Chapter 49: One person's hell

 Wes sat at the top of the stairs with his head in his hands. He had run his frustrated fingers through his hair so often his curls were in total disarray. He couldn’t believe how stupid he was! His entire business could be ruined if word got out about what he’d done to Janet’s computer, but if truth be told, that was the least of his worries at the moment. All thoughts were on Janet and getting her not to hate him.

“Damn it to hell,” he muttered  just as the door bell rang. He saw Troy come out of the family room with a bounce in his step to answer the summons . That annoyed Wes. Why couldn’t he have a carefree love life like Troy had? Oh, yeah, he remembered, Troy wasn’t in love with the evil twin.

“Hey, Mr. Sebastian, what you doing here? Chasing down your kids?” Troy asked.

Donny shook the rain off his umbrella and left it on the porch to drip. Then he stepped into the house and wiped his feet. “Something like that, Troy. What are you up to?” he asked.

“Football game. Cowboys are winning. Wanna watch?”  Troy said, closing the door.

“I might. Where is everybody else?” Donny asked, looking around as he removed his overcoat. 

“ Cindy and Steve are doing math somewhere, Jasmine went to referee, but Wes might be  already dead. I don’t hear anymore yelling though so...oh...there he is.” Troy said suddenly looking up and spotting Wes on the stairs. “Battle over?” he asked with a smirk.

“Battle?” Donny asked.

Wes glared at Troy then looked at his dad and came down the stairs. “We had a fight,” he reluctantly admitted.

“What did you do, Wesley?” Donny asked, sternly. “Were you up in her room? Were you being fresh?” 

“No!” Wes shouted.

“Are there no adults here?” he said, growing more angry.

“Well, I am,” Troy volunteered. “I’m already eighteen.”

Donny gave him a look which clearly meant he wasn’t impressed.

“I doubt he did much of anything, Mr. Sebastian,” Troy  said, taking the overcoat and hanging it on the brass coat rack   “ Janet doesn’t ever need a reason to blow up. It’s a miracle she hasn’t gotten mad before this. Wes just has to stay outta her way for a while. Anyway, let’s go watch the game.”

Troy put his arm around Donny’s shoulders and half pushed, half dragged him into the family room and away from Wes,  all the while talking about the game.

Wes sighed in relief. “Thank you, Troy,” he muttered. It was only a reprieve, but still, he didn’t need a scolding from his dad right now. He felt bad enough. He slumped into the kitchen and sat down in front of Janet’s laptop. He might as well finish what he started even if she never spoke to him again.

He had just about finished what he could without Janet’s input when Cindy and Steve came in.

“Oh, Wes!” she said, hugging him from behind. “Look!”

She shoved a notebook so close to his face he couldn’t focus on it. “Uh, what is this?” he said taking it into his hands.

“It’s my math homework. I can do it now,” she said giving him an extra squeeze before letting go. “Steve’s a great teacher.”

Steve shrugged. “It comes easy to me.”

“Good job,” Wes said, quickly looking over the paper. “I told you you’d get it eventually.”

“I wouldn’t have without Steve. He showed me a few tricks. Wes, he’s awesome! I know I’ll pass the next test.”

“Good. Thanks. Steve,” he replied, unenthusiastically. He handed her the notebook then went back to the computer.

“Wes, what happened to your hair?” Cindy asked.

“Huh? What’s wrong with it?” he asked.

“Well, it’s just…kinda all over the place. You should fix it before we go,” Cindy said.

“You don’t gotta go yet, do you?” Steve said, a bit too eagerly. “I mean, we can play video games or watch TV or something and…and…I can show you more math tricks.”

“Um, we’re supposed to go to dinner soon, aren’t we?” Cindy said, looking from Steve to her brother. “Know when Dad will get here?”

“Yeah,  he got here few  minutes ago.  He’s watching the game with Troy. We can leave as soon as Janet  and Jasmine come down,” Wes said.

“You, um…where ya going?” Steve asked.

Cindy giggled. “Same place you are. Your mom’s restaurant. We’re all going together. Didn’t you know?”

His eyes brightened. “Awesome!”

Cindy giggled again. “You’re funny. Want to meet my dad? I wanna show him this!” she said waving around her notebook.

“Sure,” Steve said, and he followed her out.

Jasmine came in as they left and  shook her head. “Always with your head stuck in a computer screen. You’re just like Janet,” she said. 

