Going through the work details out in her mind now, she really didn't think they needed Kim Ann and Sandra. In fact, things were getting done much quicker than she had anticipated, even with all goofing off that was going on. She still was shocked at how quickly Kevin, Howie, and AJ had whipped the bathroom into shape. It would've taken her an entire day. The kitchen had basically been done except for the refrigerator, and that was going to the junk yard now. Soooo......after the painting, they would have to put the organizers in the closets, the border on the walls, and then get all the furniture in. Not too bad! Plenty of time to schmooze with Nick.
Kevin and Howie walked out of the kitchen and Howie snapped a picture of Angela working. "Hey!" she said. "I'm not the star, here. Don't you be takin' my picture! Why don't you go upstairs and see what those hoodlums are doing?"
"Why?" asked Howie. "Don't you trust 'em?"
Angela laughed. "I dunno, Nick and paint -- is that really a good combination?"
"AJ'll keep him in line," replied Howie.
"I got a hold of the junkyard," interrupted Kevin, focused as usual. "They're coming right over to get the refrigerator."
"Really?" Angela was surprised. She thought it would take at least two days.
"Okay, I'll be straight up with ya." Kevin smiled. "I told the guy about the open house on Friday and told him to come find me and I'd make sure his little girl got to meet all of us personally."
"Kevin! You're gonna blow everything." Angela warned. "You don't think he'll tell people?"
"Hey, Ms. McDonald's, Kevin said sharply, "I did what I had to do. I can't stand that piece of junk in the kitchen."
"Okay! Okay!" Angela was not going to argue with him. She would lose anyway.
"So where are your friends?" asked Howie, ever so subtly changing the subject.
Angela looked at her watch. "I don't know. I thought they'd be here by now. Who knows what they're doing. It's hard telling...."
Ironically, after Angela had finished her statement, Sandra came bursting through the back door with a "LET THE PARTY BEGIN!!!"
Kevin and Howie turned to see who it was and Angela jumped off the ladder and ran past them to Sandra, hugging her. "Heeeeeey! It's about TIME. We about gave up on you guys!"
Sandra pulled back and smiled at her. "Well......you know. The usual. I had to pee about four times on the way down here. Plus, we got on the net before we left and looked up a bunch of crap. You can't BELIEVE all the stuff out there on these guys! I laughed my fucking ass off!" When she noticed Kevin and Howie standing in the other room, her hand went over her mouth in embarrassment. She put her head down and whispered to Angela. "You know, you could've told me they were right there, you bitch."
Angela laughed. "They don't care." She turned to Kevin and Howie. "Do you?"
"No," replied Howie. "Just don't believe everything you read."
Sandra walked into the other room to greet Kevin and Howie. "Hi guys, I'm Sandra. And Howie, if I believed everything I read on you guys, it wouldn't be ALL that bad." She stood back nodding her head. "You guys are legends, I tell ya."
Kevin rolled his eyes and laughed. "Believe what you want."
"If it's good..." said Howie, winking.
Kim Ann interrupted by pounding on the back door. "Sandra! Can you open the damn door?!"
Sandra grabbed Howie by the arm. "Oh, Howie, you've got to open the door! She'll CRAP! She thinks you're a hottie."
"What do I say?" asked Howie, blushing a little.
"Just stand there and look good," Sandra instructed, pushing Howie towards the door.
"WAIT!" whispered Angela loudly. "I wanna get a picture of her face when she sees you." She grabbed a camera and followed Howie.
"She's not like gonna freak out or anything is she?" asked Howie, a little unnerved by the unexpected "performance" being asked of him.
"Nooooooo." said Angela. "Not like THAT. She'll just freak....kinda like I did."
"I don't recall you 'freaking'." remarked Howie as he inched towards the door.
"Oh, you big pussy, just open the door!" Angela said giving him a shove as Kim Ann pounded on it again. Howie looked at her, surprised by the change in her demeanor since her friends had arrived.
"SANDRA! I'm throwing your SHIT on the GROUND if you don't open this DOOR!" yelled Kim Ann impatiently.
