The next morning Hollis woke Claire up around 10. “When did you want to head out?” He asked her after giving her a good morning kiss.
Claire leaned into him and closed her eyes. “In an hour, I guess. The party’ll probably start in an hour. We don’t have to be there on time.”
“Your brothers are turning 10?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you feeling?”
Claire yawned. “Hazy.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Kind of, I guess.”
“Do you want to grab some breakfast?”
“Nah, there’ll be plenty of free food at the party. If you can wait that long.”
Hollis grunted and grinned. “I’ll try.” He scratched his naked stomach. They stayed lying in bed for a while. Hollis was holding Claire and she was keeping her eyes closed. In her twin bed they didn’t have much room to spare. After about a half an hour Claire opened her eyes and climbed over Hollis, getting dressed in some jeans and a small white t-shirt with a screen image of Darth Vader on it that fit her torso. Hollis dressed himself in his clothes from the night before, some black jeans and a navy blue shirt with graphics on it. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her before they left.
It took them twenty minutes to cross the bridge into the city and twenty more minutes to get to Claire’s house. The sky was overcast and the light was gray. Hollis was surprised how close it was to the beach and the park, in a really nice neighborhood. He could see her getting into trouble when she was younger in this neighborhood. It was one he wasn’t familiar with growing up, though he spent a lot of time at both the beach and the park. Why would he ever go to a neighborhood as nice as this one?
They parked on the street and Hollis followed Claire up to a house that was crowded around with cars. It was a tall house painted pale yellow with a darker golden colored paint accenting the windowsills and doors. He followed her up the front stairs and she opened the front door. The room was large and opened into the kitchen behind it where most of the action was going on, as far as he could see. Two little dark-haired boys saw them come in and ran over to Claire. She bent over and gave them hugs, wishing them a happy birthday.
When she stood up she said, “This is my friend Hollis.” She turned to Hollis and said, “These are my brothers, Frank and Luke,” she said, pointing to them respectively. They looked like her. Frank had longer hair and was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, and Luke had his hair in a buzz cut and was wearing jean shorts and a red shirt. They were almost identical except Luke had a mole next to his nose and Frank had one on the side of his neck. It reminded Hollis of the moles he’s found on Claire’s body.
Hollis smiled at the boys and said, “Hi there.”
“Hi,” Frank said, followed by Luke.
Claire bent down again and said, “I got you guys something for your birthday.” They got excited and she reached into her purse and pulled out two $10 bills, giving one to each. “$10 since you turned 10 today. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“What?” Luke asked excitedly.
“You have to promise me you’ll go upstairs right away and put it away somewhere safe so you don’t lose it during your party.”
“Okay!” Frank said, starting to run upstairs. Luke thanked her and gave her a hug and a kiss and Frank turned around, ran back and did the same. Then they raced each other upstairs to put away their gifts. Claire stood up and grinned at Hollis.
“This is a nice house,” Hollis said, looking around.
“Yeah.” Claire put her hand on his arm. “I’m going to go put my purse upstairs. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” he said, and she left him standing in between the doorway and the couch. He felt awkward and wished he had gone up with her. He walked tenuously around the room looking at family pictures and the books on the bookshelves. He saw pictures of Claire when she was younger and she looked almost the same, just less-developed. She and all her siblings looked alike. Hollis wondered if there was anyone in the world who he looked like.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see a young man who looked like Claire, only taller, with broad masculine shoulders, neck and chin and darker hair that looked disheveled. He figured it was her brother Donnie. He walked up to Hollis with a look on his face saying he didn’t know who Hollis was.
“Hey, what’s up man, I’m Donnie.” He held out his hand to Hollis.
Hollis shook his hand firmly and said, “I’m Hollis. I came here with Claire.”
“Ah, you must have been her ride.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Donnie looked at him curiously. “Did you just get here? Where is Claire?” It wasn’t often that Claire would come home with someone they all didn’t know. He couldn’t have been a boyfriend, she’s never had one. At least, she’d never had one she brought to meet the family.
“She said she went upstairs to put her bag up there.”
“How do you guys know each other?”
Just then Claire came bounding down the stairs and they both looked over at her. Claire grinned and hugged her brother. “Hey Donnie,” she said.
“Hey sis,” he said, lifting her off the ground.
