awake anyway.”
“ Alright then.” He hugs me again before turning to Leena, who is busy flipping through a coloring book, already unaware that Adam is still here. “Be good for your sister, okay?”
Leena doesn’t look up from her coloring book. “Yeah,” she says. “Okay, Daddy.”
Adam kisses me on the forehead as he opens the door. “Have fun,” he says.
“ Yeah,” I say. “You too.” I try not to sound sarcastic.
“ What do you want to do today?” I ask Leena once Adam’s left.
Her eyes widen and she slides over a Hello Kitty coloring book. I'm ready to get down to business with a box of Crayola, but when Leena opens it to a specific, folded page, I realize she has bigger things in mind.
“It's a fort,” she explains as she points to a detailed drawing of boxes and blankets done in orange and blue marker.
“ That's so cool!” I say, and I'm completely honest. “Go grab all of the blankets and pillows you can find.”
Leena jumps up, her ponytail bouncing almost as much as she does. She heads directly to my room and I go to the hall closet, taking down the three spare blankets that I own. Leena drags the black and white striped comforter from my bed into the living room and throws it on the floor, then runs back into my room to dump the four pillows I have onto the carpet as well.
“I don't think this is enough,” she says breathlessly.
“ Yeah. I agree.” I whip out my phone and dial Boo’s number.
“ What?” he answers after the first two rings.
“ You guys busy?”
“ Just trying to figure out your horrible scribbles in order to play these songs.”
It’s typical that they’d be practicing without me for cover week. When we got here, Jamie handed us this packet of job and gig opportunities. One of them was my merch job, and another was Midnight’s cover week. It’s the last seven days in June, and the bands that sign up play solely covers from one band. It’s An Anachronism’s first “headlining” show where we play an entire set, and therefore, the most stressful. When we picked Radiohead as the band we’d be covering, I was stoked. I learned my parts, converting guitar to piano and so forth, within four days. Boo and Trei are still trying to figure theirs out and it’s driving us all insane. Mainly Boo.
“ So that's a no?” I ask.
Boo half-growls, half-sighs as a response.
“Oh come on,” I say. “My notes aren’t completely illegible.”
Another mumble.
“Want to build a fort with me and Leena?”
A pause, then, “Really?” I can't tell if he's intrigued or just mocking me.
“ Yeah, you and Trei want in?”
“ Hell yeah, we do!”
“ Good. Because we need your blankets and pillows.”
“ Whatever. As long as I'm not driving myself crazy with this shit.” Boo hangs up without saying goodbye, so I figure they'll be down soon.
Leena's expectant eyes meet mine as I place my phone back in my pocket. “We're covered,” I assure her.
In the meantime, she helps me push the coffee table off to the side so we'll have more room. Without knocking, Boo and Trei enter my apartment, piling tie-dyed yellow, pink, and blue sheets, and approximately ten pillows of different shapes and sizes onto our blanket heap.
“Let's do this,” Boo says in a surprisingly serious tone that makes me bust out laughing.
It takes us about a half an hour to get the configuration right, but we drape the sheets over chairs from the kitchen as well as the back of the couch, securing whatever won’t stay with safety pins that Trei brought over as a precaution. Finally, we mash all of the pillows inside to make a cushiony floor that we cover with two comforters. By the time we're done, our fort resembles a weird bouncy castle, big enough for five people to lie in and watch TV.
We spend the rest of the night eating pizza, watching movies, and asking Leena what she wants for her birthday, which is the weekend before we have our Radiohead show.
Leena falls
“ Alright then.” He hugs me again before turning to Leena, who is busy flipping through a coloring book, already unaware that Adam is still here. “Be good for your sister, okay?”
Leena doesn’t look up from her coloring book. “Yeah,” she says. “Okay, Daddy.”
Adam kisses me on the forehead as he opens the door. “Have fun,” he says.
“ Yeah,” I say. “You too.” I try not to sound sarcastic.
“ What do you want to do today?” I ask Leena once Adam’s left.
Her eyes widen and she slides over a Hello Kitty coloring book. I'm ready to get down to business with a box of Crayola, but when Leena opens it to a specific, folded page, I realize she has bigger things in mind.
“It's a fort,” she explains as she points to a detailed drawing of boxes and blankets done in orange and blue marker.
“ That's so cool!” I say, and I'm completely honest. “Go grab all of the blankets and pillows you can find.”
Leena jumps up, her ponytail bouncing almost as much as she does. She heads directly to my room and I go to the hall closet, taking down the three spare blankets that I own. Leena drags the black and white striped comforter from my bed into the living room and throws it on the floor, then runs back into my room to dump the four pillows I have onto the carpet as well.
“I don't think this is enough,” she says breathlessly.
“ Yeah. I agree.” I whip out my phone and dial Boo’s number.
“ What?” he answers after the first two rings.
“ You guys busy?”
“ Just trying to figure out your horrible scribbles in order to play these songs.”
It’s typical that they’d be practicing without me for cover week. When we got here, Jamie handed us this packet of job and gig opportunities. One of them was my merch job, and another was Midnight’s cover week. It’s the last seven days in June, and the bands that sign up play solely covers from one band. It’s An Anachronism’s first “headlining” show where we play an entire set, and therefore, the most stressful. When we picked Radiohead as the band we’d be covering, I was stoked. I learned my parts, converting guitar to piano and so forth, within four days. Boo and Trei are still trying to figure theirs out and it’s driving us all insane. Mainly Boo.
“ So that's a no?” I ask.
Boo half-growls, half-sighs as a response.
“Oh come on,” I say. “My notes aren’t completely illegible.”
Another mumble.
“Want to build a fort with me and Leena?”
A pause, then, “Really?” I can't tell if he's intrigued or just mocking me.
“ Yeah, you and Trei want in?”
“ Hell yeah, we do!”
“ Good. Because we need your blankets and pillows.”
“ Whatever. As long as I'm not driving myself crazy with this shit.” Boo hangs up without saying goodbye, so I figure they'll be down soon.
Leena's expectant eyes meet mine as I place my phone back in my pocket. “We're covered,” I assure her.
In the meantime, she helps me push the coffee table off to the side so we'll have more room. Without knocking, Boo and Trei enter my apartment, piling tie-dyed yellow, pink, and blue sheets, and approximately ten pillows of different shapes and sizes onto our blanket heap.
“Let's do this,” Boo says in a surprisingly serious tone that makes me bust out laughing.
It takes us about a half an hour to get the configuration right, but we drape the sheets over chairs from the kitchen as well as the back of the couch, securing whatever won’t stay with safety pins that Trei brought over as a precaution. Finally, we mash all of the pillows inside to make a cushiony floor that we cover with two comforters. By the time we're done, our fort resembles a weird bouncy castle, big enough for five people to lie in and watch TV.
We spend the rest of the night eating pizza, watching movies, and asking Leena what she wants for her birthday, which is the weekend before we have our Radiohead show.
Leena falls
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