You’d rather not tell Jessica about your issues. You don’t want her leaving you for wearing Jimmy’s mom – or have to explain her why.
[Maybe l8r. Not the best time.]
Shoving your phone into your pants, you scour the area until you find Jimmy talking to the rest of the crew. Jessica’s not there (fortunately!), but you see some familiar – and not so liked – faces.
Faces such as Drew Collins. He’s loud, boisterous and crass – like Jimmy, but taken one step further. He’s taller than Jimmy (and you), and he’s bloated (well, not bloated, but definitely fat). He’s big enough to keep bullies away, but at the expense of everyone else.
It’s obvious why Jessica’s not at the table. You know he’s given a couple lewd glances at her, and he’s made a couple comments about how he’d “pork that blonde” - his words, not yours – within earshot. You've told him about it, but it’s obvious he’ll take his side over yours.
There’s also the “Disaster Duo” tagging along – Bobby Costa and Jake Bennett, long-time friends of Jimmy and unrepentant pranksters. It’s like they’re positive and negative shots of the same buck-toothed, freckled, shifty-eyed, spiky haired person – but while Jake has red hair, green eyes and pasty skin, Bobby has a shiny glow tan, darker eyes and bright dyed hair.
Besides those differences, they’d be basically twins. Bobby’s voice is deeper, but he laughs the same, moves the same, and even guesses what Jake’s saying. They’re also some of the smartest guys in school, but they use their intelligence for pranks.
Unlike Eric Nguyen, who’s the one in the crew besides Jimmy you tolerate the most. (Oh, you don’t mind having Bobby and Jake around, but you feel they’re more Jimmy’s friends than yours.) Part of the reason is because he’s more academically-minded than Jimmy’s crew, if his square glasses and square attire didn’t prove it already.
You slide into their table and they greet you. “Hey, David!” “You’ve been a stranger these days.”
“Yeah, I guess.” You lean forward, looking at Jimmy. “Hey. Mind if we talk about what we talked this morning?”
“What - you gonna propose to him!?”
Everyone but Eric blares into laughs, but Jimmy stops them dead in their tracks. “It’s something serious, Drew.” He stands up, jerking your chin. “I’ll be back in a while.”
You flank him, whispering in his ear. “Sorry about that.”
“Nah, don’t worry. I figured you’d get around.”
You look at the crew, pushing him further away. “Hey. You haven’t told them about the pens, have you?”
“I’ve been tempted,” Jimmy tells you. “But then they’d distract me. Maybe after--”
“Don’t tell them a thing,” you tell him.
“You know how much fun we could have with this? Hey – I was thinking about--”
“First things first. Did you think about your plan?”
“Of course!” he boasts. “So, the problem is basically Heather, right?”
You figure he probably didn’t think too deeply about it. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, here’s the thing. What if Mom comes home on weekends, while staying as Auntie Nessie on workdays?”
You stop and face him. “What do you mean?”
“Like I said, Mom deserves that chance. So I figured that it’d be best if we talked to her about it. I know Auntie Nessie still envies her, so maybe if we talk to her--”
“And what if she says no?”
“At least we tried? But we need to be as convincing as possible – if I tell her I know what Auntie Nessie thinks about her, she won’t think I’m lying, right?”
“What if she asks you to throw away the pens?”
“But they’re your pens, David. She can’t ask you to throw them away. Besides – if she says so, I can tell her that you’re a lot more responsible than I am!”
“But she’ll be suspicious every time you come visit me. And I bet you’ll make a lot of visits to use them.”
“That’s beside the point. All I want is to try and convince Mom to be with the man she loves. I want her to have a happy life. So we talk to her, and if she’s in, we can work around how to deal with Heather.”
“You’re not planning to--?”
“Not like that, David! Look – as long as I’m back home at night, Mom’s got nothing to worry about.”
“And what about everything else? Heather can’t cook, and--”
“We’ll discuss that with Mom. What I’m saying is that I thought about what you said, and you’re right. Mom should know about this.”
“I didn’t tell you about--”
“You said to suggest it to her as a joke! And that made me think – why not remind her of their relationship, to soften the blow? We’ll tell her to have a trial run. If she can handle being Auntie Nessie for a while, once I finish college, I can go and live with her and have Heather keep the house or something.”
“That means you’d be leaving.”
“If it means Mom has a better life?” He sighs, grasping your shoulder. “But hey – I won’t be a stranger! Heck – depending on how it goes, I might help you with the rent once you get into MTSU or something!”