Hollis was watching their greeting and realized they must be much closer than he first figured. It was like they were best friends. He felt out of place.
Claire and Donnie’s hug broke apart and Claire took her place next to Hollis. She and Hollis smiled at each other. “Have you met Hollis?” She asked her brother.
“Yeah, we just met,” Donnie told her. He wished she hadn’t come downstairs when she did, he was about to find out Hollis’ story with his sister. Now he would have to wait for her to tell him, if ever. Even though they were close, she still kept her private life private. He knew that Marie would find out as soon as she met him, and he’d get the information from her.
“Cool,” she said.
Hollis looked from Claire to Donnie and the resemblance was uncanny.
“Do you want to eat?” Claire asked Hollis.
Hollis grinned at Claire. “Yes, I do.”
“There’s a ton of food outside,” Donnie told them.
“Thanks,” Claire said. Hollis followed Claire out through the kitchen which was now empty to the backyard, which was bigger than he expected. Donnie watched them walk away together and could tell that Hollis was more than just a friend.
Right when they got outside there was a long table holding fried chicken, hot chicken wings, pizza, sandwich platters, vegetable and dip platters, meat and cheese platters and big bowls of macaroni salad, pasta salad and potato salad. Hollis went straight for the paper plates and started to load up while Claire went straight for the coolers next to the tables until she found the beers. She opened one for herself and one for Hollis, walking back to him.
“I fucking need one of these,” she said, drinking half of hers.
Hollis chuckled, stacking his plate full of macaroni, pizza, sandwiches and fried chicken. When his plate had reached its limits he took his beer from Claire and sat at a nearby round wooden picnic table while Claire got her own plate of some hot wings, a piece of pizza and some pasta salad with not even a quarter of what Hollis put on his own plate and sat down next to him.
Around them little kids were running around and shouting at each other, wearing festive hats and silly eye glasses. As Hollis ate he saw they had rented a big bounce house with an inflatable slide for they day and there was a clown making balloon animals for all the kids. Adults were talking, standing around the perimeter and eating at tables. Hollis pointed at the clown and said, “I thought kids were afraid of those things.”
Claire shrugged and ate a forkful of pasta salad. “One of my brothers must have wanted it here, I guess.” She drank the last drop of her beer and stood up. “I’m going to get another beer. You want one?”
“Yeah, sure. Your parents don’t care if we drink and we’re underage?”
“Fuck no,” she said. “They won’t even notice.” She left and returned with two more bottles of beer for them. When Claire had finished her plate Hollis was still devouring his. Out of the corner of her eyes, Claire had been seeing the skies and ceilings drip all day.
A girl who must have been Claire’s younger sister walked up to them carrying a baby. She looked like Claire but was shorter and her hair was short and curling around her face.
“Hey, Claire!” She exclaimed.
“Hey Marie, what’s up?” Claire asked.
Marie sat down next to Claire, “not much, just hanging out, taking care of Heidi.”
“Hey there, Heidi,” Claire said, taking the baby from her sister and holding her. The little girl who was around one year old giggled and grabbed at Claire’s hair hanging down in front of her shirt. Marie laughed and took her baby’s hand and released her sister’s hair from the tight grasp of an infant. The baby had the same features as her mother, but her hair was lighter and her nose was flatter. Claire started to tickle the baby and coo at her. Hollis was pretty much done with his food and was watching her.
Marie saw him looking and asked Claire, “Who’s this?” Nodding in Hollis’ direction.
“That’s Hollis.”
“Hi, Hollis,” Marie said, giving him a look that said she approved. “Are you Claire’s boyfriend?”
Hollis noticed how more straight forward she was than their brother. “Yeah,” he said. Claire put an arm around Hollis’ back.
“How long have you two been together? It’s been forever since I saw you last. Maybe since Christmas.”
“It’s been more recent than that,” Claire said. “We’ve been together for three weeks.” She handed the baby back to her sister.
“Wow, that must be a record for you, Claire.” Marie looked at Hollis again. He smiled at her because he didn’t know what else to do. Marie was bouncing the baby on her leg.
“Claire, there you are dear,” a voice said from behind them. The three of them turned and Hollis saw an older woman who looked like them all. She must be their mother. Claire stood up and gave her a hug. “When did you get here?”
