30. Done Here
1564 Words
After school Thursday, there's nobody at my house. It's weird to go home alone. There's a keypad hooked to the doorknob. I put the code in, and it unlocks. Nancy isn't here yet, so I put my books on the desk.
Then Dante calls.
"Hello."
"Forget something?"
"No."
"You have to put the code in."
"I did that."
"The other code. The one on the wall box."
"Sorry."
"It's fine. Go put the code in, and I'll reset the system."
I put the code in the door. "Did that fix it?"
"No. The code in the wall box. The wall box in the living room."
I put the code in.
"No, that's the door code. Put in the alarm code. It's on the pink paper."
"Everett took it. He said he didn't want it in the house beside the security system."
"I'll have to manually override it from here."
"Ok." I pick up a peanut butter cookie and the paper is sitting there. "Oh, never mind. I found the pink paper."
"What?"
"I GOT THE PAPER." Part of the cookie falls out of my mouth.
"Go put the code in. It's a pain in the butt this way."
"Ok."
"Good. Now push the pound button."
"The what?"
"Oh, good, you're home." Nancy smiles at me. "What's the problem?"
"What's a pound button?"
She laughs and takes the phone. "Go ahead. I'll fix this."
"Thank you." I run for it.
Once she fixes that, we make a meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner. I don't know what was worse, crushing meat with my hands or cutting potatoes.
Everett shows up when it's done.
"Did you eat?"
"Yea. I brought some food for you. I didn't know if you ate."
"I made food."
"What did you make? I have to try it."
"Meatloaf, potatoes, and corn."
"Let's set the table."
"You already ate."
"I'll eat some more with you." He gets some plates and stuff out.
We barely sit down, and someone knocks on the door.
"You have got to be joking." Everett answers it, and comes back with Brock.
He plops into a chair. "Second dinner."
"I cooked it." I smile and wiggle. I'm proud of myself.
"I'll judge if it's good or not." He smiles.
"Don't do that." It never dawned on me that it might not be good.
Everett shakes his head at Brock. "Let her be."
Nancy brings him a plate. Then she puts the food on the table.
"Oh s**t, this is amazing." Brock shoves a huge bite in his mouth. "This is perfect. And real potatoes too? I'm never eating anywhere else."
The proud feeling returns to me. "It's Nancy's recipe. She'll be here until next Friday."
"So will I."
Nancy laughs. "I'm glad you like it, sir."
Brock must really like it because he eats more than me. Maybe his parents don't feed him either. I guess I don't mind if he comes here. At least he won't be hungry. That's all that matters.
Everett gets rid of him an hour after dinner and sits on the couch with me. "I didn't think he would ever leave."
"He misses you. And this is a new way of doing everything. Everyone is adjusting. I don't mind if he eats here. He's not hurting anything."
He lays his head in my lap. "I want a nice night with only us."
Nancy walks by. "I'll be back in the morning to make breakfast, and the leftovers are in the fridge if you get hungry later."
"Thank you." I rub Everett's head and watch the door shut. "It's going to be a couple of weeks before we get that."
He answers his phone. "Yea. Fine." Then he hangs up. "I have to go home tonight. My parents are pushing the I'm only 17 thing, way too far now. I've got one week left. What are they going to say after that?"
"Who knows." I put my head beside his and lay the other way on the couch. "We're still in school though. It's not wrong that they want you home."
"I know. But I want a whole night with you." He kisses my cheek a bunch.
I giggle and wiggle away. "I'm still on my girl stuff anyway. It's not like we can do anything."
"Aww." He sits up quickly and pulls me into his lap. "This is what I want. I want a whole night of this. We never have to do anything else."
I wrap around him and relax. "I love you."
"I love you too, baby. We'll have a night to ourselves this weekend. We'll take a bath and watch a movie. Sleep late in the morning and cuddle."
"That sounds perfect."
"It really does. I need to go before they start having a fit." He stands up and stretches.
"Ok."
"Let me empty the money thing. Don't shut me out yet."
"What money thing?"
"We put a box out here for people to buy the produce."
"You don't stay with it?"
"No. Most people are honest around here. Plus, you're only selling stuff for a dollar or two. It's not like there's 100's in the box." He hands me about $20 in small bills. "I still have your $300 too. I'll bring that tomorrow. We can get you a little safe this weekend."
"I love you."
"I love you too, babygirl." He gives me a sweet kiss. "Good night."
"Good night."
I grab two big bowls. If I'm making money, I might as well keep the tables stocked. I know they didn't get everything out of the garden. It's only 8. I have enough daylight for a few trips.
I walk past 16 houses and a field to get there. It's closer than the school. It doesn't take long at all. I fill my bowls four times with as much as I can carry. Then I fill my bowls a fifth time. It's getting too dark now.
I glance at the house. It's empty and dark.
I don't know what comes over me, but I have to burn that fucker down. I was not joking when I said that to Dante.
I sneak in my window and use the light on my phone to look around. This place is disgusting. I hate that I ever lived here. I don't know how to burn a house down, but I know what burns. And there are bottles of liquor here.
But first, I run to my dad's room.
I don't know what I was expecting. He had a wood dresser and a big bed. He had a frame for his bed. There is a layer of clothes on the floor. And by the smell of the room, I would guess everything is dirty. Then he had a private bath. The bathtub has beer cans around it. I leave the cupboard doors open. Not sure if anything will burn in there, but the fire will get in easier.
I open the first drawer on the dresser and find half a bottle of liquor. I step back and throw it at the dresser. It shatters and alcohol shoots back into the room. It gets on me and the clothes on the floor. That wasn't ideal. But whatever. I smash some tiny bottles around the clothes too.
I find a gallon of something and smash it on the coffee table. That pretty much soaks the living room.
I open every cupboard in the kitchen. Then I push a bottle over. The alcohol runs down the cupboard and soaks the floor and my feet.
I jump around in it laughing. I might be crazy, but I don't care.
I run through the house and open every single door. I want the fire to eat it. Nothing in the way. Every flammable thing I find, I open. The alcohol bottles I break. Nobody will think anything of alcohol in this house.
I smash another bottle against the broken wall. I think that's probably enough. It's on the other side of my room. The fire will get there fast.
I hit the wall a few times and it becomes a real hole. Then I hit it with more alcohol, so some of it sprays into my room. That'll help.
I take a deep breath and try to pull my s**t together. I am crazy and soaked with alcohol. But I don't care. I grab an old newspaper and a lighter.
Alcohol drips from my clothes as I walk down the hallway to my room. I open the bathroom door because it's the only door left shut. Then I stand on my bed and bend down. There's an outlet under the window. I know enough about fire. They'll blame it on electrical problems.
I light the papers on fire and drop them onto the floor. The fire moves up the curtain quickly. I push the table by the window. I know if the table catches on fire, the wall will catch eventually.
I jump out the window. I don't want to get burnt.
I check myself and I'm good. I throw my shoes back in. Those are ruined.
I toss the box inside the room. I'll never need that again.
It feels like every muscle in my body relaxes. I did not expect this much relief.
I shut the window and walk away. I'm done here.
- Writer
