Hate Every Beautiful Day
Chapter 17
By: Makena
"Do you want anything to drink?" Makena asked him. He was sitting in her kitchen, wrapped in a blanket and dripping wet. He watched her open a cupboard too tall for her to reach and view the contents.
He slowly nodded to her response as she climbed up onto the greenish blue counter tops and view her selections easier.
"I know I shouldn't be giving this to you," she began, taking down a glass bottle. "But you're probably freezing."
She held up the bottle for Benji to see the label. Brandy. Makena climbed down and went to a different cupboard for a glass.
"I think it's supposed to warm you up or something," she said, pouring Benji half a glass full. "At least, that's what I've heard."
She turned around and smiled at Benji, setting the glass down in front of him. Benji took it graciously and drank it before Makena had finished putting the bottle away. Makena turned around and laughed slightly when she noticed his empty glass.
"I hope you realized I wasn't going to give you more," she told him.
Benji shrugged slightly. Makena took the glass and began to wash it out before placing it in the dishwasher. They didn't say anything as Makena continued to clean up a semi dirty kitchen and Benji looked around. The kitchen was cut off by a strip of carpet and a counter/bar type thing with stools on the living room side. The living room was a fair size that was joined with the dining room, and a flight of stairs that led to the second story was just a couple steps away.
"It's really coming down," Makena said, looking out the window that sat just above the kitchen sink. "I wonder how much rain we'll get?"
"Why are you being nice to me?" Benji asked suddenly. Makena turned around to face him before placing the dishrag she had been holding across the faucet.
"Because I'm from Northern Michigan," she explained, resting her elbows on the counter across from Benji. "It's just what Michigan people do."
"Be nice to people that are ass holes?"
"No," Makena laughed. "Being nice in general. It's a weird thing, but most of the people you meet in Northern Michigan are - nice. Except for Tim Allen, but that's a totally different story."
"Tim Allen lives in Michigan?" Benji asked skeptically. Makena nodded solemnly.
"Of course. Right in my county, actually. My mom knew him - he's apparently not a very nice guy."
Benji laughed and nodded. He paused for a moment, the sound of the clock the only sound in the house. "So... why are you here?" he asked. Makena sighed and looked down for a moment.
"It's... sort of complicated," she began. "I guess it's really not, but I like to think it is so I don't have to tell people." She paused, and Benji thought she wouldn't say any more for a moment. "My dad had this... issue, I guess, with my mom's side of the family. And my mom. And I'm not taking sides or anything, but they were seriously the most psychotic people I had ever met. They were all pretty much insane. So, finally, my mom's sisters - who just don't like men (but I'm not saying they're lesbians) - just pushed my dad over the edge and he wound up divorcing her. He grew up in Michigan, but he needed to get away from my aunts and my mom. So - he moved here with me, because I wanted to live with him. He goes to Michigan a lot, because my mom and my sister moved to Iowa and he has work to do up there some times - mostly for this friend - and..." she paused. "I'm just drowning on and on about this. I'm sorry... you asked, and... you're probably bored out of your mind. Aaron got a little bored too, but..."
Benji shook his head. "It's okay," he said, actually a little happy he had someone to talk to, and who would actually talk to him. "What happened with you and your sister?"
"We got along for the most part. She's only about a year and a half younger than me, but two grades away from me. She was really smart, but she just preferred mom, I guess. She actually hated her, but she was always give more freedom around my mom, since she works later than people normally work.
We e-mail each other and use IM sometimes - you know, let each other know just how psychotic it is to live with the other parent and how we should have switched - have me live with mom and her live with my dad. They didn't want us to be separated - my sister and I. But, since I pointed out that I'll be in college next year anyway, it really wasn't much different than that."
She paused again and looked up at Benji. "What about you?" she asked. It was Benji's turn to sigh. He shrugged.
"I... it's... it's not long," he began, trying to piece his words together. "It's just... hard, I guess. To talk about. And share with people, especially people I don't know."
"Well, you know me now," Makena said with a small laugh. "What's your story?"
Benji sighed again, contemplating on weather or not he should tell her. Seconds seemed like minuets, and Benji finally decided to tell her. After all, she had just told him her reasons for being in Waldorf.
"My dad left," Benji began. "A little over a year ago. It's not a long time to not have a father, I know. But he was never really much of a father. He would leave for a couple of days and then come back, broke and drunk. He'd never really hit us, but he'd slap us around a couple of times, just to show us who was in charge. He always hit Josh and myself, because he'd get confused with me and Joel that he'd forget who he had already hit and who he hadn't. He never laid a finger on Sarah, but I'm grateful for that."
Makena sat in total awe of the information Benji was feeding her. Benji coughed a little, felling like he may be coming down with a slight cold, but continued anyway.