“Not too long ago,” Claire told her and sat back down.
“Did you see your brothers?”
“Yeah, I saw them when I got here.”
“That’s good. They were asking about you. It’s good to see you here, you didn’t call me to tell me you were coming.”
Claire was looking up at her mother. “I didn’t think I’d have to call, you knew I was going to come.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just I haven’t seen you for a while, you know?” Her mother said.
“Yeah,” Claire said. She changed the subject. “Mom, this is Hollis. He came with me,” she said, turning towards Hollis.
Claire’s mother held her hand out to Hollis. “Hello Hollis. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Carmen.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hollis repeated, shaking her hand. From watching her mother he could tell where all her children got their attractive looks.
“He’s Claire’s boyfriend,” Marie said. Claire looked at Marie sideways and didn’t say anything.
“Oh? Well that makes it even nicer to meet you, Hollis. I hope you enjoy your time here with our family,” Carmen said.
“Thank you,” Hollis said.
Carmen turned to Claire. “Have you said ‘hello’ to your father yet?”
“No, I haven’t seen him.”
“Oh, he’s walking around with a video camera somewhere.”
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye out for him.” Claire picked up her beer and drank from it.
Suddenly a kid cried out “Ow!” Carmen looked over and said, “There’s my cue. I’ll see you kids later.”
“Okay,” Marie said and their mother walked away. The baby started to get fussy and she started to bounce her more. “I’m gonna go feed Heidi. She must be hungry.”
“Don’t starve your baby, damn,” Claire said.
“I don’t,” Marie swore, scowling at Claire. She got up and walked inside.
Claire turned to Hollis and smiled, relieved. “How are you?”
Hollis put down his almost empty beer bottle. “I’m fine. How are you?”
“I’m fine.” She put a hand on Hollis’ leg. “Sorry about my sister, she’s really nosey.”
“It’s okay. I knew I was going to be meeting your family here.”
“True,” Claire said. She drank some of her beer. A little kid ran up to Claire and hit her on her back. She turned and saw her nephew Dane. “Hey!” She said to him and put her arms out in defense. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing!” Dane said. Hollis thought he looked a lot like Donnie, and guessed that was his four year old kid.
Claire put her arms out in a stance and said, “Show me what you’ve learned recently.”
Dane squatted in a stance and kicked up with a straight leg and said “Hyah!”
“Hey, that’s pretty good. You’ll have a black belt by next week!” Claire tickled the kid and he giggled. “You want to meet my friend Hollis?” She asked him.
Dane stopped giggling and looked and Hollis, suddenly turning shy. “Hi,” he said quietly.
“Hi there,” Hollis said, thinking this was the easiest member of her family that he’s had to meet so far. He wasn’t really looking forward to meeting her father, considering he’s never even had his own father figure.
“Do you wanna watch me go down the slide?” He asked Claire and Hollis.
“Sure, kid. We’ll watch from here,” she told him. Dane ran off towards the bounce house and Claire turned back to Hollis, noticing his empty plate. “Do you want any more food?”
“Maybe in a bit. I’m gonna digest a little first.” He grinned at Claire.
Claire smiled at him. “Okay.”
Hollis wanted to lean over her and kiss her, but he wasn’t going to being surrounded by so many people. It was hard for him to be around her and not hold her close to his body. With one movement he brushed the hair hanging in front of her shoulder behind it so he could fully see her face and neck. They lost themselves staring at each other when Donnie sat across from them with his own plate of food. Claire turned to Donnie when she saw him sitting down.
“It’s time for thirds,” he said biting into a fried chicken leg. Claire laughed.
“Yeah, you know I think I’m ready for seconds,” Hollis said.
“Help yourself,” Donnie offered with half a mouth full of food.
“Thanks,” Hollis said, getting up. He left the table and started filling up his plate again.
“Do you want more?” Donnie asked Claire.
“Nah, I think I’m good.” She finished her beer.
“So, boyfriend, huh?”
Claire chuckled. “Yeah. Did Marie go around telling everyone?”
Donnie started on his second piece of fried chicken. “I dunno. She told me, at least. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Claire shrugged. “I figured you’d figure it out, I guess. I don’t need to go around telling everyone the obvious, do I?”
“I guess not,” Donnie said.
