When Sh*t Gets in the Way

by Ines Vieira

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  WHEN HATE GETS IN THE WAY

  Nick & Chloe

  Chloe age 10

  “Sorry guys, but I had to bring my little sister along. My parents are out and Gran is at one of her beloved poker games,” Ronnie says exasperated.

  “That’s okay. Hi Chloe, do you want to stay here with us and watch some TV while we study, or do you want to go upstairs and bug Nicky?” Cass sweetly lowers herself to make eye contact with me.

  Cass has always been my favorite of Ronnie’s friends. She doesn’t treat me like a ten-year-old brat like my big sister does.

  “I’ll prefer to see what Nicky’s up to if that’s okay?”

  “Sure sweetie, go on up. He might be with his earphones on, so just knock hard.” She winks.

  When I reach Nicky’s room, the door is closed just as Cass predicted, but I don’t knock. I just let myself in since I know that this annoys him. Nicky is at his desk scribbling yet again. I never met a boy that loves to doodle as much as he does. I bounce on the bed and that gets his attention.

  “What the hell, Chloe? I told you already, you gotta knock!” He says this every time, but I know that he loves it when I don’t listen and just do what I want anyway.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Drawing a picture for mom. It’ll be her birthday next week and I want to get her portrait right.” I stand up and look over his shoulder and sure enough, he has drawn every perfect detail of his mom’s face.

  “It looks nothing like her.” I tease, but my smile gives me away and he knows that I love it when he draws like this. I have plenty of Nicky’s drawings tucked away in my own bedroom. Not all of them given to me by him, though. I sometimes have to get them out of the waste bin in his room. He is so consumed with perfection that he doesn’t see that some of the things he draws are even more perfect when they’re flawed.

  “Are you staying for dinner?”

  “Maybe, you never know. You know how our sisters get when they have to study for some stupid test. Who knows maybe we even have to sleep over. If we do, I’m taking your bed and you need to sleep on the floor.”

  “Like hell! You’ll sleep with the rest of the girls in Cass’s room. The only one of us sleeping on the floor is you!” he chuckles.

  “Well, that’s not very gentlemanly. Momma says that men have to treat their women with respect and kindness.”

  “Well there you go, then. First of all, I’m a boy, not a man and you are not a woman, you’re a girl. And you’re not my girl, so all your momma’s wise words, won’t prevent you from sleeping on the floor.” He smirks.

  “You listen here, Nick Mackenzie, you may be a boy now and I may be a girl, but one day we will be grown up. Are you saying that I’m not gonna be your girl then?

  Nick throws his pencil on his desk and looks at me incredulously. “What’s wrong, Chloe? Why do you wanna pick a fight with me, today?”

  I huff out all my anger and sprawl on his bed, looking at the ceiling.

  “I heard momma and daddy yelling again this morning. They’ve been at it the whole day. That’s why Ronnie brought me over today.” My voice sounds exactly like the small frightened little girl that I am. I can’t wait until I’m all grown up and don’t have to sound like this.

  “Ah, I see. Move over.” Nicky says and lies beside me looking at the same white ceiling as I am. “So it’s not getting better, huh?”

  “Nope. I hate it Nicky. They act like they don’t even know each other. I think that’s why daddy sometimes doesn’t come home at night. Momma is always yelling at him for it, but if momma yelled at me like she does with daddy, I wouldn’t want to come home either. I can’t wait until I’m all grown up so I can go any other place than home, just like daddy.”

  “Where would you go?”

  “Anywhere! I mean imagine, we can go to our old playground and spend the whole night there. Since it would be night time, we wouldn’t have to wait to go on the swing or anything, because everyone else will be asleep. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?” I can already imagine Nicky pushing me on the swing so high that I may even start to fly.

  “Yeah, that does sound pretty great.”

  We’re silent for a while just looking at the ceiling imagining everything that we could do together once we’re old enough. We hold hands and imagine all the possibilities.

