Ice Cream
I rose from the bed, after napping out for what seemed an eternity. The sun was almost down, and it seemed a little quiet in the house. I knew Dad didn’t come home until 8-ish, and I also knew Mom was cooking dinner for the first time in a while, since we’d had left to college. I looked at my phone…there was a text message from good ol’ Dupree, welcoming me back. I laughed a little…Dupree was that one guy in school that everyone knew, and was cool with…he was also a weedhead, but that was the trait, that made folks get along with him even more…no matter what went down, Dupree always stayed mellow most of the time. Even folks at other schools knew him…Dupree was a social butterfly- I mean, that dude got around. I replied back, thanking him…I then left my room heading downstairs…I could smell the roast chicken that mother had in the oven, as well as hearing female voices. I reached the bottom of the stairs, catching the voices out of the glimpse of my eye…there sat Meridian, with her friends Kellie, Scarlett, and of course, Pennel, whose eyes lit up the moment she seen me. “Oh! Hi Mitchell…how are you doing?”
“I’m doing well…had a nap…it’s been a long day,” I replied. Before I could turn to go to another room, Pennel was out of her seat and wrapping her arms around mine. “I understand…sorry about Ms. Haddie…she was a nice lady. That’s why we are taking Meridian out-to cheer her up…you wanna come with…?”
I kind of cut my eyes to Meridian, who was shaking her head. I smiled, laughing a little on the inside. “Nah…Meridian needs her friends to lift her spirits more than I do…maybe another time,”
Pennel put on a pouty face…oh boy, here comes the whiny speech she always delivers. She looked to me with her pleading eyes. “Why do you hate me, Mitchell? What did I ever do to you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t hate you, Penn…you’re a very beautiful and attractive girl…it’s just that…we are on different levels,”
She looked to me with that same look that Mom had given me when she walked in on me and Jassandra. “Are you still fawning over that Jassandra girl? What does she got, that I don’t have?”
Pennel had a very nice bod, green eyes, and short brunette hair in a pixie cut…I don’t know, but pixie cuts on a girl were a turn-on, for me. Her skin was nice and tan, as she spent her summers in Hilton Head, or Savannah. And she didn’t wear her lip gloss all thick like some females do...just the right amount, which made her lips look exquisitely yummy. Back in high school, her hair used to be longer…this girl was yummy incarcinate- but yeah, I was still stuck on Jassandra. I rolled my eyes feigning, that I wasn’t. “I’m not still tripping over Jassandra. But I do feel bad for her that her grandmother died,”
A smile came to Pennel’s face. “Good, then…you’ll go out to dinner with me, Monday night?”- I groaned on the inside…if I said no, then I would be only perpetuating her suspicions that I am still head busted over not being with Jassandra. But if I said yes, then that could possibly open up a whole other can of worms…but I had no choice.
“Sure, Monday night. What time?”
“Be a gentleman, and pick me up at 7-ish,” smiled Pennel. “You pick the restaurant,”- I gave a slight smile, as she released my arm. The ladies started to leave, me looking to Meridian…she chuckled slightly. She knew I didn’t wanna go to dinner with Pennel, but she also knew how much Pennel was crushing on me. There were times, when we raked the yard in the fall, and Meridian is sittin there tellin me, what Pennel was saying about me…like I said, Pennel is not an ugly girl, but she does have somewhat a spoiled bitch mentality, and that is a turn-off for me.