Dane ran back up to the table and said to Claire, “You didn’t watch me on the slide!”
“Oh I totally did, Dane,” she said to him, even though she didn’t. “You were like an acrobat.” Dane giggled.
“Hey come here kid and eat some food,” Donnie said to his son. Dane went over and sat next to Donnie and Donnie gave him a fried chicken drumstick to eat. He sat there nibbling on it when Hollis came back with his plate stacked with food again and two beers for him and Claire.
“Thanks,” she said to him, smiling and drinking it. Donnie looked up at Hollis, then put his attention back to his son. Claire laughed at Hollis’ plate. “Did you get enough?”
“I got some for you if you wanted it. If you don’t, I’ll eat it.”
“How sweet,” she said.
“Damn Claire, don’t you feed this guy at all?” Donnie asked, smirking.
“I do, when I’m around a kitchen.”
“It’s true, she does. My roommates are always asking if she’s going to come around and cook more.”
“Hey, if they keep buying food to cook I’ll keep making it,” Claire said, picking up a hot wing from Hollis’ plate and dipping it in some bleu cheese dressing.
“Damn!” Dane said, grinning with food on his face. He looked like a miniature Donnie.
“Hey, don’t you go around saying that, especially around your mom,” Donnie said, wiping his son’s mouth.
“’Kay,” Dane said, biting into his chicken. He set it back onto his dad’s plate half eaten and said, “I’m done. Can I go play more?”
“Sure thing, kiddo. Don’t bounce too much, though, you just ate and then you’ll get sick,” Donnie said, lifting him off the bench.
“I don’t get sick from bouncing!” Dane said.
Donnie laughed as he watched the kid run away. “He’s gonna come to me later and say he doesn’t feel good after jumping around in that house.”
Claire chuckled. “Where’s Cheryl?” She asked.
“She’s around, somewhere,” Donnie said. Hollis guessed Cheryl was Dane’s mom. He was concentrating on his plate of food.
“Do you want anymore?” he asked Claire, motioning to his diminishing plate of food.
“No thanks, I’m still recovering from yesterday,” she said, drinking her beer.
“What did you do yesterday?” Donnie asked, eating his last sandwich.
“Shroomed,” Claire said. She drank the rest of her beer.
“Nice,” Donnie. “Where’s mine?”
“Uh, I ate them?” She told him.
Donnie chuckled. He looked at Hollis who was almost done with his food. “Hey man, when you’re done with that food we can all go up to the attic. I’m sure you wouldn’t be with my sister if you didn’t smoke.”
Hollis looked at him and grinned. “No, I guess not.” Claire smirked and scratched him on his back appreciatively. It only took him a few minutes to finish his food, and he downed the rest of his beer and belched. “Shit, I haven’t eaten this much in a long time.” He grinned again and rubbed his stomach.
“Well come on, kids, let’s go,” Donnie said, standing up. Claire and Hollis followed him, throwing away their trash and they all went inside, through the kitchen, the living room, up the stairs, down the hall and to a door which led to another set of stairs. They were in Donnie’s old room, and it hadn’t changed much. There was the blue carpet and a big, low couch. His bed was still there with his old blankets on it. His wooden furniture was all on the same places. Claire’s purse was sitting on the couch and she pulled a pipe and her stash from inside. Donnie and Hollis sat on the couch and Claire sat in front of them on a big pillow where they smoked three bowls in succession, each of them packing one with their own stash. They sat around talking about miscellaneous things from music to movies to kids and even some politics. Donnie listened to Hollis talk and he could see why his sister was into him. He was starting like Hollis himself. When Hollis told Donnie he was a mechanic, Donnie said, “Oh yeah? I got my Chevelle outside.”
“I saw that outside. It’s yours? Is that a ’72?”
“Yep.”
“What have you got in there, a 454?
“350,” Donnie told him.
“That is a nice machine. I’d like to take a look at it later if we could get a chance,” Hollis said.
“Yeah, man, sure thing,” Donnie promised. Claire smiled to herself that the two boys were getting along.
They must have sat up there for 45 minutes and Donnie said, “I better go, I bet Cheryl’s looking for me. Don’t know why, she’d know where I’d be, especially when she hears you showed up, Claire.”
