Dry Land
II
*1 week later*
*Chicago, Illinois*
"Mom, I promise, I will call you whenever possible to update you on how things are going....yes Mom I know....Mom I'm not a little girl anymore....Mom! Alright fine, tell dad I said hi....Love you too....Alright bye," My brother is laughing as I get off the phone with my mother who could not seem to stop talking. It's as if I haven't lived away from home before, even though I'm twenty-four years old and have been across the globe multiple times.
"Yeah just shut up," I frown towards my brother. That frown soon turns into a smile as his phone now rings and he answers it.
"Yeah mom?....Yes she's fine....Well I don't know why she hung up on you....Mom I promise I'll keep her safe....Good God mother!" Now I'm the one laughing. This causes my brother to flip me off, which in turn only makes me laugh harder. I'm sure we looked like complete idiots in the hallway of my brother's apartment building.
"Yo Alek man what's going on?" A loud voice bellows through the hallway," Oh shit wait you're on the phone, sorry." The person says when he notices the phone in my brother's hand. This makes me chuckle, seeing as my brother's face had gone from strictly platonic to very annoyed.
"Wait, Alexis, is that you?" The stranger questions upon noticing me standing in the hallway next to my brother. Looking harder, I recognize the figure to be none other than Corey Crawford, one of my brother's teammates and also one of my old friends. Our families had been good friends long before either of us had been born, and so naturally Corey, my brother and I fell into a now long-standing friendship.
"Corey Crawford, how have you been ya crazy bastard?" I question pulling him into a gigantic hug. He and I were about the same height, me just being two inches shorter at six foot. It wasn't unnatural for me to be tall, everybody in my family tended to be on the tall side, and it was a usable advantage in swimming.
"I've been doing pretty well, and how about you? I saw the headlines, I just never believed them," He tells me, instantly making me feel a bit better. I had been most worried when everything broke about how my friends would see me, luckily most of them believed that I would never do anything like try to enhance my performance in any way that wasn't the hard way.
"Well, it's safe to say that I've seen better days, but it's over now and I've moved on," I tell him, brushing it off like it wasn't that big of a deal. In reality it was, someone had accused me of enhancing my performance illegally, and it hurt, but I wasn't the type of person to show emotion that much, and I wasn't about to start.
"Yeah, and now she's living with me because she refuses to admit that she can't live without swimming and actually really misses it," My brother chimes in as he finishes the phone call with my mother.
I throw my hands up in defense," You're the one that offered brother dear, I'm just the one that accepted."
"I offered because I figured that without it you would become bored and miserable living with mom, as much as I love the woman, she can be....overbearing at times," He tells me. The only response I have is a nod and a shrug, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"I'm miserable anyways, so what's the difference?"
--^--
I wasn't just hungry, oh no, I was way past that point. I was starving. And if I didn't get food within the next couple of minutes, I had a feeling that I would perish from the hunger pains I was currently having.
"Alek I'm absolutely starving, why can't we go and get something to eat?" I complain to my older brother as he stares mindlessly at the TV where ESPN was playing the same thing over and over again on repeat.
He sighs over dramatically before clicking the television off and turning towards me, a hint of annoyance written in his facial features," Here's an idea, get some food from the fridge. That is, after all, why there is one."
I laugh at his snide comment," Well that would just be fine and dandy except for one small problem brother dear....there is nothing in said fridge besides moldy pizza that is no doubt from before you visited mom in Minnesota and a case of beer, so unless there are magical food elves that fill the fridge full of food while we're not looking, that fridge is empty."
He opens his mouth to protest before slowly shutting it without saying a word. Making no sound, he gets up from his spot on the couch and goes to check the fridge as if I had been lying. I laugh once again, more bitter this time.
"Do you think I'm lying? I was an athlete for fifteen plus years, I don't lie about food. I might lie about other things, but food is not one of them. Food is a precious item that-"
"Alright, Jesus, fine. We'll go and get something to eat and I'll call Josie to see if she can go grocery shopping tomorrow while we're at the United Center," My brother huffs, cutting me off mid-sentence, no doubt placing a look of annoyance on my face - I don't like being interrupted - before a knowing look spread across it.
"Who's Josie?"
My brother looks like a deer in headlights for a minute before quickly recovering," She's, um, she's my neighbor. She looks after the apartment when I'm on the road and makes sure that the fridge has food in it. I told her not to worry about it while I was gone but I guess I just forgot to tell her I was back."
"So, basically, Josie is a girl," My brother nods," Who looks after the apartment while you're gone," Another nod," And nothing else? No romantic shit, nothing?" This just receives a shrug, and a small mumble.
"What?"
"Nothing alright? Just drop it and let's go get something to eat before you do something dramatic like pretend to faint from hunger pains," He says with annoyance laced in his voice.
"That was one time! And it was an awkward date situation that I desperately wanted to get out of!" I protest as we make our way out of the apartment and onto the streets of Chicago to get something to eat.
--^--
Winding my way through the halls of the United Center the next day, I'm desperately trying to keep up with my brother who seems to be on some sort of hurry, with the speed that he was walking - it was practically a jog. Like the kind that you see those old ladies do that can't quite run but don't exactly want to walk, except faster. Being already a month and a half out of the pool and without any exercise, I was starting to get out of shape, so naturally it was kind of hard to keep up.
