The Tribuo - 11. part II, chapter 4

- IV -

“Well, Number Six,” I muttered under my breath when I was turning into my street. “I guess it’s you and me tonight again…”

I saw DeeDee’s Bug next to my driveway and grinned. Having DeeDee around was actually helpful right now. I knew that I was going to vent to her, and that it would make me feel better. I turned the car off and got out.

“Hey!” I called loudly when I got inside the house, and O’Neill promptly shoved his nose into my crotch.

I pushed him away and ignored Morpheus’ drool on my shoes.

“Move it, dogs,” I said absent-mindedly and walked into the living room.

Then I saw DeeDee who was sitting next to my mother on the couch, and all my hopes of venting immediately flew out of the window. She had a nasty bluish bruise all over her left eye, and she was wailing like a banshee.

“Oh dear God…” I said in astonishment. “What the hell happened to you?!”

DeeDee kept wailing, and all I could understand from her slurred stutter was 'Dad,' 'Caleb,' and 'Son of a bitch.' I frowned and looked at my mother.

“She got into a fight with her brother,” she sighed.

“Caleb hit you?!” I asked incredulously.

“I told…” she wailed even harder. “Job… he was… he… drunk… Dad yelled… I said… Job… he… drunk… He said… Stupid… and he… He hiiiiit meeee…”

I looked at my mother for translation.

“She told Caleb to get a job,” my mother said patiently. “And he was drunk again. So she told her dad that Caleb should find a job, and her dad yelled at…” she frowned. “I am not sure who he yelled at. But then Caleb got mad, I think… And slapped her.”

“He…” DeeDee sounded like she was having an asthma attack. “Dad… yelled… Ca…Caleb… Son of… Biiiitch…”

“Her dad yelled at Caleb,” my mother translated immediately.

“Oy,” I sighed. “Come on, Lawrence. Let’s go for a smoke. I need one too.”

My mother grimaced but didn’t say anything. DeeDee got up and followed me outside, shaking like an epileptic who forgot her medicine. We went outside and she plopped down on the bench. We smoked in silence for a couple of minutes -- well, relative silence, since DeeDee kept sniffling -- and finally, she stopped shaking. Cigarettes might kill, I thought, but they sure work wonders when you are hysterical.

“What’s up with you?” DeeDee asked me in a low from crying voice. “You look like you are about to kill someone.”

I hemmed at that.

“I broke up with Ellie.”

That took care of her sniffles in a flash.

“Seriously?! Oh my God! Finally!”

“Right,” I rolled my eyes.

“Frey, you do have common sense sometimes,” she laughed weakly. “What turned you into a sane person again?”

“Ugh… She started giving me a handjob,” I said unwillingly. “And let me tell you, she is damn good at that…”

“Let me guess,” DeeDee took a drag on her cigarette. “She stopped right when you were about to…”

“Uh huh,” I nodded solemnly. “I guess that was the last straw.”

“Told you she was a cock-tease,” DeeDee snorted. “How did she take it?”

I shrugged.

“Started crying. Said that she was a virgin, and that she wasn't ready or some shit like that.”

DeeDee blinked.

“What does it have to do with finishing a handjob properly?”

“My thoughts exactly,” I nodded energetically.

“Meh,” DeeDee shrugged indifferently and flicked her cigarette away.

“What?” I frowned.

She sighed and looked at me.

“Andrew,” she said patiently. “You are going to get back together with her by the end of next week.”

“What?” I started laughing. “Lawrence, are you out of your mind?”

“You are masochistic or something,” she shrugged. “I know that you will get back together with her.”

“No, DeeDee,” I said patiently. “I am done with Ellie for good. Plus, I don’t believe in sequels anyway.”

“Too bad I never bet,” DeeDee hemmed. “I would so make money off you!”

“Pffft!” I snorted. “Lawrence, you would lose and weep!”

“Whatever,” she laughed. “Well, I better go back home before my dad starts freaking out. He never gives a damn if Caleb doesn’t come home sometimes for two nights in a row, but since I am a girl…” she grimaced.

“Uh huh,” I nodded seriously. “An underage girl. If I were your dad, I’d freak out too, you know.”

“Chauvinist,” she sighed and got up. “See you Monday, Frey. And by Friday night, you’ll be suffering from blue balls syndrome again.”