Claire only laughed and Donnie left them alone. Claire climbed onto the couch next to Hollis and he put his arm around her. She leaned her head into his body. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to his, kissing her. She melted into his body and her hands went around his head. He leaned over her and finished their kiss, running the tip of his nose along her cheek. They heard steps coming back up to the attic and turned to see who it was. Donnie was coming back up. Hollis climbed off of Claire and they sat apart.
“Hey, uh sorry guys. I came back too see if you want to check out my car, Hollis,” Donnie said, noticing he interrupted them.
“Yeah, sure,” Hollis said standing up. Claire followed him and they all went down to the front of the house. The Chevelle sat parked right outside, looking all shiny, black and smooth. It was cherry. Hollis pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one for himself, offered the pack to Claire and she took one out.
“Could I snag one of those?” Donnie asked. Hollis offered him one and they stood around Donnie’s engine smoking. Hollis and Donnie were talking about how much horsepower and other engine related things while Clare just listened to them. They were out there for a while and Claire and Donnie’s older sister Lisa walked up to them lugging her two kids and two big presents.
“Hey Lisa,” Claire greeted. “You need any help?”
“Hey Claire, how are you?” Lisa asked. Lisa looked a lot like their mom, more than the rest of the kids. Her hair was tied back, she wore rimless glasses and she was as tall as her mother.
“I’m good,” Claire said, taking the two gifts for Lisa.
“Hey Donnie,” Lisa said. She sounded breathless.
“Hi Lisa. Where’s Dave?” Donnie asked.
“Oh, he couldn’t come. He has a lot of work to do at home,” Lisa explained, obviously covering up for something.
“Hi Uncle Donnie and Aunt Claire,” Lisa’s oldest boy said.
“Hello, Grant,” Claire said, throwing her cigarette in the street and bending down and giving him a hug. “And hello, Hazel,” Claire said to the little girl Lisa was holding. Hazel buried her head into her mother’s shoulder and quietly said, “hi.” Donnie gave Grant a high five which was returned enthusiastically, then he pinched Hazel which made her squirm and whine.
“She’s in a bad mood,” Lisa apologized. Lisa had been apologizing for everyone in her family lately.
“I’ll help you get these inside,” Claire said. She, her sister and her sister’s children went up the stairs into the house and Donnie and Hollis were left alone around the engine.
Donnie finished his cigarette and tossed it in the street. “I’ll probably have to sell this car,” he said.
“Why’s that?” Hollis asked, stepping out his own cigarette butt on the sidewalk.
“Because last week Cheryl found out she was pregnant again. I guess we’re in the first stages of pregnancy right now. The freaking out stage,” Donnie said. Hollis gave a nervous chuckle. “Don’t tell anyone, though. It’s new news.”
Hollis had no idea why Donnie was telling him secretive news. Then Donnie continued, looking straight at Hollis’ face.
“Don’t ruin my sister’s life. She deserves more than being pushed into early motherhood.” He turned back to his car and shut the hood. He didn’t say anything else; he didn’t have to. “Come on, Hollis. Let’s go back to the party.” He started up the stairs with Hollis following a few steps behind.
Inside they went into the kitchen where the women were. Lisa was standing with her mother, and her two kids were hanging on her legs. Lisa was holding Heidi and Marie was eating some food. Claire was sitting on a barstool with her back turned to them and she was talking to a girl he didn’t know who didn’t look like any of them. Hollis went up behind Claire and put his hand on his shoulder, his arm across her back. She looked up at him and smiled. Donnie went over to the girl Claire was talking to and threw his arm around her, squeezing her tightly. It was Cheryl. Her hair was short and a very dark red, she came up to Donnie’s shoulders and she had a very pretty smile. She was raised by two hippies, but if you ask her she says she raised them.
Cheryl looked at Donnie and wrinkled her nose. “You smell like cigarettes.”
“Yes, I do,” Donnie said.
Cheryl looked at him disapprovingly and turned to Claire. “You’re such a bad influence on him.” Claire grinned at her. Deep down, Cheryl always felt like she played second fiddle to Claire in Donnie’s eyes. She noticed Hollis and asked, “And who is this?”
“That’s Claire’s boyfriend Hollis,” Donnie told her grabbing a handful of potato chips from a bowl on the counter.
