Love and Rockets

William has a problem. Six months ago, he took in Bretha. He didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened. The old man normally didn’t help people. William would just keep to himself. That day was a bit of an off day. He couldn’t make out what happened to him. At the time, the old man was down at the pub. His nieces hadn’t been in contact with him for a while. This didn’t bother him. They had lives outside of him. William rubbed his forehead.

“Are you okay?” the bartender asked. The old man waved him off. The younger man shrugged and went back to work. William heard a low groan next to him. That’s where he made his next mistake. He looked to his right. She had her head slumped over the bar. William stared at her for a moment.

Then he had the second mistake of the night.

“Are you okay?” he asked. The woman lifted her head. She had this glazed-over look in her eyes. Her mouth hung open. Suddenly, William began to regret his decision to even get involved. She leaned over on him.

“Whoa!” William shouted. “Get off. Get off.” He tried shaking off, but she wouldn’t let go. The old man looked at the bartender for help. He shrugged and pretended not to see them. William cursed under his breath. He looked down at the woman by his side.

“Now what?” the old man asked. That was just the beginning.

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“Uncle! Get out here now!” Liz shouted as she pounded on the door. Clover grabbed onto her arm.

“Come on, leave him alone,” she said. Her sister shoved her off.

“Uncle! Uncle!” Liz shouted. Inside, William sat on the floor across the room. How was he going to get out of this one? His nieces weren’t going to let him out without an explanation. The pounding on the door grew louder. He lifted his chin. Might as well get this over with.

The old man rose to his feet.

Liz prepared to knock again when the door opened. She had a stern look on her face as she backed up. William stood with a dull look in his eyes. The older niece folded her arms across her chest.

“Well?” she asked. He didn’t say a word at first.

“Let’s have a tea first,” William said. Liz snorted.

“Fine,” she said. She turned and marched to the kitchen. William looked over at Clover. She shrugged and followed her sister. The old man pressed his lips together.

Oh boy…

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Phillip didn’t know what to do. Where did all these people come from? First, there was that weird old lady called Lily. She just showed up and started talking endlessly. Then this woman and her nephew showed up with a cake. Now, they wouldn’t leave. Phillip stood at the door, trying to think of something to say. It didn’t help that the women kept staring at him as they stood at the door. The giant of a boy stood off to the side, looking awkward. He probably wanted to be somewhere else right now. Honestly, Phillip couldn’t blame them.

“Phil?” a voice asked behind him. The man breathed out in relief as he turned his head. The woman started walking up to his side.

“What is taking you so long?” she asked. She stopped and looked at Lily and Annie standing at the door.

“Hello,” Lily said with a wave. The younger woman blinked at her.

“Uh… who are you?” she asked.

“Welcome to the town!” Annie said.

“Thank you,” the woman said. She was about to reach out and close the door.

“What’s your name?” Lily asked. The younger woman looked up.

“Huh?” she asked.

“What’s your name?” Annie asked.

“Why?” the younger woman asked. All four of them stood quiet. Phillip wanted to sink back into the house before her partner got annoyed. The woman snorted.

“Christy,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, Christy,” Lily said. “My name is Lily.”

“I’m Annie,” the round woman said. She pointed to Crusher behind her.

“That’s my nephew, Dustin,” she said. Crusher gave the couple a little wave. Phillip and Christy looked at each other. When was this going to stop?

“Hey!” someone yelled. Everyone turned to see Clyde standing up in the bush, waving her hands like a silly monkey. The other two biddies stayed down, holding their breaths. And there it is. Things were about to get a little more hectic.

End