For You: Song Series

Chapter Twenty One- Just A Dream

6/13/14

I think my father was most excited about Frankie's visit. It was rather funny, in our earlier years my mother didn't really like Frankie, even though the blood relation wa between the two of them, not my father. My father always considered her his "other son". Although now it would be more like "only son". But we just don't use the word son in our vocabulary very much anymore....

My mother had this kind of forced kindness towards her. "Please, Frankie, chew with your mouth closed." She would say sweetly, but her crunched up nose and frowning face clearly indicated she was not amused. This only made Frankie be more and more disgusting with her chewing.

About two years ago her father remarried this wonderful girl. I mean, other than the awful scent of weed that radiated off of her, she was fairly decent. She kept her hair brushed, always involved Frankie in sports, and they even got mani/pedis together.

When I came to visit last summer, Frankie was actually sitting in the bathroom straightening her hair with a flat iron. She lost a little weight. And to my superise, she didn't burp as much as I remembered. My little ugly duckling had grown up, and that brought us even closer together than we already were.

Now the three of us, my mother, father and I, stood in the airport with a sparkling sigh that read: "Searching for Ugly."

When Frankie saw the sigh she shout, as proud as you be, "I'm UGLY! Everybody, UGLY has arrived. Please stop searching for me. I'm right here."

I shook my head and hugged her. She was a little taller than me now, which sort of pissed me off, because we always use to joke that we were the ugly ones in the family. Now she was actually looking quiet beautiful, with her long legs and curly dark hair that nearly touched her butt. Our ugly jokes could no longer hold truth now.

"I simply must know everything, absolutely everything, about this West." she whispered as we waited for her luggage. My mother overheard and gave me a teasing grin.

"Shh Frankie. My moms already planning our wedding okay?"

"Is it really that serious?" I paused. "Holy shmoly, the die hard, I don't need no man, Avery Clark has actually fallen in love. I really need to meet this guy."

"I've never said 'I don't need no man'." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh come on, you've implied it. Miss "he has to have the right kind of something. I don't know what it is yet, but when I do, it will be perfection.""

"I said that like a million years ago."

"The letter is dated a few months ago." She says. "Here, I have it in my bag." She drops her backpack to the floor and starts rummaging through it. I know the letter. I remember writing it after we went to the movies. I was trying to force myself out of feeling anything for West, so I wrote this profound letter about what kind of guy would be perfect for me, and in the end, I was so confused I only think it made me like him more.

"I don't need to see it Frankie. Let's just go. He's probably waiting at the house anyway."

"What, does he have a key or something?"

"Or something." I mumbled, because maybe I did secretly get him a copy.

When we got home, West wasn't there. Phew, because I was putting off them meeting for as long as I possibly could. It could be really good, or really bad.

My mother started making dinner while my father watched some late night news. Frankie and I laid across the couch on our phones, like we do whenever we are together. Her bags were upstairs in my room, because there certainly wasn't any chance anyone would want her to be sleeping in Carter's room, which was exactly the same as it had been when he went missing.