Cheryl smiled to Hollis. “Nice to meet you,” she said. She was secretly relieved that Claire had a boyfriend and brought her around to meet the family. She felt like it would show Donnie that she was the number one girl in her life, not his sister.
Hollis nodded to her. “You too.”
A man walked into the kitchen. He was tall, muscular and had dark hair that was side parted and slicked and had a few thick streaks of gray running down his scalp. He was holding a video camera and had a big smile on his face. He looked like the father. Hollis stiffened a little when he noticed him.
“Ah, I see all of my children are here now,” He said, his voice harboring a slight accent. He gave Lisa a big hug without crushing the baby and kissed her on the cheek. He turned to Claire and said, “When did you show up? I haven’t seen you.” His eyes moved to Hollis and Hollis’ hand on Claire’s shoulder. Claire stood up and gave her dad a hug and he kissed her on the cheek.
“Hi daddy,” she said, smiling. “I got her, a while ago actually. You were busy outside.”
“Ah, yes I certainly was busy.” He held up the video camera. “There’s a lot of action out there.” He paused, looking at Hollis again. “And who is this?”
“Dad, this is my boyfriend Hollis,” Claire introduced.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my boy,” her father said, shaking Hollis’ hand firmly. He also gave him a look in his eye that said I already have six children and four grandchildren. I don’t need anymore.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Hollis said.
Claire’s father let go of Hollis’ grip and laughed. “Oh, no ‘sir’ for me, thank you. You can call me Luis.”
“Alright,” Hollis said, smiling.
Luis turned to his family and said “I think we’re ready to open presents now. Let’s herd all the kids into the living room and after that we can eat cake.”
“Sounds good, honey,” Carmen said. She had been putting the final touches on the huge cake that had a picture of a pirate ship in the frosting. “Will you kids help me get all the other parents together to move the children away from playing into the bounce house, please?”
“Sure thing, mom,” Lisa said. Cheryl and Marie followed her, then Claire who just went straight for the beer cooler and didn’t try to herd anyone into the house. Hollis stood next to her and they drank while they watched everyone go in, finishing their beers quickly and getting a fresh one when they were the last ones outside.
“I really don’t want to be in there when they open the presents. It’s fucking retarded,” Claire told him. “All the other kids are going to be scrambling on the presents trying to open them too, ripping them from the packaging and playing with them, upsetting my brothers and it’s just going to be, retarded,” she said, repeating herself.
Hollis chuckled. “I think it’ll be alright if we sit out here. I think I’m ready for thirds, anyway.”
Claire laughed and drank her beer. She followed Hollis to the plates and as he filled his plate she picked up a few things herself and they sat eating and drinking and chatting, alone in the backyard. This was how Hollis liked it. He liked it when they were alone together. That’s when he saw the real Claire, not the one who was bombarded with questions and gets agitated. Right then she seemed so light and carefree and happy. She finished what little she put on her plate and asked him for a cigarette, smoking while he finished his own plate. As he was lighting up his own smoke Donnie came outside.
“I thought I’d find you guys out here,” he said, getting a fresh beer and sitting with them. “Those kids are going fucking monkey balls in there,” he said.
Claire smirked and said, “I figured they would. I think it’s better for me out here.”
“That’s for sure, I’ll drink to that,” Donnie said, holding up his beer. Hollis and Claire held up their beers too and they all clinked bottles and drank. Donnie chugged half his beer and belched. Claire finished hers and leaned her head on Hollis’ shoulder and Donnie looked at him from the corner of his eye.
Hollis put an arm around Claire and said, “I think I’m finally full.”
Claire laughed and killed her cigarette. “The cake’s still coming up though,” she said. “You didn’t save any room for sugar?”
“There’s always room for sugar,” he said, grinning. Claire sat back up and picked up the cigarette pack from the table and lit another one for herself. She offered it to Donnie and he took one. The three of them sat around drinking their beers and smoking for a little while longer until the children all ran back out into the backyard and Claire quietly groaned.
“Okay everybody!” Luis called out over the crowd. “We’re going to have the cake now! Does everybody know how to sing?” Shouts of ‘yeah!’ came out from the crowd. Luis grinned, looked through the video camera and said, “Okay, one… two… three!” The crowd started to sing the happy birthday song and Carmen came out carrying the huge cake with two sets of ten lit candles followed by Lisa who was carrying a huge stack of small paper plates and forks and Cheryl who was carrying a gallon of ice cream. They put the cake on an empty table and Frank and Luke ran up to it, excited. Claire took advantage of this moment and slipped into the kitchen, followed by Hollis.
