Tales From Another Oakland Home (sequel to "The Summer of our Lives), New & Improved Version, chapter 2
Many times I have heard the expression, "When opportunity comes knocking." I had had plenty or opportunities, but none of them ever came knocking (unless you count the time when Green Day was standing on my front porch, which, believe me, was definitely an opportunity). Opportunities had come in other forms, such as the boy I liked asking me out, or as a black envelope in Liv's mailbox that bore the news that we (okay, she) had won front-row Green Day tickets. But today it came in the form of a phone call from my cousin Chrysti Addams.
I was sitting on the school bus, wishing it would hurry it's ass up and get to my house. An electronic version of "Hitchin' a Ride" started playing in my pocket, and after I dug around I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the tiny screen, I hit Send and cried, "Chrysti!" My cousin and I were really close, mainly because neither of us had our own sister (she was an only child and I was stuck with Peter), and even though she was almost eighteen and lived on a separate coast, we practically were sisters.
"Cassie!" my cousin cried. "How've you been?"
"Great!" I said enthusiastically. "How're you?"
"Well, I was beginning to wonder whether or not you would ever remember my birthday," Chrysti said, laughing.
"Oh my God, I totally forgot," I said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," Chrysti said. "But that wasn't the real reason I was calling you. Well, kind of."
"What?" I said. Chrysti was great with surprises.
"Well, you know how I turned eighteen?"
"Yeah."
"My parents kicked me out finally, and I have my own place!" I could hear the pride in her voice.
"Chrysti, that's great!" I exclaimed. "Uncle John and Aunt Anna finally get sick of you?"
"Yup. And now -" Chrysti paused for emphasis - "I can invite you to stay with me this summer!"
"Sweet! That'll be so fun!"
"But that's not all," my cousin said. "You have won a free weekend at the Chrysti Addams Oakland, California Residence for yourself AND two friends!" She giggled.
"Oakland? No way! I forgot you lived there!" Mainly because I hadn't seen Chrysti since I was ten and she was fifteen. "That's awesome. Maybe we'll see Green Day again," I thought out loud.
"Again?" Chrysti said incredulously. "Whaddya mean, AGAIN?"
"Um," I said, regretting it. Judging by people's reactions in school, I had "forgotten" to tell my cousin about my little rendezvous with the band the previous summer. Now it had caught up to me. "Well..." I trailed off helplessly.
"'Livia won tickets to their New York show last summer, we went with our boyfriends, and..." I wondered how to tell her in as few words as possible.
"They...kinda...showed up on my front porch. They were lost. Please don't ask."
I could her Chrysti laugh over the phone. "I won't. I won't ask because the SECOND you walk out of the terminal in California, you are going to tell me every SINGLE detail!"
"Provided I can even go," I said, this thought suddenly occurring to me.
"God," Chrysti said. "Are your parents still all rigid in the not-letting-you-have-any-fun area?"
"Yup," I said. "But I know who to get to come. Did I hear you right when you said I could bring friends?"
"Only two. This place's got a bit of a space limitation. I can sleep two in the second bedroom, and one of you will just have to be the strong one and sleep on a mattress on the floor. Unless you can only bring one."
"Two's fine. Alícia will probably WANT to sleep on the floor. She tells me she rolls out of bed and does push-ups in the morning. Being on the floor would just make it easier for her."
Chrysti giggled. "Well, get back to me as soon as you can on that one. I'll see ya later." Click. She hung up.
I pocketed my cell phone and slung my backpack onto my shoulder. As I stepped off the bus, I wondered how come good things always happen on the last day of school. Then I shrugged, figuring it had something to do with the fact that summer meant the end of torturous pain and the beginning of freedom.
I was sitting on the school bus, wishing it would hurry it's ass up and get to my house. An electronic version of "Hitchin' a Ride" started playing in my pocket, and after I dug around I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the tiny screen, I hit Send and cried, "Chrysti!" My cousin and I were really close, mainly because neither of us had our own sister (she was an only child and I was stuck with Peter), and even though she was almost eighteen and lived on a separate coast, we practically were sisters.
"Cassie!" my cousin cried. "How've you been?"
"Great!" I said enthusiastically. "How're you?"
"Well, I was beginning to wonder whether or not you would ever remember my birthday," Chrysti said, laughing.
"Oh my God, I totally forgot," I said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," Chrysti said. "But that wasn't the real reason I was calling you. Well, kind of."
"What?" I said. Chrysti was great with surprises.
"Well, you know how I turned eighteen?"
"Yeah."
"My parents kicked me out finally, and I have my own place!" I could hear the pride in her voice.
"Chrysti, that's great!" I exclaimed. "Uncle John and Aunt Anna finally get sick of you?"
"Yup. And now -" Chrysti paused for emphasis - "I can invite you to stay with me this summer!"
"Sweet! That'll be so fun!"
"But that's not all," my cousin said. "You have won a free weekend at the Chrysti Addams Oakland, California Residence for yourself AND two friends!" She giggled.
"Oakland? No way! I forgot you lived there!" Mainly because I hadn't seen Chrysti since I was ten and she was fifteen. "That's awesome. Maybe we'll see Green Day again," I thought out loud.
"Again?" Chrysti said incredulously. "Whaddya mean, AGAIN?"
"Um," I said, regretting it. Judging by people's reactions in school, I had "forgotten" to tell my cousin about my little rendezvous with the band the previous summer. Now it had caught up to me. "Well..." I trailed off helplessly.
"'Livia won tickets to their New York show last summer, we went with our boyfriends, and..." I wondered how to tell her in as few words as possible.
"They...kinda...showed up on my front porch. They were lost. Please don't ask."
I could her Chrysti laugh over the phone. "I won't. I won't ask because the SECOND you walk out of the terminal in California, you are going to tell me every SINGLE detail!"
"Provided I can even go," I said, this thought suddenly occurring to me.
"God," Chrysti said. "Are your parents still all rigid in the not-letting-you-have-any-fun area?"
"Yup," I said. "But I know who to get to come. Did I hear you right when you said I could bring friends?"
"Only two. This place's got a bit of a space limitation. I can sleep two in the second bedroom, and one of you will just have to be the strong one and sleep on a mattress on the floor. Unless you can only bring one."
"Two's fine. Alícia will probably WANT to sleep on the floor. She tells me she rolls out of bed and does push-ups in the morning. Being on the floor would just make it easier for her."
Chrysti giggled. "Well, get back to me as soon as you can on that one. I'll see ya later." Click. She hung up.
I pocketed my cell phone and slung my backpack onto my shoulder. As I stepped off the bus, I wondered how come good things always happen on the last day of school. Then I shrugged, figuring it had something to do with the fact that summer meant the end of torturous pain and the beginning of freedom.
