"Are you serious?" Liam's voice sounds from the speaker on Silas's phone, the disbelief held in it mimicking our own when Silas had discovered just what had clogged the disposal of sour Mrs.Henderson.
"Yes, I'm serious. A shit ton of potato peels, half a lemon and a fork."
She had tried to dispose of what must have been a whole bag of raw potato peels... And when that didn't work she left it for a few days until it started to smell... Which she then tried to solve with a lemon... Which she tried to pry out with a fork once she realized it wasn't actually going down... Which ended up slipping from her fingers and into the chaotic fray... The woman really was and still is a piece of work.
Right in front of us, she stood, hand covering the mic of her phone connecting her to her gossip vein to prevent the others from hearing it and had had the nerve to tell us she had no idea how any of it got down there... And then proceeded to turn herself around and talk about us as if we weren't in the room doing the repair to the sink she broke. All about what I look like to the fact that I haven't really said anything since we got here... How Silas is still Silas for the most part unless he's looking at me... His protective streak and exactly how long it took to fiddle with all of the right things to get the disposal operational again... And I'm sure much much more after we walked out with only a simple goodbye instead of staying for the tea and cookies she offered.
I no longer have any doubt in the back of my mind that that woman is absolutely full of the bigotry mentioned and probably so much more... And all under such a fake grandma vibe.
My Grammy is a tough nut, and wrong about a lot of things. But she's always been upfront about her true self... Her true, day drinking, clingy-but-not-willing-to-admit-it, sassy self. She says what's on her mind and doesn't hide the fact that she's a little sour... Unlike Mrs.Henderson who seems so rotten on the inside.
...
Silas
...
"That's insane. She seems to jam more and more in there each time she breaks it." It's almost impossible not to laugh at the disbelief in Liam's voice, Casper's chuckle sounding close enough to the phone for me to hear it... The two of them were probably tangled up in bed just like me and my sweet boy are about to be.
My irritation over the fact that Mrs.Henderson would not shut her fucking mouth for five seconds. The wind created from that old woman flapping her lips in a single phone call could power North Pine Pack's commune for an entire month. So much to say even though she's only talking in circles.
My Angel...My sweet baby... He noticed when the shift happened and decided the best course of action would be to lay a single hand on my stomach to started rubbing it back and forth in soothing circles as he flipped back to the start of his book and began to read aloud to me... Giving me a distraction from the irritation and something to focus on other than the old woman droning on in the corner watching us from the corner of her eyes.
He had comforted me.
It had been a lovely feeling having someone have my back... To be coaxed into relaxing after my skin starts to itch with the urge to get the hell out of there as fast as possible, "I don't think I've ever fixed a sink so fast in my life."
"No shit, Bro. Anyway, thank you! I have to go now-Cassie at least wait until I han-"
I can't take the phone away to stare at the screen for a second fast enough when I start to hear noises that are definitely not meant for my ears... One's that I really don't need to imagine coming out of my second in command... Ever.
I hang up the phone and am ready to toss it onto the dashboard on the final stretch of road that leads to our driveway when it's tugged out of my hands with a smile from my baby boy who tugs it away from me and tucks it on top of his book and a half-eaten chocolate bar.
He's been such a good sport today... Rebounding so quickly from his sudden fall from the heavens over the thought of being left behind, and I'd hate to ruin it by heading home to start the long process of putting his new shelves together and unpacking...
...
Adrian
....
We just barely make it to the driveway, but instead of turning in Silas slows the truck to a stop without pulling in, his hand still on the gear shift when he looks at me, "Where do you buy yarn and shit?"
The question catches me so off guard that my mouth flaps open and shut for a few moments like a fish before I get a hold over myself and manage to stammer, "W-Walmart and Joann's."
The car starts to move again along with all of the butterflies in my stomach over the sudden mood that's come over my mate, "I think we should get stuff for the sweaters..." It's barely more than an embarrassed grunt, but I can tell that there is definitely more to this than that...
Silas had wanted to talk about something earlier before Mrs.Henderson had interrupted the show we both seemed to have no problem putting on for both her and her neighbors... He had let me brush over the topic ever so lightly in and it had given me such shivers...
As the course is corrected towards the Walmart presumably due to the fact that Silas probably had no idea where Joann's is or what it is... I can't help wonder if it's just yarn that we're headed there for, or if a box of condoms is also destined for our shopping cart.