Sweet Children Come Out And Play

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

Billie still lay on the ground, looking up. He couldn’t move.

“What?”

“What are you doing? Are you fucking on acid!” She remembered now. He’d dropped out last year. Drug rehab. Apparently it had not worked completely.

“Come with me,” he took her hand, but before he could pull her away, Billie took hold of his ankle and pulled his feet out from under him. Alex fell beside Billie where he pinned him down. Alex tried to shove back, “Get the fuck off!” Billie kicked him back, and Alex cried out in pain and curling himself into a ball and clutching his stomach.

“What the fuck is this about?!” Billie yelled at him. He had never seen him before in his life and just now he comes out of nowhere and tries to beat the shit out of him. Blood dribbled down Billie’s cheek.

“Delphine was mine!” he cried back. Delphine on the other hand had no idea what was going on either. She had shortly known Alex from high school in a chem. class. He’d never said much to her. And defiantly nothing even remotely close to this.

“Alex,” she said a little more gently, “I – I have no idea what you are talking about. I barely know you.”

“I know, but I know you. I want you to come with me!” He was smashed. Billie Joe could tell right off the bat, and he probably had no idea what he was talking about. Delphine looked at his bloodshot eyes and saw it too. Well, who knows what he was on, but it looked like acid. He had all this extra strength. Whatever shit it was, there was no telling what he would do. Best to just leave.

“Alex. Go home.”

Billie looked to her, “You really haven’t seen him until now?”

“No, not since school ended.”

“I’m sorry!” Alex shouted at her, still pined beneath Billie. Alex mumbled something else under his breath and then, “Come back!”

“You need to leave,” Billie Joe said getting up. Alex made him so mad. Billie wanted to punch his face in had he not known him. Alex sincerely looked hurt.

“You people have no idea! You have no idea what it’s like! I could…I could kill you both if I wanted too!”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she looked to Billie. Delphine just wanted him, Alex, to leave now. Billie pressed close to her, put an arm around her back and started to quickly lead her away. They turned down the street. Alex called back after them, struggling to get up, but Delphine did not turn around again. When they reached home, Billie locked and bolted the door. Well, actually it was the apartment house, their old home. He figured it was safer in case the guy Alex tried to follow them. For a minute he stared at the door, his green eyes flashing a darker shade, wishing there was another way to secure it more, but Alex’s kicks to the stomach got the better of him. Billie got only half way to the couch before doubling over onto the floor. He carefully propped himself up against the wall, his breath failing to catch up.

Delphine ran back into the front room with the first aid kit and a wet towel. At first, she saw him on the floor and panicked. “Billie! Billie, oh shit. Honey, I’m so sorry. Are you ok? Should we go see the doctor?”

“No, no I’m fine. I just need a second,” he breathed. She kissed his cheek and brushed his black hair away from his eyes.

“I can’t believe him. I’m so sorry he hurt you-”

“It’s not your fault,” he touched her cheek, “I’m glad that psycho maniac didn’t try to hurt you…or something – oh shit-” he cringed.

“Really Billie, do you want to go to the hospital? I don’t want any bleeding from the inside or something serious.” She gave him a worried look.

“No, no, just help me to the couch.” She did and once he was lying down, Delphine took out a cotton ball and went to clean the cut on his face. It was dangerously close to his eye and right on the bone. He didn’t even flinch though.

“Oh, why do you let people do this to you?” she whined, more to herself than him.

Billie shrugged, “Cause I love you. I’d do anything for you,” he said it mushily with a smirk on his face, but he really did mean it. Well, that just about made Delphine burst out in tears. She just sniffed, holding them back while sticking a Band-Aid over the cut. “Thanks,” he smiled again. “Anyway, I need you here to bandage me up afterwards before I fall apart.” Delphine leaned forward and kissed his lips. For once it was his lips that were not bruised.

“No problem. Of course, cause I would do anything for you too.” They sat together for a moment and then all the guys walked in. When Tre and Mike saw Billie on the couch they just about fell over.

“Dude, what the fuck happened to you?!” Tre burst out and Richelle let out a gasp.

“I got fucking beat up.”

“You should have seen the other guy,” Delphine smiled.

“Was he big?”

“No, Billie beat the crap out of him.”

“You all right man?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” and he told the rest of the story with Delphine. The looks on all of their faces were priceless.

“That fucking retard! On the other hand, Delphine, you should be flattered,” Tre pointed to her.

“Actually, I kinda am now that I think about it, but it was hella scary too.”

“He’s gone now anyway,” Billie soothed.

“And you kicked his ass so I don’t think he’ll try again.”

“You two just be carefuller now,” Richelle said nervously.

“Don’t worry about us,” Delphine laughed, “We have Billie,” she gave him a poke and another kiss.

“You know what would make all this better?” Tre cut in. “Pancakes!”

“At ten o’clock at night?” Brites rolled her green eyes.

“Eh, why not,” Delphine laughed. “We still don’t have any food so you have to make something from scratch. Richelle jumped into the kitchen.

“And I suppose I’ll be the one making them,” she sighed reaching for the chocolate chips. That is the best kind of pancake anyway.

A loud, “Thank you Richelle!” came from everyone in the living room.
~
Delphine awoke sitting straight up in bed with lips frozen in a scream that never made it past her lungs. A dream. That’s all it was. A dream. She looked to her side to find Billie fast asleep. A dark curl of his newly dyed black hair clung to his lips which were parted. He had given her a scare yesterday. That’s probably why she must be having bad dreams again. That’s all. That must be it. She wisped away the lock of hair on his pale face; twisting it lightly behind his ear.