At that moment, Mom came into the living room. She looked to me. “Are you okay, Mitchell? I heard that you are going to dinner with Pennelope Phelps…that ought to be interesting,”
“My gawd…is there anywhere in this house that doesn’t have ears?” I asked, as Mom laughed. She looked up at me, rustling my hair, as how I was now slightly taller than she was. “Don’t be so prude. I’m sure a year at school has made Pennelope a little less…bratty,”
“Now you’re making a mockery of my situation,” I groaned, mother laughing again. She knew how Pennel was, and out of all Meridian’s friends she liked Pennel, the least…but Mom didn’t let it show in her manners. “Am I? She’s nice looking, she’s a go-getter, um….she has…um…all her teeth,”
At that point, I laughed, as Mom had run out of compliments. We walked into the kitchen, and sat at the table. The dinner looked delicious as usual- roasted chicken with herbs, julienne potatoes, steamed string beans with a light glaze of butter on them, and honey-butter rolls…there was also a plum/orange sauce to pour over the chicken. Mom poured our glasses with wine. I looked to her oddly. “Oh, so you’re letting me drink here now,”
“I feel you’re mature enough,” replied mother. “Now your sister, on the other hand- that is a different story,”-I kinda swallowed…obviously, mother knew of Meridian’s partying escapades, and getting sloshed to the point where she could barely drag herself in the house- one time it was so bad that when Meridian vomited in the toilet, she pissed and shitted on herself at the same time. I had to pick her up and put her in the shower…I put on dish gloves, and threw out the ruined underwear. Meridian woke up, scared as hell, because she thought someone had slipped her some roofies, and raped her. She came to my room, crying and hysterical as hell. I wanted to keep my mouth shut, and make the whole incident my own little private joke, but when she started freaking out about possibly having an STD, or possibly being pregnant by her “anonymous date-raper”, I had to spill the beans. Meridian’s facial expressions changed from angry, to mortified, to disgust, when I told her what happened. “You saw me NAKED?!”
I looked at her. “Be fucking forreal, Meridian…number one, I’m not some incestuous pervert- I’m your brother. Number two- cut me some slack! I wouldn’t have even seen that if you wouldn’t have urinated and defecated on yourself…that was fucking nasty, having to clean your shit up-literally,”- upon explaining that, Meridian stifled herself…she looked down once again, like she usually does.
“I’m sorry, Mitch…I’m sorry you had to see me like that and bother with me. I won’t do it again,” she said, wanting to cry. I gave her a hug. “We’re family…if I don’t bail you out of shit- no pun intended, who would?”
“I feel so embarrassed,” she squeaked, finally crying. “I made a fool of myself at the club, I’m sure,”
“It’ll be okay,” I breathed. So for the next few weekends, Meridian didn’t go out to the club…and when she finally did so again, she didn’t get as drunk as she had that particular weekend, but still there I was, dragging her inebriated ass upstairs and dumping her off in her bed.
So all that time, Mom and Dad were aware of her binge drinking…I wonder if they know of her little coke and Adderall habit she picked up in college? I heard the door shut, and heavy footsteps coming towards the dining room. I looked up, as Dad stepped into the dining room. Mother rose, and went to retrieve him a plate. He had taken off his work coat. “Hey Mitchell…how is school?”
“Great, Dad. I’m progressing along nicely,” I answered. “How is work?”
“Work is work,” he replied, and it was usual for us…a lot of stuff Dad did was classified, which meant he couldn’t talk about it with us. “I really feel for Jassandra and Kendryk…Ms. Haddie was the sweetest lady around,”
“Yeah,” I agreed, playing with my potatoes a little- now that Jassandra was back on my mind again. “She was saying how she was going to move back into the house, to take care of Ken. I think that is nice,”
“I’m working with her to make her legal guardian of Kendryk until he graduates,” said Mom as she sat Dad’s fixed plate onto the table. He instantly started digging into his food. “But we have to attend a legal proceding Tuesday…part of it is the allocation of Haddie Mae’s assets,”
“Like, a will reading?” I asked.
“Yes. But part of the proceedings, is that Jassandra’s biological mother has stepped back into the picture, and wants to assert her rights over Kendryk. I believe it’s so that she if she obtains the right over Kendryk then she gets to control Haddie’s assets, which would’ve gone to Jassandra and Kendryk,”
My teeth gritted tightly…if anything, I knew that Jassandra wanted nothing to do with her mother…how do you just abandon your kids and come back fourteen years later and think that they are supposed to accept you back, and as you are, no questions asked? My hands were gripping my fork tightly, as my mother had noticed…she rest her hand on mine to ease the tension.
