ᴍʏ ʙᴜꜱ ʙᴜᴅᴅʏ. [ᴍɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ ꜰꜰ]

Ch.6-It's a Start.

Ophelia carefully placed what would be the pie crust into the pan. They pulled everything together and set it in the oven. "What should we do now?" She spoke up.

"We could just talk." She nodded, glancing at a photo of him and his mother. "If I can ask, where is your father?" Finishing setting the timer on the oven, he turned to face her. "He and mother are divorced."

"I see." She looked at the picture once more. No one seemed unhappy. The woman and child smiled brightly as she affectionately had her arm around his shoulders in the photo. "Do you miss him?" Darryl shook his head. "Not really. He wasn't the greatest dad. He was real mean to me and a serial cheater. I love him, but I don't miss him."

"I can understand that." She wouldn't push any further. As soon as the silence was gone, it returned. She noticed a can of whip cream sitting on the counter. Darryl was turned away from
her, apparently staring fondly at family pictures. She smiled cheekily as she quietly grabbed the can and sprayed some on her hand.

"Darryl?" She snuck up behind him and hid her hand behind her back. "Yes?" As he moved to look at her, Ophelia clapped him in the face with whip cream. He jumped back and gasped out of pure surprise as she laughed at him. She calmed herself down before speaking,

"I'm sorry, did I hit you too hard?" He broke out into a smile and began to laugh himself. His laughter was so infectious, and it prompted her to do the same. Darryl snatched up the can and smeared it all over her face. He didn't want to hit her in case he was too rough and she got hurt.

Ophelia resisted the urge to chase him around with a handful of whip cream. They were already getting noisy, and she didn't want to wake Darryl's mom. They both calmed, and all the two could
do was grin. He leaned against the counter, and she followed suit.

"I don't think I've ever told you this, but I love food fights. I used to have them all the time with my old friends back in middle school."

"Oh? How did that turn out for you?" She asked. He chuckled and stared at the floor. "Not good, really. We got in trouble. It was a lot of fun, though." Ophelia loved to learn new things about
him. It made her feel closer to him and trustworthy. She certainly wanted to know more about his family, but it seemed a little invasive right now. "So, how are your parents?" He asked her. She sure didn't mind sharing about her own. "From the last time I spoke to them, good."

"Are you visiting them for Thanksgiving?" She thought for a second. She wasn't sure. "I don't know. I'd have to take a train or airplane to see them. I don't have a car yet." He checked on the pie. "Almost done. Where do they live?"

"They live in California, which is at least four hours from here." Darryl nodded at her words. "What about you?"

"I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I was raised a Jehovah's Witness." Ophelia wasn't one to judge anyone based on their religion. She felt bad. That meant he never celebrated Christmas or Halloween.

"Do you celebrate your birthday?"

"No, I never have," he replied. "In fact, I think I've lost track of how old I'm supposed to be," he joked. "Do you ever want to?"

"I do. I actually plan on abandoning being a Jehovah's Witness, as bad as that may sound. It's more of a family thing. One, I don't plan on continuing." The oven beeped, and Darryl grabbed an oven mitt. He took the pie out and set it on the stove. "What if you came with me to California?"

"Huh?" He said as if he didn't hear her. He sounded confused. "We could go visit my parents and family together, you could meet them. This could be a start, too."

He thought for a few minutes. Darryl seemed anxious. Maybe he didn't want to leave his mom behind? He stopped pacing, and he did so quite abruptly. It startled Ophelia a little.

He gave her a small, sheepish smile. "I'll go, but it's only because I don't want you to go alone."