Mr. Tan

Chapter 34: Battle Royale

It was a few days before thanksgiving and on a Saturday. It was a mild day and leaves were changing into pretty colors and began to fall from the trees. I had nothing else to do while Earl was at work. I stood up till 2:00 the night before doing homework, so I got that out of the way. Adrian was spending the day with her great Aunt and Duke decided to bathe in a patch of sun that was coming in from the window and take a nap. Danika and I became pretty friendly with each other over the months and sometimes she would bring her daughter Monica over here and we would just chill and hang out. Tommy was on the road hauling things to Florida and would be home by Thanksgiving. I decided to try my luck and go visit Danika, she was at home, her station wagon was parked in front of the trailer. I put my blue denim jacket on over my form fitting black v-neck t-shirt, put my black and white canvas shoes on and went across the street. I knocked four times until Danika came to the door. Danika looked very tired but in good spirits. She was in a red spaghetti strapped top and a pair of black track pants with orange fuzzy slippers, and she was holding little Monica on her hip with a baby bottle in the other hand. 

"Hey girl, how you been?", I asked.

"Tired but good", replied Danika. This little one has been up all night, she's got a cold, and I'm probably next.

I could clearly see that little Monica's nose was running. 

"If you want to you can come in", she said. Just try not to touch anything that belongs to Monica, she is sick. 

I followed Danika inside as she took the box of tissues off of the coffee table and began to clean Monica's nose. I sat on the overstuffed gray velvet couch that had a matching love seat and recliner. A Native American pattern rug sat beneath the dark wood coffee table. In the corner of the room was Monica's playpen and a few of her toys laid scattered about on the floor. A big industrial sized box of pampers sat on the coffee table, nearly taking up all of the space. The huge TV that sat in the opposite corner was turned on to "Playtime With Mr. Jinx", an educational kids show with Christian messages. 

"Sorry about the mess", called Danika from the kitchen. I haven't had time to do anything. I have to clean, do laundry and get some groceries. I haven't had time to do any of that. The only thing that I had time to do was sanitize every thing Monica has. 

"I'm not doing much", I said. Do you need any help?

"Mmm, do you think you can get Monica ready for me?", she asked. I already gave her a bath and her diaper is clean. Her outfit is folded up on the couch. She's going with Tommy's mom so I can get some things done around here.

"Sure", I replied, jumping at the chance. 

I carefully lifted her out of her playpen and sat her down on the couch. Her outfit was a pair of pink camo pants with a matching hoodie, with a bright pink long sleeved shirt that will be worn underneath. It came with a pair of white socks and her red and white little sneakers. I was very satisfied with myself after getting her dressed and the brushing her wavy hair. A few minutes after Tommy's mom came and picked up Monica, I left so Danika could take a much needed nap and get some housework done. I decided to drop on by Earl's place and pay him a surprise visit. Because of the fact that I was 18, I was legally allowed inside of his juke joint. After driving an hour and half, I pulled up in front of Earl's Place. I turned off my ignition, checked my lip gloss and went inside. Earl's pit master Eddie was outside near the parking lot putting a huge rack of ribs on the smoker. Eddie looked up from the smoker and gave me friendly smile and a wave.