Dreams We Had

Chapter Seven - Momo Miki

A few days had passed since the fight and things had gone downhill. Nobody really spoke to each other; even Kayden and my brother, who were the loudest, most obnoxious people imaginable, didn't say a word to each other. Everyone just kind of avoided one other. An eerie silence filled the apartment and made me wonder if something had happened on top of me running away.

It was a cold, blustery Thursday morning, and I was lying on my bed watching a movie when someone appeared at my door, softly knocking to get my attention. I glanced over, seeing that it was Kayden. He looked sluggish and emotionally beat, which wasn't much different from how I was feeling.

"Mo, I'm going to run to the grocery store, and, I had a sneaking suspicion that you probably would want to come with?" He asked as he carefully slipped his hands into the pockets of a pair of my brother's black sweatpants and rocked back on his heels.

"Yeah, I would, how did you know?" I responded, sitting up in slight disbelief.

"It just seemed like you wanted to get out of this house..."

"I did. Everything is just so tense right now, and I actually kinda wanted to talk with you about something." I said as I stood up and turned off the TV.  As I followed him down to the car it became apparent that things were even awkward between us. I kind of felt bad for him. I knew how stubborn my brother could be. Whether it had been something that I caused or something between them it was still sad to see them so far apart.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked as he turned the key to start the car.

"Well, uh, it's a little invasive and really none of my business..." I stalled.

"What is it? I don't care if it's invasive. At this point, I'm an open book. Just go for it."

"Did you guys have a fight or something? Because you two have been super distant and everything back at home is super tense. Are you guys mad at me?" I asked, staring down at the floor before looking over towards him. He bit his lip.

An uncomfortable silence filled the vehicle. I stared out at the rain-covered road, watching the windshield wipers go back and forth pushing the beads of rain across the windows. It was as if the sky felt as bad as I did at that moment, and its tears were mine. The light of the passing cars reflected off of the damp road, giving it a sort of glow. The silence continued and I began to feel extremely guilty. I took a deep breath, continuing my pity party.

"I, I'm sorry I caused you two to fight...."

He slid his hand around the steering wheel, and there was a long pause before he sighed and said, "We aren't fighting at all. We're actually good as ever. I think that everyone is just a little bit stir crazy at the moment. " I could tell he was lying by the slight waver in his voice, but I didn't confront him. I let him have his lie because I knew deep down that there was a good reason for it.

"Oh, well, I'm still sorry. I'm sorry for the other day." I said quietly as we turned into the parking lot and circled the parked cars until we found an empty spot. He shook his head and gave me a completely fake smile.

"Don't worry about it. I understand what you were feeling and why you did it..."

To be honest, it was sort of weird hanging out with him by myself. Normally, the three of us hung out as a group. I couldn't remember a time when it was just Kayden and me. It almost felt wrong, like we were ganging up on my brother.

We walked through the automatic doors and into the chaos that was the local grocery store. Loud beeps arose from the checkout lines and the sound of carts rolling across the linoleum flooring rang through the air. I pulled a cart from the corral and handed it off to Kayden, who had already begun shopping. He had a crumpled paper list in one hand and pushed the cart with the other. I held onto the side like a child as we walked through the produce aisle in silence. He occasionally stopped and browsed the various fruits and vegetables, picking them up and examining them before bagging them and putting them into the cart. We continued to walk around in this state until something popped into my mind.