Indigo Blues 🪼✔

7 - Work It Out

"When is Dr. Manchester supposed to be helping us with our project?" Johnsie asked, ratcheting a bolt onto the machine.
I handed him another one as he held out his hand and rubbed my stomach. Lucky for me, it didn't get any bigger but it sure was a pain in the ass.
"I told her she needed to be here half an hour ago but you know how women are. And being that it's Delilah, she probably skipped out."
"Who said such words?" I heard as I felt my cheek being pinched hard.
"Ow, let go you she-devil..."
Delilah let go and knelt next to me.
"How you feeling?"
"Like a beached whale."
She moved her mouth to the side and pulled out a syringe.
"I got the formula to keep the babies from growing until it's the right time for them to grow. It'll sting."
"You're going to do it now?"
"Don't worry, it's just a little prick."
"You're a little prick!"
"Tannus, just do it. Maybe it will do something about your stomach or something..." Johnsie mumbled from under the machine.
I growled at him but looked at Delilah as she waited patiently for me to comply. I sighed and pulled up my shirt to show her my gross stomach. I grimace at the orb of flesh and Delilah stares at it for a moment.
"You mind? Are you going to shoot me with that or not?"
Delilah sneers and just jams the needle into my stomach without telling me. I yelp and she sends the clear green liquid into my stomach.
"Now... uh... here's the truth: I have no idea what that's going to do."
I heard Johnsie hit his head on the bottom of the machine as he scoots out from under it to give that treacherous bitch the same open mouthed stare I was giving her. She smiled sheepishly and capped the needle back on.
"Y-y-y-y-" I stumble, trying to find words.
"What the hell is wrong with you, woman?!" Johnsie says for me. "What if that kills him?!"
"It won't kill him. I meant that I don't really know if it will stop the babies or if it will cause them to regress or what. I don't really know what is going on in there so... Oh... so that's how it works..."
We both looked down at my stomach and watched as it seemed to shrink little by little until it was looking more like a stomach should... even though it was bigger than normal.
"Well that's good. At least you didn't blow up..." Delilah said and I grabbed her arm hard. "Ow, let go."
"I will break your arm, woman, if you say something that is not upbuilding. You're not in this predicament, are you? So shut up and help me make the best of it."
Delilah only looked at me and narrowed her eyes.
"Remember that you are the one that did this."
"You never let me forget, sweetheart..."
"Great! Now you can help me with this thing." Johnsie says with a grin.
"No... Delilah is going to have to help you."
"Me?"
"Yes you, princess. Get your tush down there and help him out."
Delilah looked at me with a confused expression like I talked in Russian or something.
"What?" she asked.
"Do you not understand English? I said get down there and help Johnsie."
Delilah got down on her knees and sat back on them, watching Johnsie for a moment as he crawled back under the machine.
"Hand me a wrench and another socket please? A three-quarter inch one..."
Delilah looked at the toolbox beside her as I distracted myself with the non-humongous size of my stomach. After a while I felt a tap on my ankle.
"Huh?"
"Um... what does a socket look like?" Delilah whispered.
"Hello?! I need that three-quarter inch socket please!"
"Hold up!" I looked back at Delilah. "You don't know what a socket looks like?"
"No."
I sighed and grabbed the little box of various socket sizes.
"Right here. Just look on the side and you'll find the ¾ etched in the side. Here, Johnsie."
"Thank you..."
I looked at Delilah who looked thoroughly embarrassed and as much as I wanted to point and laugh at her, I sighed and pulled another socket wrench from the toolbox to show her.
"Look, Delilah, here... This is what's called a socket wrench. It makes a funny sound if you turn it; listen." We listened to Johnsie as he turned the wrench. "Anyhow, they usually are squared for the tool and are used to put bolts in. Got it?"
"Yes..." she said, looking too serious to be kidding about not knowing what it was.
"Didn't your dad ever teach you about tools? Show you the tools in his garage?"
"My dad died when I was six and my mother ran off with the mailman shortly after. I was raised by my grandmother in which my grandfather was already dead." She said blandly as she looked at the wrench again.
"Man you sound like me." Johnsie said from under the machine. "'cept my mom's a crackhead and forgot about me at the whore house once. Then she met my 'dad' and they got along real nice..." he said with a sarcastic tone on the 'real nice' part.
Delilah looked at me. "Why did you let him come here?"
"Because unlike you, I looked at the potential, not the upbringing. Kid can't help where he came from but he sure as hell can help where he wants to go and he wanted to be a scientist."
"If it weren't for Dr. Bracken I'd probably be using my sciences for other things, that being meth or something. I need a five-eighths socket now."
Delilah quickly looked in the ensemble of sockets and smiled when she found the right one, handing it to Johnsie.
"What is this thing?" she said, referring to the machine.
"Top secret. You don't need to know, you just need to work on it." I said, turning her back to the machine.
She made a face but helped when she could. I watched her and it was almost cute.
Almost.

