Mostly dialogue this chapter.
Mariana woke up alone that day. She had remembered that she told Carl to go to the hotel instead. A little time away from Carl would be good. Mariana had some things to get off her mind.
As for Carl, he was a wreck. All his thoughts were about Mariana. He didn't really have anything else to look forward to. He was also too hung over to do anything other than staying and watching tv in the hotel room.
"Marmar?" Pia knocked on the closed door.
"It's open." Mariana mumbled from under the strew of thick blankets.
"Hey youngin. I heard what happened last night. You good?" Pia tried to speak in the most sympathetic voice she could.
"How'd you find out?"
"Luke."
"When did he tell you?"
"A few minutes ago. He's kinda in the kitchen right now."
"Pia!" Mariana groaned.
"Sorry, Sorry. But I just wanted to check up on you. What happened after that?"
"Carl and I got kicked out, then I got mad and told him to go back to the hotel and I'm staying here."
"Awe, it'll be okay. Just—talk to him."
"I know I should. I just don't want this to go on forever. Because Luke is our friend. No matter what happened between us, he's still our friend."
Mariana wasn't just doing this for herself. She also had her other friends in mind, Pia, Joe, Michael. She didn't want to seem selfish if she said to keep Luke away. It'd hurt her other friends too much.
"Do what you think is best."
"What if I don't know what's best?" Mariana had no idea what to do. Too much was on her mind to even come up with one good solution.
"Mariana, I've known you for how long? You're smart, you'll know what's best." And with that Pia walked out of the room, leaving Mariana alone with her thoughts.
Mariana picked up her phone and clicked on Carl's contact. She held the phone up to her ear, waiting for him to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Carl." Her heart was pumping fast.
"Hey."
"We need to talk about last night." She was dreading this conversation. She knew it would be uncomfortable.
"Yeah, we should. I'm sorry. It was out of line and I shouldn't have done that." He confessed.
"It's fine. You were drunk. But you need to trust me."
"I do trust you. I just don't trust Luke." Carl shrugged.
"But the thing is, he isn't just my ex. He's Mikey, Joe, and Pia's friend. He's in a band with Michael. No matter what, he's always gonna be around Carl. And you're just going to have to get used to that."
Carl stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to feel. He was just—confused. Maybe he could ask Fiona for help. Or Ian or Lip. Maybe even Debbie. He just needed help.
"I gotta, um, go." He muttered, hanging up without even hearing Mariana say goodbye. He decided that calling each of his siblings and getting their input would be a good idea.
He scrolled through his numerous contacts until he got down to the 'F' category.
"Hey Carl, how's LA?" Fiona answered.
"It's fine. I just need some advice." Fiona was sensible. She took time to think of all the possible outcomes and would weigh them out.
"What the fuck did you do now?" Carl laughed at the fact that Fiona thought he was in trouble once again.
"Mari and I kind of got into it. I fought her ex and she got mad. And now she's saying that no matter what he's gonna be around because of her friends."
"Well, apologize first. And try to understand what she's saying. It's going to be inevitable that her ex is going to be around. So you just have to trust her, Mariana is a good kid."
"Thanks Fi. For everything."
"No problem Carl, now I gotta go, Liam's getting out of school soon."
Next person; Lip.
"Yo, Carl." Lip's voice was muffled from the cigarette dangling out of his mouth.
"Hey Lip. I need some advice. On a collegiate level." Carl nodded to himself for using such a smart word.
"Alright, hit me." Carl could hear the hustle and bustle of Chicago, something he missed.
"Mariana and I got into an argument about her ex. I don't want her around him and she said he's going to be around either way because her friends are friends with him. I don't know what to fucking do."
"Wow, that's a lot to take in. Women are delicate creatures, my young child. You have to tip toe around things if you want them to be happy. If it's really itching your ass, tell her what's wrong. Oh by the way, I took the rest of your weed. Bye."
"What the fu–" Carl was cut off by the call ending. He was sort of upset that he would have to get more weed once he got back to Chicago.
The next phone number to call was Ian. Ian always had good advice. He knew what it was to be both masculine and feminine.
Ian would always have the best solutions, and maybe Carl should've just called him first instead.
"Hey Ian." Carl sighed into the phone.
"What's up?"
"I need some of your magical Ian advice."
"Alright, what's the problem?"
"Mariana and I argued last night. I got drunk and fought her ex, got kicked out of the club."
"How did she get in in the first place? She's fourteen." Ian wondered.
"She has connections."
"Alright, sounds fair enough."
"As I was saying before I was interrupted. She called me earlier and told me that her ex would be around and that I'd have to just accept it."
"Well why is he going to be around?"
"Because her friends. One of them is in a band with him."
"Then she's not doing it for herself, she's doing it for her friends. You can't take that away from her friends."
"I don't trust him though."
"Why don't you trust him?"
"Cause she's fourteen and he's like twenty! He's a fucking pedophile for crying out loud!"
Ian winced. It reminded him of when he was a teenager and he was having sexual relations with Kash.
"Well, it'd be hypocritical if I judged her for that. Understand where Mariana is coming from though. It's not like she's saying that she's gonna be hanging out with him."
"Alright thanks for the advice Ian."
"No problem Carl."
Then there was Debbie. He searched for her name in the top of his contacts and clicked her name.
"What do you need now Carl?"
"Advice, that's it." Carl sounded desperate over the phone, so Debbie's motherly-ish instincts sympathized him.
"Fine, what happened?"
"Ugh I've explained this like three times already, but fine. Mariana and I got into an argument about her ex after I fought him. Then she called and told me that her ex is gonna be around because of her friends. She got mad that I didn't trust her."
"Well, she's doing it for her friends. Mariana is a strong independent woman. If anything, she doesn't need someone who doesn't trust her. So you better make the right choice before she drops you like the shit you are."
"Wow, thanks Debs, that really helped me out" Carl sarcastically said.
"I gotta go, love to little brother."
"I thought I was shit." He chuckled.
"You are, but I still love you. Now bye." And with that Debbie hung up.
Carl decided to call Fiona back.
"What now Carl?"
"Pass the phone to Liam."
"Hello?"
"Hi bud. I need some girl advice."
"Okay, but I need to hurry. My shows almost on."
"Alright, bud. I got into an argument with Mariana and she's mad at me. A guy that I don't like is hanging out with her and it makes me mad. What do I do?"
Carl tried to make the problem sound as simplistic as possible. He didn't want Liam to be confused.
"Just say sorry and give her some Chick fil a, you know she loves it."
"Well, what do I do about the boy?"
"Ignore him. That's what all my teachers say at school when I don't like somebody."
"Thanks Liam. That really helped." No matter how childish it seemed, Liam's advice was in Carl's opinion the best. And maybe he'd actually take it.