Not On Her List

XIV 💞

"Hello, stranger," Adrian smiles, his face popping up on my phone screen.

And, it's a video chat.

Again.

The third time today.

"Wait, wait," I cut in, "first of all, if this chat is to continue, you have to swear on your lunch tomorrow that you didn't just chat me up to tell me 'Hello, stranger'," I say.

He smiles. "I didn't. So, I get to keep my lunch."

"Yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes, "so, what's up?"

"Do you wanna hang? You know, just kill boredom and stuff?" He asks.

"You bet. Anything that has to do with destroying boredom count me in," I say.

"You gonna come over?" He asks.

"Expect me in 5," I say already standing up from the rocking chair in the front porch.

"Cool." He smiles.

I end the video chat, walk into the house and grab my jacket from the couch where I had left it. I slip it on quickly.

"Jeremy?" I call, tugging on the cuffs of the jacket.

"Yeah?" He calls back from the laundry room.

Finally, Jeremy had decided to do his laundry.

All by himself.

You cannot begin to imagine the look of shock on mom's face when Jeremy said he wanted to do his laundry.

"I'm going over to Adrian's, so if mom calls or anything, you tell her, okay?" I shout walking to the door.

"A'ight," he says at the same time he switches on the washing machine.

Since it's a short distance from my house to Adrian's I don't bother walking.

As I walk down the front porch steps I look over at Cj's house slightly opposite ours.

Then I think back to what mom had told me after she had come back from the hospital early this morning.

I'm making Damian and I cheese sandwich, since it's already morning and mom isn't home from the hospital with Jeremy, yet, when Damian walks into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Hey, you," I smile, taking out the slices of bread.

"Hey, Ary. Do you know where mom is? She's not in her room," he says sleepy-eyed.

"She's...out, I guess," I say and pause, "but she'll be back soon. Now who's ready for cheese sandwich."

He smiles. "I am."

"I'll give it to you if you tell me, honestly, whether you've brushed your teeth or not," I say, smiling.

"Of course I have," he says.

He's practically drooling.

"Alright, alright," I say.

"Moby wants some too," he says as I hand him a plate of sandwich.

"Hmm, nah, Moby'll pass for sandwich. I'll get him his favorite," I say just as soon as Moby trots into the kitchen.