Life on Banana Street

Me and Addie went to Toys ‘R’ Us with Joey and he practically picked out everything in the store. I went to go look for a CD and when I came back to the toy section, I saw Addie sitting cross-legged on the floor with Joey in her lap looking at a book. She was so perfect, the way she did things. It made me jealous sometimes. If she were on her own with Joey, she would do a fantastic job. But if I was, I couldn’t make it through the first week. Addie was really special sometimes. She always had movies playing in her head about things that happened or things that will happen. She was independent, loving and one of a kind. She was spontaneous in her own way, I guess that’s why she was so irresistible back in the day. How could she have a vision about me leaving her? I’ve gone to Heaven and back just to be with her. Nothing could separate us now.

-A Few Days Later-

“Hey almost birthday boy!” Addie said as she walked into the kitchen and saw Joey sitting next to me, reaching up to the table trying to eat his eggs.

“Hey Addie?” I said.

“Yes?”

“Uh, meet me upstairs in 5 minutes,” I said and walked upstairs. I sat on the bed, turned on the TV and watched Justice Files for about 4 and a half minutes when she walked in. I turned it off and sat up straight and looked at her.

“Hey, Bill. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m worried for you.”

“Why would you be worried for me?” she seemed confused.

“I don’t want to see you in pain for 9 months.”

“What are you saying? Do you want me to get an abortion?”

“Of course not! I’m just saying, I can’t stand seeing you in pain for so long. I mean, the last time this happened, I wasn’t even there for the easiest part. I will help you, just so you know,” I said stupidly.

“So…What you’re saying is…You want me to have a baby, but you don’t want to see me in pain?”

“Yeah, when you put it like that, it sounds a lot easier than what I just babbled about.”

She laughed and sat on the bed. “Well, same here. I don’t want to have to go through all that pain, but when the moment comes where our baby is born, it’ll be worth all the while. You know, unless it’s one of those scary demon, spawn of Satan child.”

I laughed and sat next to her and she clung her arms around me. “Oh, well. Care to join me in dropping off Joey at school?”

“Of course,” she said.

****

“Bye Joey,” we said and watched him walk into the school. He was so small compared to the other kids. “So what’s on the agenda for you today?” I asked.

“Well, I was hoping I could pay Jeff a visit. Haven’t talked to him in a while.”

“Oh, right. Well that’s fine with me. I didn’t have to go into work today, so I guess I’ll stop by Tre’s or Mike’s,” I said. I didn’t want to make it seem like I took a day off to be with her and make her feel guilty she had other plans.

“Well, I could stay home if you’d like…” she said.

“No, that’s okay. I’m off tomorrow too. We could spend time together tomorrow. Really, it’s no big deal.”

She stared at me and then smiled. “Well alright.”

-My POV-

We got back home and I was up in the closet trying to decide what to wear. I didn’t want to look too trampy and I didn’t want to look like I rolled out of bed and threw on something clean and I didn’t want it to look like I took an hour to plan what to wear. I was in a little bit of a pickle. Finally, I found some decent jeans with little or no holes in them and put a Motley Crue shirt on. I didn’t really like Motley Crue, but it was the shirt that was in best condition, considering I never or rarely wore it. I went downstairs in no hurry, drinking orange juice as I went and waltzed into the kitchen to put my glass in the sink.

“Have fun,” Billie said from the dining room.

“Oh, hey Bill. I didn’t see you there. What are you even doing in there? We never use that room…”

He shrugged, picking at something on his coffee cup. “Just wanted to try something different.”

I nodded and leaned on the counter. “Well, what time were you going to leave to the guys’ houses?”

“Eh, I guess around 12 or 1. I don’t think they awake before that. You?”

“I was going to leave at 10:45 so I could get to his apartment at 11:15.”

“Listen, Addie. Be careful, alright?” he sounded serious.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be careful? Aren’t I always?”

He nodded and then looked sternly in my eyes. “Just please be careful. I don’t want to lose you. Anything could happen, that’s all I’m saying.”

I nodded and picked up the trash from the trashcan to take it outside, but when I opened the door, there was more than I would have expected.

“Hannah? What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I just wanted to see my baby sister,” she said excitedly. “And I heard you lived here and I just wanted to drop by for a visit.”

“Oh, well come on in. I have to take the trash out.”

We passed each other and from what I could see, she stayed in the entry way. But from what I heard, she went somewhere else. And I was hoping she wouldn’t.

She’d screamed. I knew she’d found Billie, that was a given. But I ran inside and she hadn’t gone anywhere near the dining room. She saw kid stuff on the floor, everywhere. I hadn’t seen her in so long, I don’t know how I was going to explain anything to her. She didn’t even know that I dated Billie for even a week. She left when Mom when all psycho. She was old enough, she’s like, 13 years older than me. What really happened when that lady lost her job was she wanted to stay with me and my brother for a while to see if we would make it out of the house alive. But a month after she’d lost her job, my sister couldn’t take it anymore and left. My brother was only 7 years older than me so he had a couple of years to go before he could live on his own. There were times when he’d come into my room and sleep there because he was afraid that I was afraid. He’d tell me things like he would rather live in jail or on the streets rather than being in our house, but he didn’t want to leave me by myself. He was always thinking of me before himself. He told me that when he got his own house, that he’d come get me and I could live with him. Anyways, she screamed. She found the kid stuff. I ran inside.

“Oh my God! Addie! You’re a Mommy?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. Been one for 5 years. It’s been a blast, it really has.”

“Aww, that is so cute, I’ve always wanted a child, but there’s no one to help me with that…” she paused. “Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Do you have someone to help you, like a boyfriend or a…husband?” she giggled when she said husband.

“Uh, yeah. I’ve been a wife for 5 years, as long as I’ve been a Mom.”

Her eyes lit up. “Can I meet him?” she asked. “It would really mean a lot to me.”

“Sure…I guess.”

By this time Billie had come into the living room to see what the screaming was about.

“Is this him?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah, this is my husband Billie.”

Her eyes went wide open and lit up again. “You married little Bill from next door?” she asked.

“Mm-hmm. You wouldn’t imagine what he did to marry me,” I said and smiled at him and he put his arm around my waist. “It was so incredible.” I was talking like there was no one else in the room besides me and Billie.

“Really? Well, I’ve got the time to hear it, Sis. I’ll be staying here for 2 weeks!”