Happy Days
So by this point you might be a little confused, did you get the money from your godfather or not? Or did Howie just bring you back to school so you could live in the bathroom after all?
Well Benny in fact DID come through for me, not as whole heartedly as I hoped though. He actually called us back the next morning and told Howie he would only speak to me on the matter after all this was MY life we were talking about not D’s.
So as much as I absolutely dreaded having to talk to him I got on the phone and listened to him go on about financial obligations and how important it was to save money. He dissed my dad about a hundred times but it didn’t bother me at all. Funny how when it was reversed I almost caused a scene in a blizzard but Benny all but said he wished my dad would die already and I was cool with that. So long as I got my money.
Which I did, but unlike all of my brothers who had at one time needed money from my uncle, I was told I’d have to pay him back. “This is just a loan Nickolas because frankly I’m getting older now and you boys need to learn some responsibility” I didn’t feel like arguing with him, telling him I know full well what responsibility is, but I was at his mercy.
“So this is a loan, I’m going to co sign a loan for you which will be your responsibility to pay it back. This is it though; I won’t be able to help after this”
I humbly said thank you and got off the phone and literally jumped on Howie with such force that I knocked the poor guy to the floor.
“I guess that means he’s helping you out huh?” He had asked from underneath me.
I rolled off of him and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Yes even though it was freezing outside I was sweating like a pig. “Yup he said he’d help me out. It’s a loan and I have to pay him back”
“Hrm…that’s odd”
“It’s really not that odd Howie. The guy hates me he always has”
“That’s not true Nick” This was an argument we frequently had. My uncle hated me, not sure why but then again I wasn’t sure why my dad and mom hated me too. I can tell you that in his house he had a wall of kids set up and I was the only one absent. It was something that always bugged me, even though my own father and mother didn’t have any pictures of me anywhere in my house, it bothered me that this normal guy and his own normal family left me out of their life.
“Well he can’t hate you that much because your butt is going back to school and I for one am extremely happy for you!” We both got up off the floor and hugged. I was so sure that the chapter of my life called Boston was only going to be a page long but now I was adding onto that page and it overjoyed me.
I wanted to leave the very next day, pack up and go before anyone had a chance to change their mind. Whether it be Benny or fate. I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Luckily fate was taking a vacation because a few days later Howie and I were on our way back to Boston. It felt like the first day all over again. That’s how overjoyed I was.
Kenny just happened to be outside when he saw my brother’s car pull up so he greeted us and helped me bring up what little junk I had.
“I missed you Sunny boy!” He said pulling me into a hug and then shoving me away, “I’m just playing with you. How could I miss your sorry ass?”
“Well I…” Before I could finish he pulled me into another hug, “Awe I’m just teasing of course I missed you!” then he shoved me away. “NOT!” Howie found this all very amusing for some reason. “I think someone forgot to take their medication” I kidded as I grabbed the last of my luggage from the car.
“I will now that I have you to remind me Nick” Kenny said in his semi Cartman voice he liked to use from time to time.
Howie grabbed my arm, “Is he on medication for real?” That cracked me up.
Everything was falling back into place. I felt Nick Carter going back to sleep, the worries dissipating as Sunny came out to play.
When I got into the room I noticed some changes; for one, Kenny decided he wanted my desk so he switched without asking me. “Hope you don’t mind Sunny”
“Nah its okay” It really was no big deal. The desk I got was closer to the window anyway and fresh air was always a good thing. The second thing he did bothered me. He moved our beds right next to each other. I mean right next to each other. It looked like one big king sized bed and the desks were surrounding us.
“This is an…interesting set up you have here” Howie gave my roomie a questioning look before looking at me and shrugging.
“I know I’m like thinking it’s kind of like we are in the middle of an ocean right? And the desks… well they are the islands and we like have to jump off the boat and swim for the island otherwise the sharks will like totally eat us man”
I think if Howie could have he would have run out of that room at that instant especially when Kenny went on to demonstrate to us how with the way he placed the beds you could get around the room without ever stepping on the floor. He hopped from the bed to his desk, which used to be my desk, then to his trunk then made a final leap into the bathroom. “See how much fun we’ll have Carter?”
All I could do was nod and smile because frankly I didn’t care. Let Kenny sleep right next to me in his little boat in the middle of the ocean. I was back at school. I was the happiest guy in the world.
“You’re going to make him change that back aren’t you?” I shrugged at Howie and threw my bag on the bed, the one that was bare. “It’s not going to bother you sleeping so close to him?”
“Yeah it’ll bother me a lot”
“He has Power Ranger sheets, what is wrong with your roommate?”
I kicked off my shoes, a sure sign that I was back home. “Howie do you think I have a right to call him nuts? I mean do you remember what I came from?”
