I went home after school to shower and change. I ate a small snack so that I wasn't starving.
My parents had already left by the time I had gotten home.
I hopped into my car and drove to the cafe, almost getting lost a few times.
When I entered I saw Lana sitting next to an older women in a wheel chair. I assumed that it was her grandmother.
Lana spotted me and waved me over. I took the seat next to her.
"Hey! Thanks for coming," she said giving me a side hug. "You'll be able to meet my mom and Ada, my sister. Iason and Kaj are setting up the set. Etor is bringing the pizza. This is my grandmother. Her name is Anassa."
I greeted Anassa. "Hello! Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you!"
"Same to you!" Anassa gives me a big smile and a small handshake.
I saw Etor walking through the door with five boxes of pizza, three bags of bread sticks, and two liter bottles of pepsi.
As he came over I could smell it. It made my stomach growl.
He set everything down and Layla started laying everything out. When I looked at the stage I saw Iason setting up a set of drums and connecting some of the cords to to guitars and speakers. Kaj came out setting some other stuff up. I saw some other guys come on the stage and set their gear up. I recognized them from school, but I didn't know their names.
Layla's mom and sister came over and sat down with us. Ada gave me a look but ignored me. She didn't seem to want to be here. Layla's mom was really nice. She welcomed me and handed me a glass of Pepsi. She then went to go take of Anassa.
I saw Kaj, Iason and the others climb up on the stage to start their concert.
We ate pizza and bread sticks while the show was going on. Etor put a pizza to the side for the band so they could eat after they played.
The concert was interesting. They were good. Kaj was singing and Iason played the drums. The other two played the guitar.
They played about 5 songs and took about 20 minutes.
Afterwords they took everything off stage and to wherever they kept all of it. Afterwords they Iason and Kaj came over to enjoy some pizza. I don't know where the other two had gone off to.
They sat down and immediately dug into some pizza.
They seemed starved.
Kaj ate quickly and was talking between bites of food. He keeps talking about what went really good and what could have gone better.
Iason was eating his pizza slower and rolling his eyes when Kaj was talking. He didn't seem to really care and only did this for fun.
Kaj seemed to take it more seriously.
Everyone ignored him. He wouldn't shut up until Layla decided to splash some Pepsi in his face.
"What was that for!" he yelled.
"So you would shut up," Layla replied while shoving part of a bread stick in his mouth. Everyone laughed as he tried to eat it.
She turned to me.
"This always happens after one of these shows. Just ignore him and he will eventually stop talking. Hopefully," she tells me reaching for another pizza slice.
Kaj grabs it before she can.
"Payback," he says smirking and holding up the pizza.
Before he can even do anything, Layla is able to reach up and grab it from him before he can even react.
She takes a huge bite. Kaj's mouth drops open.
"Close your mouth Kaj, you'll catch flies," Iason says.
Everyone cracks up laughing. Kaj starts pouting.
"Why do I hang out with you people. All you do is make fun of me," Kaj remarks. Everyone laughs again.
We had a great rest of the time joking, laughing, and even some off-key singing.
Eventually everyone left to go home.
When I arrived back at my house I was surprised to see my parents sitting at the table. My mom looked like she'd been crying.
"What's going on guys? What happened?" My voice carries a worried tone in it. I'm afraid something happened to Cleo, them , or someone else.
"We got there and we were ready to see Cleo and everything, but she didn't want to see us. I begged an pleaded trying to get the guards to force her to see us, but they wouldn't do anything. They told me something had gone down between her and another inmate and now her face is all scratched up. I really wanted to see her after that but they still wouldn't let us. So we were forced to come all the way back home," my mom states, crying even harder after she finishes with her story.
My dad just sits there shaking his head. He looked angry and disgruntled. There was also some annoyance present but I think that it was directed at my mother for the most part.
I gave my mom an awkward hug and went back up to my room.
I plug in my phone and see that I have some texts from Layla and Iason.
Layla was already texting about next weekend plans. It seemed that she wanted to have a sleepover.
I also had texts from Iason and Etor thanking me for coming out tonight to see the band.
I give them all quick replies and start getting ready for bed. I can here arguing coming from the kitchen downstairs. It sounds like my mom is trying to convince my dad to go back tomorrow and see Cleo, but my dad doesn't want to go.
This is starting another fight between them.
I get in the shower and by the time I'm done all I can hear is silence. It sounds like my dad has left again.
All the lights are off inside the house except for my room and I don't see any of the cars in the driveway.
I lay in my bed and start wondering what is going to happen to my family, and how I am going to stay standing in all of this.
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The next morning I wake up late, having nothing going on today. I make my way downstairs and see nothing. My mom isn't here, and neither is my dad. I'm alone again.
