Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner

Well, Pete had been wrong. Even after an hour long discussion with Andy, Luci had chosen to ignore Patrick. He was at a loss now. Joe was being amazing, keeping Katy away from the tension for the bus ride to their next venue. He was showing her how to play some of the games on his DS, keeping her as distracted as possible.

Luci stayed in her bunk for the duration of the trip, doing any work in there. She was still upset from the previous night and didn’t even want to talk to Patrick. Andy had explained to her the possibilities of why Patrick handled the situation in that way, but she was still upset.

Andy was checking up on Luci every so often, while Pete read a book and Patrick worked on some music on his laptop. He had brought her some snacks and water, making sure she was doing okay.

Patrick was utterly terrified to go back to the bunks. He had left his phone in his bunk and was scared it would go off. What would happen then?

Suddenly, he heard a familiar ringtone off in the bunks. It was cut short and a hushed, angry voice started talking. Patrick swore softly and hurried to the bunks.

Luci was calmly hanging up his phone and handing it back to him. “She won’t be bothering you. For now, at least.” She told him. “Now delete those fucking texts and block those numbers, or else.”

“Am I no longer in trouble then?” Patrick asked, rather sheepishly as he knelt down beside her bunk. Luci shrugged, going back to her laptop. “Luci, babe, um… Pumpkin Pie?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, so I’m food now?” She questioned, looking at him. “If I’m Pumpkin Pie, you’re… um, Pomegranate. Or, wait, no, Cumquat!”

“Cumquat?”

Luci shrugged, a small smile on her lips. “Cumquat works, Cumquat.” She closed her laptop and set it aside. “Listen, about last night… while I’m still rather upset about it, I probably shouldn’t hold it against you, but I just might.” Patrick nodded, taking her hand in his. “And don’t go using doe eyes to try and make me forgive you faster, ‘cause it won’t work.”

Patrick nodded, giving her a pout. She rolled her eyes, pulling her hand away. “I’m sorry I never said anything… and I was going to take care of it, but sounds like you did it just fine…”

Luci just shrugged, cracking her knuckles. “I took care of it for now. If that bitch gets persistent, then there will be trouble.” He smiled, taking both her hands in his. She narrowed her eyes, but he just smiled.

“I love you, Luci.” He said, giving her a kiss. She gave him a funny look.

“I love you too, Cumquat.”

//

Katy didn’t understand her parents. They were so weird. One moment, they could be screaming at each other, with her uncles having to restrain both parties. The next moment, they’re holding hands and – to Katy’s disgust – kissing.

For instance, Katy had woken up the previous night to her mamma screaming at her daddy. She knew it was bad because mamma slept in the bunk with her, instead of with daddy.

But now, they six of them were in a restaurant. Mamma and daddy were sitting together, holding hands and smiling. Katy just found it all confusing and frowned. She tried to focus on her placemat, scribbling on a few of the pictures. Those two were just weird.

She scrunched up her nose, trying to figure out what color to use next. Pete was sitting next to her, coloring on his own placemat. He was weird, too, having insisted on having one of the children’s menus to color on as well. Katy just shook her head as she grabbed the green crayon, scribbling a few things.

“Whatcha coloring, Katy Bear?” Her mamma asked, leaning on the table a bit. Katy shrugged, not looking at her mamma. Luci frowned, taking a sip of her water. “Something wrong, sweetie?”
Katy shook her head as she started to scribble again. Luci looked at Pete, nudging him under the table. He gave her a confused look before he went back to coloring. Luci rolled her eyes, muttering, “Impossible” under her breath.

Katy finished coloring and sighed, looking across the table at her parents. Luci looked back, concerned.

“Is something the matter, sweetie?” She asked.

Katy rolled her eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh. “You guys are weird!” Everyone looked at her, surprised. “Mamma and daddy need to be nicer, ‘cause you guys are just so weird!” No one knew what to say to that while Katy went back to coloring. “Stop being weird.”

Patrick was relieved and shook his head, sitting back in his seat. “Sorry, Katy Bear… we’ll try to stop being weird.” He couldn’t help but smile, though. She always amazed him, with never being afraid to speak her mind like that – especially at 4 years old.

“Promise?”

“Oh, definitely promise.” Patrick assured her, smiling. She looked skeptical, but just shrugged, grabbing another crayon.

“Okies.”