*DELILAH*
I don't get very embarrassed easily but not knowing what tools to give that Johnsie kid made me realize how much a father figure I really should have had. Sure I had the suitors my grandmother had (she was a young grandmother) but they came and went as they pleased, taking their paternal knowledge with them. If not for Tannus making fun of me about sexual things, I wouldn't even know what those were and their slang.
As much as I dreaded working on whatever project those two were working on, it was nice to have some quiet time since Rose wasn't blathering in my ear about who was cheating whom and who was dating whom. The company wasn't great but the silence was exceptionally amazing. It was bliss.
"I want a pizza. Anybody want one?" Tannus said, getting up with a struggle to go to the phone.
"I'm good." Johnsie said from under the machine.
"I'm not hungry, thank you."
Tannus looked at me and made a face. I looked down at myself to see what he was looking at but he dialed and ordered his pizza.
"How is Oliver taking everything? He seemed annoyed when I went to you last." I asked.
"He's getting used to it but I mean I'm back at my house so everything's fine. He was annoyed by my hormones, which seem to be pretty whack." He said, coming back over. "Besides, I was trying to hide it but then I burst into tears..."
I nodded and he leaned back, stretching out his back from the weight of his stomach.
"I'm going for a walk."
I nodded and left, walking out the door.
Johnsie rolled out from under the machine and looked at me.
"Is he gone?"
"Yes..."
"Thank goodness. I thought I was going to starve under here."
"Why didn't you eat?"
"Because Dr. Bracken has an aversion to fried chicken. I got me some for lunch on the way over and was going to cook it when I remember that he would throw up if he smelled it. I was hoping he would leave or I was going to have to eat pizza again. I don't understand how he can just keep eating it!"
"He has a craving for it... How is he really?"
"He's alright, I guess. I mean, for a while there he was really hurting but since you did... whatever it is you did, I'm sure he'll be fine now."
"And you're comfortable with this?"
Johnsie pulled the chicken that had been warming out of the microwave and gave it a grin before he sat down beside me.
"It's weird but I mean, it was his fault for snooping around in your stuff. I agree that it's not exactly bright to go into a lab and eat jelly beans. But, his decision on not wanting to kill it? Yeah, that's great. I mean, it's odd that he's all pregnant and stuff but what can you do? Can I ask you a question, Dr. Manchester?"
"Delilah, please..."
"Alright... um... what's the deal with you and him?"
"What do you mean?"
"This mutual hate for one another? I mean, I've tried to ask him about it but he won't budge." He said, eating a chicken leg. "So what gives? Was is some one night stand you did and it just didn't work out?"
"No! Dear lord..."
"Then what is it?"
I thought about it and I knew my reason but what was his? My end was kind of petty but it stuck with me for a while because...
"He's always hated me." I said with all seriousness. "I think he's always disliked me."
"Really?"
"Ever since we were little he has shown me how much he hated me. First with the sand and then... after I tried so hard to deviate myself from him, he just kept coming. He kept trying to out-win me in everything, or so it seemed. I even fell for him again once... but... like I said, he hates me." I said, clearing my throat. "I decided that if he's going to hate me, the best way to move on is to hate him back... Unfortunately, the other part of that plan was to get as far away from him as possible but it seemed like he was following me... mocking me..."
"So you were in love with Dr. Bracken?"
"No. Just a crush. Just once..."
"But you said the sandbox..."
"I was six. I wanted to be friends with him and play with him. All I said was, "Hi, you wanna be friends? I like you." And that douchebag smiled, grabbed his pail of sand, and poured the contents into my pants."
"Wow, he was a jerk, huh?"
"Just a little." I looked away and played with the bottom of my shirt. "You won't tell him will you?"
"Heck no. He wouldn't reveal anything to me so I won't reveal anything to him. Besides, you don't like him now do you?"
"Hell no."
"Then all is safe. Besides, we men don't exactly remember stuff like that so..."
"Well, the sandbox made me hate him the first time but after that it seemed like he wanted to be my friend but... but that, I can't forgive. That I won't tell you. Ever."
Johnsie put his hands in the air. "Fair enough. Pizza guy is here. I'll pay if you go get Moody-Butt."
I smiled and went to grab Tannus.