Expect the Unexpected

Shea: Chapter 13

Shea: Chapter 13           

            I glance at my phone as I open the front door to my house. It's 9:09 PM, and I'm just getting back from the Cirellis. I have to take two busses and a train to get home, since Anthony can't drive me anymore because he's in rehab. It's been two weeks since Anthony left for rehab, and I miss him more and more every day. Mr. Cirelli offers to drive me home every night, but I always turn him down. There's no way that I'm going to spend 20 minutes alone, in a car, with a White man that I don't trust. My grandmother's told me way too many stories of White bosses who've gotten a little too "handy" with their hired help.

            I walk into my living room to find my sister, Desirée, and her little boyfriend sprawled out on the couch, watching television. My little brother, Jayden is playing his Nintendo DS on the floor.

            "Did you guys eat?" I inquire as I flip through the mail. Desirée nods her head at me without turning away from the television. Jayden puts his DS down as he springs up from the carpet to give me a hug. Every night when I come home from work, Jayden clings to me like a little koala bear until I read him a bedtime story, and tuck him in.

            "Shea!!!" He exclaims as he squeezes me. "I missed you kiddo!" I pick him up, and hold him close to me. He's so adorable. He's been calling me "kiddo" since Anthony called called him kiddo on the day that they first met. My stomach drops as I remember Anthony's smile when he first told me that he loved me.

            "You still sad, Shea?" Jayden asks. He's so perceptive. He senses my every emotion.

            "A little, buddy." I admit.

            "Here," he says as he hands me a folded piece of paper, "I made this for you in school. " I unfold the piece of paper, and it's a drawing of him and me. It's actually pretty good. There's a chocolate-brown teenage girl holding the hand of a peanut butter-brown little boy. The two appear to be running on a sidewalk. It's really detailed.

            "Did you draw this all by yourself?" I inquire. He nods his head proudly.

            "Yup. You like it, kiddo?" He asks.

            "Of course I do." I reassure him. "You can help me hang it up in my room before bedtime."

            "Yay!" He exclaims as he runs around the living room in his batman pajamas. Desirée suddenly catches my eye, and she beckons me over to the kitchen.

            "Can Marcus stay the night?" She asks as she gestures to her boyfriend, who's reclining on the couch. I nod my head. Marcus's mother is currently dating a drug addicted, alcoholic, x-convict, so he spends the night at our house often. 

            "Sure." I reply, "He can sleep in your room, but you'll have to sleep with me." Desirée rolls her eyes, but I'm not going to change my mind. There's no way that I'm going to allow my 11-year-old sister and her boyfriend to sleep in the same room.

            "Come on, Shea," Desirée groans, "At least let me sleep in Jayden's room. I don't want to share a bed with you! You always take all of the covers!" Our row house consists of three bedrooms, an attic, and a basement. I have my own room, and my mom has her own room. My little brothers, Jayden and Michael, share the attic, while my little sisters, Desirée, Whitney, and Selena, share the room adjacent to mine. Desirée has been begging to move down to the basement, where our washer and dryer are. She wants her own space, but my mother has convinced her to wait until I go off to college, so that she can inherit my bedroom.