Zinnia And Me

Day 9

"Hey buddy, how ya doing?"
I look up to see Danny standing behind me.
"Horrible," I replied.
Danny hugs me. "I know, it hurts."
I told Danny what happened last night that my heart was broken. As soon as I mentioned Gary, he came and got me. Danny did not like Gary nor his father. They worked at the same job, and during meetings him and Mr. January couldn't get along.

"How's my 14 year old boy?" Mom asked, kissing me.
"Not so good," I say.
"I'd love to stay home wit kiddo, gotta go of to work to help the children."
I nod.
"I'll be here if you want to do something with me," Danny offers, patting my back. "How about you and me do something together? Just the two of us?"

I shrugged.
"Take it easy, kiddo," Greg says, entering the room. "Remember, if somebody already gets her before you do, just move on."
"It's gonna take him awhile to move on," Mom says, grabbing her purse. "Zinnia and Zach have known each other since Kindergarten."

Liam enters the room. He takes one look at me and rolls my eyes.
"Grow up, you baby," he sneers. "It's not the end of the world."
Danny looks up at him.
"Unlike you who tends to dump every girl that he meets," he says coldly.
Me and Greg couldn't help but laugh. At least that cheered me up a little.

"I gotta go," Mom says, kissing me again and kisses Danny. "See you guys later on tonight."
Mom leaves and it's just us boys. Me, Danny, Greg, and Liam.
"Hey, boys," Danny says, "How about we do some good deeds around the neighborhood since it's getting close to the holidays, eh?"

"Sure," Greg says.
"Whatever," Liam mutters.
I raised my hand.
"I'll help out," I say softly.
"Good," Danny says, putting his hands on his hips. "You boys finish your breakfast and get ready for today. We've got a lot of cleaning to do."

*******
Me, Danny, Greg and Liam are all squeezed into Danny's small little car, which Greg likes to call it, the Tiny Mobile. Mom's been urging Danny to get a minivan or something bigger just to have enough room, but Danny prefers to have the hand-me-down car that once belonged to his father, that came from his fathers back in the early 80's. That's a pretty long lasting car that's so small.

"How about we go help Amber. She's been needing to clean out her house in the last few months," Danny suggests.
Liam sighs. "Why her?" He asked. "She keeps on breaking down and gets scared of every little thing. Plus she's so sensitive!"
Now it's Danny's turn to sigh.
"Can you just please help her out? Is it that hard to ask?"

It's been hard for Amber lately. Her husband passed away during the summer due to illness and it just tore her apart. She can't even sleep at night and her anxiety keeps her awake. Bad enough, her twin son drive her crazy. Moms been going over to her house lately to check on her, and she's even been to the doctor multiple times.

We get to her home in no time. Amber lives in a small cottage home near the pond. Somehow she's able to keep her Iris's and Lily's alive in the winter.
Dad rings the doorbell and a young, stressed woman appears.
"Daniel! It's you!" Amber says, and she gives him a hug. Danny hugs her back and kisses her on the cheek.
"How's everything holding up?" Danny asked, shoving his hands into his pocket.
"Oh, I've been trying my best," Amber replies. "I'm doing my best."

There were tears and Ambers eyes and Danny hugs her again.
"The boys and I've come to help you clean up since you've been having trouble doing it yourself," Danny explains.
"Oh thank you so much!" Amber says. "I've been bugging myself to do it, but ever since Rodney died, I just can't do it. Even the boys won't help out."
She glares at the twins, Manny and Max, who just stick their tongues at her. She rolls her eyes and turns her attention back on Danny.

"Don't worry," I say. "We'll clean out your house for ya. We'll work together as a team.
Amber puts her hand over her heart.
"Thank you, Zachary. You're such a young gentleman. Teach it to your older brother, sometime." She looks over at Greg.
"Hello, I believe we haven't met. My name is Amber. What is your name?"
"Gregory ForeverGreen."
"Related to Allie and Joey ForeverGreen?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Oh how lovely! Their quite famous for their photo shoots!"
Greg nods.

"Alright, let's get started on this house," Danny says.
"I'll clean the living room and bathrooms, the boys will clean the game room and their bedroom, Liam you can clean the kitchen, Danny the basement, and Zachary and Greg will clean the attic."
"Sounds like a plan to me."

Me and Greg get started on the attic right away. There were old pictures of Amber when she was just a child. Looking so happy holding a purple balloon, or gathered with her friends during a birthday party and drinking smoothies.
There were some pictures of Rodney, himself. His family, 3rd grade soccer team, birthday parties, and graduations, too. There was a picture of him, sitting under the Christmas tree and he held up what looked to be a Luigi doll, and he had on a big toothy grin.

"All pictures of Rodney go in the green box and pictures of Amber go in the pink box," Greg instructed.
"OCD much?" I teased.
"Shut up," Greg mutters.
I separate the pictures into the right box. I put them on an old shelf that was covered in dust. Greg was cleaning up any trash that was left up here. He managed to find old drumsticks that said Landonwood High School scribbled to the side with one broke in half and the other still in good condition.
"Those must be Rodney's" I guessed. "I'll put those in his box."
Greg hands me the broken and still intact drumsticks. Nearby was an old drum set. The only thing that was available was the snare and bass drum.
The kick pedal was out of sight, and I decided to tap the bass drum. It sounded old and dull. I did the same to the snare and it gave a happy excited sound. I put the drumsticks into Rodney's box and went back to helping Greg.

"Hey Zach, look, an old viola," Greg says, pointing to the old broken instrument.
"That's not a viola," I said. "That's a violin. That things way to small to be a viola."

"Whatever," Greg says. He finds the bow and moves it back and forth on the D string. It sounds horrible because it hasn't been tuned in so many years.
"Seems out of tune," Greg says. He starts messing with the peg, until the D string pops off.
"Greg!" I hissed.
"Sorry," he whispers.

                             *********
I'm taking out the garbage when I see Zinnia and Gary walk up the street.
"Garbage boy!" He yells and Zinnia laughs. Did she just laugh?
I could be dreaming.
She laughed.
At me.
Not in a funny way.
But in a humiliating way.

The garbage bags slowly slips out my hand and into the garbage bin.
I sadly start walking back into the house, trying no to cry.
Gary ruins everything.
And he ruined my chance to be my with my girl.
The one I love.
The one that makes my heart skip a beat.