Chapter 4- My fucking car! ...and lots of eyebrow raising

Kate stood out front of her sons terrace house.

She remembered being here for the last time 2 years ago when Dylan and Morgan had her over for lunch.

That was the last time she'd seen either of them.

She knocked on the door,
Nicole answered but she could have been anyone to Kate.

“Hi?” Nicole responded when she opened the door
 It was more of a question than a greeting.

“Hello, I am Dylan's mother- is he home?”

“No” she pauses “You're his mum?”

“Yes” Kate nods and adjusts her hair

“I didn't think he had a mum” Nikki says, looking puzzled

Kate raises an eyebrow

When realising what she's just said she lets out a horrible laugh
“ Oh shit! I mean I knew he had a mum but I thought you were dead”

Kate looks Nicole up and down
This girl is vulgar

“Is Morgan home?”

“Who?”

“Morgan” Kate repeats, stunned at her manners

Nikki continues to stare blankly

Kate continues “...Dylans' girlfriend?”

Nikki begins to laugh again “Girlfriend? I've lived here for over a year and let me tell you if your son has a girlfriend then she must be one of the Incredibles ...the Invisible one”
she laughs some more

“May I ask who you are?” she looks at her confused

“I'm Nick” she says offering her hand

Kate shakes it reluctantly “Well...Nick...do you know when Dylan will be home?”
She asks in a condescending tone

“Nah, he works like 12 jobs, maybe try his mobile?”

Kate looks around “May I wait?” she asks

Nicole furrows her brow as though it's the most confusing question she's ever been asked “Are you sure you're Dylans Mum?”

Kate looks back at her, with an equally perplexed expression “I could show you my identification if it helps?” she offers

As Nicole scratches her cheek, looking asthough she may seriously considering that offer, Kate wonders what this girl is doing in place of Morgan, surely the two are not dating.

“I wouldn't know who ya were if I saw it anyway, he's never mentioned you, whatever, we've got nothin worth stealing anyway, come in”

It's like she doesn't come up for air

Kate is unsure whether the young girl truly doesn't believe she is Dylan's mother, but after this plane ride, she is happy just to be somewhere familiar.

Kara had barely slept all night
She never slept that well next to somebody new.

The only person she really ever slept well with was Flic.

They were together for 6 years and it was comfortable right up until the end.

Three of those years were spent together in that apartment, the apartment they chose together.

After they broke up, she tried to make the place her own but there were still little things around that reminded her of them

...like the gingham print curtains they picked out together and the blue vase on the dining table.

It never felt quite right having somebody else around.

Mandy had eventually drifted off after sobbing for hours.

Kara felt uneasy about being in this position.

Before the other day, she never even thought of Mandy as more than an acquaintance, a girl that she saw at a gathering every now and then...somebody who occasionally liked her status on facebook.

Now she's meant to be the one to help her out when her Dad dies?

This is fucking karma. This is god saying 'a pretty girl went down on you for 45 minutes and now you have to stay with her forever because her dad died'. I fucking hate karma.

She looked at her clock

 7:30.

Forcing herself to get up and walk out to the kitchen, she walked over to her kettle to find that the tin next to it was empty.

Why is there no fucking coffee?

Suddenly she remembered that she'd agreed to let Rob live here.

I should not be allowed to make decisions when I am drunk

She looked at her phone, there were 12 missed calls from Dylan.

Fuck my car!

She looked at her texts (2)

11:47 pm “Did dipshit tell you I called? I can pick you up tomorrow and walk to uni from there? ”

6:12 am “Sorry to call so early. I got called in to work last night so I parked the car in front of the corner shop near your place”

Kara had a shower and got ready for work.

When she was getting dressed, she tried to make a bit of noise to wake Mandy up but as she slammed in the top drawer, it became clear that the girl she was sharing her bed with was a heavy sleeper.

She didn't feel comfortable about just waking her up and kicking her out but didn't think it was right just to leave without saying anything.

I can't just leave the depressed chick in my room

She went to the spare room to find Rob sleeping next to a Keyboard, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him “Rob, wake up” she whispers

“Whaaat?” he groans

“What do I do about Mandy?” she asks

“What?” he asks, still half asleep

“Her dad?” she asks

Its clear that he's just remembered last nights conversation “Oh, yep, dead Dad. Maybe take the day off?”

“I can't. I have to get to work” she shrugs

Her brother sits up and wipes his face “You can't just leave her here, she's a mess”

She grins at him“You could hang with her, you're good at this stuff?”

He lets out a quiet laugh “What are you talking about Kara? People fucking hate me”

She ignores him “Thanks I owe you”

“What do you want me to say? 'You had a one night stand with my sister, can I offer you pancakes and get you the fuck out of her house?'....” Rob already knew Kara had gotten her way

She ignores him again “Thanks for telling me Dylan called. You little wanker”

He rolls his eyes,knowing he can't win “Ok fine”

Kara walks down stairs to the corner shop, she looks around and doesn't see her car, she checks around the corner to make sure then looks back up to see a sign that is clear as day

...but perhaps not so clear when her sleep deprived brother is driving her car at dawn;

'Loading Zone- No parking at any time'

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

She rings Dylan

“Hello?” he answers, sounding exhausted

Kara is talking through clenched teeth “Dylan when you said you parked the car at the corner store, did you mean in front of the Asian Grocer?”

“Yeah it's right in front, you can't miss it”

“Right in front of the Asian Grocer is a loading zone, my fucking cars been towed!”

“What? Shit!”

“Fucking hell Dylan!”

“Sorry sorry sorry” he yells down the line “I'm a dickhead, I didn't even see, I just thought it was a good park”

Kara sighs.
She knows it was an accident and on another day it might have even been funny
...but today is not that day

“It's ok, I just need to take some equipment with me and this morning just hasn't gotten off to a good start”

“I caught a taxi last night to work after I dropped it off so if you can get to my place, you can have my car and I'll sort this out this afternoon- you have the spare key to my place right?”

