Orphic

TWELVE // PLEASE LET US HELP

"How do I look?" asks Elvin. He's wearing a blue, plaid shirt with breast pockets. Out of them are pens, which he claims "will make him look more professional" and denim jeans. We had to go on a shopping trip before returning to my house since all he had was ridiculous, pajama-like clothes.

"Fine," I say. I adjust the bottom of my skater skirt. "How do I look?" I was wearing black sweater tights, high heels, a maroon skirt, and a black, long-sleeved shirt which was tucked into it. Around my neck, I wore a gold necklace.

"Fine," Elvin echoes. "We better not screw this up. What were our points again?"

"Three of them, right?"

"Yeah, I think it was three."

"We were going to help with the garage sale, we had items to contribute, and... what was the last one, again?" I ask Elvin.

"We're friendly and would like to meet everyone," says Elvin.

"Alright, great. Do they know we're coming?" I ask. I guess I never really told them that we were coming in before-hand to ask them about whether or not we could come to the party. "Where are your things?" I ask Elvin. We were bringing a set of items to contribute to the garage sale. I was doubtful that Angie would let us in since I assumed other people had tried as much as we had.

"Over here," says Elvin. There's a set of toys, still in the packaging, clothing, a few books, and a single package of Tic Tacs.

"You're bringing Tic Tacs?" I ask suspiciously.

"Not for them. For us. Like the stuff I have?" asks Elvin. "I bought it a couple of days ago."

"Have you ever been to a garage sale, Elvin?"

"Do you think I have?"

"Well, no. But I thought you might have some background knowledge." I raise my eyebrows at Elvin. He shakes his head. "Well, basically, you sell stuff you've already had and are ready to get rid of."

"See, but there's a problem with that. I just got here like last week," Elvin says. He laughs and rolls his eyes.

"I know," I clarify, "-but it's not very realistic if you have toys still in the packaging and clothes with the tags still on." I scan his pile and notice a green sticker attached to a copy of Divergent. "Oh - and books with stickers still attached to the cover."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Take it off? What else? I'll help you. Toss me a box of toys."

We spend the next fifteen minutes or so mangling with plastic to free tiny, bobblehead animals from their cages. I shake a seahorse, watching its head bounce. "These are so cute. I remember having these. My mom got them for me when I was little. Littlest Pet Shops." I cock my head at the seahorse, looking at the tattoo-like flowers and spirals all over its skin. "Hm. They've changed quite a bit since I got them."

I remember my mom, my dad, and me playing with the toys together. At the time, we still lived at our old house. Tedore wasn't even in school yet. I remember Dad having to tear the toys away from his mouth as we played. Dad was always kind of rough, but that was just the way he was. Tedore and I had learned to fear Dad more than Mom because he was always more strict, but never unkind.

I shake the seahorse's head once more, and then set it in a bucket with the rest of the plastic animals we had collected. After that, we peel the stickers off the books and I get a scissors to cut the tags off the clothing.

I then pile on all the stuff I had gathered: old clothes, old toys, and a small purse I had found in the back of my closet. Our piles combined spilled off the top of the original laundry basket, so we had to split it between the two of us. "Ready to go?" asks Elvin, straightening out the collar of his shirt.