“Jasmine, what did she say?” Wes asked anxiously.

“You thinking a fancy website will soothe the savage beast?”

“Jasmine, please, what did she say?” 

She sighed. “She’s ticked off, Wes. It might be best to let her chill for a while,” she told him. Then she made a weird face. “What have you done to your hair? It’s a mess. Almost as bad as Janet’s rat’s nest. Want me fix it for you?”

“I don’t care about my hair!” he shouted.  “Should I go talk to her?”

“That is the worst thing you could do right now. She expressly told me to keep you away from her or bad things will happen and right in front of everybody. Believe me when I say she’s quite capable of that and it ain’t pretty.  It’s best to let her be for now, okay?”

"What? I'm just supposed to do nothing?"

"Yes."

His shoulders slumped as he stared up at Janet’s mirror image. “Will she ever forgive me?” 

“Give her time…and space,” she said. She patted his shoulder and left again.

Janet wiped away her last tear, straightened down her dress and went to the bathroom. There she splashed water on her face and grabbed her hairbrush.  After a few vicious  strokes she put it down and reluctantly looked into the mirror. She didn’t much like what she saw there.  Her eyes and nose was still red and her cheeks all blotchy.  Even her hair looked limp and depressed.

“Nothing to be done about it,” she muttered to herself. She grabbed a scrunchy and carelessly swept her hair up into a ponytail. Then she went back into her room. There she saw the flowers Wes had given her.  A couple of stray petals had fallen onto the table on which they rested. She plucked them up and had the sudden urge to toss the whole bouquet into the trash. But where was the sense in that?

“Why punish a few flowers cuz of what one stupid guy does?” she quietly said. She bent down, took a sniff and sighed. “Nothing lasts forever.” 

She then went downstairs and followed the shouts and cheers into the family room. She stood in the archway and counted heads. She couldn’t see one particular curly haired head amongst them and relaxed. She forced herself not to wonder where he could be.

“Hello, Mr. Sebastian,” she said coming to stand beside him. “Did you sell a house today?” 

Donny snatched his eyes away from the game and smiled. “Hello, Janet,” he said warmly. “I might have. We’ll know tomorrow.”  He scanned her face and frowned slightly. “You okay?”

She forced a smile. “Yes, fine. We should be going soon. I don’t want to be late.” 

She looked around and found Cindy and Steve talking in whispers and poring over a text book in a far corner of the room.  She smiled and wondered if this was the beginning of something. 

She went to them and said, “Stevie, did you help Cindy with the math like I asked?”

“What do you think this is?” he said, showing her the algebra book on his lap.

“Oh, Janet, you were right. Steve is wonderful!  He’s helped me so much already. I may actually pass this class,” Cindy said beaming at him.

“Wish you hadn’t said that in front of him.  His ego’s inflated enough,” Janet said.

“Is not!” he snapped.

“That’s cuz of all the girls chasing him,” Cindy said. “But I mean he’s a great teacher, not a super stud.”

 “Good to know. But it is annoying,” Janet said. “Every day he gets a dozen phone calls from silly, giggly girls. Stevie needs someone sensible to straighten him out and kick his butt when he needs it. Cindy, you’re smart and a kick ass. You got the job.” She then walked away leaving them both stunned.

Cindy burst out laughing. “What the heck? Does she really expect me to kick your butt?” she said. “ I really like your sister. She’s so funny.”

“Yeah, sure. How do you know girls chase me?” Steve asked.

Cindy rolled her eyes. “Hello! You’re like, Mister Popular. Gotta be blind not to see it. My friends are all in love with you.”

He made a face. “Who are your friends?”

“Vicky Stratter, Hillary Gillen, and Patty Berg,” she replied.

He groaned. “Those skanks? You need better friends,” he said.

She gaped at him, her dark eyes as wide as they would go. “That’s exactly what Janet said.”

“Yeah? Why?”

Cindy looked down at her hands. “She said they’re not really my friends cuz…They uninvited me to their party. They were making fun of me and…being mean and stuff.”

“Hate girls like that! Knew they were skanks,” he said through clenched teeth. “You definitely need new friends. I can be your friend.” 

“Really?” she said, staring at him with those big, beautiful dark eyes.

Steve smiled, placed his hand on top of hers and nodded. He was suddenly in heaven.