“Hey Mel. Are you coming by tonight?” I ask as I unload one of the baskets.
“No, Jacob hasn’t been feeling well. I was lucky to find a babysitter just to be able to come to work. Have fun though.” I look up at her and can see the sadness. She was always so pretty, but now she looks tired, rundown, and doesn’t take much care of herself.
“Well if he starts feeling better, you are more than welcome,” I say with a kind smile.
All through the parking lot, putting the groceries in the back, and driving home, I keep thinking about Melanie. I don’t know how she does it and I don’t think that could be me. I feel bad for her and I don’t understand why she made the choices she did.
“Hey, you okay?” Cayden asks when I turn the car off. “You seem sidetracked since we left the store.”
I turn to my sister that looks just like me. “I don’t know how she does it.”
“Who, Melanie?” Cayden furrows her brows.
“Yeah, Melanie. Could you imagine what she has to deal with, Cayd?”
“No, not at all.” She shakes her head. “That is prime example for why we don’t mix feelings with a good time and always make sure he is suited up before doing the deed. Now don’t dwell on it, we have too much to do.”
Cayden is right, we never get attached and we never let our feelings cloud our judgment. We made that rule the day our daddy left ten years ago.
After unloading all the groceries for the bonfire, we all took our places in the kitchen. I got the hamburgers prepped, Cayden put all the hotdogs in a pan, and Callie worked on the different kinds of dips and chips. Momma got the grill and soda ready before she had to leave for work.
We have three rules when it comes to this weekend. Number one is no one is allowed inside the house. If they need anything, they know to come to one of us and we will be happy to get it for them. Only our closest friends are allowed in to help us keep the picnic table stocked with the food and drinks, other than that, you are not getting in. Number two is no fighting, and number three is no one drinks and drives. So far these rules have worked, let’s hope it’s successful for this weekend also.
Now that all the major work is done, it’s time to get ready for tonight because people will be arriving soon. Out of the three of us, Callie has always been the one to take the longest, but I guess that’s because appearance is everything to her. I’m the tomboy, Callie is the girly girl, and Cayden is somewhere in the middle. I guess it works out good this way because if we were all like Callie, Momma would go irate waiting for hours for us to be ready to go somewhere. Instead, we’re all always ready by the time Callie is and that says something for four women in one house.
Cayden
“Damn it Cayden! Yes, I am almost ready. By the way, Brody will be here tonight.” She has been hooking up with him on and off for some time now and I really think there may be something more. “Fan-fucking-tastic! Nothing like a friend with benefits.”
“Cayd, I really don’t think Brody is feeling that way anymore.” With that said, it’s time to get this party started. She will be thinking on that statement for a while.
The DJ got set up a few hours ago and people started arriving and setting up their tents. Now they are enjoying the good food, blaring music, and the bonfire as they walk around with drinks in their hands and talking with the same people they see every day.
The sun is starting to set so it’s time for me to take a breather. I climb out of my bedroom window that leads to our roof. When I want to be by myself I like to sit up here, staring at the stars. I lay my blanket down, take my spot, and look up at the only star in the sky so far. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might have this wish I wish tonight.” Closing my eyes, I wish for a good year at college.
When I first started coming out here, it was before our daddy left. Momma never knew because I would have gotten in trouble, being seven years old and climbing onto the roof. They were fighting all the time so it gave me a piece of quiet, away from it all. I started making wishes for shit to get better, then it was for daddy to come back after he left. I was too young then to realize what a piece of shit he really is. As the years went on my wishes changed, but this place always stayed my sanctuary. I’m going to miss this when we’re gone.
“Hey, I knew I’d find you up here.” Brody plops down beside me. Brody Masters has been my friend with benefits over the last couple of years,and aside from my sisters, he’s my best friend. I’m gonna miss him too.