Chapter 3: Moving In
Simon quickly found out that Wayne was not kidding around when it came to seeing him in court. A week or so after the man and his son had shown up at the Sevilles' doorstep, Simon received a letter from the local courthouse telling that he was to appear in court one week from that day at ten o' clock in the morning.
"So, wait, what's he suing you over?" Theodore asked, feeling confused as he read over the letter.
"Supposedly, I cheated his son out of two hundred dollars," Simon said, "which I didn't."
"You know what?" Dave said.
"What?" Alvin asked.
"I'm betting he deliberately put that stolen cassette deck in his son's car just so he could have an excuse to go off on somebody," Dave said. He took a sip of his drink.
"Honestly, at this point, it wouldn't surprise me," Simon said.
"Does anybody even know who this guy is or where he lives?" Alvin asked.
Simon shook his head. "No."
Dave suddenly took out his phone. "I'll settle this real quick." He began dialing a number.
"Dave, what are you doing?" Alvin asked.
Putting the phone to his ear, Dave raised a finger while the phone rang. He finally spoke up. "Yes, is this Wayne Watkins? Good. Wayne, listen, I have a proposition for you." He cleared his throat. "Are you currently looking for a place? I have a room for rent that I'm looking to fill. If you'll drop the charges, I'll let you move in."
"What?" the Chipmunks cried.
"Hush," Dave reprimanded them quietly. "How long would it be? That's up to you. Okay, so, have we got a deal? Great. Just move in whenever you feel like it." He set the phone down.
"Dave, what are you thinking?" Alvin asked.
"Dave," Simon added, "I told you before, I have a bad feeling about this man. He's not the kind of person I want hanging around our family."
"Well, here's the thing, guys," Dave said, "and this goes no further than the four of us and maybe Miss Miller and the Chipettes. Our finances are not the best right now. The only reason I'm letting this guy move in with us is because I desperately need the money to pay the bills and get groceries."
"That' s not a problem," Simon said. "Alvin and I can get jobs and help you out with the bills."
Dave shook his head. "No. It's not your place to do that. You guys just concentrate on being kids."
"Are you sure?" Alvin asked.
"Yes," Dave said. "And furthermore, there will be rules set in place when he moves in."
"What kind of rules?" Theodore asked.
"You'll know when he gets here," Dave said.
Wayne arrived at the Seville household a couple of days later, moving what little belongings he had into the room that was between the Chipmunks' bedroom and Dave's. Naturally, being uncomfortable around him, the Chipmunks avoided Dave. While Simon went downstairs to the basement to work on a science project, Alvin and Theodore went outside to shoot some hoops. All three boys were still occupied with their activities by the time Dave called them all for dinner. Albeit reluctantly, they walked in the kitchen and sat down at the table and began helping themselves to the food laid out before them. It was only natural that Theodore avoided any kind of meat at all costs, choosing instead to pile various vegetables on his plate while Alvin and Simon took a steak each, just as Dave and Wayne had.
Simon was still working on his science project at a quarter to midnight. At one point, Wayne opened up the door to the basement and called, "Simon! You need to get in bed! You've got school tomorrow!" Simon chose instead to ignore him and continued to work. Between midnight and half past two in the morning, Wayne told Simon to go to bed three separate times. Apparently, Wayne grew tired of Simon not listening to him because the lights in the basement suddenly went off, enveloping the chipmunk in complete darkness just as he was preparing to pour some mixed chemicals into a beaker. Unable to see what he was doing, however, he ended up pouring a little too much, as well as pouring some on his hand, and a cloud of smoke suddenly surrounded him. Coughing, he waved the smoke away and feeling aggravated, made an attempt to set the beaker down on the table, only to miss, resulting in the beaker falling to the floor and shattering. He growled before turning and blindly making his way towards the basement steps, tripping over the bottom step and falling forward. He threw his hands out in front of him, preventing himself from falling flat on his face, and crawled the rest of the way up the stairs.
The next morning, Simon was not in a good mood. Wayne must've turned the electricity in the basement back on because when he went to flip on the light switch that was next to the basement door, the room was flooded with light. Nervously, he crept downstairs to survey the damage that had befallen his science project just a few hours prior. Unfortunately, thanks to Wayne, his science project was in ruins. He made his way back up the stairs to the kitchen and began pouring himself a bowl of cereal while the other members of the family walked in, both Wayne and Dave fixing themselves a mug of coffee. Theodore immediately sensed that Simon was in a foul mood because he asked, "Simon, are you okay?"
Simon shook his head, pouring milk into his bowl of cereal. Putting it back in the fridge, he replied, "No, I'm not okay."
"Why?" Dave asked. "What's wrong?"
Simon pointed at Wayne. "Thanks to him, I'm going to flunk science."
"What?" Dave asked.
