Chapter 2.46-How To Light A Fire

          Sitting where her older sister could keep an eye on her, Mariah openly allowed the wonder to show on her face. The tattoos on the chick taking the order from Tibi, there was a traffic light, loud music blared, garage doors in the walls, and posters covered every inch of Pop!, a place Mariah had very much wished to visit before. And finally, Tibi had taken her.

          Every kid in school had stood hanging on the fence at recess watching as the glittering gold car had been installed. Then followed weeks where the kids had tittered and come up with wild tales of what might actually be in the new arcade/diner before it opened. Finally, someone appeared at school whose parents had taken them into the wonderland Pop! was rumored to be and they reported of the miracles they had seen. Bowling lanes, snow cones, video games, skee ball, neon lights that stretched into infinity. Slowly and surely everyone had had their turn to visit, but Mariah still dreamt of the time when she could finally walk through the glass doors. Now, she sat trembling afraid the supports holding the car above her sister would break and crush her like a bug. That would be her luck.
          But luck held out, and Tibi soon turned, beckoning her to the dining area on the other side of the room.

          “A little hungry, huh? I think you finished that in record time,” Tibi said a few minutes later, Mariah’s cocoa vanished. “Is Mom feeding you?”
          Mariah was careful to keep her face passive.
          “I don’t need Mom to feed me,” she answered as flippantly as she could. “I can feed myself.”
 “Sure,” answered Tibi with a sigh, pouring a generous measure of liquid from the bottle on the table into her own mug. “Sure, kid.”

          Following Mariah’s gaze Tibi turned in her seat to find the upside down car, and chuckled.
          “You want one for your birthday?” she asked playfully, turning back.
          “What would I do with it?” Mariah returned, slightly bewildered.
          Tibi snorted, “Oh, my dear little sister. You act so grown up, and yet you still have so much growing up to do.”
          “I am grown up,” said Mariah, resentfully.
          “Not nearly, sweetheart.”

          “I am plenty grown up!” it never took much time for Mariah to get hot, and even with the older sister she adored her temper was near the surface. “Just yesterday I did the laundry and took out the garbage!”
          “Whoa, whoa whoa. Easy there,” Tibi said in alarm. “I’m not discounting what chores you might do around the house-”
          “-They are not chores! I do them because I want to!”
          “Alright! Alright! I guess there’s no point is asking how Mom is doing then I suppose.”

          “Mom is fine,” said Mariah, suddenly docile again. “But she misses you. You should come over and see her.”
          Mariah looked straight at Tibi, hoping she was putting on the bestest puppy dog face ever. Layla did miss Tibi. And maybe seeing Tibi would help their Mom… Well, she wasn’t really Tibi’s mom, but she might as well be in Mariah’s opinion.
          “I don’t know baby,” Tibi sighed yet again. Mariah wondered what might be wrong if she was sighing so much. Maybe trouble with her girlfriend, Emily? “It might be a little awkward after…” shrugged Tibi. “I just- it’s probably- we’ll see. Okay? We’ll see.”

          “Hey, I’ve got some news for you,” said Tibi. “Emily and I broke up a while ago, and, uh, I've been seeing your cousin Henry instead. Your Aunt Phedra's son?”
          “You did?” Mariah was very disappointed. One of the girls in her class, Kelci, had been a flower girl in a wedding last summer and had gone on and on about how pretty it all was, and the dress she had worn. Mariah had been hoping she could do something similar when the time came for Tibi and Emily.
          “Aw, don’t pout over it! Be happy that I'm happy with Henry, and life moves on. It's not like Emily and I wouldn't ever grow up or apart.. It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything. It’s certainly not like I’m leaving.”
          ‘You already left.’ Mariah huffed to herself.

          “Come on Riah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I was fairly certain you’d be upset that Emily and I ended things. Now quit pouting about it. Please? I’m happy with Henry.”
          Mariah rolled her eyes. So Tibi got a new boyfriend and wouldn’t visit her or her mom ever again because she was happy and wanted to forget them. And Mariah would be stuck with Roger on the playground. And she’d always be afraid Abuella Sabria would appear to torment them all. And they’d never get a dog. The end. That sucked.
          “Please, Mariah? I’ll take you into the arcade for glow bowling if you’ll drop it and be happy for me.”

          “Oh Tibi!!! I’m so very happy that you and Emily broke up and you didn’t tell me! You know I always thought she was a bit of a tramp, and only looked out for her own good. And I just know that you’re going to do so much better without her. In fact, I bet Henry is far more concerned about your well being than Emily ever was!”
          “Alright-”
          “And of course I forgive you for not telling me that it’s not just that you and Emily broke up, but that you've already moved on! It’s not like mom’s also not gone through a rough patch and could use family support, just like you.”
          “That’s quite-”
          “And meanwhile I sit at home waiting on pins and needles for my wonderful older sister and her new boyfriend, who happens to also be my cousin- isn’t that called inbreeding or something like that? I mean aren’t there reality shows on tv about people who marry their own-”

          “-Who’s ready to go bowling?!?”

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          “How much farther?” Roger whined.
          Rolling her eyes, Mariah turned back over her shoulder to see him trudging after her. If he’d only run like she did they would have already been there. But he insisted he couldn’t keep up with her making them walk and slowing them down considerably.
          “If you’d save your breath for getting there, we’d get there a lot faster,” she snapped back.

