Anima hated Christmas vacation more than any other vacation in the world, and it wasn’t because she wasn’t a Christian despite Christmas being a Christian holiday, and it also wasn’t because Christmas was about being with family despite Anima’s… that. No, it all started at 7:30 in the morning when she walked into the kitchen and discovered Greg’s mother, Ms. Addison, cooking some scrambled eggs. “Where’s Greg?” she asked, her eyes beginning to adjust to reality.
Ms. Addison looked over at Anima and answered-
“Oh.” Anima had completely forgotten about Greg going to Washington state for a wedding. She bet it was probably a lot more exciting than her Christmas break would ever be. But that wasn’t the biggest reason why Anima hated Christmas vacation.
No, the biggest reason why Anima hated Christmas vacation was the fact that every holiday, Kishi would always visit her parents in Sapporo. Without Kishi, Anima had nothing to do nor did she have anyone else to hang out with. With Kishi in Sapporo, Lidiya in Eugene, and Amanda in Alabama, Anima didn’t even have anyone else to talk to. Oh sure, she could always pretend to play Menstrual Man and Butthole Boy with Piro, but Anima didn’t think that this was an appropriate thing to do during Christmas vacation.
Just as Anima was about to push her chair in and sulk back up to her room, Kishi walked out of hers with a brown leather suitcase, staring right into Anima’s eyes. This was always the worst part of Kishi leaving because Anima always hated looking into Kishi’s tearful eyes. It made her eyes tear up, too.
“Oh, Anima! I’m gonna miss you so much!” Kishi cried out, running towards her best friend and hugging her.
Oh, how sweet it was to feel Kishi’s warm, loving embrace around her, but oh, how awful it was that Kishi had to leave so soon and be gone for so long! “I’m gonna miss you, too!” Anima replied back, tears stinging her eyes.
“Kishi, we’re going to be late for your flight if we don’t hurry up!” Katja exclaimed from the front door’s doorway.
“I’m coming!” Kishi exclaimed back, picking up her suitcase. She looked at Anima once more and mustered out a tiny good-bye. The only thing Anima could muster back was an even smaller wave as she watched Katja and Kishi drive away in a small white car to the airport to catch a plane all the way to Sapporo. Oh, how painful it was to be all alone!
“It’s hard to say good-bye to a friend, isn’t it?” Ms. Addison said, gently placing her old wrinkly hand onto Anima’s shoulder.
Anima jerked away and answered rudely, “She’s not going to be gone forever! You know she’s coming back in January, right?!” Then she stalked over towards her room and sulked.
However bad Anima had during this Christmas vacation, she didn’t have it as bad as Ryan did.
“Ryan, we’re not supposed to have our phones at the kitchen table. Put your phone in your room,” Ms. Addison firmly yet calmly told him.
“‘Kay,” Ryan answered in a barely audible mumble, clearly not giving a shit about what the old black lady said.
Ms. Addison walked over to where Ryan was sitting and asked, “Ryan, did you not understand what I’ve said, or are you ignoring me?”
What did that bitch think was the answer? Ryan kept on texting on his phone, which turned out to be the wrong move because Ms. Addison promptly swiped his phone out of his hands.
“What the fuck?!” Ryan objected.
“I told you to put your phone into your room,” Ms. Addison reminded him firmly, “But because you ignored my request, I am going to take your phone away from you for the day.”
Ryan quickly stood up from his chair and stared straight at Ms. Addison’s brown eyes, his own brown eyes filled with anger and sternness, his muscles tense and rock solid, and his mouth a straight line. Ryan also took his phone back. He didn’t want to look too angry because the other kids in the group home might laugh at him, and nobody would take him seriously.
“Ryan, I have dealt with tall white men staring me down for practically my entire life. I am not afraid of you,” Ms. Addison said, taking Ryan’s phone back.
Anima, who was taking her plate to the sink, quickly snorted and chuckled.
“I know you’re laughing at me, asshole!” Ryan said, quickly turning around and staring at the tiny Asian.
Anima’s failed attempt at a rebuttal was, “That wasn’t a laugh! That was a sneeze!”
“Bullshit!” Ryan exclaimed, about to punch the shit out of Anima when Ms. Addison gently guided him into the Vent Room.
“Ryan, I want to talk about your phone situation,” Ms. Addison said.
Ryan stared at Ms. Addison again- not in anger that time, but in shock. What the fuck was she going on about?
“Who is this Bridget girl you’ve been texting?”
Ryan’s heart skipped a beat as he slumped down onto the floor. “She’s my girlfriend. Why do you ask that?” he answered meekly.
“I’m just wanting to make sure you’re telling her to have a happy Christmas,” Ms. Addison merely said.
Yeah, right. “So, that’s it?”
This time, Ms. Addison stared back at Ryan.
“You’re not gonna say anything about how I’m not grown enough to make my own fucking decisions even though I’m almost eighteen and already grown?!” Ryan continued.