I get so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice that my brother has stopped until I run right into his back and end up on my butt.
"Alek what the fuck? That hurt you asshole, warn me next time," I swear, not even looking up until I'm done talking. Immediately, I shut my mouth and can feel all the heat rush towards my face. Standing in front of me were all of my brother's teammates, all of who just heard me unleash words that only a sailor would say. The only thing going through my mind in that moment were the words that my mother always told me whenever she got the chance.
Alexis, sweetheart, proper ladies do not swear....it turns off all of the good looking men in this world.
'Well a good first impression is out the window,' I think to myself as I look at all of the Under Armour clad men in front of me,' Nice going Alexis.'
Meanwhile, my asshole of a brother is off to the side laughing his butt off with Corey, who has an amused expression on his face. I just glare at the two of them before helping myself up off of the ground.
After what seems like a lifetime of awkward silence my brother finally calms down enough to make the formal introductions," Uh, Coach Q, guys, this is my baby sister Alexis and she's gonna be working up with the stats guys because she's too chicken to get back in the pool and just not give a shit about what the press is saying."
'I swore in front of his coach too? Great.' I glare at my brother for a second time before opening my mouth,"For one, I am not a baby, and second, my swim career is not anyone's business but mine. You know the reasons for why I'm not getting back in the pool and I'm pretty sure that most of the guys in this room know that as well, hell practically the entire country knows. Also, that was a really crappy introduction, but anyways," I turn towards the team," Hi, I'm Alexis and I'm unfortunately stuck with a shithead of a brother," I say as though I were in an AA meeting.
"Dude, your sister is freaking awesome," A familiar looking face says stepping forward and speaking to my brother before turning towards me," Well Alexis Belinsky, I'm Patrick Kane, and I have a feeling that we're going to be good friends. Because if you can shut down that," He gestures towards my brother," then that makes you eternally awesome."
I laugh, all awkwardness now gone from the atmosphere, before the rest of the team heads out to practice while a couple introduce themselves on the way out of the locker room.
"Well," I begin, turning towards my brother who was the last one in the room," Maybe you were right and I won't be miserable here." He just smiles and begins in the direction that the rest of the team went before turning back and offering up a smirk.
"Told ya so."
*Chicago, Illinois*
"Mom, I promise, I will call you whenever possible to update you on how things are going....yes Mom I know....Mom I'm not a little girl anymore....Mom! Alright fine, tell dad I said hi....Love you too....Alright bye," My brother is laughing as I get off the phone with my mother who could not seem to stop talking. It's as if I haven't lived away from home before, even though I'm twenty-four years old and have been across the globe multiple times.
"Yeah just shut up," I frown towards my brother. That frown soon turns into a smile as his phone now rings and he answers it.
"Yeah mom?....Yes she's fine....Well I don't know why she hung up on you....Mom I promise I'll keep her safe....Good God mother!" Now I'm the one laughing. This causes my brother to flip me off, which in turn only makes me laugh harder. I'm sure we looked like complete idiots in the hallway of my brother's apartment building.
"Yo Alek man what's going on?" A loud voice bellows through the hallway," Oh shit wait you're on the phone, sorry." The person says when he notices the phone in my brother's hand. This makes me chuckle, seeing as my brother's face had gone from strictly platonic to very annoyed.
"Wait, Alexis, is that you?" The stranger questions upon noticing me standing in the hallway next to my brother. Looking harder, I recognize the figure to be none other than Corey Crawford, one of my brother's teammates and also one of my old friends. Our families had been good friends long before either of us had been born, and so naturally Corey, my brother and I fell into a now long-standing friendship.
"Corey Crawford, how have you been ya crazy bastard?" I question pulling him into a gigantic hug. He and I were about the same height, me just being two inches shorter at six foot. It wasn't unnatural for me to be tall, everybody in my family tended to be on the tall side, and it was a usable advantage in swimming.
"I've been doing pretty well, and how about you? I saw the headlines, I just never believed them," He tells me, instantly making me feel a bit better. I had been most worried when everything broke about how my friends would see me, luckily most of them believed that I would never do anything like try to enhance my performance in any way that wasn't the hard way.
"Well, it's safe to say that I've seen better days, but it's over now and I've moved on," I tell him, brushing it off like it wasn't that big of a deal. In reality it was, someone had accused me of enhancing my performance illegally, and it hurt, but I wasn't the type of person to show emotion that much, and I wasn't about to start.
"Yeah, and now she's living with me because she refuses to admit that she can't live without swimming and actually really misses it," My brother chimes in as he finishes the phone call with my mother.
I throw my hands up in defense," You're the one that offered brother dear, I'm just the one that accepted."
"I offered because I figured that without it you would become bored and miserable living with mom, as much as I love the woman, she can be....overbearing at times," He tells me. The only response I have is a nod and a shrug, he wasn't entirely wrong.
"I'm miserable anyways, so what's the difference?"