“Yeah”

“Well my car keys are on the hook near the door that way you can take all your gear”

No

“The mics were in my car!”

“Shit!Do you have spares?”

“Yes” She stops to think “back at home”

I really don't want to go back home

“I'm really sorry about this Kara, I'll fix it right after my exam”

“Ok, I'll see you later”

Kara walks back to the door and flashes her card for the apartment block under the electronic beeper but it refuses to work.

Mother-shitting cocksucker ass-fucker. I don't have time for this!

She rings the buzzer.

Come-on Rob, you little asshole, pick up

“Hello?” she hears his seedy voice over the intercom

“Buzz me up”

No response

“Press the fucking button!” the door opens “THANKYOU” she yells

As she drags herself back up the stairs to her apartment she desperately wishes to go back to the other night.

Maybe I have a drinking problem

She thinks about where she is at and how if she hadn't gotten so drunk, she never would have gone home with Amanda and if she wasn't so drunk yesterday she could have parked her own car.

Fuck. I think I'm an alcoholic.

She opens the door to her apartment Rob is in the kitchen, sitting on a stool, drinking orange juice and picking at a piece of toast

“You look happy” he grins at her

My god he is so annoying when I'm not drunk

“Dylan parked my car in a fucking loading zone”

Rob laughs “You're kidding- did it get towed?”

“Yes it got fucking towed!”she yells

He smirks

“How is that funny Rob?”she asks “And do you plan on drinking all my orange juice just like you did all my coffee? And by the way who drinks that much coffee at night? I had enough to last me a few days!”

He takes a huge bite of his toast “Man, you're a bitch when you're sober” he smiles through a mouth full of food

“Oh fuck you!” She yells, flipping him the bird as she walks to the back room.

“So how are you going to get to work?” he yells

“I'm going to catch a cab to Dylan's and pick up the key for his car there”

“Can't he drop it off?”

“No, he can't drop it off Rob, because he has an exam”

Rob laughs “How are you going to get his keys then?”

“I have a spare for his house”

“Why?”he asks, feeling left out, as usual

Kara senses his usual insecure jealous sibling issues but doesn't feel like tending to him when he's acting like a prick and doing nothing to help her

“Because I do Rob” she picks up the box and walks close to his face “I want coffee and juice when I get home” she pauses and the tone in her voice lightens as she tells herself to stop talking through her teeth “I'm going to find a cab”

Mandy's voice chimes in “I could drive you”

They both turn to see her standing behind them,looking sheepish as she pushes a bit of her long blond hair behind her ear and adjusts her grey hoodie...neither of them knowing how long she's been standing there.

Kara is speechless for a moment, distracted by how young she looks “Shouldn't you ...be with your family today?” She asks

Mandy shakes her head “No, I'm going to my aunts but that's not until later”

Kara's eyebrows raise and she realises she cant come up with an excuse “Ok then” she says looking at her brother “Rob, do you want to come along?”

He almost glares at his sister but stops himself, forcing a smile “Sure, let me get my shoes”

The car ride was awkward. Nobody talking, afraid they'd say the wrong thing.

Kara didn't know how she'd say goodbye to Mandy.

Should she kiss her?

As they pulled up she felt anxious. She didn't want this to go any further and having her brother there wasn't helping

“So what have you got planned for today?” She asked Mandy

“Just this thing at my aunts house”

please don't cry please don't cry

“Ok, well thanks” she says putting out her hand

what? a fucking handshake? That's how I'm saying goodbye?

She quickly moves in for a hug and hopes that the transition seems smooth, from the familiar raised eyebrow look on her brothers face, she gathers it the whole thing looked pretty clumsy.

It's the exact same look he gives to their other sister when she's lying to their dad about how much she spends on shoes.

Their whole family knows how to communicate a scream just my moving the two lines of hair above their eyes and right now Rob was screaming 'YOU DICKHEAD' at her without even making a noise.

Rob gets out of the car, Kara smiles and goes to do the same, she mouths 'thankyou' to her brother and hops out, waving to Mandy in the drivers seat.

Rob hops in the front passenger seat “I told Mandy I'd show her that shitty cafe near my place, you know the one that charges 7 bucks for a coffee that tastes like it was made in a urinal?”

Kara laughs and waves again as they drive away.

She knows her little twat of a brother is going to try to hit on the poor girl and she almost wishes that Amanda goes for it.
Anything to ease this crippling guilt she feels for wishing they'd never slept together.

I actually hope he fucks her so he can be the asshole and take the pressure off me

Turning around, she looks up at her Dylan's old run down place, the green paint fading.

Kara always wanted to live in a house rather than an apartment but could never afford it, at least not without house-mates and after going this long living alone, that was not in the cards.
Just the thought of having Rob around was already annoying her.

I bet that asshole won't buy me any coffee

She opens the door, without needing the key.

As she enters the hall, she spots the blue key chain right away and picks it up and as she is about to turn and run right out the door, Kate emerges from around the corner

“My Kara” she smiles

Kara looks up to see her perfectly groomed mother, not a single auburn hair out of place on her head, in a beautiful black shift dress that goes down to her knee, with a dusty pink cardigan neatly hanging over her shoulders.

She doubted that garment had ever touched her mothers armpits but that it was bought with the intention to permanently drape over her shoulders next to that signature pearl necklace of hers that looked like it belonged in Breakfast at Tiffany's

A sheer contrast to Kara's faded 'Prince' shirt that she passed off as a dress by wearing it with a belt over her ripped black stockings with a pair of doc martins

“Mum?” Kara wonders if it's too late to run

What the fuck?