you were there all along.

"mike, where the hell are her shoes?!" i yelled through the bus. i could never get him to do anything...he cant even keep track of her shoes. Michaela looked at me over the top of her glasses, " maybe their under yours and daddy's bunk. do you want me to go check?" i smiled at her, "if you would please?" i plopped down on the bench and began staring out the window. Just then i saw my best friend Elendra and her boyfriend, Vic, along with their 4 year old daughter Hayden, walking up to the bus.

it was snowing.

Elendra trudged into the bus stomping her feet on the rug. "holy crap its cold out there." vic just laughed...i could tell that the cold really didnt bother him. at least not on the west coast...it was the cold in the midwest that really got to us. how they handle it i will never know.
hayden took off her hat and scarf and placed it on a chair sitting next to the door. "wheres michaela?" she asked with a confused look on her face. "umm, she's back there with her dad trying to find her shoes." hayden looked confused but went into the bunk room anyway. "MICHAELA!!" she called. being only 4, she didnt know how to control the volume of her voice. "hayden, be quiet." bellowed vic from the bus door. it was 5:30 pm and the show started at 8; which meant they had to leave for soundcheck soon. Vic was wearing cutoffs and a backwards snapback and he hadnt straightened his hair, so the curls reached just about the top of his shoulders. i took a look at my own hair and scoffed, "it really sucks when a boy has better hair than you do." vic laughed, "um excuse me, i am no longer a boy. i...am a man." i laughed, "yeah, a man with chicken legs." he took a couple steps forward, "you wanna say that again?" he said with a smirk on his face. i want afraid of him. "yeah. you got chicken legs." he dropped his head. "mike, come take care of your girlfriend. she's making fun of me." you could hear mike laughing from the bunk..then there was a strong smell of cigarette smoke. elendra plugged her nose, "oh god. he's smoking on the bus again." you could hear hayden from the lounge room, "uncle mike, put that out. it stinks...my eyes burrrnnn." she shrieked. hayden was way too dramatic for her own good; just like her dad. but it made me love her even more.