"Wake up, bitch."
My ears were fully awake now thanks to loud mouth. My eyes though? Still closed. But I didn't even need to open my eyes to know who said that and who that voice belonged to. Erin's voice was one-of-a-kind. Erin's screams were unique. Her screams would cause me to get an everyday headache. But at the same time, I loved them. Oh no, I was going insane. Maybe it was because I missed her when I was away at my parent's house?
Probably.
All of a sudden, the couch started to move. Had me rethinking my decision on staying in the living room and finish up all those movies with Erin last night. Come to think of it, how was she already up? And why the fuck was she trying to make me dizzy? My head scarf was already tight around my head so her rocking the couch - which I was seated on - was making me see double.
I couldn't believe the strength of one girl that could get this whole couch to move, also with another lady on it, but the shit was moving. That reminded me, I needed to stop it before I ended up failing or worse, throwing up. All that popcorn made me feel bloated.
"Erin, what the hell. . .I'm up." I said as my eyes opened up. "Stop, damn."
She listened because I noticed my vision had gone back to normal. Things were no longer dizzy. I heard her slippers quack and I saw them come around to the front of the couch and stand across from me. My gaze traveled up and Erin was sporting a huge smile.
"What?" I asked because I was confused on her excited reaction. Did someone drop a hundred outside our apartment door?
"I just got the confirmation email for the tickets. Today is the fucking day! I'm so excited!" More quacking was heard. She was now jumping up and down. I quickly moved the cover off of me and got up from the couch. I put my hands on her shoulder to calm her down, but mostly because all that quacking was going to make me have an headache. One quack already drive me insane. It was too early.
"Congratulations, E. It's the concert thing right? The thing you were doing for Jett's birthday?" That was the most logical answer. It explained the tickets. Or maybe the tickets were for some underground sex party? The latter was wrong because Erin nodded her head at my question before. "Wait - when do you guys leave?"
"Tonight. And we probably won't be back for maybe two days? Like I said before, the concert is kind-of a journey so we are sleeping away somewhere." She turned away, too quick for me to even comment on her recent sentence, and went to the kitchen. I decided to follow her and see where her mind was at because it looked like something was urgent. Something urgent that had to do with the refrigerator because that's where her body stopped by.
She opened the refrigerator then gasped. "Where is all the food?"
I moved my head to the side and also looked inside. The refrigerator was empty. "I have no idea." I said.
She turned back around then looked my way. "Want to go shopping with me? Jett and I are going to need food for the road and I know you're going to need food since there's nothing in this fridge. You want to go?"
Did I want to go? I didn't feel like getting ready and leaving the house but I knew I needed to. Erin was not trusted to shop only by herself for groceries. First, it was because every time she went, she got all types of different shit that we didn't need or it was food that she never ate. Second, it was because she didn't know what I liked. And as I stated before, my taste buds are different and unique.
So yeah, I was going to go shopping. I couldn't trust the bitch by herself.
Another reason for me to go shopping started to arise from the back of my head. A reason that would get me in trouble. A reason that would get my heart in trouble. But you know what? Fuck it. My reason/idea was something that I wanted to do. It was something that I wanted to happen. And I'll be damned before I just shoot down a perfect opportunity and a perfect chance to make this reason/idea a reality.
I was going to ask Vance to come over.
Was it a big step? Didn't feel like one. He's been in my apartment before but it hadn't been for a hang out. Yes we did 'hang out' (aka: his dick down my throat) but there was no talky talky, only fucky fucky. That was why it felt like a big step. It kinda felt like I was asking him - now I may sound crazy - felt like I was asking him on a. . .date. If that date was at my house and we would be seated on the couch. But this couldn't be classified as date. Dates usually meant that the couple went out. This was just a hang out.
Two friends would be hanging out.
Would my heart know the difference? Probably not, but that was a conversation for another time.
I made up my mind. I was going to go to the store with Erin, buy all types of stuff. . .oh maybe Vance and I could make cookies? Or a cake? Or a lemon bar? And we could make a dinner together. . .like something real fancy and romantic like. Lobster with mashed potatoes? Steak with a salad? Pasta with a side of garlic bread? Ah, I had so many ideas. I made a mental note that we also needed to stop by the wine section when we get to the store.
