Where I Wanna Be (2 page)

“
We’ll make friends here.” Meredith replied.

“
Whatever,” Simone shook her head. “I’ll guess I should head upstairs to start unpacking.” She began to leave.

“
Simone,” Meredith called after her daughter, “just give Staten Island a chance, okay?”

“
Okay, mother,” she promised.
I have no choice, now do I?

Simone went upstairs and began unpacking her bedroom. She loved Houston. She had plenty of friends there. She could visit her cousins on the weekends. She could go over to sleepovers during the week. She had so much fun and freedom.

Stupid dad and his stupid job!

She was going to have to get acclimated to the new town. She needed to make new friends, get to know the area, find all the cool shops and restaurants. She moved during the middle of the school year, so it meant all the cliques had been formed and once again, she was going to be the outside girl looking in.

This sucks.

What really sucked about the whole move was the fact she had to break up with Seth, her boyfriend of six months. He had just given her a promise ring when Simone had to tell him they were moving and leaving within a week.

“
I like you a lot, Simone,” Seth said to her, his arms wrapped around her. “I’ll miss you.”

Simone stifled her streaming tears. “I’ll miss you, too.”

Simone pulled out a teddy bear Seth had given her and stared at it. She then punched it.
This is bull!

****

“
Okay, so make sure you use long strokes,” Nick showed his younger brother through the mirror. He carefully placed the razor against his cheek and did a long swipe. “Always go against the grain.”

“
Against the grain. Got it.” Sixteen-year-old Eli practiced the same maneuver on his face. Once he was done shaving both sides, he stood back from the mirror. “How does that look?”

“
Not bad, for a rookie,” Joey nodded approvingly like a father would to his son. He then demonstrated the next step to his brother. “Now, when you’re done wipe your face with a warm towel. Pat dry and put a little—just a little—aftershave on. I don’t want to smell you before you enter the room. It’s bad enough I deal with that at college.”

Eli followed Joey’s instruction to a tee. He put a little aftershave in his hands and patted his face. It immediately stung and Eli felt the skin was about to peel off from his face. “Damn, this stings!”

“
You’ll get used to it.” Nick smiled through the mirror.

“
Am I going to have to do this every day?” Eli asked.

“
If you want the clean-shaven look, yes. You can change it up to what you want and how you want it.” Joey winked. “Experiment, have fun, play around and see what suits you best.”

“
What do the girls like?” Eli wondered.

“
Ah, that depends on the girl.” Nick waxed poetic. “Some like the clean-shaven look. Some like goatees. Some like beards. Some like it when a guy does a mix of all three looks. It just depends on the girl.”

“
Got it,” Eli admired his face in the mirror again and caressed his cheeks. “Smooth.”

“
Just for the ladies.” Joey winked. A sudden commotion downstairs disrupted their time and the brothers went to check it out. They found a sullen and despondent Kieran on the sofa while their mother was speaking in Italian, asking Jesus to forgive the hussy that broke her son’s heart.

“
Mamma?” Eli wondered. “
Cos'è successo
?”

“
I’ll tell you what happened!” Nicola clutched a rosary in one hand while her other fist was tightly coiled. “That hussy your brother married? She took off! Cleaned him out cold! Left him nothing but his clothing and shoes. She even took the dog!
The dog!
O! Signore, di me uno strumento della tua Pace! Dove e odio, fa ch’io porti l’Amore, dove e offesa, ch’io porti il perdono, dove e Discordia, ch’io porti l’unione.
”

Nick and Joey sat beside their brother on the couch while Eli tried to calm down their mother, who kept reciting the prayer of peace by Saint Francis of Assisi. “So you want to tell me your version?” Nick asked Kieran.

“
You know, I wrote her every chance I got when I was in Iraq. Every fucking chance. I could remember reading one of her letters when a bomb exploded outside of our tent. I kept a picture of her when I went on the streets and showed it to the children and other Iraqi citizens, talking to them about my wife back at home,” Kieran stared straight ahead to an empty space, “and all the time I was doing that, she was fucking every possible guy she saw.”

“
I knew she was a whore the moment she stepped in my house!
Altissimo glorosio Dio, illumine le tenebre de lo core mio. Et dame fede diricta, speranza certa e carita perfecta, senno e cognoscemento
.”
Nicola shouted to the ceiling and kissed her rosary. “That’s it! She’s not coming here no more! I do not want her skank all over this house!”

Kieran, Joey, and Nick turned towards their mother and then back at each other. “Okay, so this is the plan. You’re going to stay here for a while and then when that gets old, you come stay with me at my place. I’ll see if I can get you a job at the club being a bouncer for the time being.” Nick advised his brother.

“
Settle in here and tonight, I’m taking you out so you can get drunk.” Joey chimed in.

“
I need to drink her out of my memory,” Kieran rubbed his face.

