The "Enemy"

Parents

I woke up on the couch this morning and went upstairs to get changed. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair. I added the slightest of mascara and moped down the stairs. My mom had already made breakfast and I sat down to eat when the doorbell rang. My mom had gone to get it and I stayed where I was eating my eggs.  I heard her coming back, but when I turned around she had the guest behind her. It was one of the boy's parents. 

"Hey, sweetie. I'm Mrs. Rodriguez. I live across the street." I smiled. "Hi. I'm Abigail, but you can call me Abby." I stuck my hand out to shake. We both had a firm grip while doing so. I pulled away when my mom started talking, "Honey she was gonna make some cookies today and wanted some help." I looked at the women. "I'd love to help!" "Oh great!" I waved goodbye to my mom and headed out the door with the lovely lady. When we went inside Benny's home it felt warm and welcoming.  

I went to help with preparing when I heard fighting upstairs. "Don't mind that darling. It's just Benny and his older brother, Damien." I nodded, "Benny never mentioned Damien." she shook her head. "Doesn't surprise me he's a very to himself kinda guy. Especially ever since his dad died a few years ago." I looked down. "I'm sorry for your lost ma'am." She nodded a thank you. I had put the cookie dough we had just made into the oven for about 10 minutes. 

We washed our hands and took the cookies out when I heard footsteps running down the stairs. I didn't waste my energy to turn around when I knew it was Benny and he was coming our way. "Duchess?" I had then turned to face the boy. He had messy hair and looked to have just been beaten up. No bruises just like they were wrestling.  "Oh, hey pretty boy." He laughed a little and grabbed a cookie. "What are you doing here?" "Just making cookies with your mom." he shrugged and sat down. 

There were more footsteps behind. I turned around to see his older brother coming into the kitchen as well. "Ooo who's this Benjamin?" he smirked at me and put his arm over my shoulders. I smiled. "This is my best friend, Abigail." I waved at the tallboy. 

He then too grabbed a cookie. I decided I should get going so I said my goodbyes and headed back over to my house across the street.

When I went inside I ran upstairs and took a record off my wall to play it on my record player. My favorite song came on and I stared at the ceiling. It was a boring thing to do, so I ran down the stairs. I had an idea.

That's when I saw yeah-yeah and Ham's moms sitting in the kitchen. Oh, great more moms. I sat next to them and had a conversation about their boys and they laughed at a few stories I told them. 

"Abby, would you like to come to the diner with us? We were just gonna have dinner." Ham's mom asked me. I looked at my mom and she shook her head. "I'd love to." They smiled and we left.

When we got to the diner we sat in a booth and ordered. Yeah-yeah's mom had sweet potato enchiladas and Ham's mom had Teriyaki chicken. I on the other hand had a simple burger and fries with a chocolate milkshake. 

We talked for about an hour or so until they took me home. 

My mind was racing when I remembered my idea for my ceiling before I saw the moms. I went into my dad's office to grab a sticky-note. I came back to my room and wrote my idea on it. I walked back downstairs, now in my pj's to watch a drama with my mom. I wasn't really interested, so I grabbed a blanket and cuddled on my mom's lap. After a little bit, I fell asleep. It had to be well after my mom's usual bedtime, but she still grabbed me and brought me back upstairs to my room.  

I squirmed when she laid me down and I turned over in my bedsheets and listened as my mom told me she loved him. I couldn't help to go to sleep without saying, "I love you too ma." She giggled and walked out of my room turning the light off as she went.

I went out to my garage the next morning. I had slept in and decided to work on my ceiling. I was mixing some paints when I saw Benny running up to me. "Hey, Benny boy!" 

"Why weren't you at the Sandlot today? We missed you." 

"Oh, I just slept in. I had diner with yeah-yeah and Ham's moms' last night, so I was a little tired."

He just smiled, "What are you doing now?" He pointed at the paints.

"This? I'm just gonna decorate my ceiling. It's kinda boring." He laughed and we said goodbye.

He was across the street when he yelled, "I hope to see you at the sandlot tomorrow, Duchess!"

"Sure thing pretty boy!" I responded. I looked back at my darker colored paint. I had then grabbed the paint and carefully went upstairs and started to paint my ceiling the dark purplish-blue color. I put the first layer on and let it dry. I made sure I had a plastic covering over most of my furniture and left my window open, so the paint didn't hurt me. My arms and neck were sore, so I went downstairs to eat dinner and watch some more tv. I grabbed my blanket and curled up on the couch since I couldn't stay in my chemical filled room. That night I slept very soundly to the tv noises of baseball bats and the clock ticking in the kitchen. I let my mind drift off.