𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝑴í𝒂 | ᴮᵒʸ ᴹᵉᵉᵗˢ ᵂᵒʳˡᵈ

1: Sixth Grade Blues

I sat with Shawn at a small lunch table as we worked on our history homework.

"You know I don't get the point behind all this? It's called "history" for a reason!" Shawn said,

"We gotta pass sixth grade somehow." I told him. I looked up and saw Cory and Mr. Feeny having their daily tension filled conversation. Cory began to walk over to Shawn and me. "He's a teacher, man. Keep raggin' on him. He's gonna make your whole sixth grade year miserable." Shawn said.

"I'm gonna be miserable anyhow. At least this way, I'm taking him with me." Cory said. "Hey, who's that?" I asked, looking over at a woman talking to Mr. Feeny.

"I think she must be new." The kid at our table said. "She must be new. She's talking to Feeny!" Shawn said. "Okay, so how late did you stay up last night?" The kid asked. "Monologue." Cory said. "Monologue, First Guest." The kid replied. "Monologue, First Guest, Bad Sketch." Shawn said. "Monologue, First Guest, Bad Sketch, Funny Zoo Animal." Cory said. "Monologue, First Guest, Bad Sketch, Funny Zoo Animal, Steve Lawrence." The kid said. "Whoa! Steve Lawrence!" Cory and Shawn said in unison. "You guys are lucky you got a TV. My old man still won't buy one." I spoke.

The bell rang loudly as I finished my sentence. "And there's the bell!" Shawn said, standing up and closing his book. "Four hours till lunch." Cory said, also standing up. We all walked to class. It wasn't that bad. I had all my classes and lunch with Shawn and Cory. We've been a trio since we were seven years old. Shawn and I met Cory when Shawn saved him after he fell into the llama pen at the zoo.

♥

Now in English class Mr. Feeny taught us Romeo and Juliet. A girl laid on Mr. Feeny's desk and played dead.

"She's dead, Mr. Bornihay." Mr. Feeny said. "Pick up the knife and kill yourself." "Come on. Mr. Feeny! You and I both know she's not really dead. May I stab her a few times just to make sure?" The girl sat up.

"Hey, you touch me with that knife. You better kill me the first time." She warned him. He looked at Mr. Feeny said his name with clenched teeth. "Alright, alright." Mr. Feeny said, laying the girl down again.

Shawn leaned forward to talk to Cory. He had his hand over his ear with an earbud in his left ear, listening to a sports game. Mr. Feeny caught him. "What's this, Mr. Matthews?" He asked Cory. "Huh? W-What did you say, Mr. Feeny?" Cory pretended to be deaf. "You took my hearing aid." Mr. Feeny began to narrate what was going on, which had Cory and Shawn on the edge of their seats.

Shawn looks adorable when he's invested in something. Mr. Feeny tried to explain Romeo and Juliet's importance to Cory when cries for help came from the direction of Mr. Feeny's desk. I couldn't help but almost laugh at the scene. Mr. Feeny ran over to his desk to break up the scene.

"Miss Kincaid! Thank you." He said, pulling her off and away from the desk. "Thank you for that vigorous interpretation." He turned around and focused his attention back on Cory. "Mr. Matthews, you do not listen to the ballgame in the middle of my class." Cory stood up. "Mr. Feeny, who cares about some guy who killed himself over some dumb girl?" Mr. Feeny walked over to Cory.

"The tragedy here, Mr. Matthews, it's not about a dumb girl. Or the boy who kills himself because of her. It's about the all-consuming power of love and the inevitably of its influence on each of our lives." Mr. Feeny explained. "Are you aware that I'm only eleven years old?" Cory asked Mr. Feeny. "Are you aware you have detention Friday afternoon?" Mr. Feeny asked Cory. "No, actually, I did not know that." Cory replied.

♥

School wrapped up, and I went back to the trailer park. "Shawn, can I go back with you to your place? Nobody's home yet, and I don't wanna wait outside." I spoke. "Yeah, that's fine. My mom's house, so she'll be excited to see you. She's missed you; you know? She keeps asking when you're gonna come over again." I smiled at the fact that Shawn's mom missed me. "That's nice. Thanks." "No problem."