“
Not a problem.” Nick stood up and grabbed his keys. “All right, mamma. I’ll be back later. Calm down.” He gave her a kiss and then turned to Eli. “Watch over them, okay?”

“
Got it, bro,” Eli slapped hands with Nick, who then left.

“
Eli, you go upstairs and get Kieran’s room ready for him. I’m going to start dinner.” Nicola shook her fists in the air again and said another prayer in Italian. “Ooh, I’m going to hurt that hussy when I see her!”

“
Mother,” Kieran warned her, “enough.”

“
Mio figlio
…”

“
Enough.” Kieran rubbed his forehead. “I don’t want to hear her name anymore while I’m here.”

“
Fine!” Nicola huffed.

Eli had finished making Kieran’s room when Tony popped in. “What’s going on downstairs?” 13-year-old Tony asked.

“
Jalara left Kieran,” Eli shrugged, “so he’s going to be staying here for a while before he moves in with Nicky.”

“
Figa,” Tony shook his head.
Cunt.

Eli reached over and popped Tony in the back of the head. “Watch your mouth, man.”

“
What?” Tony rubbed his head. “It’s true, Eli!”

“
It is, but don’t say that around mom, all right?” Eli finished making up Kieran’s bed. “And be careful what you say. I don’t want to get into the habit of popping you in the back of the head because you’re always saying something stupid.”

“
Whatever, dude,” Tony watched Eli straightened out the bedroom. “What do I need to do?”

“
You’re going downstairs and spend time with your brother,” Eli walked over to the hall closet and took out some fresh towels. “He’s gonna need all the support he can get now. Get to it.”

“
Gotcha,” Tony walked out the room.

Eli freshened up the bathroom a little and made sure there was plenty of stuff for Kieran. He was going have to share his “smell good”—his codename for deodorant, cologne, and soap—but that was okay. It was better to share it with just one brother, than the other four he had been used to.

It was already cramped with them living at home. It was more crowded when all five brothers shared that one room. Nick and Kieran slept in the living room, while Joey slept in the other room with his younger brothers. It was that reason why Nicola instilled the importance of an education to her sons so they could go out and achieve what she wasn’t able to do, so they wouldn’t have to live like that anymore. Nick ended up getting a full scholarship to NYU, while Kieran chose to go into the military. Joey chose to take classes at the local community college as he still explored his options. He recently moved out and was sharing an apartment with one of his best friends.

Eli still pondered what he wanted to do. He wasn’t that interested in college but he didn’t want to go into the military, either. He just hoped he would figure something out soon. He was currently in his junior year of high school and pretty soon, his mother was going to start hounding him about college and military options.

Time was quickly running out.

It took some time but Simone Harris got used to St. George.

She figured out a route to school and what buses to take. She knew what time she had to wake up in the morning and how much time it would give her to get ready. She knew exactly how minutes she had between classes and whether she would be able to make a bathroom run or stop by her locker.

Most importantly, she figured which guys were the pervs and which ones were the nice, clean, and decent ones. So far, she hadn’t had much luck in that department. She smirked to herself as sat in her homeroom class. She should’ve known the best men were the grown-up kind and even then, it wasn’t a guarantee as evidenced by Alicia’s exploits. Simone was hesitant to call her sister a slut who had bad luck in men, though that description fit Alicia to a tee.

Simone was a hopeless romantic who believed in Happily Ever After and waiting for Prince Charming. It may have been her naiveté combined with youth, but she was certain her Prince was out there waiting for her. She dreamt of hyphenating her last name, having 2.5 kids, with the picket fence. He would be a white collar worker and she would become a homemaker. A real one. Saturdays would be filled with Little League games, play dates, and birthday parties. Sundays would be church and family dinners.

It would be perfect, Simone daydreamed. It would be even more perfect if those idiots a few feet away from her would stop tossing paper planes trying to get her attention and ruining her daydreaming.

****

“
Yo, check it out, man,” Eli’s friend, Michael, leaned over to him. “Check out that new chick sitting over there in the corner.” He nonchalantly pointed behind him.

Eli glanced over and saw Simone. She was pretty—long, brunette hair, full lips, and a curvy body. Eli first noticed her, along with every other boy in his class, when she arrived. “Yeah, what about her?”

“
I’m going to get her attention.” Michael crumbled up a piece of paper. “I’m going to get her to come over here and talk to me.”

“
Um, you sure that’s the way you want to go about it, bro?” Eli asked. “I’m just saying…”

“
Trust me, it works!” Michael launched the paper ball over to the corner. He followed it with a few more until one bounced off Simone’s forehead and landed on the floor. The guys snickered and laughed amongst themselves while Simone wasn’t amused. She calmly walked over to Eli’s table and dropped off the plane. “I think this belongs to you.” She began to walk away.