“Ryan, you are acting impulsive right now,” Ms. Addison said.
“Okay, and?! I’m still grown enough to make my own fucking decisions and be with anyone I want to be! A lot of countries have sixteen as the legal age for adulthood, so I don’t see why I’m still stuck in this shithole with all these other little kids and shit!”
“Take a deep breath and look at me,” Ms. Addison said, “All I’m asking from you is to be careful and think about the consequences. Because we’re all going to take a lot of risks, and the one thing I want to be sure of if whether the risk is worth it and how to be safe about it.”
“That’s it?! Be safe and think about the consequences?!” Ryan’s face turned red, and his fists clenched. Then he let it all out. “You’re doing a real shit job at your job, you know that?! You’re not supposed to tell people to be safe and think about whatever fucking consequences there are about sex or some shit like that! You’re supposed to ground me for like a week and tell me that I can’t go out! God, you’re irritating!”
Ms. Addison stared at Ryan for a minute, surprised and completely thrown off by his mini-rant. Once she comprehended what he had said, she took a deep breath and said, “Alright then. Have it your way.” Then she opened the Vent Room’s door and sent Ryan on his way, his phone still in her hand.
…
“Anyone has a five?” Marcus asked a little while after lunch. He, Anima, Ryu-jin, Minha, Ryan, and Niklas were playing Go Fish at the kitchen table.
“Go fuck yourself,” Anima answered, trying hard not to snicker.
“You mean ‘Go Fish’,” Niklas mumbled.
“No, I mean ‘Go Fuck Yourself’,” Anima argued.
“Yeah, well, the game isn’t called ‘Go Fuck Yourself’. It’s called ‘Go Fish’! Either say the right sentence or get the hell out of the game!” Niklas argued back, fully exposing his Black Sabbath T-shirt, which was just a black T-shirt with “Black Sabbath” written across the chest in big purple letters.
“Hey, Nikki. Isn’t that the shirt that Marianne gave you for Christmas this year?” Minha asked.
“Hanukkah,” Niklas corrected the girl.
“I’ve been meaning to ask this, but why the fuck do you celebrate that instead of Christmas like everyone else? Isn’t Hanukkah like Jewish Christmas anyways?” Anima asked.
“Because I’m Jewish, dipshit,” Niklas answered irritably, “And no, Hanukkah isn’t the Jewish version of Christmas.”
“Then what the hell is it supposed to be then?” Anima questioned, getting irritated as fuck.
“Hanukkah is a holiday celebrating the rededication of the Holy Temple. Every night, for eight nights, we light candles on something called a menorah. The menorah has nine candles, and one candle is used to light the other eight candles,” Niklas answered.
“Oh.” Everyone else was confused by Niklas’s explanation of Hanukkah, but seeing the pissed-off look on his face, they didn’t bother asking any more questions.
“Well, what about you, Marcus? I never see you get anything for Christmas either,” Minha pointed out after a little while.
“I don’t celebrate Christmas,” Marcus answered, “I’m Islamic.”
“Oh.” Everyone else was confused by Marcus simple answer, but remembering Niklas’s pissed-off look on his face, they didn’t bother asking any more questions.
“Anyways, does anyone have a five?” Marcus asked, going back to the game.
Everyone else looked away from Marcus because they didn’t have any fives- everyone except for Ryan, that was.
“Ryan, do have any fives?” Marcus asked one more time.
Ryan, who hadn’t been paying attention to anything going on in the past several minutes, looked up at Marcus and said, “What?”
“I was asking if you had any fives,” Marcus repeated, clearly getting annoyed.
“Oh.” Ryan hastily looked at his cards and mumbled, “Go fuck yourself.”
Marcus sighed loudly as he took another card from the deck while Niklas slapped the palm of his hand onto his forehead and grunted, “Oh, God! This shit again?!”
Ryan shrugged his shoulders and flatly answered-
Niklas threw his cards onto the brown kitchen table and stormed upstairs to his room; Ryan proceeded to do the same thing, except with a lot less enthusiasm than Niklas.
“Sheesh, all I wanted was a five,” Marcus grumbled to himself.
…
It was after bedtime, and Ryan was in his room staring at the ceiling. He missed Bridget, who had been at her grandparents’ house in Bend the entire day, more than ever. He wanted something to do with her, to be with her, to touch her, to… to do a whole lot more than to touch and hold her. He was sure Bridget wanted to do the same with him as well.
Right. He had to do something. He sneaked downstairs towards Katja’s room and slowly (yet quietly) opened the door, where he found his phone in the second drawer of a peach-colored dresser drawer. Then, with his car keys balled into his fist, he sneaked out of the YouChannell Group Home and drove all the way to Bridget’s house, texting an apology and offering a favor.
After all, there was fuck all else to do in a Portland, Oregon group home.
ManictheMod 