All the Songs Have Been Erased, chapter 8
I woke up in bed with soft music humming and a scented candle lit on the bureau. The sweet smell of strawberry filled the room as I opened my eyes. But something was wrong. I had a massive headache and couldn't remember anything that had happened in the past day.
I looked to my right at the clock and noticed it was 1 PM. Hmm, I thought. Why was I taking a nap in the afternoon? I turned and saw Tre, lying in bed. I stroked his head lightly and he stirred and opened his eyes.
"Stephanie," he said.
"What? What happened?"
He started to stroke my hair and my face. Then he kissed me gently and broke the news, "Seizure."
"Oh." It had almost been 6 months since my last seizure I had thought that this medicine was working. Apparently not.
"I have Tylenol for you."
"Thanks. What happened yesterday? Or earlier today?"
"Um, quick recap. Fight, went to Armstrongs, came back, brain tumor, seizure. Yeah, that's pretty much it. After that, I carried you upstairs and you've been sleeping ever since. So a good 17 hours of sleep did you pretty well."
It all came back to me, the tears, the screaming, the pain. I laid back down onto my bed and held Tre close to me, "Can we save this moment forever, so we can go back to it as many times as we want?"
He put his chin over my head, "I wish we could... I wish we could." I sighed and closed my eyes while I turned the other way. Tre cupped his body around me as I tried to lessen my headache. Tre then started putting his hands in my shirt, but I stopped him. "No... not now. My head hurts too much."
"No, Stephanie. Trust me, you'll like this." Tre started to caress my back as he slowly moved toward my front. Then he started to rub his hands against my breasts and stomach. I smiled. This was different then anything we had ever done. It was peaceful and calming. I let my head melt into the pillow. He did this for about 30 minutes before he pulled his hands away.
Before long my headache began to cease, and turned to look into his eyes. I kissed him before starting to cry again. "Tre, you can't leave me. You can't leave me."
He wiped away my tears, "Steph, I would never want this, I love you, you know that. I just told you what they told me."
"I want to fix you, I want you to be happy. What do we need to do?" I asked.
"Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow."
"Well, we should enjoy today then." I downed another Tylenol and began kissing him again as I moved my hands up and down his back. My lips traveled back and forth up his ear while my cheek was pushed against his. I moved down to his neck where my lips moved up and down, and his unshaven bristles of hair prickled my skin. Though not in a bad way... it felt- well, it felt good.
"You should not shave more often," I suggested. Tre laughed, "I'll try." "Tre, I'm sorry, I'm just getting really tired, is it okay if we stop for today. Do you want to rent a movie or something?" My face brightened at my own suggestion, "Maybe an older movie, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but the remake. You know I love that movie! Oh wait, oh God. We forgot to tell Ramona and Frankie."
Tre's content face got suddenly concerned, "Dammit, we did forget. You know what, I have an idea. I will go get Charlie and you gather the kids. We will tell them everything, including my doctor's appointment tomorrow, and tell them that we just want to spend one of our last peaceful nights together as a family, watching a movie or something. Does that sound okay?"
"Yes, perfect. I'll go get them, you run to the store." I got out of bed and put my feet in my slippers.
I walked Tre to the door and then as I saw him leave I went to the basement to grab Frankito, who was playing a video game and told him he needed to come upstairs it was important. "Where's Ramona?" I asked him. He shrugged, "Out?" He suggested.
"It's Sunday!" I threw up my arms up. "I never did stuff on Sundays when I was her age! Don't you people have homework anymore?"
"Call her cell," Frankito replied.
I grabbed the phone at the side table and began dialing. She picked up, "Where the hell are you?" I asked. "What, huh? Mom? Steph? Who is this? My caller ID is acting funky, no number is shown..."
"It's Stephanie. Where are you? Why didn't you ask to leave? I need you home now, it's important."
"Okay, first off, I figured I should leave since the door to your and dad's room was closed so I figured ya'll were doing it. Secondly, I'm at the mall. Thirdly, I can't get home, no one can take me home, and I can't drive because I don't have a car."
"God dammit, you're your father's daughter."
"Well, duh."
