Haner to Save the Day

The music thumped against the surrounding speakers, spreading hypnotic vibrations along the floor. In every direction, crowds of people danced or yelled at each other over the loud music. Aside from the good song selection, everything else was mediocre.

The beer was probably the cheapest that was available with subpar food. Brian investigated his red cup, swirling it to see the amber liquid slosh around. He scowled; it truly tasted awful. The hint of blueberry attacked his taste buds in the worst way. He thought to grab some food but realized it would probably make him throw up. Overall, this party was absolute trash and a waste of time.

“Hey, are you listening to me!”

Jerking out of his stupor, Brian looked down at the girl in front of him. He had almost forgotten she was speaking to him. He looked at her with disinterested eyes. She was a pretty girl with long black hair and piercing green eyes. He simply didn’t have the energy to try and pretend to invest in her conversation, whatever that was.

“Nice talking to you,” Brian replied, beginning to walk away.

“That’s so rude!” she yelled.

On his trek to the front door, he noticed Jimmy playing Beer Pong and losing embarrassingly. Laughing, Brian pulled Jimmy’s shirt and dragged him outside the house.

“What was that for? I almost figured out the chemistry on how to win!” Jimmy whined, ball still in hand.

Brian snickered. “I think you mean Geometry. Besides, that party was fucking terrible.”

“Hm,” Jimmy said, tapping his chin, “the beer could have been better.”

“Dude, it has blueberry in it. What the fuck.”

“Blueberry is an important part of your daily diet ya know.”

“Yeah okay,” Brian mumbled, taking out his phone from his pocket. “I wonder what the twins are doing.” As he dialed the appropriate phone number, he tapped all his pockets, trying to find his car keys before groaning. They decided earlier in the night to walk rather than drive. The walk back to the other side of Huntingon Beach was going to be a hike.

“Hey Brian. What’s up?” Jo asked, once she picked up the phone.

“We’re bored. What are you doing?”

“About to go to Chip’s house. But-“

“Okay we’ll see you there!” he decided.

“Wait no-”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “Did you just hang up on her?”

Brian shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah. Why?”

“Jo does not like people doing that to her. Prepare to feel her wrath.”

He decided to ignore the last statement as the two friends walked for a little over half an hour before they arrived at Veronica’s house. Now that he was there, he could feel the pang of nervousness. The last time he was at her house was the argument she had with Alana. If she was there, she would most likely create another scene. Maybe he should have thought his plan through before making such quick decisions.

The sound of barking brought Brian out of his thoughts. He and Jimmy walked over the grass to the side of the house. From there, they could smell grilled meat and people laughing.

“Jack, shush!” Veronica stopped by the fence, mouth in the shape of an “o” the moment she saw Brian and Jimmy. “What are you doing here?” she almost whispered, agitation clearly expressed on her face.

“I told him not to do it,” Jimmy immediately said, pointing at Brian.

Brian opened and closed his mouth. “Uhh…”

“Hey sweetie who is it?” Peter appeared from behind Veronica, spatula in hand. He smiled at Jimmy, remembering him from their previous dinner. “Are these your friends?” he asked warmly.

Veronica looked at her feet. “I guess.”

Peter could her the hesitation in her voice but decided to ignore her as he guided Brian and Jimmy to the backyard. He would never turn down hungry teenagers.

“Whoa,” Brian uttered, seeing the intricate artistry of their backyard. Lined along the sides of the area were little vegetable plants ranging from tomatoes, cucumbers, and even chili peppers. Above their heads was a wooden ceiling with the boards in a lattice pattern. Green vines and leaves found a home between the open spaces. In the far-right corner of the yard was a huge cherry tree that looked as though it had been alive for decades. He could picture himself sitting by the cherry tree and playing guitar.

“Ronnie,” Brian began, turning around to face her. “Your house is beautiful.”

“I know. It would have been nice for you to not barge in here without an invitation,” she scoffed.

Without thinking, Brian touched her wrist, causing her to look at the contact and back to his face. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t know it was a family thing.”

Veronica pulled herself away from Brian. “First, would totally appreciate you not touching me. Second, grab a seat we’re going to eat soon.”

Quickly, Brian obliged, taking the closest chair next to him. Looking around, he noticed Jo, Nick, and their parents were also in attendance. He only saw Asian people aside from Jimmy and himself. In that moment, the lightbulb went off as he realized he interrupted an obvious Vietnamese gathering. This was reaffirmed for him when Jo made eye contact with him and shook her head.

“Alright everyone, dinner is served!” Peter announced, placing trays of vermicelli, grilled bacon, and crawfish on the large table in front of everyone. Veronica and Alana began making plates for all the adults before handing out food to everyone in their age group.

Once every person had their own plate of food in their hands, the adults and teenagers separated. The twins and Veronica moved their chairs closer to Brian and Jimmy. Alana chose to eat with the adults, unsure of how volatile Veronica was. Brian watched as his friends ate the food; he wanted to ask how to eat it, ignorant to Vietnamese food. He looked at the twins, hoping they could help, but Veronica was the person who noticed his turmoil.

“Sorry, I forgot you guys haven’t had this before,” she explained, angling her chair to see Brian and Jimmy without having to crane her neck. “Vermacelli is rice noodles and it’s bland. You’re supposed to eat it with the grilled bacon. There’s also a garlic fish sauce on the noodle already so it balances out. But I have to show you how to eat crawfish. It’s kinda weird at first.” She began her demonstration by separating the tail from the head, sucked the juices out from the head, and broke the shell to get to the meat.

Brian and Jimmy followed suit, struggling to extract the meat as efficiently as she did.

“Chip do it! It’s not working!” Jimmy whined, giving her his crawfish.

She laughed, shaking her head. “You need patience,” she chastised, easily taking apart the food for him.

“You’re lucky Vietnamese hospitality in a thing,” Jo suddenly said, causing everyone to stop eating.

“Whaff do chu mean?” Jimmy asked with a full mouth of food.

“You can’t just come over without asking. It’s really rude,” Jo answered, staring directly into Brian’s direction.

“It’s completely okay,” Veronica interjected. “No, seriously, it’s fine. We have a bunch of food anyway.”

Even though Veronica brushed off the intrusion as though it wasn’t a thorn in her side, Jo knew better. She knew Veronica didn’t like being unable to control circumstances in her life, no matter how trivial. She was also very private with her relationships. Jo knew if they weren’t neighbors, she would have probably never met her parents until months later. Yet, to her surprise, Veronica didn’t appear annoyed or upset for the rest of the night. If anything, that was the first time she ever witnessed her without a care in the world.

Raising her cup of juice as high as she could, Veronica grinned. “Thank you all for coming. I appreciate all you, except maybe Brian.” Everyone laughed, even Brian as they followed suit and then took a sip from their drinks. Veronica didn’t want to ever voice it out loud, but she was really growing accustomed to life in California.