Another week crawled by and Sal still hadn't heard from Russell, which made him even more suspicious about their relationship. Sure, Russell had gotten his phone taken away, but he had to have it back by now. Sal had texted, and even called to see if Russell wanted to spend New Years Eve together. But his texts went unanswered, and his call went straight to voicemail. So Sal ended up spending his New Year's Eve at home with Tyler and Brenda.
"We should get a pizza," Tyler suggested, while they all sat on the couch in front of the TV.
"That's a great idea," Brenda said. "Sal, do you want pizza?"
"I guess," Sal said, still lost in his thoughts of Russell. There was no way he hadn't gotten his phone back by now.
Brenda went in the kitchen to call in the pizza while Tyler flipped through channels on the TV like it was the 90's. "Anything special you wanna watch?" Tyler asked.
"I don't care," Sal said.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just tired."
Brenda returned from the kitchen. "You can't go to sleep yet. It's only 6:30."
"I'll be fine. I just need a Coke." Sal got up from his chair and headed for the kitchen.
"Bring me one too," Tyler called after him.
"And some wine for me," Brenda added.
Sal grabbed two cans of Coke and poured a glass of wine. When he returned to the family room with drinks, Tyler had on a sitcom about office workers while Brenda dug through her purse for her wallet, to get money ready for the delivery person.
About a half hour later, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Sal took the pizza money from Brenda. He lumbered over to the door, opened it, and gasped.
"Russell?"
"Did somebody order a pizza with extra sausage?" Russell winked, holding up a large pizza box.
Sal tilted his head. "We didn't order sausage. We asked for pepperoni."
"Must you take everything so literally? Here's your pizza. Now where's my money?"
Sal handed Russell the money, then took the pizza box. "What are you doing though?"
"Filming a porno. What does it look like I'm doing?"
Sal took in the green hat on Russell's head, with the logo "G.D.'s Pizza" emblazoned across the front, along with a matching green polo shirt. "You got a job? Delivering pizzas?"
"Just started yesterday." Russell smiled. "Now I can save up money for college."
Sal bit back a snarky comment on college and the rising price of tuition. "How'd you manage to get a job so fast? Don't you need work experience for that sort of thing?"
"Not if you know a guy. My pastor recommended me to his brother, who owns the place."
"Wonderful." Sal paused for a moment. "Do you still like me?"
"What? Of course." Russell frowned at him. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you haven't answered any of my calls or texts."
"I told you- I got my phone taken away."
"I thought you'd have it back by now."
"Yeah, and I should. But my parents caught me coming home late, the night I snuck out to see you. So I won't be getting my phone back any time soon."
YOU ARE READING
The Riveting Lives of Russell and Sal
General Fiction[Newly edited and rewritten!] Russell is a virtuous goth with a Christian upbringing. Sal is a carefree slack-off who would rather work retail than go to college. It was hate at first sight. Until they were forced to partner up in class. After their...
