In Between

Chapter 5: We Have An Announcement

The steam from my coffee drifts into the living room. His eyes are locked on the news channel. A big fire broke out a few blocks over; three houses burned down. He demanded I reach out to any of our friends that live on the block of the incident. I reassure him that they are okay as they are responding to my messages. As the news channel begins to move onto their next subject, he brings up the bright idea of inviting everyone over to celebrate the fact that we are all alive. There's never been an incident like this so close to home. We live in a small town. Not small enough for everyone to know one another, but small enough to drive from one end to another in less than an hour. He insists we have a fire out back. So, we're going to have a fire to celebrate that we didn't die in a house fire?

One thing about him is when he puts his mind to something, he will make it happen. The "celebration of life" party was planned within minutes. Everyone we know has been invited and now it is up to me to figure out how to feed everyone. Before I can make it to the kitchen, he declares that we must go to the backyard and dig a hole to make the fire. We don't have a fire pit. I follow him outside and to the middle of the yard. Shovels in hand, we dig. Dirt flies through the air; we dig with no concern of where the dirt is going. I suggest we put it in a pile in case we need to put the fire out. Our water hose is not long enough to reach back here. He laughs, "imagine we're the next house to burn down in town!" I chuckle, but I don't think it's very funny. We dig for almost thirty minutes until he's satisfied with how deep we've gone. Throwing the shovel to the side, he runs over and lifts me onto his shoulder. My shovel falls to the ground. "What are you doing?" I holler. "Putting you down for a dirt nap!" He responds with laughter. Panic takes over me and I beg for him to put me down. The dirt pile felt cold beneath me; quickly calming me as I realized he was just putting me on top of the dirt pile; not covering me in it. He laid down beside me, his hand running through my messy, sweaty hair. The sun beat down on us like a spotlight on a stage.

"What did you do that for?" I ask calmly.
"For fun, because you're cute when you panic." So glad you think that.
"I definitely panicked" I giggled a bit, "what do you want me to cook for everyone?"
"We got hamburgers and hotdogs, right? I can grill 'em up. You just sit there and look pretty."
"Okay, well why don't I make us some lemonade? I'm thirsty after all that digging."
"Me too. And we need a shower."

I make two pitchers of lemonade for the party and make sure we have enough ice cubes. My hair is still dripping wet from our shower. I let the pitchers sit in the fridge after pouring a glass for both him and myself. My phone rings a notification bell. My mom texted me, "Sorry I haven't talked to you sooner. I hope you know how much I love you. It's just been so hard. I miss you." I type back, "I miss you too! Love you, so much. It's okay. I'm okay!" But it wouldn't deliver. The shed door slams shut and I rush out to make sure he doesn't need help getting the folding table set up. I almost forgot the lemonade.

I place an old, sun-bleached blue tablecloth atop the table to hide the dirt and dust. The sun is slowly setting behind us while he starts the charcoal grill. Tires roll over the gravel driveway; we wait to see who appears after a car door shuts. Kyle walks up, brown bag in hand. They greet each other with excitement. He brought liquor, the one thing we didn't have. Great, liquor and a fire with no pit. This sounds safe. I excuse myself inside to get the lemonade and water pitchers. I hear more cars against the gravel. Hoping there's a female in one of those vehicles so I don't feel alone. Nicole's blue hair shimmers through the glass door. She waves and opens the door for me. "Do you need any help, babe?" She grabs a pitcher from my hand before I can answer. "I'm just putting these on the table. You want to help me get the cups and stuff for the food?" She rolls her eyes, "I would, but I just came from the gym and it was leg day. I'm sure Kayla will help!" Why offer to help if you're not going to help? Kayla makes her way towards us. "Hey ladies! Need any help Vanessa?" Nicole smiles and walks off. Kayla assists me in getting everything out to the table. We make small talk as we set the table for easy access. She tells me about how the kids are with a friend tonight and how she and Brent are excited to not have to play host. I tell her I'm happy to play host for the night. Jasmine and Joey enter the yard hand in hand. "Are they dating now?" Kayla asks me. I shrug. Like I would know.