Spread The News...Please

At home that night, I chose to inform my family of the good news during supper. My house is small for five people or at least I think so. My parents occupy the living room couch if they are not at work. This means I do not watch much television unless it is The View (Mom’s influence) or sports center (Dad’s influence). My sister, Samantha, is not home much between going to college, working, or hanging out with her boyfriend. When she is home though, her time is spent on the living room couch, doing homework, or in one of our two bathrooms. This fact usually inconveniences me. The only one not in the living room tonight was my brother, Benjamin, who is almost always locked in his room, playing video games with the door locked anyway. I sat on the floor leaning against the couch with my spaghetti plate balanced on my lap. We eat in the living room because the kitchen is small and the television is in the living room, it is almost never turned off, poor thing.
“I got the job at Hardy’s, I had the orientation today and it turned out alright, better than I expected anyway.” I announce on a commercial break.
“That’s good. Who interviewed you?” Dad asks.
I know he asks this is because he is a manager at Chili’s and is very caught up in the position of general manager. He puts in a lot of hours and I hardly see him due to our alternating schedules, but he works over eighty hours a week. I only work twelve this week at my job.
“The assistant general manager, his name is Corey. He is nice and all, but he is just a little creepy because he does not get the idea of personal bubbles. I always had to take a step back when he talked to me. When I did though he would take a step forward. It probably looked like we were dancing around the store. But, he was doing it because he thought it was funny that I would take a step back each and every time without saying anything.”
“Oh, well make sure you do not fool around at work. You are getting paid to be there so you better be doing your job, okay?” When is your first day?
“Yeah, I know. Corey was probably just trying to make me feel comfortable and get me to come out of my shell a little. My first day is tomorrow, I work over lunch and they want to try to train me in on front counter.”
“Okay, sounds good. Make sure you tell your mother before you leave tomorrow though. Quiet now, the show’s on.”
I stayed in the room until I finished my food and left. That had not really been the announcement I expected, but honestly what was I expecting them to do, jump up and hug me, I do not think so. Mom had been asleep because her job exhausts her and my sister had just kept working on her laptop. I suppose if I want more enthusiastic responses I should tell my friends. Kendall would be stopping by tomorrow after work so I will tell her then. I will probably need someone to complain to after work anyway. The thought of work makes me a little nauseous. Ugh, I would actually have to smile and serve customers tomorrow. Corey had said at some point during my daze that we should try to make polite conversation, like “How’s the weather?” I am pretty sure I can’t do that very well.
I have to tell someone tonight about this news so I end up calling Sydney. I know she will talk for hours with me. I listen to her Shakira music as I wait for her to answer her cell.
“Hey, what’s up? Guess what my mother did to me the other day. She woke me up at 2 in the stupid morning so that I could drive her to the grocery store to buy…” I listened to her for the next two hours. Sydney lived with her mom and 5 or 6 siblings, I do not know because her mom has a kid every so often that I lost count. Sydney ends up baby-sitting all the time too, because her mom is always off doing other stuff with her boyfriend.
“ … Sometimes he makes me so angry that I want to punch him in the face, but you know you can’t, just can not punch a baby in the face. Oh by the way why did you call?”
I stop spacing out and reply, “Oh I got a job today at Hardy’s downtown.”
“Wow! Yay, you can pay for your gas now can’t you? That means when school starts, we can go out to eat instead of having to force down the cafeteria food! When do you start, we should celebrate by having a movie fest or something, maybe go out to eat, but I do not have a job yet so I have no money. My brother keeps on borrowing form me and he never pays me back. Oh shoot, I am getting off topic. I will tell you about that later. Can you hang out on Sunday, after I am done with church?”
“Uh, yep I can pay for my own gas, not exactly what I planned to do with my income, but I suppose I overlooked the fact that cars need gas to run. Sunday sounds good, but I have to leave at six because I work a supper shift at eight.”
“Nice, is that your first day?”
“No, tomorrow is my first day. I work over lunch.”
“Sweet … that does not sound like fun, but good luck. I have to go Mikey is hitting Andrew with a toy train.”
“Oki Doki, see you Sunday.”
“Yea ok, bye. Stop it Michael James or you…” Sydney’s voice ended abruptly as she hung up to go punish Mikey. I felt tired. Talking to Sydney always made me feel tired, especially at her house. She is in non- stop motion; cleaning, running after kids, and all that. The energy she emits is too much for me in the long run. I could feel my eyelids start to droop as I walked down the basement stairs, and to my remodeled room, it use to be a storage area before my dad installed a closet and carpeting. Plus the window since it was required by law, just so I would not burn to death with no chance of escape in case of a fire, but it just let bugs in so I would have rather been without it. What are the odds that my house will burst into flames when I am in my room, I would be more worried about Ben. He would be too caught up in a game to notice a fire and if someone tried to warn him they would have to break down his door to get in. The thoughts and scenarios kept circling in my head as I lay in my bed. That night I dreamed of flames dancing around me as I suffocated in my windowless room, with no one to save me.