You admire his enthusiasm, but you don’t want to break his heart. “Let’s see how your mom reacts, alright? And if she agrees, then we’ll decide what happens.”
“Great!” You see Jimmy’s elated face, which makes you laugh. “I bet it’ll work! Just you see!” He rushes away, only to return. “You’re free today?”
“I’ll be at your house once I take Claire back to mine.”
“Cool! See you there!”
As he rushes away, you look for Jessica. You even try to call her, but she ignores you. She probably must have seen you with Jimmy and figured she didn’t need to interfere. You leave her a message, telling her you’ll deal with it tomorrow, but her silence tells you it’ll be some time before you can talk to her again.
--
“Oh, David!” Mrs. Wilson greets you. “Hello!”
“Hello, ma’am.” You look around, checking your surroundings. “Is Jimmy here already?”
“He told me you wanted to talk to me about something. Sit around, I’ll call him.”
“Alright.” As you step inside, you look at the stairs. “Is Heather here?”
“She’s still at college.”
Excellent. You sit as Mrs. Wilson calls Jimmy, and you hear him rushing down the stairs. “Jimmy! What did I tell you!?”
“I know, Mom! Sorry!”
“I wish you’d remember it every now and then.” She sits opposite you, sighing. “What’s that you need to tell me?”
You look at Jimmy, wondering who makes the first move. He does. “Mom, how’s your relationship with Auntie Nessie?”
Her response came with a weird stare. “Jimmy, you know already! Nessie and I don’t talk a lot, but we’re still sisters!”
“But you don’t like when she brags about my cousins, or when she jabs you about us. Right?”
She shakes her head. “James... Your aunt’s proud of your cousins, just as I’m proud of you.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t get angry when she jabs us.”
“I’d prefer she doesn’t, but she cares about you.”
“Mom, if God gave you the opportunity to be with Uncle Brad, would you take it?”
That shocks her. “Of course not! Jimmy, he’s married to your aunt!”
“Ma’am?” you intervene. “We know your sister tricked you so you’d have to leave Jimmy’s uncle.”
She stares at you, horrified. “David? What are you implying?”
“Mom, we know Auntie Nessie planned with Dad so that he’d sleep with you and ruin your--”
She gasps in horror. “Jimmy! H... What are you saying!?”
“We know your sister had a crush on Jimmy’s uncle,” you tell her. “And that you were engaged, but had to break up your relationship because of Heather’s pregnancy – which you didn’t intend to have.”
“But I had her,” she says. “I could’ve just... aborted her, but I couldn’t. I can’t. I’ll never.”
“And because of that, Auntie Nessie forced you to break with Uncle Brad and engaged with him.”
Seeing how Mrs. Wilson begins to cry, you grab Jimmy’s wrist, sternly looking at him. “Jimmy? Stop.”
“Mom? I know this hurts, but we also know Uncle Brad never forgot you. He was the only one who supported you when Grams and Gramps said--”
“How did you learn all this!? Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I think it’s time you have some justice, Mom.” He looks at you, jerking his chin. “David? Show her the pens.”
You reluctantly pull the black and brown pens from your pocket for Mrs. Wilson to observe. “What are those?”
“I was wondering whether to tell you about them, but...” You look at Jimmy, wincing. “The black one turns people into... well, into skins. Like bodysuits with a hood, except they’re made from the flesh of people.”
“David!”
“Don’t worry, they can recover! Thing is, I showed them to Jimmy, and he fooled me and used them to put on my sister. And then, he went and turned you and Heather into skins.”
You feel the sound of glass breaking at the distance. Mrs. Wilson’s face distorts, and as you look at Jimmy, you notice he cradles himself, shivering in fear.
And then, you finally see why he fears his mother so much. “JIMMY!” she shrieks while pummeling him with incredible fury. “Have you no respect for anyone!?”
“Mom, it was only a prank! Besides – David also did it!”
“And he’ll get his comeuppance! But as for you? You can forget about every single console and computer you have! You’ll be grounded for as long as I live!”
“Ma’am?” You slide towards Jimmy, standing in his defense. “Maybe he’s an idiot for doing that, but I was the one that wore you.” You feel a red-hot fury burning like a laser from Mrs. Wilson’s eyes. “But when I did, I realized the truth. So I told him.”
“And here I thought you were the responsible one...!”
“Because I am, I told him to tell you. And I know you’d love to be with Jimmy’s uncle. I know you feel it’s unfair, because you told me that.”
“How could I tell you?”
You grin. “If I could tell you that your own sister could tell you about everything, would you accept it?”
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