“She’s not gonna get a dime of Haddie’s assets,” replied Dad. “Your mother is the best lawyer in Annapolis,”- I felt a little better, with those words coming from Dad’s mouth. Mom was a pretty good lawyer, and she cared about Jassandra and Kendryk…she would never let anything happen to them, as she would never let anything happen to us.
The house phone rang. I got up to answer the phone…it was Jassandra. “Hey Mitchell,”
“Um…hey. Are you okay?” I asked.
Time elapsed…something was bothering her, or else she wouldn’t have called. I heard her heavy sigh. “Can you come over?”
“Yeah. I’m on way,” I said. I hung up the phone, and returned to the kitchen putting my napkin on the table. “That was Jassandra…she wants to talk. I’ll be back tonight,”
“Okay,” said Mom. I walked out of the house, to my car- a silver 2009 Volkswagen Jetta. I made sure I had my cellphone, and then peeled out the driveway, heading to Jassandra’s. I got a beep on my phone for an incoming picture message, but I ignored it. I finally arrived at Ms. Haddie’s house, and stepped out the car…my eyes grew large, at the sight of Jassandra sitting on the porch, with Dre. He looked to me, with the illest stare. “Sup, soldier boy. You gonna turn yo swag on?”
“Dre, stop it,” said Jassandra. Dre gave a cackle, as his head snapped back, and then came back forward. “I don’t get it…what could you possibly see in this clown?”
“Dre…I think it’s time for you to go,” said Jassandra. Dre stood up from the steps, and then walked by, looking me up and down like he was sizing me up. Then his expression turned to disgust. “You may have gotten a lil buff and got you a chest, but I’ll still beat you down,”
“Nice seein you Dre…laterz,” I said. His nose crinkled up, and I swore I seen steam comin off his head, as I knew he wanted to take a swing on me. Dre turned away and quickly paced out of the yard…I then looked to Jassandra, who sat there staring at me. She then looked off, sucking on her bottom lip as I walked to the steps and sat down. Silence resided between us for a few minutes before Jassandra spoke. “Kendryk went to play some ball…I’m waiting for him to get home,”
“That’s cool…he probably needed to let some steam off,” I said, fiddling my fingers. I looked up at the spring sky, and the moon. Jassandra played with one of her locks for a minute. I then heard her voice when I looked to the bugs flying around the streetlight. “If you wanna know, I didn’t invite Dre over…he heard I was back in the neighborhood,”
“I mean if you wanna…”
“See? That’s what turns me off- you actin all like this…yeah, I made the mistake of dating Dre back in high school. But I’m past that, and I don’t need to be reminded by you,” harped Jassandra. “What? Are you jealous that we didn’t get together? Look no further for the reason why, than to yourself,”
“Is this, why you invited me over- to argue?”-I started to get up, but Jassandra grabbed my wrist. I looked to her watery eyes. “No…but stop punishing me,”
I sat back on the steps, as Jassandra leaned her head on to my arm. She sniffled a little, as I handed her my handkerchief. “I don’t know how all this is gonna play out. I know you have had to heard by now, that our mother comes out of nowhere, to want be a ‘part of the family’ now,”
“How is Ken about all of this?” I asked, calmly. Her head felt right, resting on my arm. I could feel her breathing…I knew she was upset. I rested a hand on top of hers, her grip tightening on my arm a little. Jassandra blew air through her mouth, her lips flabbering together. “I don’t know…Kendryk is angry at the fact that she left us, but he’s also fascinated with the idea of her,”
“And you know this….how?”
“He’s my brother…I can tell,” she breathed. I rubbed her small soft fingers. “How do you feel about it? About her coming back?”
“She should’ve stayed gone,” said Jassandra, in a cold unsympathetic tone. I felt her anguish…and even worse- I sympathized with her. My phone beeped again, as I retrieved it from my pocket. I opened the pic…my eyes grew with surprise- it was a pic of Pennel with her dress up, showing her ass in a g-string…what in the hell was she doing sending me this?
