We're Not Crazy

Don't Like It

Me and Josiah woke up this morning and I decided not to tell him about what happened the night before.
We brushed our teeth and headed downstairs but the further we got, the louder it became.
Josiah and I stopped walking at the top of the stairwell.

It was more than just two voices being Lolo and Rufus. There was also a nice aroma flooding the air. I wondered what it was, it smelled sweet.

Josiah took my hand and began walking further down the steps. I reluctantly followed.

When we got to the end, we walked quietly towards the kitchen.
When we arrived, we saw Lolo, Rufus, Randall, two random women, and another man standing there.

We both just stared at them all moving around and conversing.

Lolo saw us. "Good morning, babies. How'd you sleep?" she asked us.
The rest of them turned and looked at us.
"Mornin', you two." Rufus greeted and continued maneuvering around the kitchen.
"Oh?" One woman said. "I didn't know he'd look like that."
I was confused.
"Both of them." said the other woman.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Lolo replied.
The women looked at me now.

Then they looked at Rufus.

"What?" he asked.

They looked back at us.
"What's your names?"
I just stared.
So did Josiah.
"That's Josiah and that's Leyla." Lolo answered for us.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Mary." one smiled. She was very pretty. She looked like a younger version of Lolo. She was tall and her skin was so smooth. Her lips were full and curved perfectly when she smiled and showed off her straight pearly whites.
"I'm Jennifer but you can call me Jenny." said the other. She was tall too but she was shorter than Mary. She was also very pretty but the two didn't look alike. I'm pretty sure me and Mary are the same height.
"That's Ronny." Lolo stated and pointed to a man in the back.
He waved with a gentle smile.

"Do they speak?" Mary asked.
"They do." Rufus replied.
"That one talks too much actually." said Randall and pointed at Josiah.
"Screw you." Josiah stated.

The expressions on Mary, Jenny, and Ronny's faces jumped.

"Don't you two start that in here. It's too early in the morning." Lolo said.

"You're really pretty." Jenny said with eyes on me.
"Thank you..." I replied, much quieter than I meant to.
"What'd she say?" Jenny asked.
"She said thank you." Rufus and Josiah responded together.

"You're pretty, too." Mary smiled at Josiah.
I watched Rufus lean in and tell her something.
She looked at the floor as she listened. I watched her expression change.

"Sorry." she told Josi.

Josiah let my hand go and walked off. I could hear the creaking of the wooden planks and knew he'd walked up the stairs.

I wondered where he was going.

"I didn't know." Mary stated.
Rufus just sighed and walked off, too.
I followed behind him.

We traveled upstairs to find him.
He was laying on our bed with his back facing the door.

Rufus walked over to him and sat down, leaning forward with his forearms on his knees.

"What's goin' on?" he asked and looked to the side at Josiah.
"I don't like it." Josiah responded.
"What don't you like?" Rufus wondered curiously.
"Bein' treated like I'm some statue in a museum."
"Talk to me."

Josiah paused. Like he was thinking.

"I don't like the way they look at me. I don't like havin' to keep tellin' everybody what's wrong with me so they can walk on eggshells around me. I hate when they give me that look like I'm some kind'a weirdo or crazy person. I'm not crazy. I don't wanna meet any new people. You and Leyla are enough. I hate people, man. I hate tellin' 'em what I go through or been through. I want them to leave me alone. I wanna know as little people as possible."
Rufus just nodded. "Well, I'll be honest with you, they only came because Randall told them our mom had new people livin' with her. They never really come here. It's been years since they've seen her even though they all live within a few hours distance. But they also got their own lives. I tell you this to say, you not gonna see them very often. Maybe on holidays."
"Holidays?" Josiah asked.
"Yea. Like Christmas and Thanksgiving." Rufus explained.
"What's Thanksgiving?"

Finally something common in the world that I knew and Josiah didn't.

Rufus chuckled, "Oh, you're gonna love this. It's when they spread out this giant buffet of food and everybody eats."

Josiah sat up and looked at Rufus sitting next to him.

"You know how most of the time you'll have one thing with a side? Like a burger and fries, spaghetti and garlic bread, or soup and crackers?"
Josi nodded. "Yea."
"Well on thanksgiving..." Rufus sat up straight. "You got like five or six sides and three main dishes."
"You're lying..." Josi said with wide eyes.
"I'm not. That ain't even the best part."
"It gets better?!"
"You got like five desserts waitin' for you after you finish the first meal."

Josiah's eyes were practically bulging out of his face.

"When is this?!" he asked.
"The third Thursday in November." Rufus answered.
"November??? That's like..." He racked his brain. "When is November?" he wondered.
"Three months from now." Rufus said.
"Are we gonna do that?"
"Yes, we are."
"Really?! Don't fuck with me, man!" Josi exclaimed with his hand on Rufus' shoulder.
Rufus laughed. "I ain't fuckin' with you, man. We will. I promise."
"Holy shit." Josi laughed happily and looked at me.
I snickered at his excitement.
He was so cute.

"Now, I know you two don't wanna be in a house with too many people. How 'bout we leave and find somethin' else to do?" Rufus offered.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Whatever you want."
"Everybody?" Josiah questioned in annoyance.
"No. Just the three of us."
Josiah nodded, showing he liked the idea.

"Wait!" I stated.

I went to our bag and sat on my knees as I rummaged through it.

I found the papers of things Josiah had written down.
I flipped through all of them trying to find a specific sheet.
I found it.
I brought it over to Rufus and he took it.

"This." I commanded.
"A water park?" he asked.
I nodded and looked at Josiah.

"Have you two been to one?" Rufus wondered and looked at us.
"I've seen it. They cost money though so I'd never been, but I stood outside the fence and saw up close. It was cool." Josiah replied.
"And this is what you two wanna do? Really?"
We both nodded.
He took a deep breath. "Alright. Better now than later. They're about to close when it gets too cold. You both got swimsuits?"
"Man, we didn't even have underwear like two weeks ago." Josiah replied.
Rufus sighed and got up.