Fire!

December 28

 

Dear Diary,

 

Today, I am $20 richer, thanks to Mrs. Holcomb.  I spent the night at her place while she recovers from surgery.   I could tell she was in a whole lot of pain from the operation.  She’s weak and needs a walker to move about and once or twice, I had to steady her from falling.  She said I was a “godsend.”  I took good care of her.  When she was hungry, I prepared a fried bologna sandwich and when I got bored watching TV, I made myself useful by running the vacuum and tidying up in the kitchen.  I wasn’t hired to be a housekeeper, but I was glad to help out and go the extra mile.  I’m a good person. 

 

Mrs. Holcomb was sound asleep by 8 PM.  Lila Jane and I popped some corn and watched “The Texas Chainsaw Mascara.”  Even though I have seen this movie a hundred times, there is that one scene that makes me want to pee all over myself. 

 

Lila Jane was poking around this old cabinet in the living room and found a pair of opal earrings.  If Mrs. Holcomb discovers the earrings missing, I hope she doesn’t blame me.  I don’t want to snitch on Lila Jane, but I don’t want to be accused of doing something that I didn’t do.  What Lila Jane does is her own business and, besides, who am I to judge?  This is between her and God.

 

I was kind of hoping Lila Jane’s twin brother Jody Tyler would stop by last night, but she said her brother was hanging out with some friends over in Tyner’s Dump.  I think Jody Tyler has a crush on me.  I may have a crush on him, too.  I’ve let him kiss me a couple of times, but we’ve never gone farther than that.  Oh, he once pinched my butt in science class after Mr. Riggs stepped out of the room. 

 

I’ve thought about going out with Jody Tyler, but dating my best friend’s brother makes things kind of complicated.  I mean, if Lila Jane and I have an argument, does this mean I can’t talk to her brother?  Or if I am dating Jody Tyler and we have an argument, does this mean I can’t talk to Lila Jane?   And if Jody Tyler and Lila Jane get into an argument, whose side do I take?  And if Jody Tyler and I are arguing, whose side is Lila Jane supposed to be on? 

 

Granny has warned me about Jody Tyler.  She swears he is nothing but trouble.  She must have heard about the group of boys who beat up the manager at the Seven Eleven.  It was never proven that Jody Tyler was one of the boys involved in the fight, but Granny was ready to accuse him all the same simply because she doesn’t like him.  Anyway, Jody Tyler told me that he never actually punched the manager with his fists, but he did shove the man once or twice.  Well, he probably shouldn’t have shoved the Seven Eleven manager, but it’s not like he hit the man with clinched fists.  Shoving and hitting are two different things.

 

Okay, dear diary, it is time for me to go. 

 

Love you!

 

Cassie

 

 

 

 

December 29

 

Dear Diary,

 

I am not going to take all of the blame for the fire.  For one thing, adults are responsible for keeping their liquor locked away when teenagers are around.  Mrs. Holcomb should have kept that bottle of Jack Daniels in a locked cabinet or hidden in some out of the way place, but no, she left the bottle in the pantry right next to the corn flakes.  I am asking you, dear diary, if you were an adult and you had teenagers visiting your home, would you leave your liquor out in the open?  Everyone knows liquor is one of the biggest temptations in the whole world.  I mean, what teenager is going to ignore a bottle of Jack Daniels that’s been left out in plain sight of everyone?

 

Lila Jane and I mixed the Jack Daniels with orange juice and made ourselves a couple of screwdrivers and then we played Yahtzee.  Around 10 PM, Jody Tyler dropped by.  I made him a screwdriver and he played Yahtzee with Lila Jane and me.  During the middle of our second game, Jody Tyler said he was hungry, so he sent me to the kitchen to make him a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.  Lila Jane said a BLT sounded good to her, too, and I was kind of hungry myself.  So I fried up a big batch of bacon, toasted some bread, and sliced up lettuce and a tomato.  I also opened a bag of barbeque potato chips. 

 

Anyway, I thought I had turned off the oven burner, but I must have left the burner on, because while we were eating our BLT sandwiches, smoke came pouring out of the kitchen.  The skillet had caught fire.  The fire chief called it a grease fire.  Thankfully, the damage is mainly in the kitchen area, but because of the smoke, Mrs. Holcomb, who is recovering from surgery, can’t stay in the trailer until all of the repairs have been completed. 

 

I was so afraid that Lila Jane, Jody Tyler, and I were going to jail.  Thankfully, we weren’t arrested, but the three of us have to go to court. 

 

As you can imagine, Granny is absolutely furious with me.  I think she wants to kick me out. If she decides to boot me out the door, I don’t know where I will go.  I don’t want to end up in forester care.  I might never see my friends again. 

 

None of this would have happened if Mrs. Holcomb had done the right thing by keeping her liquor in a locked cabinet.  When adults ignore their responsibilities, bad things are bound to happen.