Howie put his hand on the door knob and turned to Angela to see if she was ready. She nodded for him to go ahead. He opened the door and smiled charmingly at Kim Ann. "Need some help?" he asked.
Kim Ann stood there momentarily, expressionless, before she dropped everything on the ground and squealed in delight. "Hoooooowwiiiiieee!" She jumped over everything, hopped into the kitchen and held out her arms for a hug to which Howie happily obliged. "It is SO nice to meet you!" She pulled back and looked at him in amazement. It was almost like he was a long lost family member that she hadn't seen in ages.
"Well....it's nice to meet you, too!" said Howie, obviously taken aback. "Kim Ann, right?"
"Oh my GOD! He knows my name!" Kim Ann said, pulling him back into another hug. Howie looked about as helpless as a rag doll with a two year old and Angela almost thought about rescuing him. Almost.....
Kim Ann finally released her grip on Howie and took a step back. In a calm voice, she said, "Okay. Now that that's out of the way, NOW you can help me."
Howie didn't move for a couple of seconds, confused by the sudden change in Kim Ann's reaction to him. Kim Ann smiled at him. "What? You've never met a crazy red head before?"
"Uh....I've met red heads before," replied Howie.
"Ah......but they all pale in comparison to me, right?" Kim Ann winked at him and smiled again.
"Well, I guess you could say that," Howie replied, looking at Angela and Sandra with an "is she for real?" expression on his face.
As Howie and Kevin were helping Kim Ann carry the stuff in, Sandra dragged Angela off into the living room. "So....where's Brian?"
"He's upstairs, painting," Angela replied.
"I got him a shirt! Remember those shirts that the frat guys wore down to Kentucky? When they got into that big brawl at the Lousiville bar? Remember?" Sandra crinkled her nose and nodded happily as it finally dawned on Angela what she was talking about.
"You didn't!" Angela said, her mouth dropping. She slapped her leg and laughed. "That is so FUNNY!! Oh my GOD! He will DIE. Who gave it to you?"
"Well, you remember Joey....I was gonna get HIS, but it had blood stains all over it from the fight. So Derek gave me an extra they had." With that, Sandra dragged Angela back out to the kitchen and started sifting through one of the suitcases. She pulled out the shirt and held it up proudly against her for Howie and Kevin to read. It was then that she realized that Kevin was wearing a Kentucky Wildcats T-shirt and she jerked the shirt down quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...." Kevin said, curiously, tugging at the shirt. "What does that say?"
"Umm...it's for Brian, actually," Sandra said, not wanting to let go of the shirt. "You know...it's a ....it's a....joke." She was blushing as Kevin pulled the shirt from her hands and held it up. She didn't know him at all and she wasn't sure he'd see the humor.
Kevin read the front out loud. "What do you get when you cross a redneck with a pussy?"
Howie was already laughing because the answer on the back of the shirt was facing toward him, but Angela, Sandra, and Kim Ann remained silent, waiting to see how Kevin would react.
Kevin flipped the shirt around and smirked. "A Kentucky Wildcat...." He looked at Sandra, austerely, and licked his lips in thought. "You know, people have died for less than this. But..... since it's for Brian, I'll let you and him handle it." He smiled slightly, wadded the shirt up and tossed it at her, never taking his eyes away from hers.
Sandra looked at Angela, widened her eyes, and mouthed the word, "Okay.." before she turned her attention back to Kevin and fluffed the T-shirt, intentionally, with the question part facing him.
Angela was loving it. She would've been apologizing profusely by now, but not Sandra. She was a goddess when it came to defying people.
Howie, however, couldn't stand it and tried to veer Sandra's attention to something else. "So," he said, "Let's go give that to Brian. I wanna get a picture of it."
Sandra draped the T-shirt over her arm and strutted past Kevin with Angela behind her. Kevin caught Angela's eye and smiled to let her know that he was impressed with her friend's spunk, and Angela couldn't help but beam with pride. His opinion mattered to her for some reason.
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Seventeen
Story Index
