Burn Me Away

When she woke up the next morning and went to get Maddie, she noticed his bedroom door was wide open. She scrunched up her features a little and wondering how long he'd been up. As she carried her little girl down the steps, she noticed that there was no noise in the house other than the creaking of the steps beneath them.

After rummaging through the kitchen cabinets in search of cereal, bowls, and spoons, she fixed a bowl of Cap 'N' Crunch for Maddie seeing as that was the only type of cereal she could find. She had to admit that she found that a little funny. He was in his early thirties and still rockin' the Cap 'N' Crunch with crunchberries. She made a mental note to tease him about it later.

She glanced out the kitchen window looking in the driveway and saw that it was free of any vehicles. He must've gotten up early and headed out for the day. She wondered why he wouldn't have left a note or anything but then remembered that they hadn't even known each other twenty fours. She probably wouldn't have left a note either in his position.

It was nearing the evening and Maddie had been nagging her mother persistently about dinner for nearly an hour. Finally giving in, she decided to rummage through his kitchen cabinets and refrigerator for something to cook. She found some cheese and ground beef in the fridge that seemed would go along well the with the hamburger buns that sat on the counter. After finally finding where he stored the pots and pans, she began to fry the burgers. Figuring he would likely be home soon, she cooked enough for the three of them and even sliced some potatoes and fried them as well.

The aroma of cheeseburgers and potatoes was a pleasant surprise to his senses when he finally walked in the back door. He'd spent most of the day at the studio and what was left of it driving around town. The two girls sitting at his dining table eating their dinner was a welcome sight after a long day.

"Hey." He said mustering a wave as he pulled his cigarette pack and lighter from his pocket and tossed them to the counter lightly. "You cooked?"

"Yeah," she said taking a drink of her grape soda. "I hope you don't care. I'll clean the dishes later."

"No, it's cool."

"There's a plate for you up in the microwave." She smiled.

"I helped Mommy make the batatoes." Maddie pointed out with a grin.

Pulling the plate out of the microwave, he found a two cheeseburgers and a heap of fried potatoes.
"This is great. Thanks." His stomach growled suddenly and he realized that he hadn't really eaten anything all day long. Soon enough he was shoveling the food in his mouth with vigor.

"Cowey?" The dirty blond little three year old asked. "Are the batatoes good?"

"They're fuckin' delicious." He answered excitedly and without thinking causing her to giggle. "Uhh, sorry." He looked to Courtnee apologetically as his cheeks got a little red.

"Maddie, go to the bathroom and wash your hands." She instructed her daughter who was still laughing at Corey cramming food in his mouth.

"Sorry about that." He apologized again for his expletive. "Just not really used to having a kid around."

"Don't worry about it." She smiled warmly. "I"m glad you like your dinner."

"I did. Thanks, and I'll clean all this up."

Following the direction her child had gone in, she ventured on to the task of giving Maddie a bath and getting her ready for bed. After laying her down, she closed the bedroom door as softly as she could careful not to make any noise. She turned to go back down stairs and was met by Corey as he drug himself upstairs eager to shut himself off for the night yet again.

"She go to sleep already?" He asked attempting small talk as he walked by her.

She nodded and looked back to the bedroom door for a second, "Almost. Another few minutes and she'll be out of it."

"I don't think I'm gonna be far behind." He said rubbing the back of his neck as lips curled in a halfsmile. "I'm gonna take a shower and call it a night." He continued past her but stopped when she spoke once again.

"Was that you last night?"

"Huh?"

"Playing the guitar?" She asked as reached up to pull the bun down from the top of her head letting her blonde hair fall at her shoulders.

His head bobbed up and down slightly, "Yeah, you could hear that? I didn't keep you up did I?"

"The opposite actually." She smiled as her cheeks suddenly gained a twinge of red to them.

"Well, I hope my playing's not that boring." He smirked.

"Oh, no. I just mean that....well, sleep hasn't exactly been a friend of mine lately. So, it was just kind of soothing."

"I know what mean." He breathed heavily. "I haven't been sleeping much either."

They stood there in silence for moment as both of them let there eyes scan their surroundings. She was about to go back down stairs when she heard him clear his throat.

"Could I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure." She wondered what he could possibly want to ask her and hoped that it'd be something she could answer easily.

"How do you know Craig? I mean....I've known him for a long time and he's always been kind of..."

"Quiet?" She asked finishing his sentence.

"Yeah, that."

"We went to high school together. I had some classes with him." She explained. "He's always been quiet......made him kind of an easy target for some people."

"A target?"

She nodded, "You know....the popular kids and the jocks. They knew he'd most likely not say anything back to them or tell anyone else what they were doing."

"I know what that's like" He frowned. "Those fucking people didn't leave me alone in school. Of course, I'm more of a loudmouth than he is." His frown quickly turned to a mischievous grin. She smiled in response and decided in her head that Corey looked much better when he smiled than when he sulked around the house.

"Yeah, and I was friends with those people." He looked at her curiously. "I was a cheerleader."

"Well, that explains that ponytail of yours." He joked and twirled then ends of her around his index finger as she smacked him playfully.

"Anyway..." She tried to get him to refocus on her story. "I started talking to him in class and whenever I saw him around..."

"And he talked back?"

She laughed, "Well, it took awhile. Mostly, after he realized that I got the others to back off of him and leave him alone. We became really good friends after all that. I guess now he's returning the favor."

He noticed her demeanor change a little and her smile began to wane. "I know I kind of take off a lot....but if you need to talk about anything....let me know and I'll stick around."

"Thank you, Corey. I appreciate it."

"No problem." He nodded.