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Everything Jake: #835 Junior Year Three Tier Turkey Day continued “But your brother said…” “He’s trying to get my goat. I did not follow you to college…” “But…” “What’s that look for? You mad at me or something? And what if it was true? Then?” “Faith… I don’t think it matters either way.” “What?” “If you do, well, you got what you wanted, because I’m absolutely crazy about you.” Faith opened her mouth and couldn’t find a word to say. It was the way he was looking at her. He never had to say anything else to her ever again. Jake started to say something and she put her finger on his mouth. “Shh. Don’t ruin it.” She left her finger there. He slowly moved her hand away from his mouth and leaned over to kiss her again. It was a short kiss, but one they both felt everywhere. It was a “whoa” kiss. “Faith! Honey! Could you come here a moment?” The first thing Faith thought was, oh shit, we’re caught. She saw us kiss. I’m never going to be allowed out ever again. The way her mom appeared in the doorway to the living room made her change her mind. No way she saw The Kiss. She looked too giddy. “Faith?” “I’m coming mom…” Jake didn’t want to let go of her hand. “Hurry back.” She smiled at him and regained possession of her hand. What could she possibly want? Mrs. Robbins and Jimmy were sitting in the kitchen, Jimmy was at the table, smug expression in tow. “Hope I didn’t get you in trouble, little one.” “Don’t call me that, Jimmy. What’s up mom?” “Do you and Jake want dessert now?” “Um… we’re kind of full still… why are you both looking at me like that?” “We didn’t eat dinner yet, Faith, Mom wanted us to eat as a family.” “You what?” “I’m sorry, Faithy, it’s just that, we don’t get to see you that often, and… well… I wanted to have dinner just as a family, just the three of us.” “And you wait until now to tell me?” “I didn’t want to ruin your plans with your new boyfriend, you seem very happy…” “She did follow him to school, Ma.” “Mom, we have plans after this, what am I going to tell Jake?” “I’m sorry, Faithy, I thought I was doing the right thing… I didn’t know that you had somewhere… else…” “Oh, Mom, I’m sorry.” Faith went over to her mom and put her arms around her. She felt smaller, how much weight has she lost? She glanced over to Jimmy, he shrugged. His expression said it all. Faith, dad died last year. Mom isn’t, nor ever will be, the same. Mrs. Robbins pulled out of Faith’s arms, eyes red, and wiped a tear out of her own eye. “I can’t force you to stay, Faith, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” “Mom…” She wanted to say how horrible she felt. She wanted to say that it’s kind of crazy for her to do this, not only to her, but to Jimmy and herself as well. She wanted to say that this was one of those times where she felt the thick taste of dread and disgust in the pit of her stomach, that this is one of those defining moments that one realizes that the person they knew all those years is no longer the same. “I’ll tell Jake that you want some family time, okay? I’ll go meet up with him later tonight. Okay?” “You sure, Faith? I don’t mean to…” “I’m sure. I’ll go ask him to go now, because I can hear Jimmy’s stomach growling. And look at you, when was the last time you ate?” Intermission: The Car Ride To Rich’s House What the crapping hell was that about? First, she doesn’t let me in the house as we walk in, then she says that her mom wants some family time and she can’t come to the party with me? What the crap, man. I mean, okay, her dad died last year, and it was really fucked up. Maybe I’m just not being sensitive enough, but it kind of irks me all this sneaking around. She told me she doesn’t mind the hear the ugly stuff, does she think she has to hide it from me too? Of all the people, I would think that I would know what it’s like to lose a parent. Okay, so I was young and don’t remember a couple of the years after. Okay, so my mom didn’t die unexpectedly in a national disaster. Maybe I’m just being a prick. She did, after all, say she was going to meet me there after and drive home, so I can get bombed. I think I need to get bombed. Too many conflicting emotions running around in my head. I honestly think that some part of her does not even want to go to Rich’s house. I told her high school was awhile ago, that it would be cool. I guess, for Faith, high school wasn’t really that long