Alone at Six

"You know, maybe I should have asked her." Carefully avoiding the table, I laid my head on Sandra's lap and took a deep breath. "But I don't think she'd take that question very well. She doesn't seem like the type to take things like that very well."

Looking over her boobs and taking off her glasses, Sandra gave the normal confused look I always get. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious." Jinxx said through his yawn "He's talking about Cole."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know, Cole seems like the type of girl that would freak out over little things. " His arms lifted in a motion that suggested he was shrugging. "I mean, she cried when that chick let lose she was an orphan. Imagine what she would do if she found out.....well, whatever Andy's not telling us."

"Yeah, that makes somewhat sense. It would make more if I knew what we were talking about. How 'bout it Six?" Handing me a menu, Sandra bounced her leg to nudge me. "Care to tell us what you're so down about?"

"Na." Looking over the menu, I sighed seeing that all their salad was of the crappy variety. Why does no one have quality salad anymore? "Order for me?"

"I will," Jinxx said. "If you tell us what happened."

"Order for me and I'll tell you what happened."

"You're getting this unpronounceable salad thing." Sandra took the menu from me and set it on the table above. "Now tell us what happened."

"I can't, Cole might not want me to."

Grunts went through my band mates as a few hands pounded on the table. "You're so difficult!" someone shouted.

"Yeah" I sighed. "I know. But do you think I should have asked her? The outcome couldn't have been that bad, could it?"

"Well." Jinxx sighed, not bothering to try any farther to get any answer out of me. "It depends on how bad it is. If it's something like she got a sex change when she was six, she'd probably bawl her eyes out. That is, if she's as sensitive I think she is. I can't assume she'd do things like this, I had one conversation with the girl."

"No, no, I don't think that's it." Ashley chimed in "Those tits were very real. I'd be a bit disappointed if she was a boy, really. She's kind- Ow! Fuck Andy, I was just saying!"

Putting the fork back on the table, I sighed again. "And what do you think she'd do if it wasn't that bad?"

I wasn't entirely sure what I found was 'bad', by her standards at the very least. If I asked her, she could tell me what they were for calmly, not caring like she did when I was talking to Ryan earlier. It could be no big deal to her and I was the one exaggerating. It's not like I haven't before.

Maybe she just had the jar for headaches or they were prescribed. She could have some illness she's had forever and knows what pills to take and when so she doesn't need the bottles and puts them in a jar to save room. She could just have them to have them, her room was insane enough, what's one jar of pills to add to it? They could be expired and she put them in there because she liked the color.

Yeah, that's it. She just liked the color.

"Well," Jinxx started again after the waitress took our orders and left. "if you found out that she wore extensions, I don't thing she'd care too much. I mean it's not like any of us would be surprised."

"Her hair is actually all real. I asked her that the day I came back late. It supposedly grows really fast and she straightens it. Just imagine how long that takes."

"Why does she do it if it's so long?" Sandra asked. "Wouldn't the weight flatten it? Her hair is probably really straight to begin with."

"Actually, It's kind of curly. She's only half white so her hair's not too fine or anything. Her mom is white and her dad looks black maybe Hawaiian, I think." Thinking of the picture, I could almost imagine him in a headdress dancing around. But the urge to smile quickly left as I remembered the letters and numbers printed under the photo.

"You met her dad?" Ashley leaned down to pick up a crayon and gave me a typical look. "Don't you usually save that until the first date? Oh wait, you guys decided to skip past that and go right for it. Fuck, I was kidding!"

Wrestling the fork away from me, Sandra flicked me on the head and scolded me. "Bad Six, no stabbing Purdy."

"So what did her dad say at her being brought home by random men? You have to admit, it's a little sketchy."

"No." I sighed. "I just saw a picture of him."

"Stop sighing or you're getting off on me."

"Uh, not that you're not cute and all, but I think we should just be friends. You know, no hooking up with the band, friends don't fuck, avoiding the awkwardness of the night after."

Lifting her knee so my face was squished in her stomach, she said. "You know what I mean, just stop sighing. It makes me sad, you can't be that disappointed that you didn't meet him."

"Well I am."

Cole told me so much about her dad in the time we talked, even though it was just for the ride back to her house a few days ago. She made him sound like the best guy in the world, like no father could compete, my father was even beginning to look a little shabby. As soon as she started to talk about him a smile spread across her face, the first smile I'd seen on her. It was disappointing to know that I could never meet someone of that much importance to her, someone who made her that happy.

"Arthur Tello." I sighed again, but Sandra didn't squish my face this time. "It was a misprint."

"What are you talking about?" She asked in more confusion. "That guy from the paper? Are you scared she's gonna get kidnapped?"

"No." I sighed again. Wow, she was right. Sighing does make you even more sad. Or maybe it was just that I was thinking about that pictures, the clearly printed words and numbers 'Arther Tello. 1973-2011' "I'm saying Arthur Telilo is really Aurthur Tello. The guy that was killed was her dad, not some stranger."

Silence fell over the table, Jake's leg even stopped bouncing for once. We all probably thought of the possibility, but figured they're are a lot of people in the world. There could be a Telilo somewhere out there. I guess we're just so used to it not being anyone we know, we figured that this time was no exception.

The slight after-dinner-rush noise didn't seem loud enough anymore. Maybe telling them wasn't the best idea, I never asked Cole if I could and it was painfully obvious that she didn't even want me to know. But it was hard to keep things from them, they were like a extension of me, like quintuplets joined at the head.

And because of that, I knew the thoughts running through their minds. She just lost a father, everyone probably knew it and no one was even decent enough to take mercy on her. They shunned her, like the people on her lunch shift; abandoned her, like Ryan had at the concert; talked about her, like the people in Mr. Maloon's class; and left her alone. It was no wonder she barely ever smiled.

"That's terrible." Jake finally whispered. "Only two months ago, too."

"I know," I said as I sat up and fixed my hair. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. The whole orphan thing almost makes sense now." Jinxx thought out loud. "But what about her mom? What happened to her?"

"I don't know. But I think it's best if we just leave that one alone. Ignorance is bliss, right?"

"Yeah," Sandra said "but some people aren't lucky enough to be ignorant. Some people are unfortunate enough to be that one person that has to know. And Cole was unfortunate enough to lose the one person she had. Let's face it, it doesn't seem like Cole had too many people to begin with."

"Sometimes, I hate how right you can be. I hope you're just wrong about that last part."

"Yeah. I do too."