Chapter Four
Shawn
“She dumped me, didn’t she?” I remember hearing my voice say just as soon as my biological mother was out of earshot.
I knew I shouldn’t say anything like that, because I hated the look of pity that my stepmother and stepsister shot me; but in my current state, I couldn’t even begin to focus on the two of them or the way that I was feeling.
I didn’t like the laughing gas because it made me happy when I should have been freaking out. However, now that I had it coursing through my system, I wasn’t so unhappy with the way things had worked out.
In a way, I was happy my mother had shoved me back onto my father and his wife. It just showed me the continuity that I had come to expect from my mother. I didn’t really mind it all that much anymore. But still, as I said the words before my brain caught up enough to stop me, I stared between Diana and Valerie, who suddenly seemed far more sobered, before I burst into laughter. “It’s okay…” I threw my arm around Valerie, something I hadn’t done in a really long time. It felt good to feel her familiarity, but thankfully, I didn’t comment on that. All I said was, “I’d rather be with you guys anyway.”
I felt Valerie smile before she hugged me tightly, as though she had actually missed me. “I’d rather you be with us guys too…”
I laughed at this and saw Diana roll her eyes. “I feel like you two just reverted back to being five years old.” She smiled between the two of us as though there was something reminiscent about the picture from the past we were painting before her eyes that she was enjoying. Although I was fairly certain she wouldn’t admit that.
“Does that mean we still get ice cream?” Valerie asked and this time, it was my stepmom who laughed.
“I am so annoyed right now that you made me promise that I wouldn’t record these precious moments,” Diana answered through her laughs. “It’s something I would love to show Zachary.”
Even in her sense of stupor she was able to find her voice enough to exclaim, “No!” in an embarrassed fashion.
“You might have, Diane, but I didn’t promise anyone anything!” I slurred and tried to keep it together long enough so that my words would sink into Valerie’s brain.
She stopped and stared at me with absolute horror and I doubled over with laughter.
“I can’t find my phone anyway…” I answered, patting my pants in search of it for only a moment and then giving up when I lost my train of thought.
“Jerk,” Valerie exclaimed, now slightly angry, even though I was sure that none of the medication had worn off of her yet. I found it funny that she got annoyed at my lack of compassion. I would have really thought that she would be used to it by now. “Why would you even think of doing that to me? You’re so mean!”
Thankfully, I just burst out laughing, instead of saying the ample amount of true responses that I had floating around my completely gassed and very wired brain. If there was one time that I would have given anything so that my loose tongue did not say anything, it was now. But I was able to keep my secrets to myself.
As Valerie rolled her eyes, her mother teased us. “Come on, children. Let’s not make a scene.”
After the close call and the unpredictability of my own words, I was happy to oblige.
Just like she promised, Diana bought the two of us ice cream and got us set up on the couch and the chair opposite one another, before leaving us with the warning of, “Be nice.”
Since Diana always kept her promises, I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised.
By the time we were settled back in the place that I still, no matter what, would consider my home, Valerie had forgotten all about being angry with me. I was happy about that. The last thing I wanted was our day of bliss and probably pity from the parents to be interrupted by a stupid, laughing-gas induced fight.
Yet, I still wasn’t thinking logically enough to comprehend all of that, so I just wanted to talk. “Hey, Val…” I giggled.
“What’s up, Shawn?” She leaned her head back on the pillow and pulled her blanket up to her chin.
“This is just like when we were kids, right? Remember when I got the chicken pox and your mother brought you over so that you would be exposed and we both got the chicken pox? And my dad was freaking out, but your mom was just like, nah…they’re good. At least they’re together.”
At that, she began to laugh hysterically again, remembering my father completely going off his rocker with worry, for the both of us. “Yeah…But she took good care of us though, just like she is now. She didn’t let anything happen to either of us.”
“Yeah. She always has, even when she wasn’t my mother…er…stepmother…”
“Yeah, I know,” she answered. “Remember when you got in trouble for making a waterslide at recess and they couldn’t get ahold of your parents, so they called my mom, figuring it was just as well?”
