Ava's Roulette

Chapter 4: Come tell Mama

After the incident at the coffee shop, I dashed to the kitchen and stuffed my arms with things so I would not have to go downstairs at all. I went straight to my room and did not come out knowing Rob and Liz would be all over me in a heartbeat.

I ate, slept, worked out, ate, worked, ate. On repeat. From Monday to Wednesday. I missed three days of lectures, yes, but I had people I could ask for notes. Yet, the frustration helped me focus. I did not want to think about anything regarding my life outside of the assignment. So, I typed furiously and combed through my research over and over again. Finally, I was pleased, and frankly surprised. I had finished before midnight, the extended deadline the professor had given me. Five whole hours to spare.

I handed my assignment in, confident and happy. The sense of euphoria drove me to clean the pigsty that had become my room. As I took my trash and dishes downstairs, and I suddenly remembered why I had been avoiding going downstairs. Liz was sat on the couch with a grimace on her face.

"Come sit down with mama" she said patting the couch cushion in front of her.

I could have gone back to my room, but this was going to happen whether I liked it or not. Liz would have just argued with me over the door. She would not have given up either, she could go on for hours. The thought made me giggle, but I showed no expression as I sat.

She let loose.

Liz was flabbergasted. She couldn't believe that I had attacked two separate people in the span of 36 hours. She went full mum mode telling me how I was endangering myself, and how he could totally sue me, and on and on. Again, she was not wrong.

"I know Liz, you're right. He could totally bankrupt my father if he wanted to."

"Well darn, we better hope he doesn't care enough to look for you then."

"Well, he doesn't remember who I am so that's an advantage"

Liz whips her head around with her arms squeezing her chest. "You know him?!"

I put my hands up defensively "Not really, we met once, at a party a long time ago."

"Oh. My. God. You are so reckless! I thought you were strangers, I thought you were angry at the world, I thought... Oh god it's only a matter of time before he remembers." Her huge brown eyes darted around as if she were searching for something in her mind. She put her thumb in her mouth and bit into the nail. She paced back and forth in front of me while I sat cross legged on the couch, immobile. I did not know how to comfort her, how could I? She was worried about me, but my fate depended on whether that asshat fancied taking me to court or not.

I stood up and went over to Liz. I held her shoulders making her face me.

"I know I have been acting like an ass, and now there are some real consequences at my door. But what's done is done. I can't take those punches back even if I wanted to. I don't want you digging a trench here out of worry all right? I'm just... I'm a mess right now and I'm sorry that you have to witness all of it."

Liz tilted her head and pouted. "Ava, I just don't want you getting caught up in a mess because of Ace. You should not be punished for his actions" I gave her a sad smile and she hugged me. She knew it was an unwinnable battle. How could we predict what was to come? I was at peace with this, but as the tearful warm spot on my shoulder grew, so did my guilt. Christ, she doesn't even know about the bikers.

Liz was always going to worry for me, she worried for everyone. She was always the one who wanted everyone to be friends, always made sure everyone was included in the invite, always offered to give you a ride if it meant you went to the party. We embraced, or more like she embraced me, and I awkwardly patted her back for a while. I just was not a fan of touching; it was weird to me.

When she finally pulled away, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and gave me a small smile, "You owe me two coffees." I flinched and smiled back remembering that in the commotion, we did not even get our coffee.

"Well, it's going to have to be after the break"

"I won't forget" she teased, using two fingers to point at me and then her doe-like eyes as she retreated to wash my dishes. She did that when she was stressed. I always felt weird letting her do them, but I knew this was her way of calming down, and it meant I did not have to wash them myself. So, I started going up the stairs and when Rob opened the front door.

"Hello, hello" he sang as he looked at me walking up the steps. "Hey, looks like our UFC fighter is out of the ring huh?"

Liz turned and grimaced at Rob. He shrugged, "I'm just making an observation. You look better."

I smiled at him "Yeah, I feel better. Cleaning my room out helped."

He nodded and remained quiet. I could almost see the thoughts reflected in his eyes. He hadn't really been talking to me, something was off. I was about to ask what was wrong when Liz shouted from the kitchen.

"Come on in Rob or you're gonna get a cold" The air was chilly in New Jersey at that time of the year "Or you'll give me a cold." He closed the door and shot me a quick look before heading towards Liz.

"Alright mooooom" he poked her ribs. He'd gained the habit of doing that to tease her. She squealed. I decided not to interrupt and headed back up to finish cleaning and to start packing my bags. It was Thanksgiving weekend, so I had to go back home. It was the only time my parents really insisted on it, that, and Christmas.

I opened the door to my room and sighed. There was a long way to go, and I did not feel like packing, or going back to my parent's home. But I was still their daughter, genetically, so might as well avoid another argument. I got down to it, otherwise it would never get done.