Sugarpill

4- Bittersweet Complexities

                    “Night Meridian,” I said, and stepped into my room, closing my door. I stripped to my boxers, and tee, and climbed into bed…this was yet, another long and wacky day, and my body was screaming for sleep.

                     The next morning, I awakened at 6:30. I put on a pair of running shorts and my ankle socks. I slipped on my beat up Asics cross trainers, donned my Naval Academy tee, and grabbed my iPod shuffle. I walked downstairs, as Dad was stepping out the door. He looked to me, and smiled. “Still running?”

                     “Yep,” I answered. “Just coz I’m on leave doesn’t mean I should slack off,”

                     “Well have a good run, son. I guess I’ll see you later this evening,”

                     “Well…not exactly,” I said, as we walked to his car- a black, 4-door, 2008 Buick LeSabre, with tan interior and velour seats. “I’m going on a date with Pennel Phelps tonight,”

                    Dad made this strange cringing face, like he was sucking in pain for taking a bullet in the buttocks. He looked to me with a slight smile. “Yes…I heard about that. Well…enjoy your date with Miss Phelps,”- he got into his car and pulled out, heading for D.C. (damn- does anyone, besides Meridian, like Pennel in our family?). He went there twice a week, and then had the other three days at his office here in Annapolis. Sometimes work would stretch into Saturdays, but he never worked on Sundays- that was his day to spend at church, and with Mom. Since Meridian and I had went to school, usually on Sundays, they’d go out to dinner at a nice restaurant, or over to the Thommerson’s for dinner, but since we were back home, they had decided to have a formal family dinner at the house. After the way Meridian acted last night, I wondered if they regretted not going out to dinner, and leave us to fend for ourselves?

                   I started my run, while listening to the tunes of The Reputation, on my iPod. The crisp smell of the air passed through my nose as I allowed myself to be carried away to a place beyond all reality, space and time…that was my thing, I did when I ran. It was soon going to be summer in Annapolis, and while that meant that most college students would be out for the summer- I wouldn’t, because I was in the academy, and I was also trying to get everything completed within a short period of time. I was finishing up my Plebe year by the end of summer, so I had to stay sharp…the only reason I got to take this amount of time off, was because Dad had put in a request. Just the same as when I had enrolled- since I was Plebe, I shouldn’t have been allowed my car, but Dad had “arrangements” made, and I was allowed to have a car, but not park it on academy grounds. But I also got Saturdays and Sundays some weekend leave, so I figured I may try to get home now- especially since Jassandra was going to be staying at Haddie’s, taking care of Kendryk. I wondered how long was she going to be out of classes because of things…I couldn’t help it- the more I tried to get Jassandra off my mind, the more I thought of her. I came to a stop, unconsciously- and noticed, I was back at home. I kneeled over, panting, and dripping sweat on the street, as Armor for Sleep blasted through my earbuds. I thought about how we almost kissed yesterday, and her lying her head on my chest after we had yet another, bickering session. I stood, and walked to the house…Mom was just coming out. She unlocked the door again. “I didn’t know you were running…thank goodness you got back when you did. I checked on Meridian…she’s still asleep,”

                 “The spare key is still where it is?” I asked. “I gotta go pick up a tie for my ‘date’ tonight,”- Mom smiled a little, looking as if she wanted to laugh. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sure your dinner will be fine…I’ll be a little late this evening anyway, because I gotta make sure I am ready for the hearing on Haddie’s assets tomorrow. Make sure your sister eats something…she looked a little pale,”