Summer Vacation

Chapter 7

7

I fell asleep on my brothers’ couch that night. I had tried to stay up until he got home but sometime between two and three am, I lost the battle and fell asleep.

Soft whispers in the next room woke me up sometime during the night. It was still dark outside and I pulled lightly at the blanket covering me. My mind pondered on how my body came to be under a blanket, but it didn’t stay there for long. I was still in a foggy dream state and nothing was making too much sense right now, especially the voices. They were so annoying. They weren’t loud or quiet. Just loud enough to block me out from sleep but quiet enough were I couldn’t hear the conversation.

I groaned and threw the blanket on the floor before I stood up. All I wanted to do was to sleep. The least my brother could do is shut up and let me do it. I shuffled across the floor to the door, and paused when my foggy mind finally made out the words and the voices. It was Erica’s voice. She was talking to Ricky.

“It’s fine. I’ll just go outside with Shaina.”

“No. No. You good. I’ll just crash on the floor.” I heard Ricky drop his shoes and yawn.

“Are you sure? Because I can—” Erica started.

“I said you good.” Ricky said, cutting her off.

“Okay. I didn’t mean to take your bed.”

“So you just happened to end up there?” Ricky teased. I didn’t hear a response, all I heard was the opening and closing of a dresser followed by a squeak in the bed. “Lighten up. I was just messin’.” He stifled a yawn and started looking through drawers again, “What’s wrong with you anyway?”

I heard Erica move on the bed, “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” I heard a grunt and a slight thump as Ricky settled on the floor, “why are you and Shay at my apartment?”

There was a long pause and I slid down the wall to the carpet by the door. I was starting to doze back off when I heard muffled words. I guess Ricky had fallen asleep too cause I heard him start up.

“I said, ‘I got into some trouble back home’.” Erica repeated.

“That sucks.” Ricky mumbled.

I could almost hear Erica smile, “Yeah. It does.”

“Hope it gets better for you…”

“Thanks… night.”

Ricky gave some garbled reply but by then I was already asleep on the carpet.

~*~*~*~

I woke up to a sharp pain in my side. I groaned and opened my eyes. I was still on the floor in front of Ricky’s door. He looked down at me as confused as I was looking up at him. I glared at the door that he had just hit me with.

“What the hell Shay? Get off the floor.” He grumbled stepping over me to go to the bathroom. I glared at him and crawled over to the couch. I grabbed the blanket I had dropped earlier and curled up in it. I had just begun to fall asleep again when my phone started singing “Perfect Two” by Auburn. I groaned. That was Tyrell’s ringtone. I briefly debated ignoring his call but I knew I would pick up.

I reached over and grumbled some sort of greeting.

“Shay?”

“What?” I asked with my voice cracking.

“What’s wrong with you baby?”

“Nothing,” I answered irritably, “It’s just too early to be on the phone. What you need Ty?”