Ink Love

INKY 12 - Part 1

BENSONS P.O.V

I searched for the keys in my bag, thinking about why Lauraine was crying when she left. I hadn't done anything to offend her, at least nothing I knew about.

I sighed in frustration. "Women are difficult to understand."  I removed Lauraine from my mind and concentrated on fitting the key into the door.

The key went in but the door was already open. "Well, isn't this a surprise?" I whispered to myself. Why was I whispering?

I walked into the parlor and it didn't have the smell of fresh dinner wafting through the air and I could hear hushed voices talking in the kitchen. I pulled off my shoes very quietly at the door and shut the door behind me.

I started creeping, trying to avoid the creaking floorboard giving away my presence. I made it past the parlour but the hushed voices acknowledged my presence.

"Benson, honey, is that you?" It was Mom.

I breathed out in relief. I was safe and there were no robbers in my home. "Yes, I'm home mom! I'm gonna get showered and come help you." I answered, picking up my shoes from where I had dropped them earlier and slacking my bag to my forearm.

"Could you come into the kitchen for a minute please?" Mom asked.

"Sure? I'm coming."

I dropped my shoes and bag, making my way into the kitchen. There was a woman with a grey perm wearing an African print dress. It looked like something the Lady Morgana would have worn back in the days of Camelot if they had African print in Camelot. The mysterious permed visitor didn't show her face, she just sat, very, still.

"It's good to see you Benson, honey. It's been a living hell at the hospital and I've had to cover so many shifts but luckily for me, I have good friends like Oge here." Mom pointed to the mysterious permed guest.

Where had I heard that name before? It sounded so familiar, like I hear it every blessed day but yet so strange. Then it hit me. The only Oge I knew was Ace's mother! Why is she here? Why is she speaking in hushed tones with my mom? Something was wrong. 

"Hello, Benson." Oge finally turned to smile at me, the kind that said 'Good luck' after you've put someone in the worst possible position.

"Good evening Mrs. Wright, it's good to see you." I lied.

Mom tapped the stool beside her. "Come sit, honey, we have a bit of talking to do."

Mrs. Wright averted her gaze from me. She was guilty!

"Well, I have to be on my way now. Dinner isn't going to make itself and I can't trust Ace to feed us anything but pizza crusts." Mrs Wright said, packing her bag to rush out. When we passed each other, she whispered in my ears.

"Good luck, Benson, you're gonna need it." Mrs. Wright patted my shoulder as she left.

LAURAINES P.O.V

"Mi amor, ¿estás bien? - My love, are you okay?"  Dad asked, his face screaming with concern and worry as he dropped the salad he was tossing on the marble counter.

"Si, estoy bién. ¿Por qué lo preguntas? - Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"  I answer, still lost in my thoughts.

"Well, you've been pouring that salad dressing on the counter for almost five minutes." He pointed to the pool of salad dressing in front of me, about to drip down the counter.

"¡Mierda! - Shit!" I cussed, snatching some paper towels in front of me to soak up the mess on the counter. 

"Lauraine Querida Michael! Language!" Dad screamed, startling me and making me flinch.

I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to see if this was another one of his pranks. He kept a straight face for a few seconds before bending over, one hand on the counter, the other holding his stomach while he roared in a fit of laughter.

"Muy gracioso, papá. - Very funny, Papa." I rolled my eyes at him, tossing the soaked paper towel in the trash can.

"You should have seen your face. It was priceless!" He said between his gasps for air as he tried to breathe.

"Grow up Papa." I rolled my eyes at his childishness for the second time.

"Necesitas mucha más diversión en tu vida. ¡Eres tan aburrida! - You need a lot more fun in your life. You're so boring." Dad whined, picking up his salad bowl, and continued to toss his salad.  "Pero estás bien, ¿verdad? - But you're okay, right?" He asked.

"No Dad, I'm not fine! My entire brain is thinking about Benson Scott!" I blurted out, raising my hands in the air, frustrated and tired.

"Benson Scott? Sounds like a boy's name." Dad smirked.

I gave him a 'Seriously, dad?!' look. "Gee, no shit Sherlock, I never knew it was a boy's name."

Dad raised his hands in surrender. "Sheesh, a man can't even have some fun in his home. So, what is it that bothers you about this Benson boy?"

"Well, we agreed to do this thing where we pretended to be crazy weird in front of Heather and Jane so they would let us be and I would have my class in peace and it worked but after that, we didn't feel like having class so we decided to watch the scenery and listen to music. Well, the problem now is that I never knew I had this many and complex feelings in me and I never knew I could feel them through music! And now, I'm worried that it's not just the music that brought out these feelings." I let out a deep breath and slouched on the counter.

"Sin encorvarse. Sabes que tu madre se pondría furiosa". - No slouching. You know your mother would be furious." I sat up straight. "Well, why are you having classes in the first place, mi amor?"

"¡Mierda! - Shit!". I cursed under my breath. "Dad, this is the part where I tell you that my math grades are dead and Mrs. Gretchen has paired me with a nerd boy who happens to be the Benson boy in question and I have classes with him every day after school."

"Lauraine Querida Michael!"