Bunny

12

The party had died down around nine. These people stayed here for seven hours. Who has the energy to party for seven hours?
Them.

I traveled downstairs to find Pam.
A few people were walking around cleaning up a bit of the mess which I was grateful for.
I saw in the kitchen, Isaiah's uncle that I met earlier. Kind of met. Didn't really meet. More like bumped into.

"Um...Excuse me..." I said to him.
He looked at me. "Hey. You Zaya's girlfriend, right?"
"Oh, we're not dating..."
"Really? You should give me your number then." he smirked.
I tried to ignore it. "Can you please tell me where Pam went?"
"Maybe the backyard. I don't know." he shrugged.
"Okay, thank you."
"Mhm."

I walked off to go find Pam and I started hearing loud voices coming from outside.

I looked into the backyard and Pam was yelling at some other man and a woman stood next to him. They all were shouting over each other by the fire and I didn't know what was happening.

I ran back towards the stairs and up them then to Isaiah's room.

"Yo?" he called after I barged in.
"Um...Your mom is yelling at like two of your guests..."
"Who?"
"I don't know...some guy..."

"ISAIAH!" someone else shouted.

Isaiah jumped up and ran out of his room.
I followed behind him and we made it downstairs then to the backyard.

He stood in front of his mother and started yelling at the man that was originally shouting at her.
The guy had calmed down.
He said something else.
They were both threatening but they were speaking quieter.
The man said one more thing before Isaiah swung a punch into his face, making him bump into the table. While he was there, Isaiah held him by his shirt and kept swinging into the man's jaw.

Pam pulled at Isaiah's shirt to get him off of the guy. The second woman began pushing Isaiah off while his mother pulled. Isaiah stopped but kept shouting as the women toted him farther away.

"SAY THAT SHIT AGAIN, BITCH!" I heard Isaiah shout as he was edged closer to the door.

I opened the door for them and his mom pushed him inside.

"Okay, calm down." she instructed.
"I'm not calmin' the fuck down." he huffed. "I'll kill that motherfucker I swear to god." He tried laughing it off slightly.
"Isaiah, relax. It's alright."
"I want him out." Isaiah stated.
"He's gonna leave. I just need you to calm down. He's leaving right now, see?"
We all looked out of the window and the man and woman who I'm assuming is his wife were walking around the back to the front of the house. The man held his eye in pain.

Isaiah looked at the floor. Something hurt him.

"Why would he say that shit, man?" he asked.
"I don't know, baby. I'm sorry." Pam replied and hugged him.

She let go and rubbed his arm before walking back outside to finish picking things up.

He turned around and walked past me. I watched him disappear behind a corner and couldn't help but wonder what was told to him.

~~~

I'd been cleaning their home for around two hours and still wasn't done. Pam was laying down in her room and Isaiah was also up in his. Neither of them had come down since the party ended.

I took a quick break and sat in one of the seats in front of the counter then rested my chin on it.

I heard someone coming down the stairs and I would have rushed to stand up and appear busy but I was tired and it was clear I'd gotten a lot done. So I didn't really look lazy anyway.

Isaiah walked past me and to the fridge. He took out a bottle of water and container of strawberries then began eating it while standing up.

He eats a lot. I hope he isn't still growing. He's large enough.

I didn't think he wanted to talk so I just stared at the counter as I rested my face on it.

"You not done yet?" he asked me.
"No...I still have to sweep and there's a stain on the rug in the living room because someone spilled punch."
"Mm."

I looked at him as he seemed very into the fruit he was eating.

"Can I ask you a question?" I began.
"What's up?"
"What does the forever mean?" The word was vertical down the side of his face from his temple to in front of his ear.
"It's a powerful word. I used it on my dad once. He said the same thing and that forever was a long time. Asked me if I meant it and I said yea."
"How did you use it?"
"I told him I'd love him and my mom forever. I was like four and had just learned it and that's how little kids are. They repeat shit they hear." He spoke casually about it while still devouring his strawberries. "He said that's a powerful word and it's a long time. I said I meant it. He just laughed and said he'd love us forever too. Started sayin' that shit when he brought me to school. Before bed. Before he went to his job. I ain't see him the day he died, he slept in late and my mom brought me to school, so I ain't get to say it."
"I like how you tell stories."
He looked up at me. "Yea?"
I nodded.
"I don't tell that shit to a lot of people."
"Why do you tell me?"
"Your mom died too. I feel like you get it better than if I told somebody who got both of their parents. They say, 'oh that's cute' or 'damn, glad I got both of my parents'. You don't do that. It's deeper meaning if you tell someone who went through the same thing as you. Drug addicts feel bad tellin' non-drug addicts that they were drug addicts. But they tell the people who went through the same thing and overcame it. You know what I'm sayin'?"
"Yea."