ago. Truth be told, I wonder what Tom and Rich are gonna say. And Pete. It’s going to be weird to see him, but since last year when we hung out I think everything is smoothed out between us. Hunh, who would have thought that I would be going to Rich’s house with Faith Robbin’s kiss still on my lips. Strange how the world works sometimes, innit it? Tier Three: Party: Rich’s House Rich’s backyard was a place Jake, Tom, Pete and yes, even Rich, were all too familiar with. It wasn’t even a big backyard, no trees, no pool, nothing really remarkable about it. But it was dark, there were trees surrounding it on the other side of the rotting wooden fence, and there were more stories about what went down than to fill three books. When something considerable happens in one place, on numerous occasions, the place takes a life of it’s own on. “Remember the time…” Jake had gotten there early, but Pete and Tom were already there. So Jake grabbed a beer, and they stood outside the door in the backyard. “Remember what, Tom? You always do that, you start to say, `remember the time’, then you trail off and laugh to yourself. Remember what time, man? What time?” “That time.” “You are so infuriating.” “Some on, Rich, leave him alone, I’m sure he doesn’t even know what ‘infuriating’ means.” “Remember the time when Pete tried to stab Jake with a machete?” Jake felt a hot tingle of oh shit crawl up his spine. What the fuck was Tom’s problemo? “It wasn’t a machete.” Pete was smiling. He glanced over to Jake from the corner of his eyes. “It was a bottle.” “A broken bottle. And he didn’t try to stab me with it.” Jake was smiling now too. Tom was there, of course, but passed out in the back of the yard. “Weren’t you drunk then Tom?” “When isn’t Tom drunk?” “I wasn’t as drunk then as I am now. No, he did, and then you decked him, Jake. I saw it all from my own five eyes. I swear. I was right in that spot there.” Tom had his arm out with the beer in it and when he pointed he spilled half the beer out. “Oh shitcrap, my beer!” “Isn’t that the spot where Jamie Lawrence gave you head for the first time, Rich?” “Did you say Joey Lawrence?” “What?” “Joey Lawrence didn’t fucking give me head, Jake.” “But weren’t you like best friends with him?” “Look, I told you a million times, DICK, my mom and his mom went to college together and I only met him once—“ “How many times have we heard this story, Pete?” “Like twenty thousand. Was it good head, at least, Rich?” “Better than Nikki Bradshaw.” A collective whoa and ooooh shhiiiiittt burst through the four, as if Rich had mentioned She-Who-Shall-Never-Be-Mentioned. Jake and Pete laughed. “Sure, you guys are laughing now, but before college you both would have ripped out my fucking stomach.” Jake and Pete looked at each other. Pete shrugged. “Yeah, but, like, high school was eons ago. I fly jet fighter planes now, man, Nikki Bradshaw was another life for me.” “Shouldn’t you not be drinking, Pete? Won’t you get in trouble or something?” “Not if they don’t find out, Jake.” “Come on, Pete, Big Brother is Always watching.” “True. I can get a picture of Tom whacking off to a picture of the Olsen Twins from fifty thousand feet, digital quality, too.” “I would pay you a thousand bucks for that.” “I’d sell it for a dollar.” “You guys are fucked up. I would never even look twice at the Olsen Twins.” “Mary-Kate, Tom, or Ashley?” “Mary-Kate, but that’s besides the point. You three are sick fucks.” Pete drained the last of his beer in the lawn. “Gotta take a squirt.” They watched him walk back into the house. Rich walked in a little closer to Jake. “think he really flies jet planes, Jake?” “What? Yeah, I mean…” “My dad said they don’t even consider you to be a pilot unless you went to college…” “But, why would…?” “Something fishy is going on with him, dude, I mean it. Something mighty fishy.” “Rich, why would Pete lie to us, we’re his best buds?” “Come on, Tom, think about it… he’s not the same guy we went to high school with…” “None of us are, man, it’s called growing up? Ever hear of it?” “Yeah, it’s called growing up, but look at me, and you, and Jakey here, sure, we’ve all changed, but the core of us, it’s still the same. You still like eating a lot, Tom, Jake I’m sure whacks off all the time, and I can’t stop playing video games, we’re all basically the same.” “Shhh, here he comes.” Everything Jake #836 Junior Year Three Tier Turkey Day continued Pete