The New Normal

The New Normal by Ashley Little

Book: The New Normal by Ashley Little Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ashley Little
gangster mothers.
    â€œDad, guess what?”
    â€œChicken butt?”
    â€œWell, yeah. Sort of.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI got a job! I start tomorrow!”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œCruisy Chicken!”
    â€œDo you get free chicken?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œWell, you should work that into your contract.”
    â€œOkay…”
    â€œSo, that’s good. This is your first job, right?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWell, don’t make it your last.” And then he turned back to his mountain of mutilated beer cans.
    I was too tired to ask what the hell he was doing with the cans. I went upstairs and studied my lines for the play. I wished that my sisters had been there to read for the other parts. The three of us could have acted out all the characters. That would have been a riot.
    â€œTAMAR! PHONE!” My mom was home from yoga.
    I went to the parents’ room and picked it up. “Got it. Hello?”
    Mom listened in for a minute and then hung up.
    â€œHey, Tamar, it’s Roy.”
    â€œOh, hey. What’s going on?”
    â€œMy cousin and his girlfriend are coming in tomorrow from Lethbridge.”
    â€œOkay…”
    â€œYeah. So anyway, we’re going glow bowling.”
    I said nothing. I saw the horrible note again in my mind.
    â€œYou know that one on the Deerfoot?”
    â€œUm…”
    â€œWell, would you like to come with us?”
    â€œBowling?”
    â€œGlow bowling, yeah.”
    â€œUh…”
    â€œMy cousin will drive.”
    â€œAh, what the hell,” I said. “Sure, I’ll come.”
    â€œCool. We’ll pick you up around eight.”
    I hung up and went downstairs. Mom was making broccoli salad, and Dad was getting a beer from the fridge.
    â€œIs it okay if I go to the Glow Bowl tomorrow night?”
    â€œWith who?” she said.
    â€œWhat’s that?” he said.
    â€œRoy and his cousins. Glow-in-the-dark bowling.”
    â€œIs Roy your boyfriend?” Mom asked.
    â€œNo! Ew!”
    â€œI’m just asking. It’s okay if he is.”
    â€œWe’re not. He’s not. He’s just a friend who happens to be a boy, okay?”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œSo, can I?”
    â€œI don’t see why not. David?”
    â€œWho’s driving?”
    â€œRoy’s cousin.”
    â€œHow old is he?”
    â€œI don’t know. Twenty!”
    My dad grunted.
    â€œAs long as you make sure to call us when you get there and let us know you’re okay, and call before you leave and let us know when you’ll be home,” Mom said.
    â€œAnd be home before ten!” Dad said. He hobbled back to the living room, waving a crutch for emphasis.
    â€œFine,” I sighed.
    This is what I will have to deal with for the rest of my life: paranoid parents, crazy early curfews, no driving with anyone under twenty years old and constant interrogation. All because my stupid sisters had to go and die. Frigging idiots.
    Don’t think that. Don’t think that . God. I took a deep breath and held it in. Then, right before my lungs exploded, I slowly, slowly let it out. I went into the living room and gingerly readjusted Dad’s leg so that I could sit on the couch with him while he watched the news and cut up cans.
    â€œDad, what are you doing?”
    â€œDr. Zwicky said I needed a project.”
    â€œSo you’re cutting up beer cans?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œThat’s…interesting.”
    â€œIt keeps my mind off the pain.”
    â€œIn more than one way…”
    He chuckled. It was a rare sound from him lately.
    â€œTwo birds with one can, eh?” I said, kicking a can over to his side of the couch.
    â€œShh!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œWhat’s that noise?”
    â€œWhat noise?”
    â€œShh, listen.”
    â€œI don’t hear anything.”
    He clicked the TV off.
    A humming sound was coming from

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