Personally 2 [Complete]

Chapter 7: Why I Hate Parties

I don't attend parties, I deliver marijuana to them. This party had no marijuana, it had pastelillos. We were in Cunningham's house filled with his relatives and his mother's friends. There was nothing particularly familiar about the atmosphere. The music and food weren't bad, it was just different. What was I supposed to be doing? I glanced up at Janet who was dancing to Bachata. She and Cunningham's talent distracted away from Mindy's lack of rhythm. Janet is so impressive and stunning, I felt so proud. I'm no dancer, but if she'd look this way and asked me to join her, I would. But the reality is, she'd never do that. If Janet happens to see me alone in this corner, she would probably make up an excuse to stop dancing and join me. "The music was whack", "They couldn't handle me", she would probably say something like that. Janet usually loves parties, I'll let her have it. Placing my hands in my pocket, I go look for somewhere that I can actually hear my thoughts. The backdoor balcony was opened and seemed empty enough. It was a beautiful place to smoke. Not that I do that kind of thing anymore. As I walked further into the back, I saw a figure at the edge. Is that Ms. Abreau?

"I can leave," I say abruptly, immediately turning around.

"No, no, sit." She gestures to the steps of the balcony next to her. I sit.

"This isn't your crowd, no?" She spoke with a lot of energy and volume in her voice.

"Not exactly..." I reply.

"Hahaha, it's okay it's okay. I appreciate you here. I'm just resting my legs, but I know you out here for other reasons."

"Yeah." I was glad that I didn't have to explain myself. So this is what it's like to talk to Ms. Abreau.

"I like to dance, but I not getting younger." Even though I didn't say anything, it didn't get awkward.

"Yes, when I younger, no one could stop me from dancing...I had an amazing partner too. My ex-husband."

Ms. Abreau is divorced? I never realized how much I didn't know about Cunningham's family. How careless of me. If he's going to take care of Mindy, I should know what kind of household he was raised in.

"Yes, he was handsome, nice, looked after us. But, we were too different" She said, catching on to my sudden interest.

"Each night he would read to Cunningham. When I was tired, you can bet he already cooked in my place. And there was no man more romantic than him. I can't say one bad thing about him. No, he was a good man. He's still good. He's hard to figure out. Oh, but when he let you in, you see another side. A cheerful and considerate side."

I tried to visualize the kind of man that she was describing. I saw it, a great dad, a wonderful husband. I wondered if I could live up to that kind of expectation. To the expectation of this mysterious man who had left his family.

 I wasn't sure if Ms. Abreau thought that I was just that curious, but she smiled at me and offered to show me a picture. As she left for the picture. I had wondered what had gone wrong. Ms. Abreau didn't seem like a vicious woman and he also sounds pretty decent. I have a dad who I used to live with, but he was definitely no Mr. Abreau. It didn't take long for Ms. Abreau to return with a framed photograph of the family, excluding the youngest child, since he was not born, she said. I was curious to see what this perfect but not quite perfect man who had partially raised Cunningham looked like. I grabbed the frame and almost dropped it at the moment I saw it. Is that Harry? Ms. Abreau was once married to Harry Sprinkler? That means Cunningham is mixed and Harry was once in love with his mother.

"You know him?" She asks. I guess I wasn't subtle with my facial expressions.

"Uh, no. I don't know him. He's -he looks like a great man. I better get going." I got up before she could say anything. I need to find Janet.

I found my way back to the living room, but there was no use trying to talk to Janet. She was drunk and spewing nonsense. I think it's time to go home. I load her into the passenger seat of the car and begin to drive.

"Hye, is it over?" She asks.

"It's over. We're going home."

"I was looking for you" She ran her index finger across my cheek. "Where'd you go? You shouldn't leave like that, unannounced."

"I apologize."

"I apologize too." She sighs. " I haven't been completely honest." She rested her head on my shoulder.

"What's going on?"

"You remember when you came over and my dad was all freaking out and stuff? That man we're scared of is Harry. He's the worst."

"What?" My mind didn't even know what it was processing right now. There's too much talk of Harry.

"Harry is the CEO of my dad's company. He's filthy rich, but I didn't know he was your mother's fiance until we went to the little get together thing. You remember the get together where you-"

"-I remember. Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry is full of surprises tonight.

"You were going through a lot, I didn't want to add to the stress. He's a terrible boss, I tell you." She nudged at my sleeve when she said this. "He'll risk us all financially. I know I was against breaking up your mom and him but sign me up. If he has no reason to stay, he won't. Payback time..." She fell asleep immediately after. I was a bit disappointed. I didn't know Janet cared about money that much. I parked into her driveway and watched her sleep. Her full lips were gently pressed together and her chest moved rhythmically as she breathed. Besides money, there is no fault with her.

***

I was sitting across from Veronica at the kitchen table where we usually study. Both our history books were opened but we had not been reading for a while.

"So, what happened yesterday, at the party?"

"About that, what exactly was I supposed to accomplish by going?"

"There was no goal per-se. The objective was to make your presence known."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"It'll all come together later on. Now, what happened yesterday?" She demanded.

"Cunningham and I might become brothers."

"Brothers? What are you talking about?"