appreciate it.”
And then I passed out.
Hangovers suck. What happened to ‘make the punishment fit the crime’?
My mouth was dry and I suspected that my breath reeked worse than the bottom of a parrot’s cage. For the second Saturday in a row, I’d woken up face down on the bed with drool gluing my cheek to the pillow, and my head feeling like someone had shoved bricks inside then rattled them around.
And, oh fuck! I was supposed to be meeting Yansi in less than half an hour.
I’d been looking forward to seeing her for a whole week, and now all I wanted to do was hide under the sheets and sleep for a month.
I dragged myself into the shower, but someone had used up all the hot water. I shivered and shook under the cold spray, and that woke me up like nothing else could have.
At least I didn’t need to shave more than once a week, because if I had to shave right now I’d probably cut off an ear, maybe my whole head. Sean’s mom made him shave every other day, saying that he looked like a homeless person when he wore a little scruff. They fought about that because he said girls liked it. I wasn’t so sure. I remember Yansi and her friend Esther talking about stubble burn and how Esther had been caught by her parents because her face, neck and the top of her tits were scratched red after one party.
Rob didn’t have to shave at all, although he swore he did.
I remember last year when I first sprouted two hairs on my chest—I was so proud I thought I’d better tie them together in case they decided to disappear back in. Mom asked me why I started walking around the house without my shirt all the time. I guess I was waiting for someone to notice that I was a man. No one ever did, so I put my shirt back on. They hadn’t noticed my chest hair at all; I blamed it on being blond.
I swallowed two Tylenol and headed for the kitchen.
Yansi and me didn’t have big plans. I’d wanted to take her out, but she wouldn’t let me spend any money on her. I was working on it. Instead, we were going to hang at the beach with Esther and another friend of theirs, Megan. Yansi had to promise her parents that she’d be in public with me the whole time during our dates. She didn’t want to break any promises, but we found every which way to bend them.
I just wished I was in better shape to make the most of seeing her. I don’t know what I was thinking to get so hammered. I didn’t think. What a fuckin’ tool.
Julia was drinking coffee in the kitchen with Ben when I walked in.
“Morning,” said Ben, a huge ass smile on his face.
I grunted something unintelligible and shoved two slices of bread in the toaster then hunted through the fridge for something to put on them.
“What have you got to say for yourself?” snapped Julia.
I was tired, hung-over and she was already on my last nerve. “What?”
“Coming home drunk, stinking of whiskey and marijuana! It was a good thing Marcus was there otherwise I’d have been getting a call from the police.”
I didn’t even bother answering, but that was wrong, too.
“Well? Say something!”
“Like what?”
“An apology would be nice!”
“For what?”
“For God’s sake, Nicky!” she yelled.
Ben winced and stared at his coffee.
I folded my arms and leaned against the fridge, watching Julia’s face change color from white to red to an ugly purple.
“Can you even get my fucking name right?” I said quietly. “It’s Nick. N.I.C.K.”
Julia’s nostrils flared.
“How are you going to amount to anything if you spend your life drinking and smoking away each pay check? You need to start saving now if you’re ever going to be able to afford to go to college, even community college. Because God knows there’s nothing left after paying Mom’s hospital bills.”
That was news to me.
“Maybe I don’t want to go to college.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she hissed, her lips peeled back from her teeth like the rabid bitch she was. “What sort of job
And then I passed out.
Hangovers suck. What happened to ‘make the punishment fit the crime’?
My mouth was dry and I suspected that my breath reeked worse than the bottom of a parrot’s cage. For the second Saturday in a row, I’d woken up face down on the bed with drool gluing my cheek to the pillow, and my head feeling like someone had shoved bricks inside then rattled them around.
And, oh fuck! I was supposed to be meeting Yansi in less than half an hour.
I’d been looking forward to seeing her for a whole week, and now all I wanted to do was hide under the sheets and sleep for a month.
I dragged myself into the shower, but someone had used up all the hot water. I shivered and shook under the cold spray, and that woke me up like nothing else could have.
At least I didn’t need to shave more than once a week, because if I had to shave right now I’d probably cut off an ear, maybe my whole head. Sean’s mom made him shave every other day, saying that he looked like a homeless person when he wore a little scruff. They fought about that because he said girls liked it. I wasn’t so sure. I remember Yansi and her friend Esther talking about stubble burn and how Esther had been caught by her parents because her face, neck and the top of her tits were scratched red after one party.
Rob didn’t have to shave at all, although he swore he did.
I remember last year when I first sprouted two hairs on my chest—I was so proud I thought I’d better tie them together in case they decided to disappear back in. Mom asked me why I started walking around the house without my shirt all the time. I guess I was waiting for someone to notice that I was a man. No one ever did, so I put my shirt back on. They hadn’t noticed my chest hair at all; I blamed it on being blond.
I swallowed two Tylenol and headed for the kitchen.
Yansi and me didn’t have big plans. I’d wanted to take her out, but she wouldn’t let me spend any money on her. I was working on it. Instead, we were going to hang at the beach with Esther and another friend of theirs, Megan. Yansi had to promise her parents that she’d be in public with me the whole time during our dates. She didn’t want to break any promises, but we found every which way to bend them.
I just wished I was in better shape to make the most of seeing her. I don’t know what I was thinking to get so hammered. I didn’t think. What a fuckin’ tool.
Julia was drinking coffee in the kitchen with Ben when I walked in.
“Morning,” said Ben, a huge ass smile on his face.
I grunted something unintelligible and shoved two slices of bread in the toaster then hunted through the fridge for something to put on them.
“What have you got to say for yourself?” snapped Julia.
I was tired, hung-over and she was already on my last nerve. “What?”
“Coming home drunk, stinking of whiskey and marijuana! It was a good thing Marcus was there otherwise I’d have been getting a call from the police.”
I didn’t even bother answering, but that was wrong, too.
“Well? Say something!”
“Like what?”
“An apology would be nice!”
“For what?”
“For God’s sake, Nicky!” she yelled.
Ben winced and stared at his coffee.
I folded my arms and leaned against the fridge, watching Julia’s face change color from white to red to an ugly purple.
“Can you even get my fucking name right?” I said quietly. “It’s Nick. N.I.C.K.”
Julia’s nostrils flared.
“How are you going to amount to anything if you spend your life drinking and smoking away each pay check? You need to start saving now if you’re ever going to be able to afford to go to college, even community college. Because God knows there’s nothing left after paying Mom’s hospital bills.”
That was news to me.
“Maybe I don’t want to go to college.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she hissed, her lips peeled back from her teeth like the rabid bitch she was. “What sort of job
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