I nodded. “She let me have it that day.” I narrowed my eyes. “Oh and are you referring to the waterslide that was your idea?”
She smiled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right, little miss…It’s so hot out here. Why can’t somebody do something about this heat…I know, I wish we had a waterslide!” I said, exaggerating my own girly impression of her.
“I do not sound like that!”
I nodded enthusiastically and chuckled. “Of course you do! You just can’t hear yourself.” I raised my eyes pointedly and mockingly. “Which is great news for you, but not so good for the rest of us.”
She narrowed her eyes and shot me a look that made me extremely glad that I was situated on the other side of the room. “I have a great voice!” she answered indignantly. “Besides, nothing was worse than the sound that came out of you when your voice started to change. It was like a dog killing a parrot.”
Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes at her as I said in a teasingly offended voice, “I thought we agreed that you were never to bring that up again!”
She burst out laughing now. “Hey, you’re the one who started to play dirty, I was just catching up.”
I gave her a playful growl and then my woozy brain began to drift slowly, deeper into a more serious reminisce. “Thank you for always being there for me.”
“Of course,” Valerie replied with a genuine smile. “No matter how stupid you’re being, I’m always going to be right there, getting your back whenever I need to and picking you up when you fall down.”
My tired eyes rolled over toward her and I smiled. “Thanks. You know I never want to lose you, right? Even if I am stupid sometimes.” I giggled and settled down myself, bringing the blanket up around my neck and hoping that I didn’t sleep too hard on my mouth so that it blew up.
However, I was so tired by that point, I didn’t even hear Valerie’s response.
When I did wake up, my head felt as though it was filled with lead. I thought about falling asleep again, but I felt eyes watching me. I lulled my head over to one side and saw Valerie sitting up, staring at me.
The sight of her made me laugh and I rolled over to go back to sleep. After all, it was just Valerie. She could stare at me all she wanted. That didn’t bother me one bit.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, sounding as though she was trying to speak through a mouth full of rocks.
“Your face,” I answered and chuckled some more.
“What? Is it that bad?” She reached into her purse to grab a mirror. She pulled it out and stared at her large cheeks. “It’s not that bad.”
“Okay, if you think that looking like a starving chipmunk that just discovered an everlasting supply of food is not that bad then you look absolutely beautiful.”
I could feel the ire steaming off of her now, even though I hadn’t dared to look back at her.
“Well, let me see you then,” she spat.
I shrugged, then sighed and made my way, slowly, up into a sitting position. I turned to her and smiled, as her anger disappeared and she started to laugh hysterically. “You should talk,” she finally wheezed, only after she had doubled over. “You look like you got in a fight and lost…badly.”
I shrugged and answered evenly, “Yeah, well, while your injuries make you look large and slightly more animal-like, my molar pulling experience makes me look tough!”
“Hardly,” she answered, and the two of us laughed because I knew well that there was likely nothing on the planet that would make me look tough. I was just too goofy. It was a gift, really.
It was nice to laugh and be able to enjoy the company of one another. It was good to get back one on one with Valerie. There was so much that I missed about being able to just have a conversation with my best friend. Over the past few years, that concept had become increasingly difficult and that was bothersome to me.
However, not only was I aware that we had our problems, I was also aware that things were the way they were because of me.
Deep down, I knew that the issues I had with my stepsister really had nothing to do with her, but it was just something that happened.
Still, even through all the teasing, the pain of my head feeling like it was going to fall over, the dizziness and the discomfort caused by the procedure, I recognized how nice it was to enjoy an afternoon together, just like we used to do every day.
There was no Zachary to distract Valerie, my father wasn’t there to tell me that I was recovering wrong from getting my molars, because only he could do it the best, and there was no Dalilah demanding my attention. So the two of us were able to enjoy life, the way that we were supposed to: together without any interruptions.