Next Door Neighbor (Part One - 1966)

2 - Family Means -Nothing/Everything

Week 2

'Family. It's something that should be familiar to someone like me. I have a mother and a father, even a little brother. Yet, it feels like I sleep around a bunch of strangers. Family means nothing to me.'

January 9, 1966
Aurora
Phoenix, Arizona

The ceiling was becoming boring. I counted every. tiny. speck about a gazillion times before I gave up. Everything was just beginning to blend together, anyway. I rolled over off my bed and let my socketed feet hit the carpet. So soft. My inner voice moaned. I happened to agree.

My feet led their own away out of the moon, and my hand leaped out to close the door. A soft click ensued behind me. Following the crudely drawn paintings in the hallway, down the stairs, through the foyer... my mother sat stone still. Her hands folded together, and her hair thrown into a messy ponytail.

Mouth curled up into a small smile, she jerked her head towards the seat next to her. I sat, sagging down into it. Mom briefly kept her gaze on me, before looking back at the table.

"D-did you sleep well?" Mom whispered. Voice sounding dry and cracked.

"I guess." I sighed. "I heard a really strange noise last night-."

"OH? Such as?"

"I dunno." I replied boredly.

"Mmh," came her terse reply.

"I think I hear a-beepin'," Mom suddenly stood, sending her chair back flying. "I better go check on that!"

"I don't hear anything," I responded. But she was gone. That's just... weird.

---

Michael
Gary, Indiana

Boring. Boring. So so so boring. There was absotively, positively, Mikey-tastic thing to do right now. Mother was down for a nap, so no way of getting some 'delectable' yummy stuff. Delectable was in Jermaine's vocabulary test today. I one uped you again, Maine!

Jackie had baseball practice, Tito was messing with what little hair he had and Marlon... was in the back being Marlon. I'll do something with him later I suppose. But for now, there was just me and the bed. Guess I could eat my candy.

"Psst..." cam a strange whisper.

I turned round to find Maine peaking his head in the door. "I'm gonna go hang with Johnny from down the street, right? Tell mother I went to the corner store. I'll swing by there on my way back."

"You expect me to lie?" I huffed. "Mother's always lect'rin us about lyin' to her and Joseph."

Jermaine took a turn at huffing.

"Since when have you cared about the rules? Just last week, you called Joseph a butt-faced buckethead."

"I didn' say it to him," I retorted. "And I won't unless you wanna take the switch for me."

"Just..." Maine's ears turned red outta irritation. "Tell Mother I'm at the dang corner store. I'll get you those stupid little chocolate candy kisses you like."

"Fine." I puffed my chest out. "And they are not stupid! They're melty and yummy chocolaty goodness!"

Maine grumbled underneath his breath before he closed the door softly behind him. I grinned. I'm gonna have some fun with this. A million ways to prank danced merrily in my head. That fool don't know what's comin' for him. That'll teach him to insult my candy."