Tallulah

That summer could have been the best summer of my entire life. At least it felt that way. Addie and I spent a lot of time together, especially after Euphemia went back to Greece a few weeks after my birthday. (She said that she missed her home and her family, but that she'd keep in touch. We wrote letters to each other all the time.) We went to the movies and to the beach and he taught me how to make small little film shorts. Sometimes we'd go all the way to Montgomery and people watch or film people. It was nice.

I didn't go to college right away. Not because I didn't want to, but I just didn't know what I wanted to do and I didn't want to spend money studying something I didn't like. Albert and Peter were disappointed, and in an attempt to encourage me to go to college, managed to convince Momma to send me to Katie and Trent's for three weeks.

(Apparently, Katie and Trent got married during Christmas as a big surprise to everyone. I thought it was a little fishy, but Katie was pretty plain as far as parties went, so maybe she just wanted to keep it quiet or something.)

While I really did want to see her, I didn't want to leave Addie behind. We'd grown really close since my birthday, and I kind of thought of him as my best friend and also the guy I could make out with when no one was looking, which I thought was pretty nice. We got along really well and I could talk to him about pretty much anything, ever.

I kicked up the biggest fuss I ever have the night my parents drove me to the airport, but nothing I could do would convince them otherwise.

Off we went.

(In any event, Addie was just as miserable as I was. He promised to call and write as much as he could.)

I don't think the flight itself was really as scary as the thought that I'd be all alone for the next few hours. Those were the most awkward two hours of my whole life. I had never really been alone before, so I felt kind of out of my element. Since I had a window seat, I spent most of my flight looking down at the clouds beneath us, trying to keep myself from getting too dizzy, and then trying to sneak my sandwich past the stewardesses.

Katie was the one who picked me up at the airport, alone. I had never seen so much snow in my whole life - but that's Michigan for you, Katie said. Her coat and car smelled like cigarettes and cheap air freshener, but I wasn't complaining. At least I was visiting her, like she asked me to do almost every single time she called.

I guess Katie's apartment was kind of nice. The carpet was a little threadbare, and the walls were more yellow than they were white, and it reeked of cigarettes, but besides that, it was okay. Trent was asleep, since it was still early in the day and all. (He wasn't working, apparently.) There was a small TV in the living room with a loveseat and a small glass table. The kitchen was tiny and there was barely enough space in there for Katie, much less Trent. I would be sleeping on the pull out couch, since the apartment only had one room. Apparently, the heater was broken and the landlord couldn't come down to fix it until all the snow cleared, so we'd have to bundle up around the apartment when it got pretty nippy.

I was missing Birmingham more and more.

The first few days with Trent and Katie were mildly uneventful.

Katie would get up to go to work early in the morning. She'd leave breakfast ready, and then off she'd go. Trent would get up around nine, poke at his breakfast, and chain smoke a pack of cigarettes. He'd watch TV for a little while, talk to me for a bit, and toss all the dishes into the sink without washing them. He'd go out for the rest of the day and leave me all alone. Katie wouldn't come home until around five and make dinner. We'd eat in front of the TV and everything would be fine. Trent wouldn't come home until around eleven. I heard him sneaking in and it would always be at the same time.

They'd fight for about two hours, and she'd always cry, but she'd be fine in the morning.

My first Friday night with them was fine. We went to the movies and the rest of the weekend was mildly uneventful.

That following Friday was another story. Katie didn't work that Friday (it was every other Friday) so we spent the day sight seeing. I got my first letter from Addie that morning and spent the first part of the day in a giddy haze. Trent went out early, right after breakfast. Katie didn't even ask him where or say goodbye - she just let him leave. I thought it was a little weird, but said nothing.

After we ate some lunch, we went out shopping and sightseeing. I remember that she hadn't been feeling well, and that she was tired, so we went home early, around three or so. She took a nap and I started making dinner. She woke up half way through and started to help me. We put on the radio and danced around the kitchen.

And then Trent came home.

And he was slurring, a little, but I didn't say much because I didn't really know what to say. Katie was always tense around him. I hadn't ever really seen a bad marriage, and I didn't really remember much about Momma and Daddy, so it was something new. Katie didn't really kiss him, or touch him, or hug him, or even really talk to him unless she had to.

Apparently, Trent wanted steak for dinner. Katie and I made stir fry and rice.

Trent was not a happy camper.

We had already eaten since he came home late and Katie ate at six on the dot every single day (that was about the time we ate dinner at Momma's house and I guess it's a habit that always just stuck with her).