"So first off," I started, mimicking her. "Your father and I were not doing it, and you could have knocked. Secondly, you're grounded. You knew that, so why the hell are you at the mall? Thirdly, you'll get a car when you are able to get your grades about a C- average."
"Oh, well I'm sor-ree that since I'm not a brilliant A+ student like yourself I don't deserve a car."
"Dammit, just find a way home. It's important, it's about your dad."
"What? What's wrong with Dad? Is he dead? Is he dying? Does he have cancer? Was he in a car accident? Did you hurt him after that fight you guys had last night? If you hurt him..."
"I did not hurt him. JUST GET HOME!"
"Fine."
"Fine."
I slammed down the phone yelling, "DAMMIT!" as loud as I could, when I then noticed that both Tre and Frankito were staring at me.
"Er... sorry about that," I said. Tre didn't know about Ramona and myself. The thing is, I think that it is safe to say Ramona hates me. Personally, she thinks it's disgusting that I'm dating her dad while I'm closer to her age than his. She thinks I'm stealing her dad away from her, which is something I would never consider. We have never gotten along, but with all this happening with Tre, I think we are going to need to.
"What was that?" Tre asked.
"Er- your daughter and I haven't been getting along well lately. Well, how about lately being the past... year and a half?"
"She doesn't like that I'm dating you, hmm?" Tre said. "Well, she'll have to get used to it- it's not like I'm letting you go."
"Does that mean...?"
"Well, yeah. Not now, but after all this-" he averted his eyes toward Frankie. "-More than definitely. You can count on it."
"Good, you're being positive. Very good." I kissed him quickly and then went down to Frankie's level. He was relatively short, like his dad as well as Claudia, Tre's ex wife and his mom, so I usually towered over him.
"Do you have a problem with me?" I asked him. "Of course not," he said. "You're like my mom." I scruffled his hair, "Don't replace your mom with me, but thanks." I gave him a hug, "I love you, kid."
"You too," he said while shrugging. "And you Dad."
I heard the doorbell ring upstairs and whispered to Tre, "Where do you want to do this?"
"The living room," he replied. "It seems to be the general trend of these things."
"Of what things?" Frankito asked.
"Nothing," Tre said quickly. "Just go upstairs."
I looked to my right at the clock and noticed it was 1 PM. Hmm, I thought. Why was I taking a nap in the afternoon? I turned and saw Tre, lying in bed. I stroked his head lightly and he stirred and opened his eyes.
"Stephanie," he said.
"What? What happened?"
He started to stroke my hair and my face. Then he kissed me gently and broke the news, "Seizure."
"Oh." It had almost been 6 months since my last seizure I had thought that this medicine was working. Apparently not.
"I have Tylenol for you."
"Thanks. What happened yesterday? Or earlier today?"
"Um, quick recap. Fight, went to Armstrongs, came back, brain tumor, seizure. Yeah, that's pretty much it. After that, I carried you upstairs and you've been sleeping ever since. So a good 17 hours of sleep did you pretty well."
It all came back to me, the tears, the screaming, the pain. I laid back down onto my bed and held Tre close to me, "Can we save this moment forever, so we can go back to it as many times as we want?"
He put his chin over my head, "I wish we could... I wish we could." I sighed and closed my eyes while I turned the other way. Tre cupped his body around me as I tried to lessen my headache. Tre then started putting his hands in my shirt, but I stopped him. "No... not now. My head hurts too much."
"No, Stephanie. Trust me, you'll like this." Tre started to caress my back as he slowly moved toward my front. Then he started to rub his hands against my breasts and stomach. I smiled. This was different then anything we had ever done. It was peaceful and calming. I let my head melt into the pillow. He did this for about 30 minutes before he pulled his hands away.
Before long my headache began to cease, and turned to look into his eyes. I kissed him before starting to cry again. "Tre, you can't leave me. You can't leave me."
He wiped away my tears, "Steph, I would never want this, I love you, you know that. I just told you what they told me."
"I want to fix you, I want you to be happy. What do we need to do?" I asked.
"Well, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow."