He sat next to me, “Yeah I guess you have a good point” I just nodded at him, “So you okay then? I mean if I were to leave? I want to get home before the snow starts up again” They were predicting another bad snow storm. “Maybe you should spend the night D, just in case you get caught in the middle”
“No thanks, I mean where am I going to sleep? On top of Kenny?”
I laughed, “He would probably give you his bed and sleep in the hallway or something crazy like that”
Howie stood up and I followed pulling him into a hug, “Howie be careful and I love you”
“I love you too Boo, more than anything” He pulled away from me and looked me up and down, just like he has always done before leaving me; whether it be from me leaving for school in the morning to going out with friends on a Friday night. It might seem odd to other people why this older brother was always hovering over me. To me I loved it, I would never tell him that but I loved it a lot.
“Well? Aren’t you going to walk me back to the car at least?” I rolled my eyes at him playfully, “Yeah just let me put my shoes on”
“Well excuse me kiddo, I mean I did just drive for 6 hours to get you back here”
“I know D…relax I’m just yanking your chain” I went to lick his forehead because I knew how much he hated that and of course, he bat me away, “Eww come on Nicky quit it!”
Kenny walked out of the bathroom door and gave us a weird look, “Okay then” He said exaggeratedly before plopping back into his little island bed complete with Power Ranger sheets.
“I’m walking Howie to the car, I’ll be back”
“Have a safe trip Howie”
“Thanks Kenny, be good the two of you”
“I’m not making any promises for myself but I’ll keep your brother in line”
Howie nodded at Kenny and all I could do was shake my head.
As we walked back towards the parking lot my brother became quiet. Oddly quiet as if there was a load of things on his mind. “Everything okay D?”
“Yeah”
“You sure?”
“Yup, guess I’m just tired”
“Maybe you should spend the night then, you can leave tomorrow”
“I need to go today Nicky, I have to work early tomorrow morning”
“Oh” I was going to drop it there but I decided not to, “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine Nick, honestly…not to sound corny or anything but I’ll really miss you”
“You’ll miss me?” He nodded, “It was just nice having someone else in the house you know? I miss having you around all the time”
I stopped him and pulled him into a hug, “I’ll miss you too Howie”
“I didn’t want you to feel bad that’s all” He pulled away from me and I could swear he had tears in his eyes but I know I must have been imagining things.
“I’ll be home soon”
“I know”
“Nick?” We both turned at the mention of my name to see Amy walking towards us smiling.
“Amy” I grabbed her in a hug, “What’s up?”
“I was just going to dinner, I got back yesterday”
“Awesome! I just got here but if you wait a few minutes I’ll go with you”
“Okay” She looked over at my brother and smiled. He was also grinning, “Oh...Amy this is Howie”
He grabbed for her hand, “Nice to meet you Amy, I’ve heard a lot about you”
“Same here” They were both looking each other up and down, funny because when I was with Amy the only family I ever really mentioned was Howie and likewise when I was home. I talked about Amy almost nonstop whenever college was brought up. It felt right that they finally got to meet each other.
“Well, I don’t want to keep the two of you from your dinner and I have a long ride”
I hugged my brother again, “Drive carefully D and call me”
“Every Sunday as always Nicky! Make sure you don’t go disappearing on me again”
“I won’t…I promise”
He nodded and smiled once more at Amy.
Once he was gone Amy and I headed back down the hill towards the cafeteria. I had forgotten how much I missed being around her, “So I see everything worked out then huh?”
I nodded, “Yup, I got a reprieve”
“I’m glad because I don’t think I could have survived a second semester without you” She grabbed my hand which threw me off guard, but not in a bad way.
“How was Christmas?”
“It was there, what about for you?”
I nodded, “About the same”
“Well glad to see we both had a great break” I laughed, another thing I loved about Amy was her dark sense of humor.
“I think I should go get Kenny, do you mind if he joins us?”
“Sure no problem, I can use some giggles”
“Is your roomie back yet?” She made a disgusted look and nodded, “Yup and so are her little posse of guys trying to get down her pants”
“Men pffft!” She whapped my arm when I said that.
As we were going up the elevator to get Kenny she let go of my hand, I decided not to bring it up, not to even ask why she held it in the first place.
“What did you think about your room? When I saw that I said to myself ooh Nick’s not going to like this much”
“It’s interesting, I’ll probably have him change it back but for now he can keep his little island…so this means you came to my room?”
“Yup, I wanted to see if you were back yet”
“Well I’m here now”
She smiled “Yup you are”
When I unlocked the door I found Kenny jumping on the bed playing a plastic ukulele and wearing one of those ten cent lei’s you found at the dollar store.
Yup I was back and it felt great!