She had dreamt about the other day with her father. It had happened last week too though. She remembered it all so clearly. The problem was she could not get the yelling out of her head and the pale attempts at screams she had made.

Billie had said to her father, “Look, I may be far from perfect, but I want this too. I will do whatever I can to support Delphine and the baby.” He had looked so sincere. How could her father not believe him? It was so frustrating.

Her father had said, “No, I’m just saying that I don’t think you are ready.”

“And I don’t think you understand,” Delphine said. She was so grateful to Billie for saying something; for taking a stand on her dad’s golden stairs leading up his ivory tower. The tower, well, he just never came down from there. Apparently, there is beer stashed up there too. What reason was there for her dad to come down? “We are having this baby. Whether or not it was a good decision is behind us now. We cannot go back on our word. I would never give up my own child and there is no reason for an abortion. We can’t just say no now.”

“Delphine, I can’t just stand by and watch this happen. You had a future and you threw it away. You could have gone to Stanford!”

“No, that is in the past now! I told you. I couldn’t have and I don’t want to.”

“Why?!”

“Because I never wanted to do that!”

“This is what happens. You never knew what you wanted to be, and this is what happens!”

“I have always known what I wanted to be! A mom. A mom and that was it!”

“You never said that!”

“I couldn’t! You wanted me to support myself! This doesn’t earn money-”

“Exactly!”

“No, let me finish! I have Billie. He has a job.”

“Music is not a career! It is a one in a million chance that he will amount to anything!”

“How can you say that!” Delphine gave an apologetic look to Billie. She never looked so sorry in her life. In fact, Billie was more hurt because she was so upset than by what her dad had said. He was used to that. From lots of people. But how could he yell at her like this? This had nothing to do with the baby anymore. “If I need too, I will go to work. I’ll work at a little store downtown if I have too.”

“And so everything is going to be just peachy because you have Billie?!”

“That is not how it is!”

“Fine, fine, I’m the one who sucks here! It’s just me now!”

“Yes! Yes, it is! Don’t you understand that this is all I have always fucking wanted!” Delphine cried, hands flying up in the air. She could never argue with someone like this without crying. And that made Billie angry. How can her own father do this to her? Second guess her?

“You are just saying that! You just want to get back at me! Is that what this is all about!?”

“What are you talking about? That was never what this is about!”

“You know what, never mind!” Andy got up and stormed off down the hall with elephant feet. As if he was the mature one by leaving it behind; except that he was stomping off like a three year old at the same time.

After a pause, Delphine turned around and buried her face in Billie’s chest. “I am so sorry, Billie. I can’t believe he said that.” She had not known what else to say in a situation like that. Mom walked over. She knew from experience not to argue with her husband about the pettily small things. Delphine had learned that too, but she could not sit back and say ‘fine, yes, whatever’ for something like this. A baby is not going to go away.

Mary sat down across from them. “I’m sorry you guys. He is just not very good with the idea yet. You just can’t take what he says personally. He doesn’t really mean it.”

Delphine sat up and quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes. “I know. I just hate him when he does this. I’m sorry Billie. I should have come alone.”

“No, no, this is for both of us. It took two people for this to happen.”

Mary leaned over then and gave Delphine and Billie a hug. She felt awful for what Andy had said. As she was about to let go, Delphine hung on. Mary smiled. Delphine always felt that at least she had her mom. That was still true. And Billie held onto Delphine with both arms. He hated to think it too at a moment like this, but he was enjoying the hug from Mom. Mary may be forty-two, but she and Delphine looked like sisters. She was hot for a mom. But not to get sidetracked. Delphine could tell. Billie almost laughed. He didn’t know what was funny, but it was.

All three stayed downstairs together for a moment without moving. Finally, they got up to go. Delphine had no interest in seeing her father again. She would have to eventually. Let him burn it out on his own. Maybe things would go better then.
~
That afternoon, they were all back on the road. They pretty much packed up all the same stuff, except toothpaste, the toothbrush and underwear this time, and Tre made sure the chocolate syrup was in the van too. Delphine had spent so much time with it that she almost forgot all of the craziness of the morning. This is why she loved her friends so much. They seemed to just understand everything and go with the flow.

When they were finally on the road, all the memories of dull car time from last month came flowing back. Six people locked in car for the first of many four, five, six hour long drives. For about the first two hours they blasted music while Tre drove. Then Mike drove with Brites up front. Richelle and Tre sat in the back with Delphine and Billie Joe. It was a wide open back which they stuffed with blankets and pillows and conveniently forgot seatbelts. Nothing to do.
~
And now she was here. Lying in bed next to Billie two months later and she could not get her father’s words out of her mind. Was he actually right? She’d wondered these types of things all her life and she told herself again and again that they weren’t. It never seemed to do much good. Delphine pulled the blanket up closer around her body. Her hand bumped across her stomach as she did it.

Then a thought struck her. This was new. For once in her life, this, the baby, was something that was final. Picking a college was never final and until she met Billie Joe, she was never certain that she would ever find another person who she could spend her life with like she felt she could with him. For once, her dad could not do a thing about it. Maybe her dad would not back her up, but Billie Joe would, and her friends would come to think of it and her baby would. Then why was she so troubled? This was not about her anymore. It would be about the baby. That’s something her dad could never argue with.