Life on Banana Street
Kate
“Stop it now!”
“Stop what? You know you like this every Friday night.”
“No I don’t Gabe. Stop it!”
I woke up from my dream with cold sweat on my face. Gabe and Billie were still asleep. I looked at the clock and it was 5:09. An hour after my favorite time. What was Gabe doing to me? Should I be worried that it’s going to happen? I saw Billie awake and go to the door and leave.
“Billie…”
“I’m not leaving you. I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Ok.” Gabe fell out of his chair and woke up.
“I POOP HAPPY BANANAS!”
“Uh Gabe?”
“Sorry. I had a bad dream,” he said.
“Yeah I can tell.” Billie came back and fell flat on his face.
“DAMN CONVERSE! WHY CAN’T YOU TIE YOURSELVES?” The whole hospital = chaos.
“Billie!” I said between my teeth! “Jesus Christ! That was really loud!”
“Well that really hurt…” He was rubbing his face. I rolled my eyes and looked straight ahead. Unlike Chris. Oh, I missed making fun of everyone in our class. Chris…Nicky…Mike…ah good times. Which reminds me. What ever happened to Canada and Mike? Eh she’s probably had one of his kids already.
“FYI Addie…” I was startled by the voice beside me. I looked next to me and it was Canada.
“Canada! How have you been?”
“Please…call me Kate.”
“Oh that’s your name?”
She looked at me. “Yes Ads.”
“Kate…I hate you.”
“Why what did I do?”
“You didn’t get your ass over here and hug me.”
“Oh sorry.” She hugged me just like old times.
“Well…What brings you to the hospital?” She asked me.
“Heart attack,” I said casually. “You?”
“Oh, I was checking up on my baby.”
“Ah ha! I was right! You got a kid!”
“No I don’t…What are you smoking?”
“Don’t tell the doctors…pot.” We laughed.
“Well who’s your baby?”
“Mike.”
“Oh, what did he do this time?”
“Panic attack.”
“Oh, well it’s always fun to make fun of Mike when he has those damn panic attacks.” Me and Billie laughed. Kate just stood there. Gabe cleared his throat as if to get my attention. “Oh, Gabe I’m sorry. This is Kate.”
“Yes, we’ve met. I don’t like you,” Gabe said.
“Baby! That’s not nice!” I pointed my finger at him.
“I’m sorry, she just disturbs me.” I squinted my eyes at him.
“It’s ok Addie, a lot of people are scared of me. One of my many talents.” All of a sudden, Billie comes out of nowhere and says, “Did you just say it was one of your manly talents?”
“Yes Bill. No! One of my many talents,” she said, putting emphasis on the many.
“Ohhhhh.” And we all laughed. After a while, Kate got some common sense and sat down. “So Kate…how are things with Mike?”
“Oh, we’re getting married. But I’m not so sure I want to anymore.”
“When are you going to get married?”
“May 5, 1994.”
“Damn homie, you got over a year to plan it.”
“Yeah, I didn’t set the date and I’m probably not going to plan any of the wedding either.” She looked down and put her chin in her hands.
“Why?”
“Well let’s just say he’s the woman in the relationship. He cooks, he cleans, everything. And I’m not sure I want to marry him.”
“Why?”
“Um…” She looked around at the guys.
“Pardon me, guys. Can we have some privacy?” I asked Gabe and Billie.
“Yeah,” they said in unison. They left and she sat at the end of the bed.
“Well, I don’t really love him anymore. You love Gabe right?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Well that’s the way I used to feel about him. Now he won’t spend any time with me and he does everything wrong.”
“What do you mean wrong?”
“Like, he buys the wrong tampons.”
“Kate, you are a tampon. Because you’re used.” We laughed at our childhood inside joke.
“Yeah I kinda do feel like a tampon.”
“But wait,” I said confused. “If he’s the girl in the relationship, wouldn’t he know which ones to buy?”
“You would think.” And so on. Kate left soon after and the guys came back in.
“So, what was the talk about?” They asked walking in the room.
“Oh, nothing much, we were just talking about tampons.” They turned around and headed right back out the door as I laughed. “I’m just kidding!”
“Great now I feel like Benji,” Billie said. We laughed together at another inside joke. We had a lot.
“Hey Addie, I’m going to go to the store to get some ice cream ok?” Gabe said.
“Yeah of course.”
“What flavor do you want?”
“Um…vanilla. My fav.”
“Kay.” He left and Billie sat on the end of the bed.
“Adeline…” he started.
“Yeah?”
“This may sound a little personal and it’s none of my business, but does Gabe treat you right?”
“Of course. He doesn’t abuse me or anything.”
“Ok, good. Because he always looks mad at you and everybody for some reason.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t like coming out of the house. He’s mad that I’m hurt and he had to leave the house.”
“That’s not good. It’s never good to live with a bad tempered person. They could strike at any minute.”
“Yeah, I know, but I love him. You had your chance. I don’t know what’s up with you but I don’t know if I could ever take you back.”
“Oh come on, don’t be that hard on me. I was young and foolish back then.”
“Well me too but that didn’t mean that we had to break up. I loved you. Very much.”
“I loved you too, but I only did what was right.”
“If you hadn’t broken up with me, we would still be together and none of this would have happened.” A single tear left my eye as Gabe walked in with the ice cream.
“Hey guys I’m back. Addie, I got your ice cream.”
“That’s Gabe.” He handed me the ice cream as Billie backed away back to his chair. Gabe pulled up a seat next to my bed and I turned on the TV to awake the silence.
“Hey Ads, I’m gonna go. I’m gonna check on my house ok?” Billie said.
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“The doctor said you could leave anytime, so I guess I’ll see you sometime in the future.” He walked out of the door and what felt like out of my life.
