Railroad

Chapter 6: Stargazers

I fell asleep before recalling the full memory of that day at Melanie’s home. When I woke up, I figure I must have only been asleep for about an hour because the sky became darker and the stars were clear imprints in the night sky. I knew the universe beyond me was filled with constellations and beautiful possiblities, but all I could see were clusters of nothing, with or without my glasses.

February 17: Continued

So as I was saying, it was going to be a long night. When Jacob came up to us he tried to avoid eye contact with me, acting like I was invisible.

“Hey Melanie.” He said, looking at me for a hot second with a disgusted and annoyed look.

Bitch.

I stared him directly in the eye and I could tell I was bugging the hell out of him. He finally looked at me.

“Can I help you?” He said with an attitude. I was about to speak but Melanie did for me.

“Jacob, this is-” Melanie was interrupted by Jacob.

“Yeah I know who he is.” He stated in a bland tone.

“Who doesn’t.” I replied matter of factly still looking at Jacob.

“Oh we got a smart ass here.” Jacob said getting a little closer, attempting to be intimidating.

“You don’t scare me Perez.” I said with a smirk on my face. “Don’t forget. I’m a ‘dragon.’”

Jacob looked a little worried but he backed away a little, muttered a small laugh, and shrugged off my statement.

“I’ll catch you later Mellow.” Jacob walked off, talking to who I assumed to be some cousins.

“Since you’re here and my grandmother is going to make you stay, you might as well meet some of the family.” Melanie shrugged. She left for a second, leaving me awkwardly by myself. I was right next to a cooler, so I picked up a drink out of it and sipped it. My face cringed up as I looked at the drink.

Budweiser.

Whatever. I continued to sip the drink. Don’t judge me, it was just one drink.

First, Melanie came over with two older ladies that seemed to be twins with large brown eyes and black hair that reached down to their lower backs.

“These are my aunts, Mary and Melissa.” Melanie introduced.

“He’s so adorable. Look at his hair.” One of them exclaimed. They touched my curly hair. God, I hate when people touch my hair. It was getting into a long nappy mess, but I never cut it, I just threw it into a ponytail.

The two left after a while. Melanie laughed at me.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“You. Yeah they’re kind of touchy. You should’ve see your face.”

Melanie left again and came over with a tan guy, about 5’7, who seemed to be in his early 20’s.

“This is my older brother Manny.” She said with a smile. He reached out his hand and I shook it politely.

“Nice to meet you.” He said with a grin. He turned his head to Melanie, about to whisper something in her ear.

He’s a bad whisperer.

“Where is Craig?” He asked, loud enough for me to hear. Her lip turned out and she bursted into a small fit of tears, running past me and up a small set of tear. As I was about to go after her, Manny grabbed me by the shoulder.