Hoodlum Tragedies (Old Version)

C O K E

"Curls, there's some eggs in the kitchen." Tim mutters from the doorway.

Curly keeps his eyes closed as he attempts to sink deeper into his mattress. His blanket was pulled up to his nose and he really didn't feel like leaving his bed but he knew he had important things to do. He slowly opens his eyes and squints at Tim who's staring at him. It's obvious he just woke up, being that his hair isn't greased back yet. Although his clothes are freshly pressed.

"Any special reason on why you cooking?" Curly asks.

Tim only cooked on the first Sunday of every month to keep up the tradition of being a close family. He'd cook traditional Chicano dinners and they'd all sit at the table and talk about what was going on in there lives. It seemed like each dinner would get even more awkward than the first. For the most part, they ate dinners at diners and quick fast food restaurants. Curly always told himself to slow down, otherwise he'd end up looking like his Tio's.

"Haha you're a real riot." Tim said with a dry tone.

Curly sat up and got out the bed once Tim left the room. He felt the air coming in from his window that he forgot to close the previous night. Surprisingly he wasn't tired, he got home at a reasonable time after he dropped Daisy off. As Curly pulled his clothes on he had been thinking about her, it was almost as if he could still smell her perfume. He couldn't figure out why she was on his mind being that he barely knew her, but it was a pleasant thought. He didn't have too much of those.

Once Curly reached the kitchen he noticed that Angela and Tim had already been eating. Curly made his plate and joined them at the table, Tim sitting at the head. In their household, sitting at the head of the table was a very important role, it meant you took on the responsibilities of the house and everyone was supposed to respect you. He couldn't remember exactly when Tim took the head of the table but it felt natural when he did. He could remember the arguing and the fights that went on with Ma's old boyfriends over the lack of respect the kids gave them. There wasn't a point to respect them, not if they were gonna be out the door after living off their mom.

"You seen Ma?" Tim asked.

Curly lazily moved his eggs around on his plate, eyes looking to Tim who slowly buttered his toast and then to Angela. He couldn't remember the last time he saw Ma now that he thought about it. He knew she was always down at that Hippie House everyone liked. She usually came home once a week and crashed on the couch, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for a few days.

"No, and I'm glad I haven't see that ol' bitch." Angela snaps.

Curly rolls his eyes at the harshness of Angela's voice. He understood why she hated her so much and at times he did too, but she was still his mom and she'd always have a soft spot in his heart. Gloriana Garcia-Shepard was not perfect in any way, but he knew she had her own demons that she was dealing with. He knew he was bias but he couldn't help it, that was the woman who fixed him up after a scrape on the playground.

"Nah, I ain't seen her."

He thought about the last time he saw her and all he could remember was her having a screaming match about two weeks ago with her boyfriend, Joe. If he wasn't busy, he'd go by the Hippie house to check on her and maybe give her some money. Tim always hated when Curly did that, he felt as if she was taking advantage of him and Curly knew that she was. Maybe he felt that he had to beg for her affection, Tim had always been the favorite, he was the only kid she planned. Curly and Angela were mistakes and it was worse that they were twins.

Curly checks his old watch before getting up from the table. He had to be at the bus soon to get to Jose's house. He quickly washed his plate and threw it on the rack, almost breaking it in the process.