disregard // paul lahote

08

Marley found Lorena sitting on her front porch with a mug resting in her right hand.

Lorena eyed her as she trailed up the stone pathway, hushing her dog who peered through the front window to bark at Marley.

"Shh, Porkchop." Lorena scolded the Bullmastiff. "Before you wake up the entire neighborhood."

She shifted to make room for Marley to sit, finishing off the last of her Earl Grey tea before placing it down on the concrete step.

"You quitting?" Marley pointed out as she noticed the Nicotine patch resting on Lorena's outer bicep. Lorena nodded, and Marley hummed in response, allowing silence to rest over them once again.

"I'm assuming you're ready to talk now?" Lorena commented, picking at her chipped nail polish before peering over at her fair-haired friend.

Marley bit at her cracked lip, and nodded swiftly.

"The pressure of saving up money for college finally drove me over the edge, and I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems," Marley lied and the guilt weighed heavily in her chest as she watched Lorena's lips tug into a concerned frown.

"You're never a burden, Mar." Lorena reached out and held Marley's hand, squeezing it gently. "I would rather that you tell me when you're having trouble rather than pushing me away. Have you talked to your mom about it?"

Marley nodded and suddenly couldn't make eye contact with her best friend, plagued with guilt as she spun a web of lies to hide her newfound knowledge of the supernatural.

"What did your mom say?" Lorena pushed as Marley silently fiddled with the hem of her shorts.

"We talked about my issue of pushing people away," Marley mumbled as her hands began to feel clammy against her thighs. "She basically said the same things you've been telling me."

Lorena nodded in thought, and Marley dipped her head to hide her shameful expression.

"Well she's right, okay? We're all here for you." She assured her. "Me, your mom, Suri, Caesar, and basically Carver Cafe's entire clientele." Lorena listed.

Marley blinked to rid herself of the tears that built up, and reached to pull her friend into a tight embrace.

----

"Porkchop, get down." Lorena scolded the beast as he nearly knocked Marley over in excitement. She caught herself before she tripped over his bulky body, and reached down to pat him between the ears.

"Who's here, Lola?" A gruff voice called out as the girls kicked off their shoes onto the mat.

"Just Marley, dad." Lorena assured him, hearing the panic in his voice.

Steven Tucker was the owner of a local Pharmacy, who was forced to sell his business after an Ischemic Stroke at the age of fifty-eight. Marley watched as her sixteen-year-old best friend was forced to become an adult within moments after she found her father unconscious in the bathroom.

"Hi Mr. Tucker," Marley greeted as she stepped into the living room to find him sitting on the couch, harboring a thick beard and receding hairline.

Mr. Tucker grinned instantly at the sight of her, grabbing the remote to mute the television.

"Hi Mar, I didn't know you were stopping by." He replied as Marley bent down to kiss his forehead. "It's a surprise visit," Marley chuckled as she stepped back. "How are ya feelin'?"

Mr. Tucker looked towards Lorena before he nodded repeatedly.

"I'm doing good, hun." He stated before attempting to push his body from the couch, refusing Lorena's help when she walked over to assist him.

"Well you girls have fun," Steven commented as he trailed over to the coat rack and reached for his jacket.

"Where ya goin' dad?" Lorena murmured, her demeanor changing as her dad began to search his pockets.

"I have to pick a few things up from the Market," Mr. Tucker stated as he re-checked his pockets. "Where are the keys, Lola? I think I lost 'em."

Lorena took a deep breath and tucked her hair behind her ears. "You lost your license after the stroke, remember Dad? I had to sell your car."

Marley winced as Steven froze in his spot, absorbed by his own thoughts and Lorena reached out for him and guided him back to the couch where she un-muted the television. Marley had forgotten how the badly stroke had affected Mr. Tucker, watching as Lorena settled him back in his spot.

"Marley and I are just down the hall in my room, alright Dad?" Lorena spoke gently to him, triple-checking to make sure he was alright to be left alone. Once she was sure, Lorena grabbed Marley's hand and led her towards her lavender bedroom.

"Sorry," She apologized sheepishly. "You look a bit spooked."

Marley's cheeks flamed in embarrassment and tried to hide her feelings of pity that surfaced as she watched her best friend rub her tired eyes.

"I just forgot what it was like," she mumbled and Lorena shrugged.

"It's gotten worse, I think. That was a fairly good reaction, sometimes he get... upset." Marley knew what she meant by that.

When Mr. Tucker first had his stroke, he refused any help that was offered his way. Marley could remember a time when she had to call someone to help subdue Mr. Tucker when his speech began to fail him when the girls had taken him out to get some air- Aphasia as the Doctor had called it.

When his inability to form words began to frustrate him halfway through his story about his childhood, he got violent. Not towards the girls, but to himself.

Marley remembered sobbing helplessly in horror as Lorena tried to stop her father from scratching at his own face, narrowly missing his eyes.

"Have you thought about putting him in a home?" Marley questioned gently, scared of touching a sensitive subject.

"I couldn't do that to him," Lorena shook her head repeatedly before chuckling dryly. "I wouldn't be able to afford it anyways, I'd have to sell the house."

Marley didn't reply, but instead watched as Lorena cleaned up her room.

Her phone vibrated in her back pocket, and through the cracked screen she could see the text appear.

Paul Lahote: Hey, u busy?  

A/N: tons of Paul coming in the next few chapters!!