Life on Banana Street

-A Few Weeks Later-

We had restored the beauty of the old home. “Billie, this is a good place to raise a family.”

“I know. Although it has so much tragedy in these walls. Are you sure you won’t feel uncomfortable here?”

“No more uncomfortable than I did when I was a teen.”

“True.” I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his head on mine.

“I love you Billie. I’m so glad we married.”

“I love you too. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead. Literally.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, well it was a pretty amazing thing. God bringing you back to life. It shows he does actually care.”

“Well he was a pretty amazing guy, if you wanna call him that.” He paused. “What do you mean actually cares?”

“I mean he never listened to my prayers about my mom. Until she died.”

“Addie, he just can’t kill off people. That’s not what he does.”

“Ok I’m sorry.” I put my head in his lap (facing up you sick whores) and closed my eyes. He stroked my hair. And of course something had to ruin this tranquil moment. The doorbell rang. Even though I told no one where I lived. I went to answer it and of course it was Jeff. “Jeff! How did you know I lived here?”

“I called your brother and he told me because I asked Gabe and he said he didn’t care.”

“Well come on in, the house is kind of a mess right now though.” He came inside.

“Man it looks just like it used to. Except all the decorations are different.”

“You mean the house looks the same because I haven’t remodeled. Yeah…”

“Oh yeah.” Billie came to the door.

“Oh hi Jeff.”

“Hiya. Say Addie, you got any Jell-o?”

“You know it.” His face swelled with excitement. I followed him into the kitchen but Billie grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing? You can’t let him in our house willy nilly,” he whispered.

“Silly Billie Willy Nilly,” I laughed. “He’s just my friend. Don’t worry.” Jeff was getting out a bowl to fix his Jell-o. “Jeff, some things have come up suddenly. I’m sorry can you come over some other time?” He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. “I’m sorry, but we’re booked.”

“Ok, I’ll come over next week I guess because I have to get back to college.”

“Bye Jeff. Billie, don’t ever make me kick out one of my friends again.”

“Well I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me. I love you more than anything.” He pulled me close and kissed my forehead.

“I love you more than anything,” he said. He hugged me and Joey started crying.

“I guess I better get that.” Billie kissed me on the head a last time before I went upstairs. “Joey, Mom’s here, don’t cry.”

-The Next Morning-

I opened my eyes to a rose where Billie slept with a note.
Addie,
Didn’t want to wake you, you looked so peaceful. I’m at work today. Mike got some ideas for new songs. Breakfast’s in the oven.
I love you -Billie

I smiled at the note and went to go check on Joey. He wasn’t there. I ran downstairs to the phone and got the phone to call Billie’s cell. “Hello?”

“Billie? Where’s Joey?”

“Daycare.”

“Daycare? Why would you put him there?”

“I figured I’d give you a day off. Plus I wanted to give you a chance to get a job, like you always wanted.”

“Aww thanks Billie. And I will look for a job but I’m not promising anything. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Ok I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Ok I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye babe.” I hung up and took a nice bubble bath while listening to the radio, I haven’t done that in years. After pouring myself a cup of coffee, I picked up the newspaper and read through the wanted ads. “Hmm…Carpenter…Computer Mechanic…Plumber…Department Store Clerk!” I called the number under the ad.

“West Oaks Mall.”

“Hi, I’m calling about your ad in the paper.”

“Ok, what’s your name, ma’am?”

“Adeline Armstrong.”

“Can you spell that?”

“A-D-E-L-I-N-E.”

“Thank you. Can I have you come down to the mall, I’ll meet you at Entrance 5.”

“Ok, thank you for the opportunity.” I got ready for my very first interview. Which is sad since I’m 23. I drove to the mall to Entrance 5 and saw a lady standing outside. “Hello, I’m Adeline Armstrong.”

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for you. Come on in.” We were walking through all of these stores until we got to one that had boxes everywhere. “This is a new store here, we’re just opening it, maybe you’ve heard of it.”

“What store?”

“Hot Topic. I can understand if you don’t want to work here, it’s more of a punk thing.”

“You don’t think I don’t enjoy punk?”

“No, I was just saying I could understand if you didn’t want to work here.”

“Oh, well is there an interview?”

“I don’t think so. Since you’re the only person that’s actually showed up, I’ll give you the job.”

“Are you serious? This is great! Thank you.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome.” I stood there in happiness.

“Uh…when do I start?”

“Well, this place doesn’t open for another 3 months, we’ll give you a call. Just need you to come to my office to go over a few things.”

“Of course, anything.”

“Alright.”

-A Few Hours Later-

I was back at home and Billie still wasn’t home. I was worried about Joey so I called Billie. There was laughter at the other end. “Hell…o?”

“Billie?”

“Oh, hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey…You ever notice what a funny word hey is?”

“Are you drunk?”

“Of course not!” Laughter again.

“Who are you with?”

“You know, the two guys I love to shower naked with.”

“Billie I can’t believe you! You’re drunk!”

“No, never!”

“Put Mike on the phone.”

“Mike…Mike…who’s Mike?”

“The skinny guy you’re with.”

“Oh, ok. What you wanna talk to him for?”

“I just need to.”

“Hello?”

“Mike is Billie drunk?”

“Yeah everyone is except me, someone needs to drive home.”

“Very smart, but where is he?”

“The Red.”

“Ok, I’ll be there in a minute to go get him.” I got in the car and drove a few blocks downtown and went into the bar. “Billie!” He turned around and put his drink down.

“Hey! It’s my wife everybody!” He pulled me on top of him.

“Billie, we need to leave, you are too drunk to stay here.”

He kissed me and said, “Woo! This woman sure as hell kisses damn fine!” I pulled myself up and grabbed his hand to pull him off the couch. “Woah, woah, woah, Miss Party Pooper. I came here to have a good time and you’re not going to ruin it.”

“Woah, woah, woah, Mister Party Harty. I came here to get you so you won’t do anything stupid.”

“Fine, I’ll go home,” he said motioning his body he didn’t care, taking one last big gulp. I put Billie in the car and when I got in, I asked him, “Billie, where’s Joey?”

“I told you where he was.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything. There are a million daycares around here.”

“It’s the one…”

“It’s the one what?” I looked over at him and he was passed out. Well that’s just fine and dandy. My husband is passed out and I don’t know where my kid is. I pulled over on the side of the street and gathered myself. Suddenly, a miracle happened. Someone knocked on the window of the car and said, “Mrs. Armstrong?”

“Yes?”

“Hi, I’m Bridget, I think your son Joey is at my daycare.”

“Yes, because I didn’t know where he was. My husband dropped him off.”

“Oh, well if you won’t mind, would you come inside and get him?”

“Of course. Can you watch my husband?” She looked at me like I was crazy.

“I guess so, just go inside to the receptionist and she’ll tell you where he is.”

“Thank you so much.” I went inside the daycare and talked to the lady.

“Yes, he’s in the nursery, right this way.” She got out of her desk and walked down a long hallway to the end where a bunch of babies were. “I think this one’s yours,” she said picking up Joey.

“Yes.” I took Joey from her and walked out of the living hell. I always hated daycares, like the one me and Billie used to go to. “Excuse me, ma’am can I ask you a question?” I said.

“Of course.”

“Did this place used to be Dina’s Daycare?”

“It sure did. A long time ago.”

“Because I used to go to Dina’s.”

“Oh, how lovely.” I went back outside to the car and got in.

“Thank you for watching my husband and my kid.”

“You’re welcome.” I put Joey in his car seat and drove home.