One and Done - S. Briones Lim Page 0,14
punch to the face. Imagining her with another man’s arm wrapped around her waist, slow dancing to a John Legend tune and kissing under the corny disco ball of the dance, did things to my insides that I’m not too proud of.
Why?
Why could a douche like Dwight expect that he’d get somebody as perfect as Rocky?
Why?
Why couldn’t I allow myself one moment of selfishness?
Before I could figure out the secret to life, the door to my bedroom burst open and a red-eyed, almost unrecognizable woman stumbled in. “Where’s your cash?”
Rocky stiffened at the sight of my mom and lifted her drawing board higher, as if trying to shield herself. I rolled my chair in front of her protectively despite knowing my mom would never lay a hand on her. I would never let her get that far.
“I don’t have any cash, Mom. Now please leave my room,” I said in a calm voice.
“Bullshit. I saw some cash lying inside your underwear drawer the other day!”
The fact that she was nosing around in my boxer drawer overshadowed the embarrassment I felt with Rocky watching this whole exchange. I lifted my chin and tried to keep a stone cold face. “Then you’d know that it was only three bucks and I spent that on lunch at school.”
“Bullshit,” she repeated, glaring at me.
I expected her to leave, but when she didn’t, I knew I had no choice. I fished inside my pocket looking for my last five dollar bill.
Rocky gasped. “No, don’t.”
Now that got my mother’s attention. “Who do you think you are, hussy? Do you really think you have a right to tell my son what to do? I am his muth-dddeerrrr.”
I felt as if smoke was about to escape my ears. I jumped to my feet and stomped my way over to the door. “She has more right than you do. Here.” I shoved the bill into Mom’s hands. “Now go.”
As if a light switch was flipped off, Mom’s face went from murderous to ecstatic. She quickly exited the room, but even her absence didn’t alleviate my mood. I slammed the door loudly and threw myself back onto my chair in time to spot Rocky discreetly shoving her stuff back into her bag.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
She smiled sheepishly. “Um, I think I should go. Let’s finish this up another time.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t have to tell you why.”
My jaw clenched as I worked my teeth around inside my mouth. Everything in my life was so fucked up. Just when I thought I had a moment of pure normalcy, my mother had to ruin things again. Without thinking, I reached over to grab a half-empty bottle of whiskey from my desk.
Rocky stopped what she was doing and threw me a disappointed look.
“What?” I muttered, unscrewing the black cap. The familiar scent both calmed me and made me want to hurl.
“I think you need to take care of yourself for once…none of this reckless stuff anymore.” She pointed to an empty beer can in my waste basket and sighed. “Don’t turn into her.”
Of course I’d never turn into her. The thought was not only ridiculous, but damn near impossible! Regardless, I found myself screwing the lid back on to appease my best friend. “For the record, I do take care of myself. I eat. I brush my teeth.”
She bowed her head and sighed. “We both know that’s not what I mean. Be happy, Jesse. I know you’re not. That’s why you’re always running around getting into trouble all the time.”
“Happy? How do you expect me to do that? Have you seen my life?” I gestured around and smirked. “Not that easy, Rocky.”
She took a deep breath. “You can at least try to act normal. I mean, what do kids our age usually do?”
“I don’t know…get all hyped up about homecoming, I guess.” I glanced up and noticed a hopeful look in Rocky’s eyes. I frowned. “But we’re not like everybody else. We don’t do stuff like that.”
“And why not?”
“Because…”
“That’s not an answer. We’re seniors, Jesse. Now’s the time to take part in all that dumb high school stuff and stop trying so hard to be different.” Her shoulders bounced. “Besides, what girl wouldn’t want to go to a dance?”
Dumbfounded, I stared at Rocky curiously. “You don’t really want to go to homecoming, do you?”
Her eyes widened. “Yes! I’d love to go!”
My mouth dropped open. “Wait, what?”
“I totally wanted to ask you, but I thought you’d think it was stupid.” She paused