Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

Luke sat at the table, dangling the noodles in front of his face. He was playing with his food more than actually eating it. Colby and Karen hadn’t woken up yet. I was actually kind of hoping that they would stay asleep most of the day. I wasn’t feeling very good, either. I just wanted to chill out-have an easy day without separating the girls.

“So you’re into Bob Dylan?” I asked from the kitchen. I was horrible at trying to make small talk. I immediately regretted speaking.

“Yeah. He’s like my hero,” Luke answered, shoveling the noodles into his mouth. “Jack idolizes him a lot more, though.”

Their bedroom had at least four Bob Dylan posters in it. I couldn’t remember what other posters were in there, other than the half naked girls holding beer bottles.

“He’s in his late sixties now, isn’t he?” I chuckled. I had to look away from him when talking. I always had issues with looking at someone while talking to them. I had to busy my hands so it didn’t seem like I depended all on them for entertainment. I decided to clean the kitchen counters.

“Oh yeah. He’s old,” Luke agreed with a big smile. “But he’s still rockin’ it out.”

“I’m more of a Hendrix fan myself,” I informed him. I immediately rolled my eyes at myself. Like he wanted to know that.

“Hendrix is cool,” he agreed with a nod. He began twirling noodles on his fork, hanging them in the air.

“Is there something wrong with the soup?” I asked, nervously laughing. I felt somewhat offended. I mean, it’s not that hard to make soup. You just add water and stir. There was no way I could have messed it up too much.

“Huh?” he asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“I’ve only seen you take one bite of it. Is there something wrong with it?” I asked with a painful smile.

“Oh, no,” he said, shaking his curly hair. “No, it’s good. I’m just a slow eater. I like to play with my food.” He cracked a grin.

I nodded my head in a sort of understanding way. I thought people out grew those things after they reached the age of ten. But, Luke had a sort of childish vibe about him, even though he was the same age as I was.

“Luke, can I ask you something?” I questioned, wanting to slap my palm onto my face. Of course I could ask him something. I just did!

“Uh, sure. I guess,” he answered nervously. He dropped the noodles back into the bowl and looked up at me.

Since he gave me his full attention, I guessed it was fitting to give him mine. I folded the washcloth I was using to clean the counters and dropped in the sink.

“What is Jack’s issue with me?” I asked, biting my bottom lip. It was a question that had been bothering me for a little while. I had never really done any harm to Jack. I never said anything ill or rude to him, even when he lashed out at me. I didn’t really care how he felt towards me; I just wanted to know what about me that he hated. If it was something that I could change, or something he just needed to get over.

“Oh,” Luke sighed, sounding relieved. He returned to playing in his soup. “I honestly have no idea. I asked him that this morning, but he didn’t answer me. He just kept yelling,” he shrugged.

It seemed like Jack had yelled at Luke before he lashed out at me. I wanted to ask what for, but that would be too nosy. I just returned to cleaning out the sink to prepare for washing dishes.

“I just don’t understand it,” I mumbled to myself.

“Eh, don’t let Jack get you down. He’s just an ass sometimes,” Luke shrugged.

I just kept cleaning the sink, not knowing what to say. If there wasn’t a specific reason for Jack to hate me, then I shouldn’t be treated the way I was. It didn’t matter if he was just going through some things or if he was just born an asshole. He should not treat people like that. I’m done trying to find out why he had a distaste for me.

“You know you can go home if you want?” Luke asked, letting some noodles dangle out of his mouth. “I’m here and can watch the girls if you want leave.”

“Oh, I can’t leave. I’d be cut a day’s pay, and won’t have enough money to pay you back,” I replied, filling the sink with warm water and soap.

“You don’t have to pay me back,” he said, scratching the top of his head.

“Yeah, I do. That’s your money,” I insisted.

Luke shook his head at me and mouthed ‘no’.

“I can’t take your money and not pay you back.”

“You didn’t take it. I gave it to you,” he said, shaking his head.

“I can’t accept it like that, Luke. I have to give it back to you,” I told him, dropping dirty plates and bowls into the sink.

“I’m not going to take the money back,” he blatantly stated, leaning his chair back to balance on its back two legs. “If I wanted pay back, I would have said so. I gave it to you for keeps.”

I shook my head at his stubbornness. I didn’t want to say anything else about it, but he was going to get that money back.

“I think I’m going to hang back. Unless I’m bothering you and you want me to leave?” I added.

“No, no. You’re not bothering me,” he said, shaking his head. “I like the company, especially since I feel like crap. I just wanted to tell you that if you wanted to leave you could. You’re not forced to stay here.”

“Are you even sick?” I asked, laughing. He seemed perfectly fine besides the fact that his voice was a little raspy.

“Well I don’t exactly feel good. I’ve got a bad cough, a sore throat, and a headache,” he explained.

“If you need anything, just let me know.”

“I think I’m going to drink some tea and take a nap when I’m done with this,” he informed me, nodding his head at the soup. “I’ll help you clean up after the girls tear this place up,” he smiled.

The girls loved to rip the house to shreds and not clean up after themselves. Of course, that is why I was around. “Well thank you. I appreciate that,” I said with a grin.