FRIENDS (Maybe With Benefits)

Chapter 32

After that long talk with Liz. And I mean long we went back inside. Dad was talking on his phone and he was smiling. I looked over and Camilla and she winked at me. Dad's talking to a woman. Wow. That's really strange. Even for him. The only woman dad talks to is his mom. Or sisters. Or his daughter. Not me tho. I'm still a child. But who could he be talking to. I really wanted to know but right now mama's hungry.

You may be wondering how I'm hungry when Alice brought me a box of pizza earlier. Well let me tell you a little story. When I was given that box of pizza I thought yay pizza for breakfast. But it was two slices of pizza. Two slices. Two slices of pizza. Why would there be two slices of pizza left you ask. Because they're 5 persons inside my house at the moment. And why would there be two slices and not 3. Because Alice had two slices. While every one else got one. She took an extra slice and brought me two slices of pizza. Two!!! The audacity of this girl.

"Hey dad. Why is there no food in the house?" I searched each and every cabinet looking for food. But what did I find? Nothing. I come home and there's no food in the house. "You guys knew i was coming and didn't go grocery shopping! Despicable human beings!"

I could hear my dad laugh from the living room. Assuming he's not on his phone anymore but laughing at the fact that the house has no food in it. I'm hungry here and I woke up to empty kitchen cabinets. 
I walked back into the living room and grabbed Alice by the hair.

"Come on nerd."

"Mani where are we going?"  She kept tugging at my hand trying to break free from my grasp which only lead to my throwing my arm around her neck and pulling her out if the room. "Mr. Young please get your violent child off of me. I haven't lived my life yet and I'm not ready to die."

My father laughed even louder and just walked away. Alice kept screaming for help as her pulled her up the stairs and she is heavy. How much does this girl eat. I looked back down to see Liz looking at Alice. Why is she still here? I have no idea and I really don't care. We practically argued half the time we were outside. This girl is confusing. I thought she came here to try and fix things between us but instead she made it all about her.

But enough of that. Alice and I are going grocery shopping. We took our time as we are no apparent rush to get to grocery store. By the time we got ready and went back downstairs dad was ending a call. I stopped and looked at him. His eyes were confused. And I wanted to know why.

"What's up dad?" I asked him before putting my hair up in a ponytail. Dad looked at me and then leaned back on the wall and rubbed his forehead.

"Kelly someone broke into your school. And a section caught on fire. They're asking for us to keep our children at home and they'll send you whatever you need for class."

I was going to shout yes when Alice beat me to it. She shouted it so loud that everyone looked at her. She smiled at them.
"What? It's not everyday you get time off from school when it ain't a holiday."

                                     *******

When we got to the grocery store Alice was talking to her mom on the phone. She had already asked my dad if she could just stay with us and of course dad said yes. He didn't have a problem with Alice staying here. He was actually glad that I was making friends.

I made sure to find the biggest shopping cart at the store. I'll be home for weeks or maybe months. And Alice eats as much as me. So I feel sorry for the house.
We walked around each and every aisle picking up random food items for everyone. Even with that Alice ran back to get another shopping cart. We made sure to get at least 6 of everything. Or even 8.

At the end of the day, which is spending over 2 hours at the grocery store, Alice and I spent over 2000 dollars. This never happens. Not even when I'm buying pizza. And everybody knows I spend when it comes to pizza.

We packed the trunk and back seat with the bags. Dad's gonna say I bought to feed the whole community. But he has hungry kids. What exactly did he expect?

~~~

We got back to the house after making a few pit stops.

"Hey Chris, Camillo, dad can you guys come help us with the bags!"

They all came rushing out within a second of me shouting it out. But as soon as they saw the bags they stopped and stared.

"Khelani did you buy food for 6 or food for the entire neighborhood?" See i knew dad was gonna ask me that. I'm smart I know. But he's predictable as it gets.

"No dad. I didn't. But I eat three times the amount as you 4 and Alice is half of that. Do you really want to go grocery shopping in two weeks?" Dad looked at me and squinted his eyes.

"You have a point. Boys get the bags inside."

~~

It took 15 minutes to get everything out the car and in the house. Half the groceries were spicy. Who doesn't like spicy food? My brothers and my dad.

Packing out over 50 groceries in your kitchen cabinets and your fridge and still having some left over. We, well I decided that I'll cook a big dinner. Since its alot of us in the house now than usual.

It's usually just me and Chris and Camilla. Since Camillo and dad are always out working. Sometimes.

After googling new food ideas and messing up the kitchen and stuff. And by stuff I mean everywhere. The door bell went off and dad walked to the door. I guess he had guest over cause he's working on some big case.

We packed out all the meals on the dining table. I made mini tacos, chicken Alfredo pasta (my favorite) mac and cheese pizza, cheesy burger casserole and of some homemade burgers.
Thank God for YouTube (twisted rules!).

"Well Khelani, I'm glad you made a feast to feed the neighborhood because we have a few guest. Meet Donovan Clarke and his son-"

"Estaban."

"Hello Armani."