Coffee? Part 4

by Margaret Iuni

This is part of an on-going series. To read the last part of this story, click here.

The rest of the week passed without incident. Target’s nose, while thoroughly bruised, was not broken and he had been giving me a lot more space since the incident under the condition that Sears would be with me at all times. Sears was beginning to become old news among the student body and our Spanish tutoring sessions had him almost caught up to speed. Minnie had even unfortunately developed a cold, so she never even asked to hang out after school. Life was almost going on as though nothing had happened. That all changed Saturday morning.

The doorbell rang at 11:00 a.m. as I was just getting out of the shower. Sears was still in bed as far as I knew and my towel-only attire was definitely not something I planned on showing the world, so I cracked open the bathroom door to call down to Target.

“Sir?” I waited for a response. When my cry was met with only silence, I rolled my eyes. “SIR?” I called a little more loudly. The doorbell rang again. “TARGET!” I heard a grunt coming from the direction of the television.
“THAT’S UNCLE TARGET TO YOU!”
“RIGHT. COULD YOU PLEASE GET THE DOOR?” A slightly louder grunt and the creaking of the couch let me know that he was getting up. “THANK YOU!” I cried as I shut the door and as I tugged my shirt over my head I heard muffled voices below.

Sliding on my slipper socks to complete my outfit of sweatpants, a high bun, and an old tee shirt, I opened the door to hear those voices below begin yelling. I rushed down the staircase, trying not to slip on the wooden floors and reached the front door in probably seven seconds. That was as long as Minnie needed as she had ducked under Target’s arm, entered the house, and begun gesticulating wildly.

“What do you mean she’s not allowed visitors? This isn’t a freaking prison! It’s her house which you are a guest in if I am not mistaken!” Minnie was furious. Her knitting needles were sticking out of her soaked bag and her winter jacket was drenched. I hadn’t noticed it was raining, but the weather seemed to be pretty nasty. Target’s face was tomato red, a color that did not blend well with his yellow and purple nose. Sears reached the top of the stairs at this moment, still in his pajamas and running his hand through his hair while he tried to stifle a yawn.

“Listen, the rules around here have changed. There are no visitors allowed, you hear? Now get out!” Just then the doorbell rang again. Target pivoted and pointed a finger at me, but before he could even speak, Sears slid down the banister in a much more graceful fashion than I could ever match and put his hand on his fathers arm. Target looked at him with bulging eyes, but lowered his arm.

“To be fair, you never explicitly banned visitors. You only said that Sears was taking me directly to and from school,” I shot at Target quickly. “And since she’s already here, we can’t exactly kick her out. She’s already sick and she’s soaking wet! Have a heart.” The doorbell rang again and before anyone could stop me I opened the door. A very confused UPS man stood outside holding a very wet package with his finger poised to ring the bell again.

“’Scuse me, but I could hear somebody was home,” he muttered. “I got a package here for a Mr. Indagatus?” He quickly looked over the four of us. “Is that one of you?” I recognized the name all of my “uncles” used as a last name immediately.

“He’s not home right now, but I’d be happy to sign for him.” I replied at the exact same time that Target said, “Yes, that’s me. Thank you, I’ll sign,” and Sears squinted and said, “Who?” If the UPS man had looked confused earlier, it was nothing compared to what he looked like now.

“Look. I got a package for this address. I just need someone to sign off for Mr. Indagatus, if he lives here, that is.” Mr. UPS raised his eyebrows suspiciously and glanced at each and every one of us. Minnie stared at her shoes as her hair dripped onto the floor.

“That’s me,” Target tried again, “I have a brother who shares the last name. That’s his daughter. I’d be happy to sign though I’m not sure if this is his or mine. As for that one,” Target said, pointing at Sears, “He’s got a bit of a hearing issue. Pay no attention to him.” At this point, the cardboard box was quickly turning into a pile of mush, so the deliveryman shook his head slightly and let Target sign. “Have a very good day, sir,” Target said through his teeth. He looked very pleased with himself.

“You, too,” the UPS guy said, slowly turning to climb back down our stoop with his eyebrows still raised. Target closed the door and spun around quickly. He placed the package on the small dresser next to the door and looked at each one of us. Sears gave him a long look, and finally Target sighed.

“Fine. She stays. Go get her dry. Sears, a word,” Target was not asking. Sears nodded and began to follow Target towards the kitchen. Looking back over his shoulder, he apologetically made a shooing motion with his right hand. Minnie was still staring at her shoes. I walked the rest of the way over to her and nudged her slightly with my shoulder. She kicked off her shoes and raised her eyes to mine as Sears and Target’s raised voices began streaming out of the back. I put one finger on my lips and jerked my head towards the stairs. We climbed them silently but as soon as my bedroom door closed Minnie was talking a thousand words a minute. I caught up about halfway through her rant.

“…Who the hell does he think he is? A tyrant! Definitely not a fit uncle let alone a temporary guardian,” here I lost her again as she began pacing. Then she stopped, took a breath, and looked at me square in the face, “And that’s Sears’ father. Sears. Sears who spends his breaks in the library. Sears who eats lunch mostly in embarrassed silence. That is Sears’ father?” I nodded slowly. Minnie gave a shudder. I began rummaging through my drawer and took out another pair of sweatpants and a hoodie for Minnie to change into. “Thanks,” she said quietly. The voices below us had quieted somewhat and as Minnie finished changing, I offered to venture downstairs to get us some Oreos or coffee. Minnie said yes to Oreos. My brain was screaming yes to coffee.

“Alright, you stay here. I’ll be right back,” I opened the door and almost ran right into Sears.
“Right. You can come down now,” he said, a hint of guilt in his voice.

“Screw snacks,” Minnie said, and she grabbed Sears’ arm and pulled him into my bedroom. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Minnie closed the door behind him, forcing me to give up on the coffee idea.

“Yeah. Totally fine,” Sears said, forcing a smile. “He gets really moody sometimes. Used to happen a lot right after mom…,” Sears cleared his throat and fixed his smile, since it had started to droop at his recollection. He looked me straight in the eyes, and pleadingly said, “Macy. Are there any snacks in this house? I’m starving…” Catching his purposeful change of subject I jumped on it immediately.

“Yeah, I was actually just going to go downstairs to brew some coffee and grab a snack. Why don’t you go shower and we’ll meet back here in fifteen?” I said with my own forced smile. Minnie was looking back and forth between us like an observer at a tennis match.
“You two are acting so weird.” Minnie’s eyebrows were almost as arched as the UPS man’s.
“Shh,” I whispered, “Only child sudden sibling syndrome,” I winked and both of them laughed. Sears shot a grateful glance my way and then slowly edged out of the room. I threw Minnie’s favorite magazine at her as I left right behind him and she made a happy noise as she began flipping the pages. I closed the door behind me. Sears was already halfway down the hallway.

“Seriously, though,” I said quietly, “You’re alright?” Sears turned his head to look at me.

“Mostly,” he said.

“Okay,” I snorted, “I’ll take it. Now, go shower. I’ll coffee. See you in fifteen.” I headed for the staircase, but not before I saw that Sears was biting his lip to hold in his real smile. Halfway down the stairs, I caught sight of the package. It was indeed addressed to Mr. Indagatus, but the return address had been completely washed together by the rain. Just as I was considering opening the package for myself, Target came in, scooped up the mushy mess, and headed for the living room without giving me a second glance. I drummed my fingers on the banister once, and then made my way for the kitchen, ready to tackle my assigned task, but never quite able to stop thinking about the package.