walked outside and gave Jake a funny look. “I have a question for you guys.” Jake looked at Rich, Rich had no idea. It’s possible that he heard them. The air around them seemed electric all of a sudden. “Shoot, Pete, anything ya want.” “Why are we standing outside for? It’s freezing out here.” Jake laughed. “True, I was just thinking that.” “Let’s go inside, we can get drunk faster in there anyways.” Later: Jake put the phone back down, or tried to, everything was hazy. She didn’t answer her cell phone, again, he thought, what the hell. Call me when you want to go home, I’ll come get you, so you can drink. You sure? Yeah, no problem. Make sure it’s late, though, okay? But not too late, because I want to spend time with you. It occurred to Jake that he might have zoned out for a minute or three. He did a mental check (a necessity when things are no longer automatic). Legs functional? Check. Arms, feet, hands? Check, check, check. It was if Jake had shrunk down to a little pea in the middle back part of his brain and was now controlling a huge lumbering robot version of himself. Mecha Jake. His thoughts were clear, that much he knew. Dialing the phone, remembering her cell phone, all that stuff was there and accessible, but moving while thinking or doing anything else besides just dialing, out of the question. He placed the order for Mecha Jake to move to the couch and sit down next to Rich. He filtered out ‘Sitting On Rich’ and put a hold on ‘Peeing’ until the absolute last minute. Mecha Jake walked over to the couch and sat down. “Get her yet?” “No, she’s still not answering he phone.” “That’s what you get, Jake, chicks, man, they all suck.” Jake checked his watch again, second time in the last four minutes, and shook his head (after some precise calculations by Pea Sized Jake). It wasn’t that late, only one thirty. Back in the day, one, maybe two years back, they used to be able to drink all night and then sleep for an hour and get up and go get breakfast at the Lighthouse. Now, it was one thirty and all Jake wanted to do was crawl into bed with Faith. “I’m going for a beer, Jake, do you want another one?” “Yeah. Sure. Might as well if I’m stuck here.” Rich got up and almost fell on his face. It was the funniest thing he had ever done, and the funniest thing Jake had ever seen. ‘Peeing’ pooped up on the Active Inventory List again, and Jake clicked off. He had just sat down again, there was no way he was going to be able to get up. The party itself was successful, about twenty people from high school and Rich’s new college friends had shown up. Mostly it was a revolving door party, the only constant was Jake on the couch nursing a Corona. There were a lot of pretty girls, some interested in Jake, but he was adamant on just waiting for Faith. She’ll be here, he thought, she will be. The later and drunker he got the weaker it sounded in his head. She’ll be here. Sure she will. Rich plopped back down on the couch and handed Jake his beer. There was a fairly large wedge of lime shoved in the top of Jake’s Corona. “What the hell is this, Rich? I didn’t ask for a fucking fruit salad topper on my beer…!” “You said you only drink Corona because of the piece of fruit in it. So that’s your piece of fucking fruit.” “Fruit, okay. Salad, no thank you.” “You not gonna drink it then?” “Never said that.” “Nikki Bradshaw just showed up.” Pea Brain Jake couldn’t seize the controls fast enough, and Mecha Jake spit out the mouthful of beer he had just drank. It sprayed and actually looked very pretty. Almost a rainbow. “What did you say?!?” “Nikki just got here, Jake, look, see? I ran into Monica Morganstern at Roosevelt Field last week, and she mentioned that they would all be home for the Thanksgiving break, so I invited them over. It’s a shame Pete had to leave, or else this would be the best party, ever.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Did you see your reaction? That was classic. It’s totally going into my novel.” “Go fuck your novel, Rich, seriously, you could’ve warned me… Faith might....” Jake looked up and caught eyes with Nikki. She smiled, and she walked over after taking her coat off. Jake could tell she smelled good from over ten feet away. “Hello Jake,” she said. “Hello Nikki…”    
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EVERYTHING JAKE is TM & (C) 2000-2011 by Mike Rosenzweig. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
