Social Media «ᴄᴀᴋᴇ»

Chapter 42

"Um, well... I met Calum online, we talked, we became best friends, and in the midst of this really huge jumble I don't want to get into, I fell in love with him."

Mali-Koa smacked me in the arm.

"What the hell was that for?!" I whined.

"I said details!" Mali-Koa said. "I'm a girl, for crying out loud! I need the deets!"

"Did you just say 'deets'—?"

"TELL ME EVERYTHING!" Mali-Koa said with a squeal.

I laughed, but it almost sounded like a scoff. "If you want me to tell you everything, then we have to sit down."

"There's a swing on our front porch," Mali-Koa said with a smile.

"Fine, then," I said. "Lead the way, Hood Number One."

Mali-Koa chuckled. "I thought you'd pick Calum to be Number One."

"Well, you're the firstborn."

"That I am."

Mali-Koa and I walked for another ten minutes or so. I was tired. I was still carrying my duffel bag around—my shoulder ached. Perhaps it would be smart if I moved the strap so that my duffel bag was resting on my other shoulder, but I was too lazy to move it. Plus, I was bound to take it off, anyway.

"We're almost here," Mali-Koa drawled out as we turned right into a neighborhood.

I looked down at the sidewalk, trying not to step on the lines or cracks. I think Mali-Koa saw what I was doing, because she let out a small chuckle, but I continued to do it anyway. I'm not ashamed.

We turned left onto a certain street. Mali-Koa said this was her street. She explained to me that her mother wasn't home, and Calum was most likely locked up in his room "doing whatever the fuck he does on his phone or laptop." I learned that she was twenty-three, but still lived with Calum and her mother (Joy, her name was) so that she could help support them. Mali-Koa had two jobs—one in the daytime, which is the job as a waitress at a diner, and another at night. She walks home from the diner at eight o'clock to see if everything is okay at the house. Then she leaves to work as a waitress at a bar.

"Waiting tables is just what I do," Mali-Koa said with a smile. "But, what I really want to be is a fashion designer."

"I'm sure you'll get there someday," I told her.

"How come your mother is never home?" I asked.

"I honestly don't know what she does," said Mali-Koa. "I hardly ever see her around. She's been very bitter since she and my dad signed the divorce papers. There was always the occasional night in which she came home drunk. I don't know what she does, but she gets by. It may not even be the best way to get by, but she's my mum, and I love her, so I stay. The most part is to take care of Calum, though."

"But your mother helps, too, doesn't she?"

Mali-Koa shook her head sadly. "I had just turned sixteen when I dropped out of school. Calum was eleven. That's when my parents got divorced. Calum was waiting right in front of the door to see our parents come home from work—that was their thing, coming home from work together, even when they had different jobs. Calum started crying when he didn't see our dad come home, and what made it worse was that our mum was pissed drunk. And when she remained in that state of intoxication for the next couple of weeks, I dropped out of school. I was working the entire day and coming home very late so that I could pay the house bills and put food on the table, because my mum wasn't doing anything. Maybe that's why Calum dislikes me so much—I made it my job to play the mother, when I'm supposed to be just the sister..."