked back at Kel. Still asleep. She had to clutch them against her chest so they wouldn't rattle.
Fuck.
Moving in slow motion, she walked past Kel and opened the front door. Fuck it was cold out here. Hector was asleep in his doghouse. Don't wake up. Don't wake up. Don't wake up. Close it. Lock it. Key under the mat. Now tiptoe. Tiptoe. Tiptoe.
PPBBRT!
She looked at Hector. Terrified.
PPBBRT!
Fucking dog was farting in his sleep. Disgusting.
Fuck. It's fucking freezing. She had to shuffle the bag around. Her hands were fucking freezing. She could feel the bones ache. Her knees shivered with every step. The wind was cutting at her as she sauntered into the night. At least no one seems to have spotted her.
We make up and the first night I rob him. Fuck me, man. Kel, I'm sorry. I'll pay you back I promise.
Pay him back how? It's not like she had money. It's the whole fucking reason why she was robbing him. She couldn't depend on Mom for food, and no way could she keep doing this. When the grass stops growing in a few weeks, she's gonna lose that too. Pets don't hibernate, which means Bun Bun's gonna be up all winter.
He's gonna fucking starve.
Kel was right. She needed a job.
Fuck. It's so fucking cold.