The rain started picking up.
We raced towards the house. “Here? Sounds great to me.” I remembered the digging tools, and, not wanting them to get rusty, I broke from Jodie and ran over and grabbed them off the ground.
By the time I got to the porch, I was soaked. I hopped up the steps, leaned the tools against the wall, and shook some water off my clothes and hair. Jodie was still grinning.
“You want a tiny house?”
“Yes.” Jodie held out a hand and I took it.
“Oh. What’s wrong with this house?”
“Nothing is wrong with your dad’s house, but it still feels like your dad’s house. You’ve barely had a chance to live in it by yourself and make it your own. I don’t want to come in and trample all over that. You need time to figure out what you want to change or keep the same. You still have things of his to go through. We can build the tiny house on a trailer, so we can move it if we want. You never know when that could come in handy. And then next year, or whenever you’re ready, we can stay in the tiny house and renovate your house.”
“So, is this tiny house going to be yours or ours?”
“I was hoping it would be ours. Our first place together.”
We stood there for a moment, side by side, staring out into the rain, which was already starting to let up. I leaned over and kissed Jodie’s neck and said, “I’m not doing the electrical work. I draw the line at electrical.”
She almost mauled me. “Aack! Dad’ll take care of that! It’s going to be great!”
We heard Frodo scratching on the door behind us, so I let him out. He raced over to check out Jodie and the new fence. I sat down on the top step, and Jodie sat on the one below and leaned back against me. Frodo plopped down next to us, and the three of us sat there, watching the rain turn to drizzle and the drizzle turn to a dusky sky, as the first stars of the evening appeared.
Excerpt From:
Chickenshit Volume III
July 1, 2013
I went over to Jodie’s house for the first time since the whole debacle on Pride day. After the accident, Russ said a lot of horrible things about my friends and me. He was so angry that night, but I had accepted his apology many times and was ready to move on. I was hoping he was done apologizing, but I was wrong.
He threw his big arms around me and nearly collapsed my lungs.
“Bilbo, I am so sorry. I was an asshole, and I’m going to make it up to you. I didn’t mean any of it, and I don’t think that way at all. You know that, right?” He loosened his hold but kept his arm around my shoulders.
I nodded. “Russ, we’re good. You don’t have to do anything. I forgive you. I know you were scared for Jodie. You can let it go, ‘cause I have.”
“I can’t put any of this on worrying about Jodie, and I need to do something to make it right. I do have an idea of where to start, though.” He raised his eyebrows and cut his eyes towards Jodie.”
“Oh, Dad. Don’t get all cheesy.” She sighed. “He means grilling.”
“Well, that’s fine. I always look forward to eating here.”
He coughed.
“He means at your house. He wants to throw a Fourth of July barbecue for you.”
“But I don’t know that many people and nobody would come, anyway. They have their own cookouts and stuff.”
Russ leaned down as if to share a confidence. “Ah, but they will come to partake of my delicious Atomic Buffalo Turds.”
“Huh?”
“It’s jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. It’s the closest thing to heaven you can experience. It’s only one of my many grilled perfections.”
“His grilled corn is good, too. We can invite some people. It’ll be great!”
“But we’re already on the hook for Liv and Nate’s on the fourth.”
“Yeah, but we can do it on Saturday. The library is closed all weekend.”
“I really can’t say no, can I?”
“Well, you could, but you’d make Dad pout.”
Russ slumped and pooched out his bottom lip.
“Hmm. Well … okay.”
“Hooray!” Russ and Jodie shouted and did a high five.
“Geez! You guys are dweebs.”
Jodie got out a notepad and started writing a list of everybody we’re going to invite. I guess the rule is you invite three times as many people as you want because so many people flake. I hope that’s the case, or half the people of Milepost and Emmett will be there.
July 2, 2013
I met Jodie on her lunch break from the library today, and she has me excited about the barbecue now. She invited some of her co-workers, Russ’s construction crew, and some random other people – all of whom were offered a plus one. I invited Sheila, Bill (my namesake and Dad’s friend/attorney), Liv and Nate, and a couple of people in town. I even invited my egg customer, Mrs. Contreras, in spite of her cantankerous nature. She did take up for me with Russ, so I guess she can’t be all-bad.
I stopped by the convenient store and picked up a couple of orders of nachos and a burger for Elliot. I should have invited the clerk to the barbecue, considering how many times I have been in the store, but she had a line of customers, and I wanted to get to Elliot’s before the cheese hardened.
“Hey, Elliot.” I announced myself, as I walked through his front door. He grabbed a bag of food from me, and we went
