Hutch

19

Hutch

"She's going to murder me."

"You didn't tell her?" Collin all but shouts as we head toward the front door of Daisy's house.

"I forgot. I was nervous and then we ran to get showered and see the medical team and...I forgot."

"She's going to beat you."

The noise hits us as soon as we open the door. Music is playing and the place is littered with the beginnings of a party. This isn't going to work.

"No party tonight!" I shout. "If you're on the team, you're welcome to stay, everyone else get out!"

Jenny and Daisy stare at me, confused.

I make a beeline for Daisy. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"The phone call? I panicked. He wanted to meet me and Collin tonight and the first thing out of my mouth was we were coming over here to eat and he said I like free food and I invited him over...and..."

She puts a finger to my lips to stop me. "It's fine."

"You're not mad?"

She smiles softly. "We're friends, yeah?"

I nod.

"Then I'm not mad. As your friend, I'll feed this person and make sure you have somewhere quiet to talk. Okay?"

"There's more," Collin says.

Daisy turns her eyes to him.

I elbow him in the gut. He doesn't need to tell her I may or may not have called her my girl. He'll do it for spice, but now is not the time.

"Carson's coming over too since he's part of the team. He did not get a call when they were looking at all three of us."

Thank God.

Well no, because I feel bad for Carson. It's shit. Thank God Collin kept his mouth shut about my slip up.

"Hailey, get the party goers out of the house!" Jenny shouts over the noise and turns off the stereo. They actually have a stereo system someone's boyfriend set up.

She is met by boos to which she glares. "Keep complaining and I'll never allow another party here for the rest of the year."

I follow Daisy into the kitchen where she has several large bowls of different ground up meats.

"What is all that?"

"Beef, chicken, and turkey. Just because it's your cheat day doesn't mean it's everyone else's."

"Did the guys pitch in and help with the cost of the groceries?" Collin asks as he comes over.

"Not yet." Jenny takes three large platters down and the parchment paper to set out in front of Daisy who starts shaping patties to transfer over. "They're all downstairs. Seems no one really wanted a party even though people were arriving."

Collin growls. "How much?"

"Two hundred, ten dollars and some change."

He turns and heads toward the door leading to both the basement and the attic, disappearing downstairs and yelling at the top of his lungs for money.

"Is he always that loud?" Daisy asks as she hands over a full platter of patties to Jenny who takes it and walks outside to the back porch.

"Yeah, but he's got a large extended family back in Mexico. He has loud relatives and an overly loud abeula." I'd met his grandmother when we all went to visit his family in Mexico last summer. She's a peach.