“Stop what? You know you like this every Friday night.”
“No I don’t Gabe. Stop it!”
I woke up from my dream with cold sweat on my face. Gabe and Billie were still asleep. I looked at the clock and it was 5:09. An hour after my favorite time. What was Gabe doing to me? Should I be worried that it’s going to happen? I saw Billie awake and go to the door and leave.
“Billie…”
“I’m not leaving you. I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Ok.” Gabe fell out of his chair and woke up.
“I POOP HAPPY BANANAS!”
“Uh Gabe?”
“Sorry. I had a bad dream,” he said.
“Yeah I can tell.” Billie came back and fell flat on his face.
“DAMN CONVERSE! WHY CAN’T YOU TIE YOURSELVES?” The whole hospital = chaos.
“Billie!” I said between my teeth! “Jesus Christ! That was really loud!”
“Well that really hurt…” He was rubbing his face. I rolled my eyes and looked straight ahead. Unlike Chris. Oh, I missed making fun of everyone in our class. Chris…Nicky…Mike…ah good times. Which reminds me. What ever happened to Canada and Mike? Eh she’s probably had one of his kids already.
“FYI Addie…” I was startled by the voice beside me. I looked next to me and it was Canada.
“Canada! How have you been?”
“Please…call me Kate.”
“Oh that’s your name?”
She looked at me. “Yes Ads.”
“Kate…I hate you.”
“Why what did I do?”
“You didn’t get your ass over here and hug me.”
“Oh sorry.” She hugged me just like old times.
“Well…What brings you to the hospital?” She asked me.
“Heart attack,” I said casually. “You?”
“Oh, I was checking up on my baby.”
“Ah ha! I was right! You got a kid!”
“No I don’t…What are you smoking?”
“Don’t tell the doctors…pot.” We laughed.
“Well who’s your baby?”
“Mike.”
“Oh, what did he do this time?”
“Panic attack.”
“Oh, well it’s always fun to make fun of Mike when he has those damn panic attacks.” Me and Billie laughed. Kate just stood there. Gabe cleared his throat as if to get my attention. “Oh, Gabe I’m sorry. This is Kate.”
“Yes, we’ve met. I don’t like you,” Gabe said.
“Baby! That’s not nice!” I pointed my finger at him.
“I’m sorry, she just disturbs me.” I squinted my eyes at him.
“It’s ok Addie, a lot of people are scared of me. One of my many talents.” All of a sudden, Billie comes out of nowhere and says, “Did you just say it was one of your manly talents?”
“Yes Bill. No! One of my many talents,” she said, putting emphasis on the many.
“Ohhhhh.” And we all laughed. After a while, Kate got some common sense and sat down. “So Kate…how are things with Mike?”
“Oh, we’re getting married. But I’m not so sure I want to anymore.”
“When are you going to get married?”
“May 5, 1994.”
“Damn homie, you got over a year to plan it.”
“Yeah, I didn’t set the date and I’m probably not going to plan any of the wedding either.” She looked down and put her chin in her hands.
“Why?”
“Well let’s just say he’s the woman in the relationship. He cooks, he cleans, everything. And I’m not sure I want to marry him.”
“Why?”
“Um…” She looked around at the guys.
“Pardon me, guys. Can we have some privacy?” I asked Gabe and Billie.
“Yeah,” they said in unison. They left and she sat at the end of the bed.
“Well, I don’t really love him anymore. You love Gabe right?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Well that’s the way I used to feel about him. Now he won’t spend any time with me and he does everything wrong.”
“What do you mean wrong?”
“Like, he buys the wrong tampons.”
“Kate, you are a tampon. Because you’re used.” We laughed at our childhood inside joke.
“Yeah I kinda do feel like a tampon.”
“But wait,” I said confused. “If he’s the girl in the relationship, wouldn’t he know which ones to buy?”
“You would think.” And so on. Kate left soon after and the guys came back in.
“So, what was the talk about?” They asked walking in the room.
“Oh, nothing much, we were just talking about tampons.” They turned around and headed right back out the door as I laughed. “I’m just kidding!”
“Great now I feel like Benji,” Billie said. We laughed together at another inside joke. We had a lot.
“Hey Addie, I’m going to go to the store to get some ice cream ok?” Gabe said.
“Yeah of course.”
“What flavor do you want?”
“Um…vanilla. My fav.”
“Kay.” He left and Billie sat on the end of the bed.
“Adeline…” he started.
“Yeah?”
“This may sound a little personal and it’s none of my business, but does Gabe treat you right?”
“Of course. He doesn’t abuse me or anything.”
“Ok, good. Because he always looks mad at you and everybody for some reason.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t like coming out of the house. He’s mad that I’m hurt and he had to leave the house.”
“That’s not good. It’s never good to live with a bad tempered person. They could strike at any minute.”
“Yeah, I know, but I love him. You had your chance. I don’t know what’s up with you but I don’t know if I could ever take you back.”
“Oh come on, don’t be that hard on me. I was young and foolish back then.”
“Well me too but that didn’t mean that we had to break up. I loved you. Very much.”
“I loved you too, but I only did what was right.”
“If you hadn’t broken up with me, we would still be together and none of this would have happened.” A single tear left my eye as Gabe walked in with the ice cream.
“Hey guys I’m back. Addie, I got your ice cream.”
“That’s Gabe.” He handed me the ice cream as Billie backed away back to his chair. Gabe pulled up a seat next to my bed and I turned on the TV to awake the silence.
“Hey Ads, I’m gonna go. I’m gonna check on my house ok?” Billie said.
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
“The doctor said you could leave anytime, so I guess I’ll see you sometime in the future.” He walked out of the door and what felt like out of my life.