“What in the hell?!”- at that moment I realized Jassandra was looking at the pic. She jumped up. “Is that Pennel Phelps? Is she who you are messing with now?”
“Ah…NO! I’m not messin with her! You know how she is! She’s still crazy about me,”- at this point I’m wondering, why am I fessing to her like I’m…her boyfriend?
“I was about to say…you could do much better than that,” streamlined Jassandra. I looked to her with an eyebrow raised. “Oh? Are you jealous?”
“Are you fuckin kiddin me?” postured Jassandra. “I could care less if you bang out that skanless hoe. Go ahead…don’t come cryin when she done gave you something that the doctor can’t cure,”
“Come on, Jassandra…you are blowin this waaaay out of proportion,” I said, as Kendryk walked up. Jassandra walked up the stairs to the door. “Come on Kendryk, it’s getting late…inside,”
“Laterz, Mitch,” said Kendryk, giving me a pat on the shoulder. I looked to her, slightly confused. Jassandra returned the look, only with that twisted anger that she usually did. She walked in, closing the door. I lowered my head…what the hell? I can seriously say that Jassandra, is an enigma to me…sometimes I feel I’m right on the cusp of getting her, and then I lose her altogether. I walked to my car and pulled out her driveway, heading home. My cell phone rang…it was Pennel. “Like the pic?”
I sighed. “What are you doing Pennel?”
“Admit it…you like my little cute buns,”
“Pennel, I’m tired…I’m on my way home,” I said, trying to change the subject. She let a small sigh escape. “Okay Mitchell, you have a good night…tell Meridian we’ll do it big next time,”-she hung up, as I pulled in the driveway, shaking my head and sighing, in disappointment…there lie Meridian, against the front door, obviously wasted. As I approached the door, I could see her key was in the door- an indicator that she was trying to get in the house, but fell out. I picked her up, and grabbed her shoes off the step. Meridian jerked a little. “Oh…Mitchie…I sorry…I”-
“Hush, before you wake Mom and Dad,” I hissed, unlocking the door with her key, and then stepped in the house. I closed the door, locking it, and then setting the house alarm. I slowly crept up the stairs, carrying Meridian with me to her room, where I laid her on the bed. I put the quilted sheet over her, and set her purse on her dresser, and her shoes on the floor. She rolled over, mumbling, “Thank you brother,”
I smiled, then left, heading back to my room, where I kicked out of my shoes and clothes. I lay on the bed and looked at the pic of Pennel in my phone again. Maybe things were different…for one, I hadn’t heard anything about Riley Kessel being around, and second- Pennel would never do anything like this in a million years. Her family was strictly about image, although Pennel could be very well be the “Paris Hilton” of her family. I was sure that my dinner date with Pennel on Monday would be interesting, but my mind was still fixated on Jassandra.
Sunday morning. I awakened to the smell of eggs and bacon. I walked downstairs, scratching my head as I saw Mom and Dad at the table, Dad reading the morning papers, and Mom doing the crosswords…this was their usual Sunday morning ritual, and then they would get ready for church. I sat the table, as Mom passed me the egg bowl and the bacon tray. “Good morning, Mitchell…did you have a great night?”
“I slept okay,” I said. “Jassandra told me about her mom…she doesn’t want her to come back. I don’t get why this lady is trying to do this to them?”
“She doesn’t care about Jassandra, or Kendryk…she just wants whatever pension and monies that is being awarded to them, and the house,” breathed Dad. “If she were truly concerned with them she would’ve attempted to made contact with them at least some point in their lives, and not after Haddie died,”
“You coming to church with us?” asked Mom. I paused, and thought about Meridian, and how she was slizzered as hell when I found her last night. “I think I’ll stay home and talk to Meridian…I don’t think she’s feeling too well this morning,”
“Miss Meridian and I will have a talk this evening…I think it’s been long overdue,” said Dad, sternly. I swallowed…you did not want to have a talk with my dad. Even though he seemed even-keeled to us most of the time, when you were fucking up, and he had to get your ass, he did it military style- no-nonsense, straight to the point, and no sugar coating. He had did it to Meridian back during our senior year, when she had been going over the limit with her credit card- she was straight buying stuff she had no earthly business buying, trying to keep up with Pennel Phelps. Dad caught her that evening when she was in her room doing homework…when he talked with Meridian, he didn’t yell like he was some type of psychotic drill sergeant; he just took it to her straight, and calmly, but with authority in his words. Meridian started to cry, and apologize for her actions…she has never wanted to be a letdown to our father. Dad took away her card for a few weeks…when he returned it back; she had a limit on her card. She tried to use my card when she hit her limit, but I wasn’t stupid enough to have her sending Dad after my ass.
