Live And Let Die
Chapter 10
By: Makena
No one said a word as Paul drove the three of them home from the mall later in the afternoon. Gavin was sitting on the right side of the car, directly behind the passenger's seat in the front, pouting because he had been placed some where that had a shoulder strap instead of the middle of the car.
Makena was tired and irritated by Gavin's lack of corporation, and still thinking about Benji's "proposal."
"So, I know you said nothing earlier," Paul began, stopping at a red light. "But - what were you and Benji talking about?" Makena sighed and shrugged, looking down at her chipping nail polish.
"Nothing," she lied.
"Bull," Paul said. "Some one said something and I'm kind of wondering."
Makena sighed. "We were talking about... something..."
"By something you mean - the whole situation between you and him?" Paul guessed.
"Wow," Makena said, trying to laugh. "You must be psychic."
Paul laughed slightly and shrugged, noticing the light change from red to green. He slowly pulled out and continued to drive.
"Better believe it," he said with a slight laugh. He paused and stopped at another stop light. "So - exactly what happened?"
Makena sighed and watched traffic for a moment. "I - " she paused. "Benji sort of... proposed to me."
Paul cocked an eyebrow and looked at Makena before pulling out. "He proposed?" he repeated.
"Well... sort of," Makena said. "He said "marry me" but - I think you can count that as a proposal."
"What are you going to do?" Paul asked. She shrugged and sighed.
"I don't really know," she admitted. "He's just getting to know Gavin, and I know I have only myself to blame for that. But I also know how much he loves him. I can't believe how much he loves him. But - I just don't know. I mean, would he be marrying me or Gavin."
Paul laughed. "Well..." he said, stopping at another stoplight.
"You know what I meant," Makena said, rolling her eyes. "I just don't know."
"You want what's best for Gavin, right?" he questioned. Makena nodded.
"Of course."
"Then do what you think will make Gavin happy."
She sighed. "I still don't know."
Paul shrugged and saw the light turn green. "Don't worry about it," he began. "It'll turn out okay..."
He accelerated and was half way through the intersection when the right side of the car was struck with the front of a red Dodge. The car was pushed to the side of the road and pinned to the sidewalk, tilting on the two right tires.
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Joel walked into the living room with a sandwich and a glass of milk, half expecting not to see anyone. He stopped short when he noticed Benji, stretched out lazily across the couch, lost in thought.
"Hey..." he began.
"I asked Makena to marry me today," Benji blurted out. Joel frowned.
"Um... okay," he said. "I just said hi..." He paused. "Wait - you asked her to marry you?" Benji nodded and sat up.
"Why did you do that?" Joel questioned. Benji shrugged and stared blankly at the TV.
"I sort of panicked," he said. "Makena - she wanted to talk about "where we are" and she said never mind, so I got scared and panicked. And asked her to marry me."
"Oh." Joel nodded a little, trying to decide if what Benji had done was a good decision.
"She didn't yes," Benji said finally. "If you were going to ask."
"So - she said no?" Joel asked. Benji shook his head.
"She didn't say yes."
Joel frowned. "Well THAT makes a lot of sense," he said sarcastically. "She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes. What DID she say, then?"
Benji shook his head. "She didn't say anything," he replied. Just then, Billy walked down the stairs, running a hand through his wet hair - he must have been in the shower.
"Hey..." he began.
"Benji asked Makena to marry him," Joel blurted. Billy shrugged.
"Okay," he said. Joel frowned.
"That doesn't strike you as odd?" he asked, slightly suspicious. Billy shrugged and shook his head.
"Not so much," he replied. Joel cocked an eyebrow in his direction, waiting for him to explain. Benji looked up from the TV and between Joel and Billy, finally resting his eyes on Billy.
"Well..." Billy began. "I mean, I see Benj with Gavin - it's kind of... you know... cute." He paused and slightly coughed at the word cute. "Anyway, its cute and, well, you know - Makena and him would be a good couple. I mean, marriage wise and all."
"And..." Joel was trying to say, but Billy cut him off.
"Plus, there was that other day when everyone was gone but Paul," Billy said suspiciously, grinning at Benji. "And the music was playing really loud..."
Benji rolled his eyes. "Yes, Billy," he said. "I know what you're talking about."
"Do I want to know?" Joel questioned.
"Let's see... how can I put it?" Billy pondered. Benji rolled his eyes again.
"Fuck," he said. "That's how you can put it. We fucked. Was that a good enough explanation, Joel?"
Joel nodded. "Yeah," he said, quickly adding, "please don't detail it." Benji shrugged.
"See?" Billy asked, continuing his reasoning. "Good couple. Wouldn't miss out anything like sex or anything..." He was cut off by the phone's piercing ring. Billy, being closest to the phone, picked it up and listened to Paul's hysterically voice from the other end.
"Billy?" he questioned. "I need to talk to Benji!"
"Hello to you, too," Billy scoffed, slightly sarcastically.
"I need to talk to Benji, Billy," Paul repeated. "There's been an accident..."
"Shit..." Billy whispered, taking the phone away from his ear. He looked over at Benji and started to chew the inside of his mouth. "It's - for you," he said, holding the receiver out for Benji to take. "It's Paul." Benji frowned slightly and got up from the couch to take it. Joel looked at Billy with a questioning look on his face. He shrugged and tried to listen to the conversation between Paul and Benji.
"Paul?" Benji asked once he had taken the receiver.
"Benji?! Oh, god Benji... it's all my fault!"
"What's your fault?" Benji asked confused, fear beginning to build. "What happened?"
"We were driving," Paul began. "There was a car - oh, god Benji! I'm so fucking sorry!"
"Paul! What happened?!" Benji demanded.
"Benji, we were in a car accident..."
Benji dropped the phone where it fell to the floor and broke into three different pieces. "Fuck," he whispered, running to the door to put his shoes on.
"Wait - what are you doing?" Joel asked. "What happened?"
"Car accident," Benji babbled, trying to tie his shoe. "There was a car accident... we have to get to the hospital."