Vista

winehouse

My mum and Kelsey went to Australia for a series of workshops Kelsey needed to have. I begged Emily to move in with me, and my mum had accepted because they were going to spend up to a month.

Emily and I were watching a movie when Tony called. I knew the conversation was about Emily, so I left the room and I was heading downstairs.

"Ye man."

"Yeee Sir! The sole pirate of the Caribbean!"

I laughed. "I'm a captain, bruh."

"Yeah. Sailing in a heavenly boat built with gold and sapphire, accompanied by a beautiful mermaid with dark hair spread on the deck. You sure are the luckiest captain."

I choked in laughter. "Well, what can I say?"

"Let's see. Say there's a Titanic?"

"I've got lifeboats."

"You're indeed the man."

We burst into fits of laughter again.

"How's Elsa?"

"Man, I'm as lucky as you are."

"That makes two captains, huh?"

"Maybe. But for real she's a force to be reckoned with, apart from just being a girlfriend. Makes me want to do anything for her."

"Wo. Calm down bruh."

"For real. It's not very easy to find a girl who works the way she does. She cooks dinner for her dad, attends her shifts in the evenings, and gets home at 10 p.m. to read a few lines before bed while trying to make good grades by attending all her classes."

"That's a lot."

"She's always sick. She spends most of her earnings on drugs for herself and her dad."

"She has you man, what job does she need?"

"A stubborn girl, too. She insists on making her own money."

"If there's any other thing you can give her that's not money, you should make sure she gets it."

"Yeah. Like tuition."

"That's so good, man."

"Yeah."

"But I'm hoping you're okay?"

"Not very."

"Spill."

"I keep having these strange dreams when I'm asleep. Most of the time, I'm falling into a deep hole."

"Nightmares."

"Yeah. But there's more to that."

"Can we ditch class tomorrow to talk about it?"

"Yeah. By 3 pm. At Pepper's."

"That's fine, man. That'd be cool."

It was only later that I realized that I wanted to hear Tony's problem without analyzing what he said.

"Ethan?"

"Yeah?"

I spotted Emily at the top of the staircase, before realizing that I was sitting on the couch downstairs.

"Is everything okay?" She was descending.

"Hm mh."

"Who was it?"

"Tony. Just called to say hi."

"Oh. Okay. I'm going to make dinner."

"The chefs will - "