"Yeah, I'm going." Was my answer to her question. "Let me take a shower and stuff."
"Okay, I'll be out here."
I turned around, in the way to my room and started to make my way over there then inside. It was a new record time- in thirty minutes I was ready. My shower took up the most time, but since I already had a lot of my clothes already out from my closet, it made it easier to pick out my outfit. I settled for a plain outfit since I was just going to the store. And the word outfit had me thinking about tomorrow. About how if Vance said yes my outfit would be more. . .provocative. Anyways back to this outfit, I had on basic dark blue jeans and a kinda crop top. My hair was also a challenge - like that was anything new - but since I got some new products from my mom's house that she recommended to me, it was easier to manage. My makeup was the my medium everyday look. And I was ready to go.
My feet moved and I arrived in the living room. Erin was now the one I was waiting on- she had changed out of her slippers and I saw her sneakers positioned on our coffee table. A cup of OJ in her hand and her eyes fixed on the tv.
I coughed. Her attention hadn't shifted to me though, which was my plan. I coughed again then said, "You ready?"
With her eyes still on the tv, she addressed me and said, "Yeah but just after this episode."
"Fine." I agreed. We were on a time schedule, but she wouldn't be leaving until night anyway. The sun wouldn't set for a few more hours and we were only going to the grocery store so I sat down and got my phone out. We had some time to kill.
An episode later, Erin and I were seated in the car. Me in the driving seat this time. She claimed that she was going to be driving most of the way there since Jett had said 'he had a bad arm' and she suggested for me to drive. He was a lying fucker and she knew it too. But I bet she agreed since it was his birthday thing. I agreed and said yes I can drive. She was always the one who was driving me around so I'll be the driver this time. About five minutes of driving, the sound of some sort of blinking went off. It was from the tank sign. The tank sign which was blinking red. It was telling us the car was almost empty.
I decided I was going to use this as an excuse to scold Erin. Well, I did need to scold her. How did she expect to get anywhere on E? "The tanks not even full? How did you even expect to get to the concert?"
Erin moved her hand in a dismissive manner. "I was going to get some right before Jett and I left."
"Yeah, sure." I looked to my left spotted a gas station. She was fucking lucky we lived in a busy city. I drove the car in that direction, pulled in and situated the car next to a pump. I parked then turned off the engine. I ducked my head down to read the sign that was next to the pump. It read, Go inside for assistance.
I decided that was going to be Erin's job. Well this was her car.
"E you have to go inside and get the gas." I remember that my stomach was very empty. I needed a snack. "Oh and can you get me a bag of Taxis?" I turned in the backseat to grab my purse. "I'll give you the money-"
"No it's fine." She said. "But don't you want to wait until we get to the store? They will have them there."
"No, they only have the big huge bags and I just one a single one."
"Fine." Her seatbelt came off, she opened the door and turned a little my way. "You know those chips could kill you?"
"Shut up, you're getting worst stuff then me when we get to the store."
And she knew I was right because all I heard was a simple, "True." before the door was closed and I saw her figure walking up to the mini store.
We didn't stay long at the gas station. In about twenty minutes - with my taxis in the backseat and a honey bun in Erin's hand -, we continued the journey to the grocery store. The Ralphs sign came into view and I drove into the parking area and tried to find a spot. The parking angel was present. An open spot was located right in the front of the store. With the car off and parked, Erin and I walked in the store. I was about to grab the shopping cart that was next to me but Erin's hand slapped across my shoulder before I could do so.
"Ow." I said while clutching my arm. She was heavy handed. "What was that for?"
"Don't touch the cart until I wipe it down first." She passed me then went to a little podium where some wipes were stationed. She grabbed maybe five then came back. When she was done wiping, I gave her a tight smile then grabbed the cart and we both made our way inside.
I was a dumbass. I should have made a list when Erin was watching that show. Ugh, twitter distracted me. Now I just had to wing it. I had no order on what I was getting. Erin was the smart one and had written her stuff out earlier because she was looking down at her phone at some list. We're probably going to be walking down every aisle knowing Erin anyway - list or not -, so I'll just pick what I see and want when we are walking.
