Big Trouble

8/24/10

Dear Diary:

Uh-oh! Dad’s really in for now! The story goes like this! Dad and I came back from the movies this afternoon. (One of those rare innocent father-daughter moments where nothing icky-looking occurs. Surprise, surprise!) Guess who we found sitting in the living room glaring at us. (Well, more of dad than me. But still…) Mom sober and angry! Yes, you heard me right! Sober and angry! She sat by the answering machine looking dead on at dad. I noticed that answering machine had one new message on it. I looked over at dad slowly. He began to look nervous right away. Uh-oh! This is not good! Dad swallowed his fear hard as we looked on at mom.

“Charlotte!” he called out. “What’s up?” Mom didn’t speak at all. She just hit play on the answering machine. Here’s what the message said and I quote:

“Hi Dickey! It’s me, Kristy! There’s something I have to tell you. I’m pregnant and it’s yours. Call me as soon as you get this! Love ya! Bye-bye!” Dead silence filled the room. I looked between both of my parents for five minutes. Mom looked like she really wanted to kill my dad. Dad looked pale as a corpse. He looked like he would faint at any moment now. Busted! Oh crap! I sense another war coming on. I ran straight to my room to grab my laptop before it starts to get ugly.

I managed to escape into our small garden. I set up my laptop in the summer screened room in the middle of the garden and got right to work. This place is my refugee for writing and to get away from my parents’ fights. Today it served as both. I forced myself to work feverishly on the last part of my script. My deadline had drawn near. I had to send in the draft to the director or kiss this film deal goodbye. I can’t afford that at all. I need this big break! For a long time I had writing scripts for small films. When this offer came around, I jumped at it right away. Now, I have to give it my all for this chance. I can’t blow it! As my parents’ fighting grew louder and louder, I began to type faster and faster. At one point, I typed with the shouting. My mind and my body had separated from each other at that point. All I could focus on was my script.

This lasted until someone called my name. At first, I thought I was hearing things. So I kept on typing. But then, the voice got louder and louder. Finally, someone hit me heavily on the shoulder. I whipped around quickly. Brookey stood over me with a blank face. I could tell that she had just woken up from her summer afternoon nap. She clearly didn’t want to be awake again. But I sensed that mom and dad woke her up for something important to say and sent her out to get me. I blinked at her once.

“Yes?” I asked her. My baby sister kept her stoic face at me.

“Mom and dad want to see us all in the living room,” she said to me. I blinked at her once again.

“Now?” I asked her.

“Yeah!” Brookey said half-annoyed to me.

“Hey!” I said sharply. “Don’t take that tone with me, child!”

“Whatever,” baby sister replied. “Just come on!” I sighed as I hit save and shut down my laptop.

“Fine!” I sighed. “Coming!” I closed up my laptop and followed Brookey into the house. Rachel and Toby sat on one side of the living room and mom and dad sat on the other side. Our parents looked up and saw us.

“Brookey, Daryl!” mom called out cheerfully sober. “Come and sit down!” My baby sister and I did so in silence. Our parents looked at each one of us.

“Why are we here?” Toby asked bored. “Can we make this quick? I have a date tonight! I don’t want to have to make her wait for the love machine!” I rolled my eyes at that one. “Pervert!” I thought. My brother is just sick like that! Mom clapped her hands together firmly.

“Okay!” she called. “Now that you’re all here, we have something to tell you.”

“Are you and dad going a divorce?” Brookey asked in the same tone as Toby.

“Yes,” our parents said together. No surprise there. They were just hanging onto each other and just fighting all of the time. In tell you the truth, I just wished that they would just go on and divorce. No point of hanging on any longer. Their marriage had just gotten tired by this point. Brookey slapped her knees once.

“Right,” she said. “I’m staying with mom!”

“What was the final nail in the coffin?” Toby asked. Mom played the message back on the answering machine.

“Hi Dickey! It’s me, Kristy! There’s something I have to tell you. I’m pregnant and it’s yours. Call me as soon as you get this! Love ya! Bye-bye!” the message replied. Silence filled the room once again. Toby had a grin up to his ears.

“Sweet dad!” he called. “Way to good!” Rachel jabbed him in the ribs. “Ow!” my perverted brother called out.

“That’s tacky!” my older sister hissed at him. Mom cleared her throat again. We all went quiet and turned her attention back to our parents again.

“Because your father’s latest blunder,” she went on. “I have finally decided to kick him out the house and file for divorce!” Dad looked at her as this was news on him.

“Kick me out?” he asked. “Oh hell no! I’m not going anywhere!”

“Yes you are!” mom snapped. “This is *my* house!!!”

“Yeah, that *we* bought together!” dad shot back.

“Since when?!?” she screamed. “You have any proof of that?!?” Then, another one of their fights started back up again. My siblings and I quietly exited the living room unnoticed. No real surprise there.

So now, here I am again. I am just about finished with my script. But yet, I can’t think of a way to end it. I have thought of many ways, but none seem to fit at all. I’m slowly running out of ideas here. How do I end this script? Hm…

Suddenly, I look out my window and see my dad heading out for the night. I roll my eyes to myself. “Humph!” I thought. “He’s going out to see Kristy, I guess! How typical!” I’m about to turn away back to my work when I hear some tires screeching outside. I rush to the window and look out. My mom is chasing down dad with her car! I can’t believe this! My mom got into her car and is now trying to run her soon-to-be ex-husband over. I want to turn away, but yet… something is drawing me in to keep watching. The faster my dad runs, the faster my mom drives after him. My, she’s really close. I rush to my other window to keep watching.

This case went on for six more blocks. Finally, dad tripped and fell to the pavement. Oh crap, she’s really going to hit him! My dad huddles up in fear. Mom drives up really close… But, then she turns around and drives back home. Dad and I breathe out in relief. It is then I realize, I now have the perfect ending to my script. I’ll get right back to you when I’m finished. Wish me luck! See ya! Bye.

DEH

Oh no!