Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

I tried acting as calm as possible while Mrs. Moreno went through her morning routine. It would have been a lot easier if Mr. Moreno wasn’t glaring at me.

Luke walked into the living room with a small pep in his step.

“What are you so giddy about?” Mrs. Moreno chuckled as she poured coffee into a thermos.

“Just excited for the camping trip tonight,” he grinned, slipping on his backpack.

“Who’s all going?” Mrs. Moreno asked

“Jack Izzy, Kevin, Danny, possibly Keir. I haven’t heard back from him yet,” Luke answered, grabbing his skateboard. “I was hoping Riley could go, but I don’t know if you guys are planning anything this weekend.”

My eyes instantly locked with Mr. Moreno’s. He stuck his tongue inside his cheek and turned towards Luke.

Mrs. Moreno looked at me with a small smile. “Riley, I’m sure you don’t want to baby sit again this weekend.”

“No, not really,” I nervously chuckled.

“Well then sure, she can go if she wants,” Mrs. Moreno nodded. “Luke, will you get Jack for me? I have to talk to him about something.”

“He’s not here,” Luke shrugged. “I guess he left early again to pick up Izzy. Her car is still being fixed.”

“He didn’t go get her any other day this week,” Mr. Moreno growled. “Why is he gone today?”

“Izzy knows he’s free to give her a ride, so she makes him,” Luke shrugged, his eyebrow slightly twitching.

Mr. Moreno slowly stood up and poked out his chest. "I don't believe you," he sneered.

"Oh, Albert, quit it," Mrs. Moreno scoffed. "I'll just snag him later."

The corners of Luke's mouth twitched into a smirk, only earning a low growl from Mr. Moreno.

"Don't you have early dismissal today?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

"Yeah," Luke nodded.

"Yes, sir," Mr. Moreno corrected sternly.

"Yes, Sir," Luke sighed.

"Good. 'Cause before you leave you're gonna clean out the garage," Mr. Moreno grumbled.

"Al," Mrs. Moreno sighed. "Luke doesn't even use the garage. Why can't he just go to the lake?"

Mr. Moreno let out a harsh snort. "You don't know half of what this boy uses."

"What does that mean?" Mrs. Moreno said sharply, raising her eyebrows at her growling husband.

"Forget it," he snarled. "Just get your ass to school."

Mr. Moreno grumbled to himself as he walked to the garage with Mrs. Moreno following close behind.

“I’ll see you around one,” Luke smiled.

I nodded and returned the smile. My stomach still hadn’t recovered from Mr. Moreno barging in. I only spoke when I absolutely had to in fear that my breakfast would make an unwanted appearance on the living room floor.

With a small wave, Luke followed his parents into the garage.

In my time alone, I tried distracting myself with Golden Girls reruns. My mind seems pleasantly preoccupied, but the tension in my legs continued to keep my body alert. I couldn’t believe I gotten away with it. More so that Luke got away with it. I thought for sue he would be skinned alive with the way Mr. Moreno treats Jack.

My trace was broken by the front door swinging open. Before I could peek my head over the couch, Jack charged into the kitchen.

“What’re you doing here?” I blurted, sitting up on the couch.

“Forgot some things last night,” he answered calmly, searching through the fridge.

I repressed the urge to ask what exactly he was looking for in kitchen. Another nosy question might pull the pin on the grenade.

“So you’re going with us to the lake?” he asked through a sigh.

“Yeah,” I answered. “I was wondering if I could ask you something about Luke’s present.”

“Well?” he pressed, grabbing a ceramic plate from the cupboard.

I sat down at the table and waited for Jack to join me before I told him what I was planning to get.

He glanced up from his plate of re-heated pizza and shrugged. “What do I have to do with it?”

“I was wondering if you would let me use the money I owe you to pay for it,” I said cautiously.

He stuffed the entire slice of pizza into his mouth and nodded.

“I was also kind of hoping you would help me pick it out,” I added, scratching the side of my face. “I don’t know much about that kind of stuff.”

“Figures,” he snorted, his mouth still stuffed full of food. “Yeah, I’ll get it.”

“Thanks,” I graciously nodded and stood up from the table.

“We’ll go when the girls wake up,” he said, wiping his mouth free of grease. “Izzy wanted to go shopping with you anyway.”

I glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. 8:20. The twins would be up within the hour. I tried to think of a reason why Jack wouldn’t be in school, but found it better not to ask.

“Did you stay here last night?” he asked, talking a slow sip out of his cup.

“Yeah,” I answered nervously. Although Jack seemed a little less explosive the past week, I still tried my best to avoid saying anything that would turn him into a shrieking woman.

“Get caught?” he asked with a smug grin.

I didn’t know if Luke somehow talked to Jack and told him what happened. If he didn’t, then I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to break the news.

“No,” I lied, sitting back on the couch.

The corners of his mouth fell. “Well, your luck won’t last too long,” he said venomously as he walked into the kitchen to clean his plate.

“Neither will yours,” I snapped “Your dad keeps harassing Luke where you are.”

“Yeah, well if you weren’t here all the time he would leave early enough to keep me covered,” he snarled, loudly dropping his plate into his sink. “Lucky for him that mom knows to keep her mouth shut about it.”

Instead of pressing my luck and changing Jack’s mind to help me, I turned the TV volume up loud enough to drown out the sound of his arrogant voice.