Impractical Neighbors

Chapter One

The sound of Zeke, my ten-year-old brother, running and hollering echoed throughout the small apartment. He was yelling at the top of his lungs for our older sister Anastasia. Anastasia had moved out a little over seven months ago and her absence still effects the two of us. Zeke and I had always had a very close relationship with Anastasia. Zeke was closer to her than I ever was. They were always practically inseparable. When she moved out, although I understood why she did it, we were very devastated. Zeke still wakes me up in the middle of the night, crying out for her. Anastasia said before she left that she'd come back for us one day. Not even twenty-four hours later, I realized that she had cut off all ways of communicating with Zeke and I. When I turned around, Zeke was just entering the dining room. He had stopped crying out for Anastasia and yelled excitedly for me instead. His shirt was caught around his head in a way that probably made it difficult for him to see. "Ness!" He yelled his nickname for me as he finally managed to put on his shirt. "We have new neighbors!" My eyes widened with fear when my mind registered what he had just cheered. Oh no, more people for Mother to scare away. Quickly, I masked my fear with excitement for Zeke's sake.

"That's great, Z!" I walked up to him, careful not to scare him too much. I only intended on at least ruffling his hair. Zeke's silver eyes widened just as mine had and he slowly backed away. Poor kid, I thought to myself. Zeke hasn't been very open or trusting since Anastasia had left us with our parents. He won't allow anyone to get close to him, physically or emotionally. Yes, it hurts that my baby brother doesn't let me hug him, but I'm not going to force him to do so if he's not comfortable with it. I just hope this wall that he has built around himself is stronger when he's around our parents than it is around me, "Sorry Zeke, I just got excited." I lied.

Zeke smiled, I could tell it was forced though. His lips smiled but his eyes didn't. Suddenly a few knocks sounded at the door behind me, scaring both Zeke and I.I called out to my Mother, who is one of the worst humans alive aside from my biological father, asking if she wanted me to open it. She groaned loudly and responded in a monotone growl, "What else are mistakes good for?" I rolled my eyes at her, although she couldn't see me do it, and looked down at my little brother, who gazed back up at me with tears in his silver eyes. Poor kid, I thought for the thousandth time tonight. "Hey" I spoke sympathetically. "Maybe it's our new neighbors."  Without waiting for a response, I walked over to the door, slowly opening it. I didn't know what to expect. Should I be scared? What if it's a serial killer? Rapist? Or worse... My biological father?

Standing before me was something far better than I expected. Before me there stood four seemingly middle-aged men who were all eyeing me with amused stares. It was then that I realized that I was still dressed in my sleep clothes; a tie-dye sports bra and camouflage shorts.   A stocky blue-eyed man seemed to stand in front of the others as if he were the leader. This man seemed friendly, as did the others. He smiled widely at me. "Hiya, sweetheart!" He said energetically. The man stepped forward and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. When he pulled away his hands seemed to linger on my forearms for one second too long.   "My name is Joe Gatto and these goofballs behind me are my best friends; Brian Quinn," at the sound of his name, a man with light brown hair that barely touched his shoulders, looked up from his cell phone, stepped forward and gave me a high five. Brian had big puppy dog brown eyes, which seemed to be glued to me now and not his phone. Brian then stepped back and smiled shyly at me. The distance he had put between us gave me the chance to observe his outfit. He was in a black T-shirt which was mostly covered with a navy blue zip-up jacket. He wore deep purple loose-fitting jeans.  "James 'Murr' Murray," Joe continued with a nod towards a tall, slim man who was dressed nicely in a blueish suit and black tie with the pants to match. This man -James- cocked his head to the side, nervously and that's when I noticed it; He was slowly balding. There were still tuffs of dark brown hair on his way-too-shiny head. He focused his beady brown eyes on me and shyly smiled. He didn't move though. He didn't hug me as Joe had nor did he offer me a simple high five like Brian did. I preferred that he stay where he stood. "And last but not least, seemingly everyone's favorite, Salvatore Vulcano!" Joe's introduction was so loud that there was no doubt in my mind that it captured Mother's attention.  I looked at the guy who stood in the far back of the group and took in his appearance as quickly as I could. He had very dark brown hair that almost looked black and he had the big dark brown eyes to match. His hair was just a shade or two darker than his eyes though. Sal wore a close-fitting black T-shirt and khaki shorts. Three of the four guys were dressed casually. I couldn't help but wonder why James was dressed up so nicely.

"Who's at the door, Anastasia?" Mother yelled in a bored tone from a different part of the apartment. She was asking me a question but I don't think she cared for the answer. She would care if she knew that there were four guys at the door. Then it clicked in my head what she had said. What she had called me.

Anastasia.

Anger took over my every thought and action. I could feel my entire body quaking. My fists were clenched tightly at my sides. I imagined that my knuckles were turning white. The guys backed away, obviously seeing the anger in my hazel eyes. I've never seen myself angry but Zeke has told me on multiple occasions that it was a scary sight. I could feel my blood boiling beneath my pale skin. I finally yelled back at her, making sure to hold back most of my anger for the guests and Zeke's sake. "My name is not Anastasia, Mother. It's Hennessie!" My voice was already raspy due to the loudness in my voice so I added in a cough filled whisper. "But it's not like you actually care enough to get our names right."

Joe stepped around me, tossing me an apologetic glance.  The silent apology from him, or anyone, was so unneeded but when I saw the sincerity in Joe's big baby blue eyes, the anger I had felt seconds before seemed to dissolve. Then in the corner of his eye, he spotted my brother, who had been standing behind us, watching and listening awkwardly.  Zeke seemed to have backed himself into a corner. Was it my yelling that had frightened the poor kid? At that thought, I instantly felt bad for yelling so loudly. Joe turned and faced him, smiling widely at him just as he had with me. This smile of his was so child-like and it looked sort of adorable on Joe's face. "Hey, Buddy!" Joe seemed so energetic that I was afraid that he would frighten Zeke.

"Zeke, " I said softly, not wanting to be too loud. I watched his eyes. They were filled with fear and curiosity. His silver eyes flickered from me to Joe. When his eyes met Joe's the fear slowly went away in his eyes. His lips slowly pulled themselves into a happy grin.

The feeling of someone's hand touching my shoulder blade caused me to jump. I spun on my heels, preparing to punch or glare viciously at whoever decided to touch my back and scare me. What can I say in this house, not including Zeke (at least not from me), it is hit or be hit. I half expected my so-called step Father to be standing there behind me, but who was I kidding. If it was Danial behind me he wouldn't have been so gentle. When I looked up into a pair of dark brown eyes, a single word left my lips in a gasp. "Woah."

~~7-8-19~~

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