“Get outta here,” I grimaced. “I am done with her, I am telling you!”

“Good night, Captain Delusional,” she laughed and walked away.

I flicked my cigarette away and got up. Might as well go to bed. I have a date with Number Six tonight.

****

Usually DeeDee was correct with her predictions, but not this time. I didn’t get back together with Ellie by Friday night. I got back together with her on Sunday. She called me around five in the evening and said that she needed to see me. I almost hung up on her right then and there, but for some twisted reason, I didn’t. So, we met at the park, and she looked all miserable; and she was saying something about reasoning, priorities, and something else. I said that I wasn't going to change my mind, and that I still had some shreds of self-respect left, when she started kissing me, and then every single shred of self-respect that I had left, promptly melted in her warm mouth.

She was surprisingly decent that night. By decent I mean she didn’t try to get into my pants at all. We just kissed for quite a while, and then she sighed and buried her face in my neck.

“Andrew,” she muttered, and her breath felt good on my neck. “I am sorry, okay?”

“Forget about it,” I said and nuzzled her hair that smelled like cherry.

She slightly pulled away and looked at me.

“I’ll keep my hands to myself,” she promised seriously, and I laughed.

“You don’t have to,” I said. “Just don’t pull them away before the mission is accomplished.”

“Right,” she hemmed.

****

Everything was great for a couple of weeks or so, and then we slowly went back where we started. She would drive me up the wall; I would grind my teeth and try to dump her, just so we could get back together two days later. DeeDee never said anything to me; she would just look at me with great pity and shake her head once in a while.

Speaking of DeeDee. She was acting really bizarre lately. It seemed like she lost a hell of a lot of weight, which made her look like someone in a mid-stage of anorexia, she had dark circles under her eyes as if she didn’t get any sleep, and she was beyond jumpy. At first, I found it sort of amusing how she would almost scream every time I sneaked up on her and said, “Boo!!” in her ear; but then it started to worry me somewhat. I tried asking her what the hell was wrong, but she would just shake her head and immediately change the subject. Finally, I stopped pestering her, thinking that she’d tell me when she felt like it.

At the end of the first week of December, my mother told me that she and Paul were going to Sun Valley for the entire Christmas break.

“We’ll probably stay there until after the New Year,” she said carefully as if expecting me to throw a fit and stomp my feet or something. I shrugged and said that it would be nice to have the entire house to myself for a couple of weeks. My mother almost laughed with relief. I was completely truthful with her though. With the way things were going between Ellie and me, I was pretty positive that I would end up getting filthy drunk over the holidays; and as open-minded as my mother was, even she would never appreciate the fact that I couldn't even stand upright. I suspected that Ellie wouldn't be much different just because it was a holiday season.

Interlude

“You’ve seen enough?”

“Yes.”

“Any ideas on what you will be doing?”

“None whatsoever. I like this guy. He seems nice, even though he has as much of a backbone as Pillsbury Doughboy, when it comes to that girl… Hmm, I wonder if maybe I could get him to pay more attention to his friend… DeeDee… That would be… What’s funny?”

“Nothing…”

“You have tears in your eyes, Seth. What’s so damn funny?!”

“Ohh… Nothing. Well, it’s something. But you’ll find out.”

“Tell me!”

“Nope. I want to see your reaction when you find out.”

“Ugh… Fine, doesn’t matter. I have to start tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. Oh, hey! It’s your second assignment!”

“Yeah, I know. So what?”

“Three more after that.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Three more? And then what?”

“Well, if everything goes well and according to the plan, you might get… Promoted, so to speak. And me too, along with you.”

“Explain please.”

“Well, you get five assignments. Five different people. If you succeed with them, you may enter the different plane… And since I am glued to you from now on, same goes for me.”

“Glued, huh…”

“Yeah… That’s what I’ve got for intervening.”

“Different plane… Care to elaborate?”

“Not right now. Later, maybe. By the way, are you going to be a guy again?”

“No. My name will be Katie Gibbs.”

“Bah! Why did you tell me? I wanted to play a guessing game…! Hey, wait! Rayne, wait! What is it?”

“I am not into games lately, Seth. Just keep observing.”

“Rayne, you are not still hung up on that guy are… Wait...! Wait! Crap…”