I'd never seen a real argument between couples before. Barney and Agnes occasionally hissed at each other, but that was in Greek and I didn't really understand. And that was only sometimes. Momma and Albert didn't fight, not really, just had a little disagreement here and there. And Isabel and Peter were too busy laughing and joking and travelling during the summer to really have any serious issues.

I was trying to write a letter to my parents and Addie when their biggest fight happened. I say biggest because they had been fighting all week, but it was nothing like what I saw that night.

"What the hell is this?" He almost flips the plate but doesn't, glancing at the food with a scowl. Katie was sitting on the couch, looking down at a case file from work. She was reading one of the papers with a frown, sighing. "Kathy."

She looked at him and shrugged, sighing.

"I'm tired, Trent." She pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "It's supposed to be healthy."

He scowls and picks at his food, rolling his eyes. He gets up and goes to the fridge, then slams the door.

"Don't slam the damn door," Katie asked, making a face at him. "It's gonna break if you keep doin' that."

"There's no beer."

"There's some Coca-Cola on the bottom. I bought some with Tally earlier."

"I wanted beer, though."

"I can't drink."

"You can't drink. I didn't know I was pregnant too," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Trent!"

I just looked at both of them with wide eyes, confused. Pregnant? Katie couldn't be pregnant. How did that even happen? Katie glared at him with narrowed eyes, slamming her pen down. Trent glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. She walked over to the table, making a face.

"What?" He set down a soda bottle on the table, digging a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Katie said nothing, watching as he picked up his fork to try what she made. It really was pretty good, and I didn't know why it was such an issue. He lit up his cigarette and flicked it on the floor, shaking his head.

"I thought I asked you to smoke in the hallway." He just blew smoke in her face, shrugging. "Seriously."

"I thought I asked you to make steak for dinner tonight," he shrugged, flipping the plate over completely. "What a shame."

"Trent!"

"What? Why are you yelling?"

"I'm not making steak, and that was your dinner. And no, I'm not making you a new plate or cleaning up that mess. I'm tired and I actually have work to do, unlike some people."

"Oh, so that's what this is about," Trent nodded, laughing a little. Katie stood up and walked away, shaking her head. "Hey! Don't walk away from me when I'm talkin' to you."

Katie stopped and sighed, turning around.

"Now, to me, okay," he says, putting his cigarette out on the table and popping a piece of gum into his mouth, "if I make a shopping list with food I wanna eat on it for you to go buy, I just don't understand why you can't do that."

"It's my money, okay? If I don't wanna buy steak, then guess what? I'm not buying any."

"Oh, so it's all your money, huh?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "Well this is my apartment, and I bought you that dress and those shoes and that damn ring, right? I gave you that damn baby."

"Can we not do this right now? Please? Not in front of her." Katie glanced at me, sighing. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," Trent interjected, shaking his head. "I wanna do this in front of her." He turns to me and scoffs, laughing sarcastically. "Your sister is only good for a couple of things: cooking, sometimes, bringing in money, when she feels like it, and opening her legs. Sometimes. That's what got her into this mess in the first place."

"Trent!"

"What?" He lights another cigarette. "What is it? Are you raisin' your voice at me, huh?" Katie was silent, biting her thin lip as she looked away from him. "Hey! You look at me when I'm talkin' to you, okay?" Trent grabbed the plate and threw it at her. Katie and I flinched as it shattered against the wall, the pieces scattering across the floor. "I'm talkin' t'ya!"

Trent shook his head and jabbed another cigarette into his mouth, lighting it angrily.

"Y'know what? I'm just gonna leave, okay? Maybe I'll come back after you learn some gratitude and how to do what you're told. Goddamn." He stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

And then Katie started to cry and hugged me tightly, sniffling into my shoulder.

"Why do you let him do that?" I ask her softly, as if he could burst in any minute. "Have you lost your damn mind? You don't need that, Katie."

"I just - don't tell Momma, okay? You can tell them about the baby and all that, but please don't tell them about this. I can - I can handle it. He just... gets frustrated sometimes. I know he doesn't mean it." She shakes her head, wiping her eyes. "Why don't we clean up and then get a sundae? I'm feeling like a banana split."

And that was that. I didn't understand why she'd let him treat her like that at all. She was a grown woman. She had a job. She had a car. She had her career and she was young. And even if she was pregnant, she could have still come home. It wasn't like Momma was going to kick her out or disown her or something. Why would she stand for it?

It was just one of the many stupid things my sisters and I would do for love.