"Anyway, one day he just left and didn't come back. It wasn't really a shocker that he left, but we waited for him. A week later, we finally realized he wasn't coming back this time. And it hurt. He was hardly there, and he wasn't the greatest father in the world. But he was MY father, and I missed him. "He was the bread winner, I guess. We were never wealthy, but after he left, we lost everything we owned and we had to move around. We've been lucky in keeping our house so far, but my mom has about four part time jobs and she's hardly ever home."
Benji sighed and drummed his fingers on the counter a couple of times. Finally, he stood up and shook the blanket off of him, handing it back to Makena.
"Thanks' for letting me come over," he said. "But I have to go home."
"Wait... you can stay..." Makena insisted. Benji shook his head and grabbed his shoes from the front entrance and took his backpack from the chair that sat just to the left of the door.
"I should get home."
"Let me drive you," Makena said, grabbing her keys from the small coffee table in the living room. "It's still raining."
"I'll walk," Benji insisted. "The rain's let up a little."
"Oh. Okay. Well... bye, I guess."
"Yeah, bye." He paused. "And... please don't tell anyone."
Makena nodded her head. Benji nodded and paused, his hand still on the doorknob. He sighed and let go of the door handle, pulling the hood up over his head as he began to walk through the pouring rain. Makena watched him from the doorway, sadly shaking her head as he crossed the street and kicked a stone into a neighbor's yard.
"What are you going to do, Benji?" she asked softly, so no one but herself could hear. "Every time you let some one get close, you pull away."
-----
"And it was weird, because it's like he actually WANTED my help for once," she said, kicking some clothes to the side of her room. She kept the phone pressed to her ear as she sat down on her unmade bed.
"So... what'd you do?" Shannon asked from the other end of the line.
"I asked him over," Makena replied truthfully, getting up to turn her computer on. "Cause, I couldn't just let him sit in the rain with a black eye."
"What'd you talk about?" Shannon pressed. "I need details!"
Makena sighed and laid down on her bed, staring up at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars that were glued to her ceiling. "Okay, but you have to SWEAR not to tell ANYBODY," she said. "I'm only telling you because you're interested in Benji in a more... mature way."
"Of course," Shannon said, and Makena could tell she was grinning. "Continue."
"Right. I had him over and I gave him a glass of brandy, but nothing to get him drunk. And we talked. Well, I talked. He asked me about me and why I'm here and - I told him. I just stood there and poured everything out to him, and... he listened."
"He listened... as in, he listened because there was no radio, or he listened because he was actually interested?"
"It was like he WANTED to know," Makena said, noticing as her computer had finished warming up. "And after I told him, I asked him about him and... he told me. No questions, no "I don't want to". He just - told me. It was... weird."
"Oh my god," Shannon said. "We've got to tell Nicole about this! I swear, if she knew..."
"NO!" Makena shouted. "No! NOBODY can know! I don't even know why I'm telling you, but... just don't tell anyone. PLEASE."
There was a hint of hesitance from the other line, but Shannon finally agreed. "Okay, okay. I won't tell anybody."
"Not Paul."
"Not Paul," Shannon agreed.
"Not even Nicole."
"Not even Nicole," Shannon repeated. "Get on with it?"
"Okay..." Makena paused. "His dad left him. And he pretty much has no money, and his mom works at, like, four different jobs."
"Damn... that kid has a few issues."
"Yeah, well... you think?" Makena paused. "Please... he told me not to tell anyone. Just... keep your mouth shut and try not to act suspicious when something remotely close to the subject comes up."
"Got it," Shannon said. "Oh, and, Makena? Why ARE you in Waldorf?"
-----
Benji made it home before dark, drenched, freezing, and cursing himself for avoiding a ride with Makena. He opened the front door and took his shoes off before setting his back pack down, so he didn't make too much of a mess around the house.
Just as a nice, hot shower was sounding good to him, he heard two different sounds coming from the garage that startled him a little. He frowned and bent his head in the direction of the garage before turning to Sarah, who was watching TV.
"Who's in our garage?" he asked his sister.
"Joel and this other guy," Sarah responded. "He's got a bass with him." Benji thought for a second.
"Paul," he said suddenly, looking back in the direction of the garage.
"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "That was him."
Benji nodded and walked to the garage door. He swung it open to see Joel and Paul, playing together and trying new notes to see how they sounded together. They looked up as the door flew open.
"Hi," Joel said with a smile. Benji frowned and looked around.
"What are you guys doing?" he questioned, looking at Paul and his shiny black four string bass.
"We're seeing what we can do," Joel announced proudly. "So far - nothing. But we're working on it."
Benji nodded and looked them over for a moment longer. Finally, Paul spoke up.
"Hey, where'd you get the black eye?" he asked. Joel looked up at his brother and seemed to notice the bruise around his eye for the first time.
"Fight," Benji reported truthfully. "But I wasn't really involved." Confused, Paul and Joel looked at each other and then back up at Benji. He shrugged and closed the door, ready for his shower.