  “Chloe?”

  “Hum?”

  “You know I lied before, right?”

  “About what?”

  “When we grow up...”

  “Yeah?”

  “You are gonna be my girl.”

  “I know.”

  WHEN LIFE GETS IN THE WAY

  Cass & Isaac

  Chapter 1 - Cass

  “Are you ready yet, Nicky?” I yelled as I made my way down the stairs into the kitchen. My little brother had a knack for never being ready when I desperately wanted him to be. “I’m serious Nicky! If you don’t get your ass down here in the next five minutes, I’m leaving your ass behind and you’ll have to take the bus!” I yelled hoping that this would make my request more persuasive.

  “Really Cassandra, do you have to use that type of language so early in the morning?” my mom said while putting some toast and a cup of coffee, just the way I like, it in front of me.

  “Sorry Mom,” I said and gave her a small kiss on her cheek. My mom was still in her bathrobe roaming through the kitchen fixing us the only breakfast that she knew we would eat. My brother and I were not Breakfast people. We were more like brunch people. The day only really started at around 11:00 for us, unfortunately, the educational system did not agree and so the day started much too early for our liking. This made both of us very temperamental. Luckily my mother knew us very well and gave up trying on a well-balanced breakfast years ago. She did try to make us eat at least something, and we ate it as a small act of gratefulness that we didn’t have to wake twenty minutes earlier to eat what we couldn’t stomach that early in the day.

  “Cass, Hun, do you know when you’ll be home today? I was hoping that you could take me to the mall. I have to replace this old microwave. It finally just died before you came down. I’ve been delaying the inevitable. If you come straight home from school we could even go shopping for those new jeans that you’ve had your eye on,” my mother said looking at me with that kind smile that always made me feel guilty.

  “Sorry, mom, but I kind of promised Jess that I would go over to her house so we could study for our Spanish test together. Ronnie will also pop by after cheerleading practice and join the study group. We’ll probably have dinner there too.”

  And there it was. The guilt came straight away when that kind smile was replaced with sad eyes. I hated saying no to my mother, especially since I knew how lonely she felt.

  My dad was still away in Alaska, as he had been for the past three months, and it didn’t seem that he’d be able to come see us this month as he had promised. My dad worked as a Drilling Fluids Engineer or as he loved to say: “Your mother could have married whoever she wanted; still she couldn’t resist her Mud Man.” Being a Mud Man meant that he was away a lot on oil platforms abroad. He had been all over, Brazil, Norway, Gulf of Mexico, you name it. But before Alaska, he had been working in New Zealand for more than a year and had only been able to visit us twice. It really took a toll on my mother. When he finally came back stateside, he said he was only able to stay two weeks with us before going on to Alaska. Mom wasn’t happy, and even though their bedroom door was always closed, both Nick and I could hear the very heated arguments that they had. My father promised that he would try to visit us at least once a month if he could. That was three months ago.

  My father loved us, of that I was sure. He worshiped my mother. That was another certainty. But being
a mud man was all he knew how to do and ever since my mother lost her job at the lab, because of the loss of grant money, and because Nick and I were almost heading for college, he wanted to take any and all jobs offered.

  My mother felt that this was her fault. Mom was a Biochemist. She was studying different disorders of human hormones – clinical endocrinology. She loved it, but when the grant for her team wasn’t renewed, she was convinced that she wouldn’t be out of a job for too long. That was two years ago. Mom didn’t have many friends. The friends she did have, worked in the lab with her. Most moved away to bigger cities to improve their chances of getting new employment and others went to private companies in different fields. But they all moved on, and my mom was stuck. Pressed on pause for two years. Those years looked like twenty on her.

  “How about tomorrow, mom? Will that work?” I said trying to bring back some light in her eyes.

  “Sure sweetie. Of course. Tomorrow will be fine. Nicky come down love. Your sister needs to leave,” she said while clearing my hair off my face and giving me a small peck on the cheek.