Wayne jabbed a finger at Simon and said, "I told him four times – four fuckin' times – to get his ass in bed. He didn't wanna fuckin' listen to me, so I had the electric shut off."
"First and foremost, while you are living under my roof," Dave said, "you will not cuss in front of my kids."
"Boy, don't you fuckin' tell me what I can and can't say," Wayne snapped. "I can say whatever the fuck I want to."
"Not under my roof, you can't," Dave said.
"The hell I can't," Wayne replied. "These kids ain't gonna fuckin' act that way around me! I won't fuckin' put up with it!"
"You will maintain a civil tongue when you are around my kids and when you are in my presence. Is that clear? Now, why did you have the electricity in the basement shut off?"
"I told you," Wayne said. "I told him to get his ass in the bed and he didn't listen to me. That's fine if you're okay with your kids not listenin' and mindin' you, but while I'm here, they will mind and listen to me."
"Uh, first of all," Dave replied, "I don't know who you think you are, but you are not their parent. I am! Second of all, I told Simon beforehand that if he needed a little extra time to work on his science project, he could stay up a little later than usual if he needed to."
"Well, if he would get his fuckin' ass in bed at night ––"
"Wayne! He had five hours of homework to do yesterday! When was he supposed to find time to work on his science project?"
"I'm just sayin', if he would get his ass in bed at night, that wouldn't be a problem." He lifted his mug of coffee to his lips and took a sip.
"In any case, I'm going to flunk science, so I'm going to get held back," Simon said grumpily, putting the jug of milk back in the fridge and slamming the door.
"Boy," Wayne cried, "you had best calm your ass down and I mean now before I get a hold of you!"
"Well —" Simon began.
"Well nothing," Wayne snapped. "I said to calm your ass down and that's what I mean!"
"I don't have time for this," Simon said, grabbing his backpack and storming to the archway.
Wayne stood up. "Boy! You want me to get a hold of you and jerk a knot in your ass!? You had best lose the fuckin' attitude and I mean now!"
"Hey!" Dave shouted, jabbing a finger at Wayne. "You do not threaten my kids! Is that understood!? Sit down!"
"Boy, don't you fuckin' tell me what to do," Wayne said, refusing to obey Dave's command.
Dave ignored him, choosing instead to turn to Simon and say, "Talk it over with your teacher. Maybe she can give you an extension on the project."
Simon shook his head. "It's due today. That's why I was up so late last night trying to get it done."
Dave sighed. "Okay, we'll think of something. Are you sure you want to leave right now? I haven't made your lunch yet."
"I think I'm just going to go with what the school's serving today," Simon replied. "I'll see you after school?"
"I'll be here," Dave replied.
Wayne shook his head, taking another sip of his coffee. "These kids ain't gonna behave that way around me. I ain't gonna fuckin' put up with it. Shelly's kids did that shit with me and I ain't gonna put up with it again."
Dave ignored him, walking over to the counter and beginning to prepare Alvin and Theodore's lunches while they went upstairs to get ready for school, wondering just who this "Shelly" person was that Wayne had referred to.
Simon's teacher was much more accommodating than Simon had predicted. After explaining the situation to her, she said, "Well, you could register for college. That's the only thing I can think of." Simon blinked in confusion at that. She went on. "Your grades are phenomenal. You could apply for college. You would have to leave here after lunch to go there at least one day out of the week. I mean, after all, you have been getting letters from colleges all over the country, haven't you?"
"Uh-huh," Simon replied.
She withdrew a few brochures from a drawer at her desk and handed them to Simon. "Talk it over with your folks and get back to me."
Grinning, Simon took the brochures and put them in his backpack.
"That's just fuckin' stupid," Wayne said at dinner that night when Simon had told Dave and his brothers that he was planning on going to college while still going to high school.
"How is it stupid?" Dave asked, glaring.
"Dave! Use some fuckin' common sense!" Wayne replied. "How in the hell is he going to back and forth from school? 'Cause I ain't gonna fuckin' drive his ass! I got places to be and things to do!"
"Like what?" Alvin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I can't drive," Simon said, "seeing as how I'm blind and all. I could probably take the bus or a cab, assuming I have money."
"If you need money, I'll give you some," Dave said. "But, are you sure this is a good idea? You're under enough stress as it is."
"I'll be fine," Simon replied, taking a sip of his drink. "I can manage."
"Just promise me one thing, Simon. If it gets to be too much for you, you could always wait."
Simon shook his head. "I'm doing this to make up for my failed science experiment, thanks to somebody!' He leaned forward and glared at Wayne.
"Well, Simon," Wayne said, "if you would fuckin' get your ass in bed at night instead of stayin' up all night and get your shit done as soon as you got home from school fuckin' around on the computer and that fuckin' phone of yours all fuckin' day, that wouldn't be a problem, would it?"
