Shaped Me

I Live with Children

Chapter Seventeen: Nile

Replying to messages is proving to be more a job than anything else. The guys from the team talk too much. Sometimes the conversation is interesting but right now they're not talking about anything. Ace suggested that we get team tattoos for bonding purposes. The other guys were going along with the idea but I think we all knew in the back of our heads that it wasn't going to happen. Instead of bursting his bubble we all were just giving tattoo suggestions. The team mascot was currently winning. Unlocking the door, I didn't turn around to see if Manny was still waiting in the car, I knew she wasn't. I heard when the car pulled off, one of the perks of living in a quiet neighborhood every sound is amplified. She needed time and I would give her that.
    Our whole car ride back she kept apologizing for crying over something as silly as a dance time. But I've come to learn if something is big to someone it is big to them and no one should invalidate that. What is the worst thing in someone's life may not be the worst thing in my life but it does not stop it from being bad.  Mr. Axel would be proud of me, our unofficial sessions were rubbing off on me. Pushing through the door smoke hits me. The smell of burnt plastic filled the air in no time. Waving my hand in the air I try to fan some of the smoke out of the air. The living room was full of smoke and that smell is definitely going to settle into the couch.

"Uncle Mike"

"Nile, in here." He yelled back. The sound came from the kitchen. What could he have possibly burned? Most of our food was microwavable and Uncle Mike and Jake don't touch the stove. "I was trying to warm something up and then the microwave sparked and all of a sudden fire."

All of a sudden fire. Holding the extinguisher in nothing but shorts and a hat Uncle Mike stared at the microwave perplexed. As if questioning why the microwave would allow itself to spontaneously combust like that. Looking between my uncle and the microwave I laugh. Laugh hard enough to anger the little man jackhammering in my head. Hard enough for a few tears to flow freely out of my eyes. The scene in front of me is absolutely hilarious. The crazed man and the appliance that did nothing but what it was told. Soon Uncle Mike joined in giving up on his staring contest with the microwave. It is situations such as this that make our diets include nothing but cereal, pizza and the occasional piece of fruit.

Composing myself, I open the doors to the backyard letting some of the smoke out. Uncle Mike follows suit and opens the window. Leaving him in the kitchen with I go to open the front door. Looking out at the street I take note of the street lights being on. I'm never sure what I'm looking for but it doesn't stop me from looking.

"We should have a family dinner with just the three of us." Uncle Mike says more to himself than to me. But a trick I picked up on when living with Darren was to listen even when I wasn't being spoken to. It saved me more times than not. I didn't say anything to him because I knew if he wanted me to hear he would repeat himself. Darren did that a lot, he would speak under his breath and one time I made the mistake of responding to him. He didn't take too keenly to me 'being in his business'. Now I wait until the person says it directly to me. That way I wouldn't be nosey. "Let's have a family dinner tonight." He says out loud this time. Nodding I excuse myself.

I need to change out of my school clothes and check my messages one more time more so checking to see if I have a message from Manny than anyone else. Bypassing the mounting group chat messages I see one from her.

Thank you bubs- Curly Sue The signature orange heart ending the message. Shooting her a message I place the phone on the nightstand next to my migraine medicine. I haven't opened the small bottle since this summer. Turning the cap I pull out the pill and pop it in my mouth. I'm only going to use it because I can't sleep the pain off. I'm not going to take another one , just have to make sure I get rest. Closing the bottle I swallow the pill. If Uncle Mike didn't want to have this dinner then I would have just gone to sleep but I should probably be there. There is no reason to give him more to be concerned about. He's already taken  so much on by taking me in.

Staring at the once pink scars in the mirror I take note that they were now shiny and pale. Touching them slightly, I know each of their stories. It's as if they serve as bookmarks in my own story. I try not to think about them as much anymore. Pulling on a tshirt I race downstairs before something else can spontaneously combust. In this house the possibilities were endless.

The smoke has cleared and boxes of cereal sit on the table as if expertly prepared. I guarantee that was Jake's contribution. He swore that setting the table made it fancy no matter what we were eating. Along with the cereal boxes, five to be exact because the house needed options according to Uncle Mike, three bowls sat on the table. Black bowls because according to Manny they were classic and because we're classy there is also a variety of milk. Jake stood shirtless by the table shaking boxes of cereal checking its quantity.

" There's only enough frosted flakes for one person." Jake says opening the box. Our one bowl of cereal is the average person's three bowls. Pulling the box out of his hand I went to pour it. Uncle Nile snatches it out of my hand and I'm positive I live with children, absolute children. Settling on a different cereal I fill my bowl as much as possible while still leaving room for milk. Uncle Mike triumphantly pours the frosted flakes into the bowl smiling at us. Jake mixes three different types of cereal in his bowl with chocolate milk.

"How was your day guys?" Uncle Mike asked, sounding more like a parent than normal. It was always interesting to see him switch between being our fun uncle to our guardian. I don't think anything could really prepare anyone for what he has had to take on but he's been doing a good job. Minus a few fires every now and then.

    "It was cool." Jake said looking at me curiously. Our conversation from earlier flowing through the air. Shaking my head at him I continued to eat my cereal. Uncle Mike told us about his day and how much he was enjoying his job. " I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something."

    Jake and I both turned our attention to him. His serious tone caught us off guard. Pushing the bowl to the side. He cleared his throat a bit.

    "I'm going to be out of town next week until sunday, I just have some stuff to take care of." Something else that living with Darren taught me was knowing when someone was lying to me or at least not being a hundred percent honest. Right now Uncle Mike wasn't being honest.

    "Where are you heading?" I asked, keeping my voice even.

    "Just have a work thing. Axel is going to check in on you guys and I trust you guys enough to stay here alone." He said looking at us. Before I could ask another question his phone blared interrupting the thought. Excusing himself from the table he went upstairs. He's been doing that a lot lately. Before Uncle Mike would be nowhere near his phone and if it rang he would tell who ever was closest to it to answer. Now his phone was in hand at all times.

    "You know what we need to do right." Jake says mouth full of food. Dabbing the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand he looks at me expectantly. When it's clear I have no clue what he's talking about he shakes his head. "I swear. Throw a party." He whispers the last part as if Uncle Mike could walk out at any moment.

    "No, we don't need to do that."

    "Come on Nile, live a little." He says still half whispering. Live a little is usually followed by what could possibly go wrong and there's a whole lot that could. "Come you finally have the chance to be a normal teenager."

    A normal teenager. Jake looks at me sadly. I know what he means and he knows what he means but neither of us would say the actual words. We tried not to talk too much about Darren. We didn't really talk about what happened too much. I didn't want to relive it and I think for Jake it helped keep him sane not to know in detail. Throwing a party could be fun, right? It didn't need to be anything too crazy just a few kids from school, music, food and drinks. We could do it on Friday night that way we had all of Saturday to clean if we needed to.

    "Okay."

    "Okay?" Jake asked, holding a full spoon in front of his mouth. Nodding at the idiot I continued eating my cereal.

    "Hell Yeah" Throwing his arms up in the air completely forgetting about the spoon of cereal in his hand he yells. Yep what could possibly go wrong ?