Mom and Dad got dressed and went to church…I went upstairs and opened Meridian’s door to her room…there she lay, still in bed. She slowly opened her eyes, then started to rise from beneath her sheets. “Go away,”
“Get up,” I said. “Dad is going to get you, this evening…you are fucking up badly, Meridian…fallin out drunk on the front steps- really?”
Meridian’s face grew a worried look. She started biting on her finger. “W-Was he angry?”
“If you call his usual demeanor angry, then no…more like disappointed,” I answered. I looked to Meridian, as her eyes started to water. “What is going on, Meridian? Coke? Adderall…are you trying to drop out of school?”
“I can’t help it!” cried out Meridian. “I feel like I’m under so much pressure- Riley Kessel, essays, research papers, thesises…I can’t do it!”
“Yes you can,” I said, sitting beside her on the bed. “Meridian…you were always a medical genius- way more focused than I ever was. I know you can do it…all this wanting to be like Pennel Phelps- this isn’t you, Meridian. You don’t have to be like someone to be part of the crowd. Just be your sweet self,”-I wiped away a tear, as a wry smile grew across Meridian’s face. She looked to me. “Why do you always put up with me?”
“Coz you’re my baby sister,” I said. Even though we were twins, I got the advantage of callin her my baby sis, because I was born first, and she came out like four minutes after me. Meridian leaned her head on my shoulder. “I’m not gonna run…I’ll stay…and face Dad,”
We hugged, Meridian grasping me as if she didn’t want to let go. “Thank you, brother,” she squeaked.
My cell phone rang. She let me go, wiping away the rest of her tears and smiling. “Go on…that might be Pennel calling. You know she wants you bad, now that I’m dating Riley,”
“Yuh…I’m gonna have to get back to you on how Riley Kessel wooed your undies,” I said. Meridian twisted her lips. “Riley and I have not had sex- yet!”
I walked to my room, and answered my cell phone. “Hello?”
“Mitchell?”
It was Jassandra. I stood in silence…I never thought I would hear from her for a while…she seemed adamant, about being angry with me. Usually when Jassandra was mad with me, it would last for a couple days…but here she was, calling me the next morning. I finally spoke after a couple of minutes. “Hey Jassandra…what’s up?”
“I’m…I’m sorry about last night…I’m just really stressed. About my situation, my brother, my mom comin back into the picture…I shouldn’t have tee’d off on you…I know you are trying to help,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I understand…I don’t wanna fight with you, Jassandra. I just want you to know that I’m here…by your side…if you ever need me,”
Then came the words that almost made my heart stop. “I need you, Mitchell. Can you come over?”
“I’ll be over in an hour,” I said. “Just let me shower and clean up,”
“Okay…I’ll see you when you get here,” she said. I hung up…what in the hell was going on? I walked to Meridian’s room…she wasn’t there. I then heard her downstairs, fixing herself some breakfast. I walked down into the dining room. “Could you clean up? Jassandra called me over,”
“Sure…I’ll be here watching Style channel all day anyway, until Daddy gets back from church,” huffed Meridian. She ate a piece of French toast. “I will never get tired of Mom’s breakfast,”
I smiled, walking upstairs, and then to my room. I hopped in the shower, getting clean, and then dressed a nice cotton v-neck t shirt, loose fitting casual khakis, a thin, plaid, casual button up shirt, and some walnut Patagonia Loulu casual shoes. I grabbed my cell phone, and headed to my car.