"Wayne, have you started looking for a job?" Dave asked.
"No," Wayne said, shaking his head, dipping the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray in front of him, then lifting his cigarette to his lips to take another drag.
"Why not?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Dave! No place is going to hire me!"
"Well, what did you do before you came here?"
"Mechanic."
"This is California," Theodore said. "Plenty of mechanic shops around here."
"Mm-hmm," Alvin agreed, taking a drink.
"I ask because we've got bills to pay," Dave said.
Wayne pointed to the three boys. "These kids is of age. Put 'em to work. Make 'em pay some fuckin' bills around here."
"No, I'm not doing that," Dave said. "It's not their job."
Wayne laughed. "Not their job? They fuckin' live here, don't they?"
"Yes —" Dave siad.
"Then they should be helpin' you with the bills," Wayne said, "and if they don't like it, they can fuckin' pack their shit and move the fuck on." To the three Chipmunks he added, "Y'all are gonna start helpin' us pay some bills around here. Y'all ain't gonna be like Shelly's kids and not help to pay for nothin'." He took another drag on his cigarette.
Alvin smirked. "We'll see about that."
Simon knew that going to both high school and college would be tough, but he didn't think it'd be so time-consuming that it would leave him with no time for himself. More often than not, Simon was busy with schoolwork, be it either doing homework or studying. This unfortunately met that he missed out on meals with the family and spending time with his friends, despite his family's insistence that he at least take time out of his day to eat with them. He instead chose to eat his meals at the computer while working. Unfortunately, him constantly working on schoolwork meant that Wayne had a hard time getting to sleep at night, as he oftentimes slept in the living room on the couch, due to the clicking and clacking of the keyboard as Simon typed or the fact that Simon had a lamp turned on rather than having the whole room lit up to read out of his textbook and write papers via longhand. This unfortunately met that Wayne had no problems voicing his complaints regarding this arrangement.
"Why in the hell does the fuckin' computer have to be in the living room?" he asked Dave one morning. "Doesn't he have a computer in his bedroom?"
"It doesn't work as well as the one in the living room," Dave replied. "The computer he has in his bedroom is quite old, and the one in the living room is state-of-the-art." With his mug of coffee, he sat down across from Dave and took a sip.
"I still say this is fuckin' stupid," Wayne said. "How fuckin' stupid do you have to be to go to two different schools at the same time? That's nonsense!"
Dave merely rolled his eyes.
It wasn't too long before a whole month had passed by. Unfortunately, Wayne had still yet to find work and get a paying job. Dave and the Chipmunks were wondering just how he planned on paying for that month's rent. Simon got his answer on the morning of the first of the month.
Being blind and thus physically disabled, Simon received a SSI check at the beginning of each month that totaled a little over a thousand dollars. He called the local bank to make sure that his check had come in, only to be told that a mere two hundred fifty dollars was in his bank account. He blinked in confusion at this and said, "What? How can that be? That money's never been touched! Are you sure? Maybe there's been a transaction that I wasn't aware of."
"I'm looking that up right now, sir. Hmm, okay, let's see . . . Ah, here we go, this must be it. According to this, someone by the name of Wayne Watkins had some money from your account transferred over to his."
"What?" Simon shouted. "Are you kidding me!?"
"He told us that you had given him authorization to do so."
"Like hell I did! I never gave him authorization to do anything of the sort! I want that money transferred back over to my account right now! This instant!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but it appears that the money is no longer in Mr. Watkins' account."
"Really!?" He felt someone grab his shoulder and spin him around and he suddenly found himself being glared at by Wayne.
"Boy! What in the fuckin' hell are you in here screamin' and throwin' a fit about!?" Wayne asked. He pointed at Simon's phone. "Just 'cause you're pissed at that phone don't mean you gotta be throwin' shit and screamin' and cussin'! There ain't no sense in that!"
Simon glared up at him and asked, "Why is there eight hundred fifty dollars missing from my bank account?"
"Well, I don't fuckin' know," Wayne replied. "Did you pay any bills this month?"
"Uh, no, my check didn't come in 'til just this morning."
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Simon, but you'd best calm your ass down! If I have to come back in here, I'm gonna take that fuckin' phone and I'm fuckin' break it in half, you understand me?"
"You're not going to do anything to my phone," Simon replied.
Wayne grabbed him by the shirt and jerked him forward. "Don't fuckin' get smart with me! You get smart with me again, boy, and I'm gonna kick your ass, you understand that!? You better calm down before I get a hold of you! Now if I have to come back in here again, I'm gonna break that goddamn phone, you understand me?" He stomped out of the room.
Simon walked across the room and slammed the door shut.
"Boy, I'm tellin' you," Wayne bellowed. "If I come in there, you ain't gonna like me! You had best calm your fuckin' ass down and I mean now!"
