Earth Angel

Chapter 11

We all sat down, my parents at either end of the table, Dominic and I across from each other, Jan next to Dominic and Kat next to me. I could tell Dominic wasn't too thrilled to sit next to her. His facial expression when she sat next to him was priceless. I had to cover my mouth to prevent myself from laughing.

My mother put the platters down. It was just her Friday pot roast with her absolutely delicious green bean casserole.

When everyone was served, we just ate in silence. The noise of people chewing aggravated me deeply, and normally I would've said something if Dominic weren't here. I didn't want to seem rude in front of him. But my mom and dad did chew loudly when no one was talking. Dominic's goofy little smile showed he probably heard it too. Not to mention he playfully kicked me under the table. We sort of played footsies. I didn't mind this time, though.

"So, Dominic," My dad said, setting down his fork. "Are you in college?" He scrunched his eyebrows and cocked his head intently, waiting for Dominic's response.

"No, sir." He answered, his eyes shifting down to look at the table.

"Oh, then do you have a job?"

"Yes. I help my father in his barber shop, mostly just by cleaning up and helping to make appointments for people." My dad nodded, like he approved, which made me feel angry with him. I hated when my dad acted all stuck up. We were middle class, anyway, not like we were millionaires! I didn't want to be Drew's family.

"That's a nice way to get started," He paused to drink some of his beer. "Any plans for the future?"

"Uh, well, not yet. I'm still trying to figure myself out."

"Alright." My father mumbled. I fidgeted with my skirt and kept my gaze down at my plate. I felt for Dominic. He was such a great person, but he wasn't exactly sure who he was. Not that he was some broken boy, he was far from that, I just felt bad about my father's interrogation.

When dinner was finished, Dominic sweetly offered to help my mother clean up. When my mother finally accepted his offer (she kept saying 'no you're the guest' when, deep inside, she wanted him to help), I just decided to help him out, so my mother just let us do all of the work. He scrubbed the dishes and gave them to me to set up to dry.

"Sorry about my dad," I said, placing a plate on the drying rack.

"Eh, he's alright," He shrugged. "He was just curious about my life.. and I had to tell him that I'm not doing shit with my life."

"Don't say that.." I moved closer to him and leaned my head on his arm. He kissed the top of my head.

"It's true, baby. You don't gotta deny it."

"Shut up right now, Dominic Marcello."

"Ah, no. Not my middle name."

I rolled my eyes. "You're impossible."

"But you love me anyway." He put an arm around me, flicking suds onto my cheek.

"Sure. Maybe." I smirked. He pretended to gasp.

"Ooh, fresh," I bumped my hip against his and he stumbled to the side. "Jeez, Margaret. What am I going to do with you?"

We finished and wiped our hands off on the towels hanging on the handle of the oven. Then we joined my family outside in our small backyard. We always sat outside on the back porch on Friday summer evenings.

"Mommy, daddy, it's Dominic and Margie!" Kat shouted in her high pitched voice and pointed to us. She was sitting in the grass, playing with her dolls.