  “Nick?”

  “I’m coming already. Jesus!” My little brother grumbled finally stepping foot into the kitchen. His hair was all over the place, showing that he had just gotten out of bed, with only enough time to put on a clean black Rammstein T-shirt and not much else. He grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and put on his army jacket. A quick kiss to my mom and he then strode to the front door.

  “So not in a hurry anymore?” he asked, with all the pleasantries that I was used to in the morning from him. Which were none.

  My little brother was much taller than me. At fifteen, he was close to being almost 6’ 5, ’’ and his personality was as dark as his clothes. The only thing that made him seem his age was my mother. She had a way with him.

  “Nicky, your sister will be having dinner at Jess’s tonight. How about we order in pizza for us then?” He gave her his crooked smile, which this early in the morning was a miraculous thing to see.

  “It’s a date, mom. Promise to wear something nice for the occasion.” He winked at her, put on his usual Ray Bans and opened the door making his way outside.

  I looked over at my mom, and that smile was once again on her face. I wished that my brother’s terms of endearment were enough to keep my mother’s spirits high for the day. But I knew that once we left for school, that smile would vanish.

  I grabbed my jacket and book bag. I looked back once more at my mother as she cleared away my plate with the half-eaten piece of toast and empty mug.

  “Bye mom, I’ll try not to come home too late tonight.”

  “Okay, darling. Have a nice day, Cass,” she said, but her back was already turned while facing the kitchen sink. With a frown, I left.

  Nick was already in my car, leaning his head on the passenger seat window. I got in and aside from turning the engine on, made as little noise as possible. Even with his shades on, I knew that Nicky’s eyes were closed and he was grabbing the few more minutes of silence and solitude he could get before we entered the ever frantic school grounds.

  Riverside was as normal as any other High School in the district. I was a senior and doing all I could to get into Berkeley next year. I knew that it was on the other side of the country, but going to Berkeley was what I had always wanted since I was a toddler. Well, maybe not a toddler, but close. I knew that mom and dad were putting away everything that they could for college, but Nicky was a sophomore, and in two years it would be his turn. I was hoping to get at least some sort of scholarship. This would help my parents a great deal, and it would increase the chances of both of us going to college.

  Nick wasn’t focusing on that yet, but I knew that he wanted to go to Brown University. It was close to home, and they had adjoining art classes with Rhode Island School of Design which suited him perfectly. Under all that height lived the soul of an artist. His gift was with a paintbrush, while mine was with a pen. Berkeley had one of the best Journalism programs in the country, and I had to get in. My grades were high, and so were my SAT scores. I had been active in my extracurricular activities since I was a freshman. Berkeley awaited, and there was nothing that could side-track me this senior year. Nothing.

  I drove into the parking lot and found a spot next to Ronnie’s car. Veronica and Jessica were my best friends since forever. Ronnie was the sporty one. Black sleek hair, big green eyes, gorgeous brown skin, and legs that wouldn’t quit. That was Ronnie. She was all about the teenage experience and had already started to mourn the last year of high school. This made her an expert in manipulation when it came to me and Jess attending football matches, basketball games, dances, parties – you name it. Whatever high school experience was available, Ronnie was determined that we have it and document it in any social media outlet she could think of.

  Jess and I were of a different opinion on this front. We were too eager to start the next chapter in our lives and this year was just a means to an end. But we hardly ever denied Ronnie. Next year we would all be apart from each other. God willing, with me at Berkeley in California, Jess at Columbia in New York, and Ronnie attending the University of Virginia. Since we would end up being all scattered around the country, Ronnie’s requests to attend some boring games, would not be a problem.

  “Nicky, we’re here! After school, I’m going over to Jess’s but if you want I can drop you home first.” Nick straightened up as if just woken from a pleasant nap and yawned loudly.