"Simon, tell your daddy what I had to get onto you about today," Wayne said at dinner that night.
"Oh, get this," Simon said, looking over at Dave. "I get my disability check today right, which, as you know is eleven hundred a month. So I call the bank today to see if it's in there." He shook his head. "It's not. Come to find out" – he pointed at Wayne – "he took it upon himself to have it transferred to his account."
"Excuse me?" Dave asked, glaring at Wayne.
Wayne ignored Dave and said to Simon, "No, no, no. Tell your daddy what you were doin' today that I had to get onto you about."
Simon gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"
Wayne turned to Dave. "I had to get onto him today because he was in there in that bedroom screamin', throwin' shit, cussin', stompin' and a-hollerin', punchin' holes in the wall ––"
"Uh, no, I wasn't," Simon snapped.
"Yes, you fuckin' were," Wayne yelled. "Don't fuckin' sit there and lie to me!"
"Hold it, hold it," Dave shouted, raising his hands. "First and foremost," he went on, jabbing a finger at Wayne, "you need to calm down! Secondly, you don't ever touch anything belonging to my kids, and that most certainly includes their money!" He pointed at Simon. "That is his money! His money!" He once again jabbed a finger at Wayne. "It does not belong to you! Third of all, you don't ever get onto my kids about anything! If they are misbehaving, you tell me and I will deal with it! Fourth, Simon doesn't do stuff like that!"
"Well, Brandon certainly did," Wayne said.
"Okay, well, he's not Brandon, whoever that is."
"I was yelling quite a bit," Simon said.
"Mm-hmm," Wayne said, nodding his head.
"Finally, if Simon was indeed throwing a fit, I don't blame him one bit for being pissed because if you took over eight hundred dollars out of my account, I'd be wanting to punch holes in the wall too."
"What in God's name did you spend over eight hundred dollars on?" Alvin asked.
"Alvin! I paid the electric, that was three hundred. I paid the rent, that was four hundred fifty. And I paid the water bill, that was a hundred. Do you not fuckin' realize that if it wasn't for me, y'all wouldn't be havin' electricity or water or a place to live right now!?"
"Wayne, why don't you tell Dave what you did today?" Simon asked, smirking.
"What?" Wayne asked.
Simon turned to Dave. "He put his hands on me."
"You did what?" Dave yelled at Wayne.
"I got onto him," Wayne said, "like I said. He decided he was going to be a little smartass with me, so I grabbed a hold of him and I told him that if he ever pulled a stunt like he did today, I was gonna break that fuckin' phone."
"No, sir!" Dave shouted. "Uh-uh! You don't ever put your hands on my kids, you understand that? If they do something wrong, let me know and I will handle it! And I've told you before, do not threaten my kids! Also, you will not touch anything belonging to my kids, including their phones! They need their phones!"
"Dave, all they wanna fuckin' do is stay on them goddamn phones," Wayne said.
"And?" Dave said. "I'm on my phone all the time too! So what? And watch your mouth!"
Wayne slammed a fist down on the table, making all three boys, particularly Theodore, jump. "See, it's that shit right there! That shit right there is exactly why I left Shelly, 'cause of that shit right there! When I fuckin' say somethin', I expect you to back me up on it! Don't fuckin' sit there and make a bunch of fuckin' excuses!"
"I'm not making excuses," Dave replied.
"Yes, you are," Wayne shouted. "They don't fuckin' need them fuckin' phones, just like they don't need that fuckin' Internet."
"Uh, yes, we do," Simon said.
"No, y'all fuckin' don't," Wayne said. "That's a fuckin' waste of money."
"Wayne," Dave barked, "they need them to stay in touch with me! They need the Internet to stay in touch with their teachers! Simon in particular needs it so that he can turn in his assignments!"
"Well, why the fuck doesn't he just go down to the goddamn school and turn it in then?"
"College doesn't work that way," Dave said, leaning forward and smirking. "And I've told you before, watch your mouth."
"Boy, don't you fuckin' sit there and tell me what I can cannot say! I can say whatever I fuckin' want!"
"Not under my roof," Dave said.
"Whatever you fuckin' say, Dave. Where are y'all goin'? Get back in here, sit down, and eat!"
All three Chipmunks had suddenly risen from their chairs. Alvin and Theodore were making their way to the stairs, whereas Simon was heading towards the living room.
"Suddenly lost our appetites," Alvin replied, beginning to head up the stairs with Theodore.
"It's okay, guys, go ahead," Dave said.
Wayne sighed in annoyance. "See, that's what I'm fuckin' talkin' about right there! That's exactly what I'm fuckin' talkin' about right there!" He yelled, "And I better not fuckin' catch y'all sneakin' in here at night and gettin' into shit! Brandon did the same thing and I had to get onto his ass all the time for that shit!"