Whispered Promises

Chapter Eight

           The next morning, I came downstairs to find my mother and grandmother having breakfast in the kitchen. I grabbed a cup of orange juice and toast from the table. "Why don't you grab some more food before you head out for the day", my mother spoke in a docile tone. I wanted to ignore her because I wasn't ready to resume friendly conversation, but saw my grandmother give me a stern look. Demanding me to speak to my mother. "I'm not hungry but thank you". "Oh, Okay", she said with a sad expression. After I finished my orange juice and toast, I grabbed my bag to head out the door, but my mother stopped yelling after me. "Why don't I drop you off at the bar, if you're okay with that?", she said pleading. "Um sure. Didn't want to take the bus.". We both got in the car and the ride was so silent you could hear every function in the car work. I stared out the window ignoring my mother constantly fighting in the awkward silence. "So, who was that last night?"

I didn't want to have a boy talk with my mother, but it seemed like it was hurting her that we were not talking. And I would hate to cause any more pain to my mother. "He's a friend of mine. We just work at the bar together. Nothing to talk about.". I was lying. I downplayed any feeling I had for Daryl because she would have made a big deal out of it. After all, we never really talked like this before. "He just gave me a ride home last night. Not a big deal, just being nice and all.". "Well, that's good, but be careful David was telling me about how he knew Daryl's family and how they're troublemakers. He's most likely one too." I turned to look at my mother with disgust; spouting quick judgment about a person she never met. "Well good thing we don't judge people based on their family, otherwise people may think I'm a cheating whore too.". I knew as soon as I said it, I messed up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, it slipped out so fast. I was getting mad, and I shouldn't have called you that.". All that came from my mother was a whispered: "It's okay". We sat in silence for the rest of the ride. I felt so stupid calling my mother out her name like that. When we pulled up to the bar, Daryl was sitting in the parking lot waiting. I said sorry to my mother and told her I'd see her later.

I walked up to Daryl with a smile. "Hey D", I said trying out a nickname. "How long have you been out here?". "Not long just about five minutes", he while getting off his bike. We headed inside the bar and started to set up. I cleaned my station as I watched Daryl sweep the floor, wanting to talk about his family. I knew nothing other than his brother was a jerk and what others told me. I grabbed from behind the bar two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila. "Hey Daryl, you wanna play twenty questions?", I said holding up the bottle. He looked at me and said sure. Daryl put the broom back and walked to the bar. I filled up the glasses and sat one in front of Daryl and then me. "you wanna go first?", I asked him.

"Nah, Ladies First"

"Ooo, and who says chivalry is dead."

He rolled his eyes and rushed me to go. "When is your birthday?", I started with an easy question. "Um, It's January 6", he answered. "Oh okay. Well, I'll be sure to remember that. Your turn", I say with a smile. "So, when is your birthday?", Daryl asked. "It's November 23. Pretty, right?", I say playfully. He chuckled a little. "Other than bikes, what else do you like to do? Or what other hobbies do you have?".

"I think that was two questions", Daryle says in response. "Okay. What are some of your hobbies?", I say with a bit of attitude. "Uh, I just work on bikes mostly, hang with my brother and the jackasses he calls his friends and I hunt occasionally.", he says.

"Hunt?", I ask him. "I do believe it's my turn to ask you a question.", he ignored my question.

I chuckled and said, "alrighty then go ahead.". "Why did you move here?", he asked "Oh, umm. Well, I thought it was because we went broke after my father's death two years ago but turns out my mother wanted to be closer to her boyfriend.", I explained.

"Mm, ok"

"So, my turn.... What do your parents do for work?", I asked. His face straightened out and he took the shot. "So, you must not like this boyfriend?", he says as he slams down his shot glass. I took a deep breath, catching on to the fact he didn't want to talk about his parents. "That's technically not a question", I say playfully to try to lighten the mood. "But I'll answer anyway. I don't know him that well. I just don't it to feel like he's replacing my dad."

"Yeah, that would suck", he says in a sarcastic tone. I let it slide because it probably doesn't seem important compared to what people say about his home life. "Well, we should finish cleaning up. People are gonna start showing up soon" I say while grabbing the glasses.