          Finally seeing where she usually left the well-worn path, Mariah gave a little skip.
          “Come on,” a little more patience in her voice this time. “It’s downhill from here, and easier to run the rest of the way.”
          “Let’s just walk it-Mariah! Wait up!”
          But she’d already taken off, allowing the downward slope to lend momentum to her steps. This time, Roger caught up faster, looking slightly red and flustered as they neared their destination.

          Suddenly, Roger grabbed her elbow, jerking her to a stop.
          “Hey!”
          “Hey, look,” he said, eyes wide. “There’s a building down there! By the river! Can you see it?”
          “Well, doy,” Mariah rolled her eyes. “Where do you think we’re going?” And she ran on again.
          “Is it safe?” Roger asked. “Hey! Hey Mariah wait.up!”

          But Mariah did not wait for him. She ran all the way down the hill, dodging brambles and thorn bushes on her way to the door of the tiny cabin by the river.
          “What is this place?” Roger panted when he’d caught up.
          “My house,” Mariah answered, peeking around the corner to see if she needed to open the shutters on the other window. “Come on.”

          “Don’t be such a baby,” Mariah pushed the door open, walking in confidently. “And I thought you were the one who wanted to see where I go when I don’t go home.”
          Several weeks ago he’d observed that she didn’t always go inside her home when the bus dropped her off and had spent the rest of his time pestering her about it. When she’d finally answered him about where she went he switched to begging to be brought along.

          “Welcome to my home,” Mariah said somewhat shyly as he finally entered. She really hadn’t wanted him to come. This was her place. Her escape and sanctuary. Her thinking place, and the one place she could really be herself.
          Also, she’d put a lot of work into the old cabin, wearing out two brooms getting it swept clean. It was her pride and joy and she kind of hoped she could get Roger to help her fix it up some more. Perhaps lug some more chairs and maybe a table into the place.
          “This is where you come?” Roger’s voice held no hint of the disgust she was sure he would feel and for half a second her heart swelled in gratitude.

          Roger’s eyes swept over the few objects before he strode across the floor, plopping himself down in front of his friend.
          “So, what is this place? How’d you find it?”
          “Wandering around one day when I just didn’t want to go home to Abuella I found it,” she answered, adjusting herself to be more comfortable. “I think it’s just an old abandoned house. At least, when I found it it looked like no one had been here in years. So I cleaned it up and I come here sometimes.”

          “Well,” he answered. “I think it’s awesome.” His eyes swept around again, a half smile on his lips. “I mean, you’ve kind of got your own hideaway. Sometimes I wish I had a hideaway, to get away from JJ and Benji. Sometimes, when I’m tired of them picking on me, I just hide in the hay loft, but they can find me there, so it’s not a very good hideout. Why do you hide here from your Ah-AhbWay- Ah-Bay-Way-Lah? And isn’t your mom back? Are you hiding from her too?”
          Stiffening, Mariah looked down at the hands folded neatly in her lap.
          “Doesn’t matter,” she said quietly, trying to find a way to change the subject. “And it’s Ah-bway-lah. It means grandma. Though I don’t know why we call her that instead of Grandma.” 

          “Awwww,” Roger stuck his legs in front of him and leaned toward her. “You can tell me. I told you that I hide sometimes, too. It’s ok. We’re friends!”
          Then he grinned that grin that made Mariah hate herself for reasons she didn’t fully understand. And that made her hate him.
          “I told you it doesn’t matter,” she said, not meeting his eye. “Just drop it, okay?”
          “It’s alright! You can tell me!”
          “No! I can’t! And I shouldn’t have brought you here to my place. It was a dumb idea.”
          Roger’s face fell, and he leaned back, tracing a finger along the grooves in the floor.

          “I’m sorry,” Roger looked up at last, puppy dog eyes brimming with tears. “I’ll go now if you’d like.”
          Mariah rolled her eyes, looked away, sneered.
          “It’s not your fault,” she whispered, not trusting her own voice. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
          Sniffling a little, Roger wiped his nose with the back of his hand and nodded.
          “Will you still be my friend?”

          Mariah sighed. She was so mean to him, and he was way too nice.
          “Of course we’re still friends,” she said.
          “Okay,” Roger nodded his head again then suddenly brightened, eyes alight on the fireplace. “Cool fireplace! I learned how to light a fire with just some twigs and cotton in Scouts. Wanna light the fireplace?”
          Fire sounded like lots of fun to Mariah too, it was also always a little chillier down by the river.
          “Sure! Then we can do our homework together next to a roaring fire!”

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First of all- They are NOT going to get hurt with fire. They are both really close to being teens (In story. They are already teens in game) and my brother and I lit lots of fires on our own in the great outdoors and in fireplaces when we were growing up and never got hurt. Well, for the most part. At least we never destroyed anything ok? There’s nothing wrong with firebugs. (Mwuuahahahahahaha!)
Second- for the record Henry and Tibi is not inbreeding. In case anyone forgot, Tibi is the daughter of Melly, not Layla.
And finally- This is glow bowling in my game.(WARNING! Pretty Neon Game Spam Upcoming)

Suck it EA. We’ll get to go in that arcade with the nifty lighting later on. And for the record, Mariah totally owned Tibi 24 to 16. lol