  “It’s cool. I’ll grab a ride with one of the guys. Don’t be home too late. Want me to save you a slice?” I was going to say a slice of what, and then I remembered that tonight’s dinner was pizza.

  “Sure Nicky, but no anchovies this time,” I said grinning. Nick smiled back, and we both got out of the car. The morning mood, almost gone for both of us.

  “Be good, Nicky,” I said as I put my car keys in my bag.

  “Always am!” he replied already walking towards two other kids wearing nothing but black.

  Once I got to my locker, I heard a big thump as if someone had just slammed straight into the locker next to mine.

  “Hello, gorgeous!” Jess said in her most posh voice. I laughed at the absurdity of such an early compliment.

  “Well hello to you too, hot stuff!” I said while taking out the books that I needed for English Lit.

  “Tell me that it isn’t so. That it isn’t freaking Monday again and that we have to study for yet another Spanish Test. Tell me it isn’t so!” she giggled. She pulled her arm over her eyes to add appropriate drama to her previous statement up a notch.

  “Nope! Sorry! Can’t keep letting you live in denial. What kind of friend would that make me?” I said giggling myself.

  “After school, your house. Did you come with Ronnie this morning or did one of your cousins bring you?” I asked.

  Jess was from an enormous Portuguese family. She was the youngest of five siblings, but all were either married or in college. Jess would be the last to leave the nest. She also had plenty of cousins and most lived either on her street or in very close proximity. She once tried to name all of them in front of me so I’d know how many but after she passed the tenth name, she said that these were just her first cousins and then started to name second cousins. I zoned out after that.

  The younger cousins also went to Riverside, so Jess normally had a ride to school. I usually knew if they were related because, most of the time, they had Jess’s gorgeous olive skin and dark almond eyes. If I were still unsure, once in awhile, they would let a Portuguese word slip into the conversation as if it was the most normal thing in the world and everyone understood it, especially when they were cursing.

  Suddenly Jess straightens up from her drama-like state.

  “Oh crap, I totally forgot to tell you. Isaac’s back. He’s the one that brought me,” she states more enthusiastically.

  “Who’s Isaac?” I asked but already with my books in tow and making my way to homeroom.

 
“Isaac is one of my cousins. He moved away about three years ago when his grandmother got sick, but now he’s back. He’s staying with us until his folks get their own place. Our house has plenty of space. And you know since Tina and Mickey left for college, the house is too quiet. So, Isaac and his folks staying with us is great!” Jess beamed with delight.

  I loved that Jess thought her house was quiet. It wasn’t. Ever! It was always full of people. Every weekend there was a family get-together or someone’s birthday. Even during the week the house always had cousins, aunts, and uncles coming through. But to Jess that was normal and quiet compared to when her siblings were all under the same roof.

  Quiet was what I had at home. Quiet was what my mother was experiencing right now. Another pang of guilt went through me. I spent more time either at Jess’s or even at Ronnie’s house than they did in mine. It wasn’t that my mom didn’t want me to invite them more often. She would have loved that. But our house was too quiet. And I guess I didn’t want Jess and Ronnie to discover just how quiet it actually was.

  “Tony just took him to get his schedule and then he’ll text me to see if we can meet up for lunch. You’re going to love Isaac, trust me. Damn it, got to run. Can’t be late for class. Ciao Bella!”

  “Ciao!” I laughed and ran just in time for homeroom.

  Chapter 1 - Isaac

  Here we go again.

  It felt the same as before. Everyone staring, trying to get a clue as to who I was and where I came from. It was always the same. Even here.

  I thought that maybe being back would be easier, but it hadn’t started off well. The past 48 hours had been an utter blur. This whole week had felt like that. Oh, who was I kidding? For the past couple of years, I felt like I´d been on autopilot. Not really living but just going through the motions. But when mom pulled me aside to inform me, that my prick of a father said they had decided to leave Arizona since Nana died, and come back to Plymouth, I felt like things were finally going to get better.