Facing the Music

Steven walked me all the way home, gave me a quick kiss, and waved goodbye. Floating into the house on Cloud Nine, I was about to get knocked off of it by a very angry and worried Nan. "Where have you been, young lady?" The kiss had preoccupied my mind for so long that I had forgotten to prepare a story! Uh oh!

"Um...just hanging out with my friends." Well, I wasn't totally lying. I shuffled my feet back and forth on the ground and squirmed uncomfortably. I wasn't sure why it was that big of a deal. I would often stop at my great grandparents and/or the playground on the way home but I usually showed up a lot sooner. I had no idea what time it was.

I would get an ear bashing like no other because not only was I very late, two hours to be exact, but Sister had followed through on her promise to call. "How could you talk to Father like that? What is wrong with you? Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? What in God's name would possess you to do such a thing?"

All these questions were fired at me so quickly that I never had a chance to respond so I stood there feeling helpless. "I mean, really, Tammy, sometimes I don't know about you. Are you going to answer me? I don't know why I am being punished like this. What did I do that was so wrong, God, to deserve this? Tell me." When Italians get wicked mad, their hands do a lot of talking, too, and hers were flying all over the place! I looked around the room, half-expecting God to be there, and say something like, "Well, Rita, you may want to sit down. This may take a while..."

So when Richie came bounding through the door, I was relieved. He had been in another fight and suddenly my Nan had something else to deal with. Normally I would hang around and be nosey, but I knew an opportunity when I saw one so I took advantage and escaped. She didn't even notice. As I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, I heard my grandmother start cursing in Italian.

I tossed my schoolbag on my bed and dragged my toy box over to the closet. Standing on tippy toes, I felt around on the top shelf until I found what I was looking for. Launching myself onto the bed, deliriously happy, I wrote, "Dear Diary, you won't even believe what happened to me today..."