Our first stop in the store was the fruit and vegetable section. We picked up what we liked but didn't spend too much time there. Erin said her stuff will go to a waste being in the car for that long. She suggested I just grab some stuff for home. Which I did. Our next stop was the snack aisle. And oh boy did we stack up there. Mostly Erin but I got a handful of stuff too. Then everything became a blur. We went to all the different aisles and sections. Meat section. Frozen aisle. Wine section. Pasta, rice, etc aisle. And many more but , as I stated before, it all became a blur. Our finishing basket was almost full whole. It was scary. We were stocking up like crazy. I was stocking up like crazy. I got big portions of different kinds of food. I didn't know if Vance and I were going to be having shrimp and rice for dinner tomorrow or just cup of noodles.
A great phrase I lived by: There was no such thing as too much food.
Erin thought the opposite. She asked, "Why are you getting so much food? All those big portions? You gonna eat all that?"
I could tell her that half of that stuff was going to be going into the stomach of her brother but then thought against it. If I told her, she was going to make it a big thing. It was a big thing but I wanted to at least pretend it wasn't a big thing. You know? And that would not happen if I told Erin because she had a habit of throwing things out of portion or making things seem bigger than it was. She would ask, 'Oh my brothers coming over? Why?' and 'Is it a date?' and 'Do you like him?' Etc. Questions which I did not want to answer at the moment.
Would I answer them later? Maybe.
Would I answer her questions when I got my feelings in order? Maybe.
Would I answer her when I was pregnant with Vance's third child? Maybe. . .
Would I answer her questions in my will? Possibly.
Anyways, I was thinking too much. Erin noticed it too because she was gawking at me. Probably wondering what was going on inside my crazy ass mind. Oh she didn't want to know. "Sorry, uh thought of something. And to answer your question, yes I'm going to eat all of it. I got food to last us for weeks. I stacked up."
She didn't have nothing to say to that. She couldn't say anything to that because after my sentence, the line monitor in the front told us to go to cashier three. We followed and put the food down. The cashier rung us up and then five minutes later, we arrived back outside pushing our heavy cart to the car. The car which was right in front. I was so happy we got that spot. I didn't know how long I could push this heavy thing for. My arms and legs were weak.
Erin was tired by the time we left the grocery store too. She even suggested that she would drive for the ride back. On the opposite end, I had to load the groceries in the car and put the cart back. I accepted, nonetheless. As I stated, my legs and arms were sore. I sucked it up for a few minutes so I could put the groceries and cart back because I knew when I got in the car, I could take my shoes off, lean back and chill. And it was worth it.
It was also worth seeing Erin struggle with her driving too. We were some lazy bitches. Who got tired because of grocery shopping? We needed to work out. It was sad.
I made a promise that I would start working out. . .in the new year. A few more months being a lazy bitch, then no more. I was going to get fit.
I also had another resolution. To get a boyfriend before the next year. To get one man to be my boyfriend.
Wait - no. Scratch that. To get one man to be my friend.
Boyfriend was pushing it. I needed to take it day by day. And today I needed to text the man and ask him about my offer. My offer for him to hang out tomorrow. Was I asking too late? Maybe he had plans tomorrow?
Fuck it.
Before my mind went off in the deep end, I took out my phone. Pulled up his name and- aw swooned. I looked back at the last message he sent. A simple good night. No emojis or nothing because that wasn't what Vance did but it still felt the same like he had put a hundred hearts behind his wording. Just a 'Goodnight' he texted. Could be considered a pathetic text, but we are working with Vance here people. The man was not the lovey dovey cutesy type. And that didn't matter to me. I had enough kisses, hugs, cuddles, and whatever the shit for both of us.
He actually had sent me a good night text two days in a row. No one. Two. I would call that improvement. I would call that something else too but right now it was not the time to think about it. I didn't want to jinxed it. We had been texting most nights - simple stuff - but all the same. One message from Vance had my heart beat skip up to a thousand. Did his do the same?
That was a question for another time.
Right now, I just needed to text the man. I brought up the keyboard. What should I text? 'You want to hang friend?' Maybe. 'So, I was thinking. . .do you want to come over tomorrow?' Ugh, maybe, 'Tomorrow. . .oh what I boring day it would be. Want to make it better?'
No, no, no, no. All that shit was bad and corny.
Wait - I just needed to go plain and simple. Plain and fucking simple. The best way.
To Vagina Miner from River: What are you doing tomorrow?
***
| Thank you for reading ! |