Chapter Three: Doors and Pillows can Make or Break your Day
Scene One: Sleeping with the enemy
Grounded. I was grounded. Kevin the creep had gotten me grounded.
“But Mom...”
“Not one more buts, Mr. Not one.” Well, it had been worth one more try. But then again, the more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets.
“Running off in the airport and then getting in trouble. Nick I swear.” Just watch. I’ll bet no one washed her mouth out with soap. “Honey, I’m not mad, but you scared me to death. You could have been taken by some stranger! You have got to be more careful. Remember the talk we had with Dad before we left? And I know Kevin talked to you.”
Kevin the creep? Yea, he talked to me. I think he said, “Get in trouble and I’ll beat the crap out of you”, or something to that effect.
“Baby let me see your nose again. There, it’s much better. Keep the ice on it and I’ll be back to check on you in a little while. And Nick, you better be there, right there, got it?”
“Yes Mom.” Right here, in bed, with ice on my face. No problem. Of course everyone else was downstairs in the pool, but then they weren’t grounded.
After Mom left for who knows where I started to feel sorry for myself, and frankly I think I had a right. I was in bed in the early afternoon with a swollen lip and a sore nose, and all because of Kevin. Well, mainly because of Kevin. If he had just ‘fessed up about dumping me on my feet and bashing my face I wouldn’t be in as much trouble. My Mom always overreacted to blood.
Sometime during the pout I drifted off, and woke up at 8:30. H...E..double hockey sticks. I had to be in bed by 10:00. I had slept my first day away. I guessed I needed it after the stomach and nose events. Still, it might have been nice if someone had bothered to see if I wanted dinner.
“Nick, baby? Are you awake?” Let’s see Mom. My eyes are open, I am in the upright position (from the waist up), I can hear you and am capable of speech.
“Ya.”
“What?”
“YES Ma’am” Just enough “tone” to let her know I was not happy, not quite enough to get my butt beat.
“Here, I have some dinner for you - and watch you tone.” YES Ma’am. Good thing she couldn’t read minds.
“ ‘m not hungry.” I was, but I saw no reason to make it easier for her.
“You need to eat, and don’t argue with me. Here, I got you a chicken sandwich, some tea and a banana.” My Mom was big on banana’s. You get potassium from bananas. You can also get it from M&M’s. Somehow this interesting fact eluded my mother.
“Can I have pizza?” I squirmed around to a better position while doing my famous “eye rub and pout”. It usually got me what I wanted.
“No, not this late. You can have the chicken or do without.” Darn. Mom was holding a grudge. She was good at that. She was also good at holding a belt, therefore..
“OK.” I was nobodies fool. Luckily for me nobody wasn’t around, so my safety was assured. By the way, the sandwich was dry, the tea was bitter, and the banana had a bruise.
“Where’s Brian?” We were suppose to room together.
“The boys went to a movie.”
“They promised to take me!” It was one of the few places I could go with them, and then only when it wasn’t rated ‘R’.
“They couldn’t take you, remember?”
Oh, yea. I’m grounded, thanks to...
“Did Kevin go?” I felt the lest he could do was stay in and suffer with me.
“Of course he went, now finish your banana and get in the shower.”
Kevin you...you...you..you wall-eyed mud-sucker. Creep just didn’t quite cover it.
I took my shower and made a mental note to buy my own soap. A mad dog couldn’t get lather out of the hotel stuff.
I changed into pj-pants and a tee, and found myself looking forward to bed. I was actually tired despite the earlier nap. I guess jet-lag was catching up with me. If there were any justice it would catch up with the guys in the middle of the movie. Howie would start to snore, and that would get them thrown out. Heck, it would get them banned for life.
As I re-entered the room I noticed something odd. My Mom had her suitcase and was taking out some items.
“Um..Mom? What ya doing?”
“The boys are going to some type of club after the movie and they will be in late. I didn’t want Brain to wake you, so he is taking my room tonight and I’m staying here.”
Well. That sure does a lot for a 15 year old’s self-esteem. What did you do on your trip to Europe? I shared a room with my Mommie!
I knew better than to argue, it wouldn’t do any good. I just crawled into my bed, thanking God it was a twin, and pulled the covers up. Please dear Lord, let me sleep. Let this day be over.
