Benny Rodriguez; 1962

Scotty's Birthday

"Good lord." I cover my chest and turn my head to see who it is. I see Jordan covering his eyes and his face is red.

"I'm so sorry. Which shampoo do I need to use?"

"The one in the green bottle."

"Okay." He quickly walks out and I finish putting the hoodie on. I walk into the kitchen and see a note saying that mom went to the grocery store because she has to work until nine and Bill should be home. There's apparently supposed to be leftovers in the fridge but there's nothing in it other than a bunch of junk so I grab a few vegetables and wash them. I grab chicken out of the freezer and lay it out to thaw.

I cut the vegetables and fry them while I also cut the chicken and put it in a pan. I put some seasoning on the pieces of chicken and after a while, the food is done. I lay the food out on the table and put plates out. I turn around to walk back into the kitchen to see Jordan carrying the kool-aid to the table.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, it smells amazing."

"I don't know how good it will be, I haven't cooked in forever."

We eat dinner and it's not that bad honestly. Scotty walks in mid-dinner and sits down at the table. He's silent and keeps sending glances my way.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"That Sarah girl came today. She literally cheered Benny on and sat in the dugout the entire day."

"Oh wow."

"You need to go tomorrow, so do you Jordan. The other boys may not like it but it'll be fun."

I shrug and continue eating. When everyone gets done I put all the dishes in the sink and pick everything up. Jordan helps, of course and washes the dishes but doesn't get very far before I'm taking over. Once I'm done I put the leftover food in the oven to keep warm and we go to the living room.

We watch a couple of movies before going to my room and taking a nap. When I wake up it's dark outside and my bedroom door is wide open.

"Jesus Christ." I look over at Jordan who is peacefully sleeping and climb out of bed. I walk out of my room and see Bill eating the leftover food, reading the newspaper. Mom still isn't home unless she's doing the laundry in the basement.

"Is mom home?"

"Good gracious you scared me. She isn't home yet but she just called to say that she has to work all night that somehow she has to keep herself busy until in the morning even though the grocery store closes."

"Strange."

"Yeah. By the way, this food is amazing."

"Thanks, I tried my best."

"Well, you done good."

There's a knock on the door and my eyebrows furrow. I slowly creep to open the door and let out a breath of relief when I see Benny standing there... with a girl beside him.

"Bella, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Bella. I just wanted to introduce you guys."

"Hi, nice to meet you." I smile at her and she just nods. Rude

"Alright, well we're gonna go back. Goodnight Bella."

"Goodnight."

I walk back into the dining room to see Bill standing from his seat.

"Who was it?"

"Benny and Sarah. He wanted to introduce us."

"Oh, who's Sarah?"