We walked back to Shawn's trailer and went inside. His mom was in the kitchen folding laundry.

"Oh, Hi Adriana-Camila! Come here, sweetie!" She hugged me, and I hugged her back with a smile. "Hi, Mrs. Hunter." "After all these years, you still call me, "Mrs. Hunter" When are you gonna call me Virna? I said it was okay." "Well, I wanna be respectful." She smiled at me. "God, I love having you around!" She said, then hugged me again. "Well, I bet you and Shawn got schoolwork, so I'll leave you to it! It's nice to see you again, Adriana-Camila!" I smiled. "It's nice to see you too again, Mrs. Hunter." She smiled back at me as Shawn, and I went to his room to do our homework.

♥

After a few hours Mrs. Hunter knocked on Shawn's door. "Adriana, your daddy called and said he was home if you wanna go." She said softly. It sounded like she didn't want me to leave. "Oh, okay. Thanks, Mrs. Hunter. We're almost done with our homework anyway." She smiled and nodded. "You could stay for dinner if you'd like." I smiled back at her. "That'd be nice, but I know my dad would want me to have dinner with him and my brother. Maybe tomorrow." She smiled. "That works, Hun. I don't wanna ruin any of your family time." She closed the door and left.

"Sounds like she doesn't want you to leave." Shawn said as he copied my answers for science. "I don't wanna leave either." I spoke. "Why?" "I don't wanna make your mom sad." I told him. "Oh, she'll be alright. You said you'd join us for dinner tomorrow, so it's okay." Shawn finished copying my answers, and I left to go back to my trailer.

♥

As I walked in, I didn't see any sign of my brother, Eduardo. He must be at work or at a friend's house. I saw my dad stumbled down the small hallway with a beer can in his right hand. He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. He's been this way since mom left. She's with a man named Parker in New Jersey. I call her whenever I can and, in the summer, I stay with her, but I don't like to because of Parker. He's very nosy and very talkative.

Dad sat on the couch and stared at the ceiling. I didn't want to bother him to I sat my backpack in my room and started making dinner. He came in after a while and took over.

♥

The next day at school, I sat at a lunch table with Shawn and Cory. They talked about the nasty school lunch. "Mine's got fuzz." Shawn said. "Mine's got lips." Cory replied. I got up to throw away some trash. When I got back, Cory was at the table. Mr. Feeny was at. The day went by fast, and I went home.

Dad had already passed out on the living room couch. I grabbed one of the throw blankets and put it over him before closing the curtains. I dropped my backpack and jacket in the small lounge chair and cleaned up the beer cans along with whatever else he had out.

As I went to grab the stuff and go into my room, Dad grabbed my wrist. "Quédate conmigo, Hija." He said quietly. Stay with me, Hija. "Okay." I sat on the ground next to him and did my schoolwork quietly as he slept.

I ended up falling asleep myself. I heard Eduardo come home. Shortly after, I felt him pick me up and take me to my bedroom and lay me down in my bed. I felt the warmth of a blanket drape over my body.

♥

When I came back from school, Dad was messing with his truck. He got mad and kicked the tire. "Adriana-Camila, hand me a flathead." I grabbed the screwdriver and handed it to him. "Gracias, Mija." He said as he took a sip of his beer. "Mhm." I said, then walked into the trailer and did my schoolwork, and cleaned my room.

Dad isn't the type of drunk many people think he is. He's not abusive or mean. He's just quiet and sad. He drinks because he's sad. He's never laid a hand on or has yelled at me or my brother. Not even a little bit. Sure, when we get in trouble at school, he's upset, but he doesn't yell. He'll just take away something we own. Like Eduardo's Gameboy or my magazines.

Eduardo is six years older than I am. He's seventeen and has a job at a local fast-food place as a cook. He's also a junior in high school. The way he talks about high school it sounds stressful and nerve-racking.

♥

At lunch Mr. Feeny was talking to the woman again. "Two days in a row." I spoke. "She just doesn't learn." Shawn said. Turns out the "date" Cory told us Mr. Feeny had was really just dinner with his sister. Mr. Feeny turned to Cory. "Confused, Mr. Matthews?" "Yes, I am, sir." He replied. "As it should be." He told Cory before walking away.