Scene Two: Guilt will get you Chuck E. Cheese
To some degree my prayers were answered. The day did end, midnight came and went as usual. And I guess I did sleep - finally - because I woke up. Of course with me this is not always a good thing. Not the waking up, but rather the condition in which I woke up. And for the past several months the “condition” was just getting more interesting by the day. Today I woke up, face down, but about six inches higher than I had the year before. For a 15 year old this is not bad. For a fifteen year old sleeping in the same room as his mother, this was trouble. Big trouble. Right here in Rivercity.
So, how does one manage to get to the restroom and do the early morning pee with out Mom noticing? If she is still asleep, I’ve got it made. If she is up, I’m doomed. I lifted my head to check on Mom’s bed. Empty. Well, maybe she has gone to breakfast.
“Nick?” Well, h...e...double picket fences. “Honey, I ordered breakfast. Get up and get moving!” WACK... that “Mom playful fanny pat”. Oh, leave me alone. I think I may be in a coma.
“Nick? Let’s move. You have a photo shoot today.” Oh. Well, there not so bad. Just boring and they take too long.
“I’m ‘wake.” That doesn’t mean I’m up...no pun intended. OK, there is only one thing to do.
“Nick?”
“Bathroom.” There. A definitive statement. Argue with that.
“Why are you taking your pillow?” I said argue, not question. Besides, I’m very fond of this pillow. Well, I’m about to be.
“Honey?” I just mumbled something under my breath and acted like I was still half a sleep. I made it to my goal and ran through my morning routine as fast as I could. In case you are wondering how long it take a guy to pee, brush his teeth (it seemed dumb as I was about to eat breakfast, but my Mom has this thing about morning breath) and wash his face, well I can’t speak for anyone else. I can do it in less than 5 minutes when the mood strikes me, or I am trying to avoid a suspicious Mother. I gave my face a quick check in the mirror. The lip was still a bit puffy, but nothing bad and the nose was back to normal.
Mom was already dressed and waiting at the table with eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice. At least I would get something I liked for breakfast. By the way, the toast was burned, the eggs were runny, the bacon had not been cooked long enough, and the orange juice has a serious pit problem.
“Nick? What did you do with your pillow?”
“Flushed it.” Note to self. Do NOT be a smart-butt to your Mom before 9 AM.
“Fine. If that’s the mood you are in this morning you can just say here while I go shopping.” Oh, like that’s a punishment. “And you can clean this room up.” That’s not so bad, housekeeping would be helping. “And I have your Gameboy in my bag, it better stay here.” I’m calling my lawyer!
Great. Now I’m trapped in my boring hotel room until 11:30, which is when we leave for the photo shoot. I sat around for a half-hour before deciding to take my chances and see if anyone was within screaming distance. Not that I planned to scream, but you never know when you will meet an ax welding stranger in the hallway. I figured that was the best I could do as I had already met with the breast welding stranger, and two in two days was not likely to happen. Not to AJ, and sure as h..e..double toothpicks not to me.
I dressed and made a break for it. By the way, have I ever mentioned that I have bad timing? I mean really bad. Colossal. Gigantic. Gargantuan. For the layman, my timing sucks. I opened the door just as someone on the other side decided it needed to be opened, and quickly. Also with a great amount of force. 9:45 AM and already it’s not my day.
WHACK. Really. Just like in the comic books. I’m not sure about the scream, but I’ll bet I did as well as any 15 year old in a slasher flick. Luckily for me it wasn’t a slasher. It was a creep. Heaven help me, it was Kevin.
“Nick? Oh my God, I’m sorry! Are you OK?” Do people ask this question of boys curled up on the floor in a ball, holding their faces, and moaning in pain? I mean normal people.
“Let me see. Nick let me see!”
“Nob. Dake ur ands ov med.” You tell him, Nick.
“Damn it Nick, let me see.” Don’t say damn. It’s not nice.
“Ont sa dam. Iz nod nide.” I thought I would fill him in, as obviously his mother never had.
Kevin managed to get my hands away from my face using brute. No, not brute strength, but Brute. The stuff was so strong it gagged me through my swollen nose.
“We better get ice on that.” Like after yesterday I wouldn’t know to do that? Sometimes bacteria acts more intelligent than Kevin.
“I guess you knew to do that.” Brilliant. Just brilliant. Now explain the theory of relativity.
“Ib dink ou doke my nobe.” It felt broken. At the least crimped.