"Well, we should enjoy today then." I downed another Tylenol and began kissing him again as I moved my hands up and down his back. My lips traveled back and forth up his ear while my cheek was pushed against his. I moved down to his neck where my lips moved up and down, and his unshaven bristles of hair prickled my skin. Though not in a bad way... it felt- well, it felt good.
"You should not shave more often," I suggested. Tre laughed, "I'll try." "Tre, I'm sorry, I'm just getting really tired, is it okay if we stop for today. Do you want to rent a movie or something?" My face brightened at my own suggestion, "Maybe an older movie, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but the remake. You know I love that movie! Oh wait, oh God. We forgot to tell Ramona and Frankie."
Tre's content face got suddenly concerned, "Dammit, we did forget. You know what, I have an idea. I will go get Charlie and you gather the kids. We will tell them everything, including my doctor's appointment tomorrow, and tell them that we just want to spend one of our last peaceful nights together as a family, watching a movie or something. Does that sound okay?"
"Yes, perfect. I'll go get them, you run to the store." I got out of bed and put my feet in my slippers.
I walked Tre to the door and then as I saw him leave I went to the basement to grab Frankito, who was playing a video game and told him he needed to come upstairs it was important. "Where's Ramona?" I asked him. He shrugged, "Out?" He suggested.
"It's Sunday!" I threw up my arms up. "I never did stuff on Sundays when I was her age! Don't you people have homework anymore?"
"Call her cell," Frankito replied.
I grabbed the phone at the side table and began dialing. She picked up, "Where the hell are you?" I asked. "What, huh? Mom? Steph? Who is this? My caller ID is acting funky, no number is shown..."
"It's Stephanie. Where are you? Why didn't you ask to leave? I need you home now, it's important."
"Okay, first off, I figured I should leave since the door to your and dad's room was closed so I figured ya'll were doing it. Secondly, I'm at the mall. Thirdly, I can't get home, no one can take me home, and I can't drive because I don't have a car."
"God dammit, you're your father's daughter."
"Well, duh."
"So first off," I started, mimicking her. "Your father and I were not doing it, and you could have knocked. Secondly, you're grounded. You knew that, so why the hell are you at the mall? Thirdly, you'll get a car when you are able to get your grades about a C- average."
"Oh, well I'm sor-ree that since I'm not a brilliant A+ student like yourself I don't deserve a car."
"Dammit, just find a way home. It's important, it's about your dad."
"What? What's wrong with Dad? Is he dead? Is he dying? Does he have cancer? Was he in a car accident? Did you hurt him after that fight you guys had last night? If you hurt him..."
"I did not hurt him. JUST GET HOME!"
"Fine."
"Fine."
I slammed down the phone yelling, "DAMMIT!" as loud as I could, when I then noticed that both Tre and Frankito were staring at me.
"Er... sorry about that," I said. Tre didn't know about Ramona and myself. The thing is, I think that it is safe to say Ramona hates me. Personally, she thinks it's disgusting that I'm dating her dad while I'm closer to her age than his. She thinks I'm stealing her dad away from her, which is something I would never consider. We have never gotten along, but with all this happening with Tre, I think we are going to need to.
"What was that?" Tre asked.
"Er- your daughter and I haven't been getting along well lately. Well, how about lately being the past... year and a half?"
"She doesn't like that I'm dating you, hmm?" Tre said. "Well, she'll have to get used to it- it's not like I'm letting you go."
"Does that mean...?"
"Well, yeah. Not now, but after all this-" he averted his eyes toward Frankie. "-More than definitely. You can count on it."
"Good, you're being positive. Very good." I kissed him quickly and then went down to Frankie's level. He was relatively short, like his dad as well as Claudia, Tre's ex wife and his mom, so I usually towered over him.
"Do you have a problem with me?" I asked him. "Of course not," he said. "You're like my mom." I scruffled his hair, "Don't replace your mom with me, but thanks." I gave him a hug, "I love you, kid."
"You too," he said while shrugging. "And you Dad."
I heard the doorbell ring upstairs and whispered to Tre, "Where do you want to do this?"
"The living room," he replied. "It seems to be the general trend of these things."
"Of what things?" Frankito asked.
"Nothing," Tre said quickly. "Just go upstairs."
