Come A Little Closer

marc
“MOTHER FUCKER!”

I hear Jared yell as he slams the front door. I’m in my room, sitting on my bed, holding the ring in between my index finger and thumb. She called the wedding off, she called the wedding off because of the fact that I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about my extension and ask her politely to move to New York. Oh and I called her a bitch.

“Marc!” My mom is yelling for me now.
“I’m in here,” I yell back as I hear her come in.
“Marc, why did Gina just run out of here crying and why do you have her…Marc, what happened?”
“The weddings off mom.”
“What do you mean the weddings off?”
“She found out about the extension and won’t move to New York, so we argued and I called her a bitch so she called the wedding off.”
“Oh Marc…I’m so sorry.”
“Mom, I’m an idiot.”
“Well…you and Jared can sulk together.”
“Why?”
“Sydney dumped him.”
“Send him in here.”

My mom walks out of my room while calling for my brother. I look at the ring again. I bought this because I knew she was the one I wanted to wake up every morning too, have a kitchen fight, raise a family with, have support me at my games, you get the idea. Instead I fucked it up, and this time, I did, but put the blame on her.

How and why am I so stupid?

“Mom said you wanted to see me?” Jared asks taking the sext next to me. “Why is Gina’s engagement ring in your hands?”
“She called the wedding off.”
“She found out?”
“Lets just say it wasn’t pretty. What happened with you and Syd?”
“She claims she can’t find a job and afford school in Florida.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“I don’t know what to believe to be honest. Girls suck.”
“I need to get away for a while.”
“You and I both…seasons don’t start for another few weeks now that camps over.”
“Pack your shit up.”
“Why?”
“Where going away.”
“Where are we going?”
“Vegas.”

“You’re going where!?”

My mom yells at me as I pack my hockey duffle with clothes that should last me a few days. I knew Jared and I needed to get out of here just for a while, due to all of the bullshit he and I had to deal with at the moment. I mean, we didn’t deserve our break ups and we clearly wanted to run away to avoid the issue. “Marc, you and Jared can’t run away from these problems.”

“Mom, we need to get out before the season starts.”
“Marc, look.”

I turn to look at my mom, who’s holding the engagement ring that should be on Gina’s finger at the moment. I take it from her and look at it. The heart shaped diamond was clear and the band was still shinning silver. I sighed and put the ring in a compartment of my bag. “Marc, go to Gina’s and fix this,” my mom was pleading with me now.

“Mom, I think I’m going to go away for a few days, clear my mind, and maybe fix this.”
“What do you mean maybe?”
“Mom, I’m leaving for a few days with your son.”
“Marc, do not do this.”
“We’ll call you when we land. Jare, c’mon!”

A few hours later, Jared and I were on a plane getting ready to take off. Jares sitting in the middle, while I’m at the window, staring out at nothing as I feel my brother nudge my shoulder. I turn to look at him, as he knocks my hat off my head. I roll my eyes at this and put my hat back on. “You okay big brother?” He asks me.

“I don’t even know.”
“When we land, lets go to the casino and get mad drunk.”
“That sounds nice about now.”
“C’mon Marc, this will all blow over,” Jared tells me as we take off.
“Is it normal I’m feeling guilty?”
“I don’t know, we’ll decide at the end of this trip.”

gina

“WHERE ARE YOU TWO EVEN GOING?”

My mom yells at us as we scramble around packing our bags. We decided to head out of Thunder Bay for a few days after this afternoons issue. I mean, Sydney and her boyfriend broke up, I called off my wedding, and this was all just a little too much for us at the mment. I sighed as I threw a hoodie in the bag, not even looking to see what hoodie I threw in the bag. “Maybe Edmonton, somewhere where we can get drunk and gamble quickly.”

“You’ll want to go to Montreal for that,” Lindsy yells from the bathroom.
“Yeah, I’ll pass on Montreal.”
“Gina, why don’t you just go to the Staals and fix the damn problem? Maybe you won’t even have to move to New York.”
“Mom, once that man does something, there is no stopping him, and you know that, I know that, we all know that.”

My mom sighs, because she knows I’m right for once. Sydney walked into my room and set her bag on my bed before putting her hands on her his. “Okay,” she begins, smacking her lips. “Where the bloody hell are we going?”

“Montreal?”
“I do want to get drunk, but I refuse to get drunk there.”
“Atlantic City?”
“NO NO AND NO!” My mom and Lindsy are yelling at us.
“Atlantic City sounds nice,” Sydney smiles, while I nod.
“You ARE NOT going to New Jersey!”
“I’ll call you when we land.”

My mom hated New Jersey, she called it the land of poser Italians and that was the last place she wanted Sydney and I going to escape heartbreak. I mean, whats the worst thing that could possibly happen; I get into a bar fight or Sydney hooks up with a guido?

“You think we’re to blame for this?”
“Not at all,” I say, buckling up my seat belt in the car.
“I mean, you think we’ll regret our actions later?”
“Lets just think about that later, okay?”

And with that we were off to New Jersey, the land of casinos, the beach, and guidos.