Kevin was not in the mood to discuss the possibility of rhinoplasty. Instead he picked me up and dumped me on the bed. Thinking back to our last “pick up and dump” I thought Kevin was being a bit nonchalant. Undaunted he freshened last nights ice-pack and wiped my face with a soft, wet cloth. A quick check showed no severe damage to the nose, just a little swelling. The left cheek was another story. It was now sporting the beginnings of a nice bruise. Webster’s New World Dictionary: Bad day: (n) See Nick Carter.
Kevin completed his examination and sat back on the end of the bed. This left me at the head, with my ice pack and washcloth. It also left me with the before mentioned afflictions plus a black and blue cheek. I also had a runny nose. This was not from an injury. Curse my bad luck, I had started to cry.
I hate to cry. I hate to cry in front of people. I hate to cry in front of the guys. I really hate to cry in front of Kevin.
It just got to me all at once. I was in a strange country, hurt - OK not badly, but I was still hurt and my Mom was off shopping. I had puked through most of the flight, I had a sore and puffy face (thanks to both yesterday and today), and I was grounded because I was too tired to wake up after a stomach lurching airplane ride. At that point in time it was just too much.
“Nick. Nick come on. Stop man. Hey, I’m sorry.”
“For wad?” For hitting me with the door? For dropping me on my face? For pulling on my arm? For not killing me and burying the body when you had a chance?
“For everything, man. I should have told your Mom the truth.” STOP. Did Kevin just say that? Kevin? Admit he made a mistake? Where was a video camera. I wanted to get this on film. “I was just mad that Sophie slapped me. And...” And what? Man, this was getting interesting.
“And.....I’m was worried when you ran off. I was annoyed, you shouldn’t have done that, but I was scared too. Nick you have got to be careful. Bad things could have happened to you, and part of that would have been my fault.” Well. I didn’t know what to say, but I did stop crying. Of course this didn’t mean I wasn’t out for blood.
“You went to the movies.” Guilt, thy name is Nick.
“Yea.” Kevin had the good grace to look guilty. “Look, it was rated ‘R’ so you couldn’t have gone anyway. I’ll take you to a movie later this week, just the two of us, and dinner, OK?”
“OK.” Man oh man, Kevin you are going to pay. I wonder if they have Chuck E. Cheese in this country?
“Nick, what are you planning?” Already he knows that look. So does my Mom who chose this point in time to return and check up on me.
“Oh, Kevin! How are you this morning?” I was rather impressed she had the breath to talk considering how many bags and packages she was carrying. I was doubly impressed, considering she had only been gone half-an-hour, and as far as I know the shops weren’t open yet.
“Let me help you, Mrs. Carter.” Here we go again.
“I just brought up the thing I bought in New York yesterday. I guess I should have shipped them home! Nick, you could help Kevin with the...” She turned to give me that “why are you sitting there being a lazy butt” look all mother’s possess, and noticed I had a new ice-pack on my face. “What happened? Nick, what did you do?”
“It’s my fault Mrs. Carter. I opened the door too quickly and whacked Nick right in the face.” NO KEVIN! Don’t tell the truth now! Well, maybe she won’t notice the door comment.
“The bathroom door?” She’d noticed.
“Um...no, the hallway door.” Kevin looked confused. Well Kevin didn’t know I was making a break for it.
“Nick, were you going somewhere?” Said in a gentle tone for the observer, while removing the ice-pack to check on further damage. I wish there had been more damage, it might have saved my skin. That gentle tone is really mother code for “when he leaves I am going to beat you into next week.”
“I knocked.” Kevin? “I wanted to remind him about the photo shoot and I should have just waited for him to answer the door. But he seemed to be taking too much time and I got a bit worried, having seen you leave earlier.” Kevin just covered for me. I know he owes me, but I’m still surprised.
“Oh. Were you asleep baby?” Genuine concerned tone. Good, I was off the hook. I was also in pain because she had decided I need to have my nose poked to determine if it was broken.
“Yes, ouch!” Mom sat back and pronounced my nose fine. She checked out the cheek and before replacing the ice-pace gave it a little kiss. OK, that stuff is cute when you are 5, or even 15 and alone with your mom, but Kevin was there. I guess he still felt guilty, he didn’t make a single comment about the kiss, not one. At least not for the rest of the week.
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