--^--
I wasn't just hungry, oh no, I was way past that point. I was starving. And if I didn't get food within the next couple of minutes, I had a feeling that I would perish from the hunger pains I was currently having.
"Alek I'm absolutely starving, why can't we go and get something to eat?" I complain to my older brother as he stares mindlessly at the TV where ESPN was playing the same thing over and over again on repeat.
He sighs over dramatically before clicking the television off and turning towards me, a hint of annoyance written in his facial features," Here's an idea, get some food from the fridge. That is, after all, why there is one."
I laugh at his snide comment," Well that would just be fine and dandy except for one small problem brother dear....there is nothing in said fridge besides moldy pizza that is no doubt from before you visited mom in Minnesota and a case of beer, so unless there are magical food elves that fill the fridge full of food while we're not looking, that fridge is empty."
He opens his mouth to protest before slowly shutting it without saying a word. Making no sound, he gets up from his spot on the couch and goes to check the fridge as if I had been lying. I laugh once again, more bitter this time.
"Do you think I'm lying? I was an athlete for fifteen plus years, I don't lie about food. I might lie about other things, but food is not one of them. Food is a precious item that-"
"Alright, Jesus, fine. We'll go and get something to eat and I'll call Josie to see if she can go grocery shopping tomorrow while we're at the United Center," My brother huffs, cutting me off mid-sentence, no doubt placing a look of annoyance on my face - I don't like being interrupted - before a knowing look spread across it.
"Who's Josie?"
My brother looks like a deer in headlights for a minute before quickly recovering," She's, um, she's my neighbor. She looks after the apartment when I'm on the road and makes sure that the fridge has food in it. I told her not to worry about it while I was gone but I guess I just forgot to tell her I was back."
"So, basically, Josie is a girl," My brother nods," Who looks after the apartment while you're gone," Another nod," And nothing else? No romantic shit, nothing?" This just receives a shrug, and a small mumble.
"What?"
"Nothing alright? Just drop it and let's go get something to eat before you do something dramatic like pretend to faint from hunger pains," He says with annoyance laced in his voice.
"That was one time! And it was an awkward date situation that I desperately wanted to get out of!" I protest as we make our way out of the apartment and onto the streets of Chicago to get something to eat.
--^--
Winding my way through the halls of the United Center the next day, I'm desperately trying to keep up with my brother who seems to be on some sort of hurry, with the speed that he was walking - it was practically a jog. Like the kind that you see those old ladies do that can't quite run but don't exactly want to walk, except faster. Being already a month and a half out of the pool and without any exercise, I was starting to get out of shape, so naturally it was kind of hard to keep up.
I get so lost in my thoughts that I don't notice that my brother has stopped until I run right into his back and end up on my butt.
"Alek what the fuck? That hurt you asshole, warn me next time," I swear, not even looking up until I'm done talking. Immediately, I shut my mouth and can feel all the heat rush towards my face. Standing in front of me were all of my brother's teammates, all of who just heard me unleash words that only a sailor would say. The only thing going through my mind in that moment were the words that my mother always told me whenever she got the chance.
Alexis, sweetheart, proper ladies do not swear....it turns off all of the good looking men in this world.
'Well a good first impression is out the window,' I think to myself as I look at all of the Under Armour clad men in front of me,' Nice going Alexis.'
Meanwhile, my asshole of a brother is off to the side laughing his butt off with Corey, who has an amused expression on his face. I just glare at the two of them before helping myself up off of the ground.
After what seems like a lifetime of awkward silence my brother finally calms down enough to make the formal introductions," Uh, Coach Q, guys, this is my baby sister Alexis and she's gonna be working up with the stats guys because she's too chicken to get back in the pool and just not give a shit about what the press is saying."
'I swore in front of his coach too? Great.' I glare at my brother for a second time before opening my mouth,"For one, I am not a baby, and second, my swim career is not anyone's business but mine. You know the reasons for why I'm not getting back in the pool and I'm pretty sure that most of the guys in this room know that as well, hell practically the entire country knows. Also, that was a really crappy introduction, but anyways," I turn towards the team," Hi, I'm Alexis and I'm unfortunately stuck with a shithead of a brother," I say as though I were in an AA meeting.
"Dude, your sister is freaking awesome," A familiar looking face says stepping forward and speaking to my brother before turning towards me," Well Alexis Belinsky, I'm Patrick Kane, and I have a feeling that we're going to be good friends. Because if you can shut down that," He gestures towards my brother," then that makes you eternally awesome."
I laugh, all awkwardness now gone from the atmosphere, before the rest of the team heads out to practice while a couple introduce themselves on the way out of the locker room.
"Well," I begin, turning towards my brother who was the last one in the room," Maybe you were right and I won't be miserable here." He just smiles and begins in the direction that the rest of the team went before turning back and offering up a smirk.
"Told ya so."
Notes
Sorry for not updating, seeing as I'm in a flood zone right now we've been with and without power for the past couple of days and that means no WiFi, often for hours at a time. That and I've been sort of stuck on what to write and I've been trying to get my AP summer assignments going and swimming has been taking up a lot of time. But here's chapter dos! Tell me what you think!
great job
1/15/16