The Perfect Mix

Fourteen. The Perfect Mix of Dusk And Summer

I woke up around 11AM from the living room sofa. I could already smell food waiting for me at the table. Most days, this is always my first thought in the morning… food. Sometimes it’s about girls. But I know I shouldn’t be thinking about Jane nowadays now that I have Tam to take care of. But sometimes I do think of her. I wonder how her life would be out there and how would life be if she had not left. Would Tam be friends with her? I guess not. I bet Tam would be angry at her for making my life miserable by kissing her ex-boyfriend the night she invited me to come.

While I was eating my brunch, I can hear the sound of music coming from my room. It was definitely Tam, she’s awake and I guess I could invite her to eat brunch with me. As I step closer to the room, I could hear the sound of the music getting louder, and I thought I recognize the song. It was Maroon 5’s Sweetest Goodbye, that would mean…

“Hey!” Tam greeted me as soon as I opened the door.

“Good morning. I see, you stumbled upon my cds.” I replied.

“Yeah, actually this one is under your bed, and I noticed it’s case was broken so I taped it up.” She replied.

I grabbed and looked at the CD case and saw it is wrapped quite neatly with scotch tape. However, this made me think about that night again. “Nice” I said.

“What’s the matter?” She asked.

“Nothing.”

“Was it about last night?”

“No, no…”

“I’m sorry Red.” She said.

“No, it’s just, this CD brings back old memories”

“Really? Like what?”

“Songs about Jane” I murmured.

“Don’t space out on me.” She said.

“No, I mean, ugh, anyway, let’s just eat”

“Oh alright.” She agreed.

I guess she was hungry too. I guess she was waiting for me to eat. I found out from my mom that it was Tam who prepared that breakfast. Actually, she said it was Tam who now prepares breakfast ever since she came to our house. I told my mom that she shouldn’t do any heavy tasks since she is pregnant. And mom said she knows what is heavy and what is not. Plus, Tam is quite stubborn, more stubborn than I am, so I guess mom is right.

It was the same routine for the rest of the summer for me, Tam, my mom, my dog and my brother. My brother is rarely home but he knows what has been going on because of my mom. My brother doesn’t really care, all he cares about is helping us by getting the scholarship. Mom said, the funds that our father left us would not be sufficient if my brother doesn’t get the scholarship. I think that puts pressure on him a lot. To cut the story short, that summer, we finally hear the result of his scholarship application and he got half scholarship which isn’t that bad, all we have to do is to cut some of our luxuries. Tam, however, asked me if Claire was giving enough money to support her stay in our house. I lied, because I didn’t want to stress her out.

This summer was great, I spent a lot of time with Tam and sometimes Claire whenever she is around. They even watched me play basketball with my brother. I even got hit by the ball while I was waving at them. There were also nights that Tam would let me hold her belly and feel her baby. One time, I thought I felt the baby kick. There were also days where Tam and Claire would go out. I do get worried a lot since Claire is younger than Tam and who knows what will happen to them? Well, I try not to worry and just play video games while they are away. There were also nights where Tam would randomly cry and I had to comfort her. There were nights where we slept together on my bed.

On one afternoon on the final Friday of summer, I took Tam and Claire out at Robbie’s Arcade. Robbie’s Arcade is the closest video game arcade to our high school and it was memorable for us. Well, only Tam and I. Claire doesn’t really go here a lot, but she knows the place. Once we arrived, I noticed that not much has changed inside. The arcade was still as loud that couldn’t hear people talk unless they are close to you. And like most afternoons after school, the arcade was pretty much empty, but it was summer. And having a video game arcade isn’t the best business you’d want. They did add rentals of console video games but they were enclosed with dividers, maybe that’s why we didn’t see much people inside. That actually made things favorable since we almost had the arcade for ourselves.

 When it was finally time to go home, I saw someone we didn’t really want to see. It was Tam’s ex, the baby’s father, and with him is another girl who is holding his hand. This is highly reminiscent of the brawl I got into before the finals except both of us don’t have back up. But like before, I really want to punch him in the face. I didn’t tell Claire or Tam about it, instead I asked them to use the other door and exit the arcade and wait for me outside while I go take a loo.

I immediately confront the guy.

“Hey, remember me?”

“You? Who the hell are you?” The guy replied.

“Where’s the girl you got pregnant?”

“What are you talking about?” He said.

“Is that true? You got a girl pregnant?” The girl said.

“No, of course not, this guy is an idiot?”

“Do you want me to punch the truth out of you?” I said.

“That’s enough Red.” I can hear Tam’s voice behind me.

“Why are you here? I told you to wait for me outside.” I told Tam but Tam didn’t answer.

“Tam?” The guy said.

“What? You know her? Is this the girl you got pregnant?!” The girl exclaimed. When the guy didn’t answer, the girl ran towards the exit.

“Tam I can explain.” He said. Tam left and the guy tried to go after her but I put my arm around his chest and stopped him”

“Get your arm off of me!”

Then I punched him in the face, he dropped down and I walked away. The arcade was just too loud for anyone to notice what had happened.

Outside, I saw Tam crying and Claire was trying to comfort her.

“What happened?” Claire asked.

“Later, let’s head home” I said. Then we rode the next bus back home.

At home, Claire found out everything from me and she was actually furious when I didn’t tell her right away. But once I told her I punched the guy so hard it knocked her down, she was okay. Tam was still crying though. I personally asked Claire to stay that night. Luckily, her dad wasn’t coming home until tomorrow afternoon so she was okay with it. Tam needed all the support she needs right now.