“Being around all those kids,” she said, “it gives me the creeps.”
Hollis laughed. “It’s not that creepy to me. I grew up around large groups of kids being kids.”
Claire smiled. “Yeah,” she said. She took his hand. “Let’s go upstairs and smoke.” He followed her with no resistance up the two flights of stairs and when they got up to the top he grabbed her and kissed her deeply. It’s been too long a time for being around her and not being able to touch her. She responded enthusiastically, feeling the same. The found their way to the couch and he set her down on it gently without breaking their contact. They lay on the couch kissing and caressing each other for a little while until they finally broke apart for their smoke break. When they finished Hollis moved in and kissed her more before they went back downstairs.
In the kitchen and backyard the party was down to normal chaos and not concentrated on one activity. Hollis helped himself to a piece of cake and Claire helped herself to her seventh beer of the day. She stood around talking to Donnie while Hollis was next to her wolfing down his cake. They were both very stoned.
“You were smoking without me, weren’t you?” Donnie asked.
“Yeah,” Claire said. “You didn’t follow,” she reasoned. “There were too many people around to drag you away unnoticed.
“Yeah, Cheryl would have definitely noticed. She’s been watching me like a hawk today since I keep smelling like cigarettes,” Donnie said.
“Why does she care?” Claire asked. “It’s not like you’re doing it for the first time. She used to smoke with us all the time.”
“Yeah,” Donnie said. He leaned over to Claire and whispered, “she doesn’t want me smoking because we just found out she’s pregnant again.”
Claire looked into his face with an eyebrow raised. Donnie raised a finger to his lips telling her it’s hush-hush. And Cheryl saw the moment from across the yard where she was tending to her son who had fallen and scraped his chin. The two of them had agreed not to tell one person, and she saw him tell his beloved sister. She inhaled, sucking it up and comforted her son some more, pushing the image from her mind. She’d talk to him later.
“Hey Donnie,” Claire said. “How about a liquor run for old times sake?” She grinned.
“Old times? What, you don’t need me anymore?” Donnie asked with a smirk. “Are you hanging around older guys?” He glanced at Hollis.
“Actually Hollis and I were born on the same day... but his roommates are 21 so we get booze through them. But I could always use more,” Claire explained.
“Okay. We can go. We can take my car and Hollis can see it in action.”
“That’d be cool,” Hollis said.
“I’m just gonna go tell Cheryl we’ll be gone for a bit,” Donnie said, walking toward Cheryl. They stood talking to each other for a minute and she didn’t look very thrilled. He walked back over to them and said, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
They walked through the house and Claire ran upstairs to grab her purse and they made their way outside to Donnie’s car. Claire climbed into the back next to the child’s seat and Hollis sat in the front passenger seat. Donnie started the engine and it roared to life, blasting its mating call all around the neighborhood. He did a quick burnout and they were on their way to the liquor store. There Claire gave Donnie $60 and she and Hollis waited in the car until he soon returned with two bottles of bourbon and one bottle of vodka. He passed the bag to Claire in the backseat and she tried to buckle it in Dane’s child’s seat but it wouldn’t fit, so she set it on the floor. They took the long way back to the house and spent the rest of the afternoon bullshitting around until Claire convinced everyone she had to go back to school since she had an early class in the morning, which was partly true. She hugged her family goodbye and Donnie promised he’d make it across the bay so they could hang out again, “just like old times,” he quoted her.
Claire and Hollis made their way back to his truck and as they drove back to Hollis’ house she asked, “Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t bad. The food was great,” he said, remembering the look on Donnie’s face when he warned Hollis not to fuck up Claire’s life.
Claire chuckled and lit a cigarette for him, then one for herself. “Even though before we met I was going over there almost every weekend, I still rarely saw them. It’s always the same stories over there. At least I could do drugs with my friends.”
“Yeah,” Hollis said, not really knowing what it’s like to have a family but knowing what it’s like to have friends.
When they got back to Hollis’ house they spent the evening in his room drinking a bottle of bourbon, waking up hungover the next day.
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