New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream

All my senses wake up as I smell the sweet scent of maple syrup downstairs. Oh! It’s a Pancake Day! I get up lazily, all my body feels comfortable and nice, it’s really warm in here, in my own bedroom. Although it’s much smaller than that bedroom in Birmingham, but this is waay cozier. It feels like……home!

And I am wearing my old easy pajamas that I had since 3 years ago. The familiar smell really brings me to life. It’s another day of summer holiday and I’m here! Safe and warm under my house roof!

The noises made by Nathan and Nicho echoes to my room, they’re fighting over their PSP. Dad bought it for their birthday present but Dad only bought one, he said the twins can always share. Duh, as long as I live, they NEVER share! The only thing they share is…….ok, nothing.

They even want the bed to be separated although mum had bought them a queen size bed for two of them! And they insist on getting a standard-one-person bed. And Nathan, who has always been the more talkative one, want to get his own telephone on the side of the bed and Nicho, who join the soccer team, begged for his own Nike Mercurial Vapor soccer shoes which cost around $300.

I wash my face and brush my teeth, then join them downstairs. The small living room is so contrast than those in Birmingham but somehow, it’s more comfy. With the usual magazines and papers everywhere, and the PS2 the twin left last night and even mum’s coat.

“Morning, Honey!” Dad greets as I enter the kitchen. He’s sipping his coffee, reading the usual newspaper, already in his smart suit to go to the office. Normal life…

“Hi..” I mutter, take a seat besides Nathan who seems to have won the PSP, and pondering every inch of my body in this kitchen and inside this pajama.

“Pancake?” Mum asks, she’s also in her nice pink shirt and long pants.

“Absolutely. 3!” I say, “Why are you two in your office suit? Didn’t they give you any day-offs?” I ask, pouring coffee into the nearest cup.

“No, Hon. Office’s been busy these past weeks. People are getting out, searching for new sofas, bed, and storages. Especially after Oprah did a house make-over last week on her talk show, people are packed inside the stores.” Dad says without looking at me.

“Yes, people are more interested in wedding in holiday. And next week, I have to go to Hawaii to organize this wedding for these superrich couple.” Mum flips the pancake and put it on the plate, “Here.” She hands it to me.

“What?!” I almost drop the plate. “Hawaii?!” Nathan, too, stops the game and gawk at Mum.

There’s a complete silence. Then Nicho suddenly whisper in a scared-sounded voice, “Can I come with you?”

Then the ice has completely broken, me, Nathan, and Nicho beg in turn.

“Please Mum, I’ll bring your suitcases…”

“I’ll wash your clothes…”

“I’ll do my homework!” Nathan says. And we’re all stop dead, looking at him. “What?”

“No, sorry Dear. All of you. I can’t pay for your flights! Besides, you’ll wreck the wedding if you all come!” she says.

“What?! No! I’m old enough!” I say encouragingly. For god sake! Hawaii!

“But still, you have to make sure the house’s secure while Dad in his office and you have to prepare dinners and breakfasts for Daddy and the twin!” mum rubs her hand on the apron and take the twin’s plates and put them in the sink.

Suddenly, a ring tone echoes in the kitchen, the Step Up soundtrack blares in the room, then with a snap, I realize it’s my cell. I grab it and look at the name winking at me on the screen, it’s Vi.

“Good morning!” Vi’s cheerful voice greets.

“Yeah good morning. What do you want?” I ask, chewing the pancake.

“Hey, hey! You’re so tense!” she says, “listen, on the 1^st of August, my dad will launch his new perfume and it’ll be held in The Ritz Carlton! And we obviously need to go shopping!” she says excitedly.

“Vi, come on! We just arrived yesterday. I need a break!” I say, walking to the backyard to fins a more silent place.

“Oh. Ok. Actually, I…..” she stops, “…never mind.”

What? Vi never says ‘never mind’!

“What? What is it? Just tell me.” I say.

“Oh, okay….umm, I need to tell you something. Err, why don’t you come here?” she asks.

“No I can’t I have to go to the Sanctuary and get the penalties for what I and Ian had done. Ran away to Birmingham.” I say.

“Oh, ok. Anyway, it’s not really important. I’ll tell you next time.” she says. “actually, there’s a more important problem.”

“What?”

“I can’t talk on the phone!”

“Oh Vi! yes you can!” I insist.

“Alright..” she pauses. “Mum and Dad are getting really distant and they don’t talk to each other anymore. And last night..” she exhales sharply, “…I was going to fetch a glass of water when I saw Mum talks on the phone in a low voice..”

“And..?” I ask impatiently.

“I didn’t really hear what she said but I can catch the words that sound like ‘divorce letter’, ‘sign the statements’, and something like ‘grant you big rewards if you win this case’, that sort of things. I guess……I guess she’s talking to the lawyer.” She finishes and I can picture her in her room with Ruby and she’s now playing with the tip of her pillow nervously and she maybe also bites her nails or something like that.

And now, it’s my turn to talk. What can I say? I have to go to Vi’s house! As soon as possible!

“Ok, there are lots of possibilities that you’re sleepy and you didn’t catch the word correctly. But I’ll go there as soon as the Sanctuary problem finish.” I say.

“Ok. Thanks Sugar! You are the best!” she says. And the phone clicks off, leaving me looking at the backyard vacantly, wondering what if all the things she heard is true?

I mean, in this kind of situation, it’s really possible for Mrs. Freyson to hire a lawyer, and maybe both of Vi’s parents had decided to go other ways, in other word, separate. Maybe they already decided to get this case done on the court and they’re trying to win the child custody.

Ok, I have to get rid of that kind of thought, that’s terrible. I can’t imagine my mum and dad divorce and I’ll have to choose one of them or maybe the court have decided me to go with Dad, and I have to leave mum. And the twin will be with mum. That’s terrible! A family should be one! They’re not breaking or cracking or get separated!

“Dear, I’m going.” Dad says, his head appear from behind the door.

“Oh, ok.” I quickly get up to get my forehead kissed by dad, then he turns to leave the house. Mum also comes towards me, kisses my forehead and the twin and she also leave.

The Sanctuary is as calm as always with its candles and bamboos, and Diane, looking at me with a look that says ‘you left me behind! How dare you let me work alone!’. Ian seems to have arrived there before me because his bag is on the chair and Diane quickly looks down, avoiding my eyes.

“Diane, where’s Ian?” I ask.

“In the office.” She replies shortly, pointing at the office’s door.

Since I got on the bus, I got this tight knot inside my stomach. What punishment will I get? I mean, I’ll do anything to get Ian work in the shop again. Never mind with me because mum already got another job.

As I push the door opens, I can see Mrs. Manson sits behind the desk and Ian sits on the chair across her. “Hi. Good afternoon.” I greet awkwardly. “sorry, I’m late.” I add.

“Please take a seat and you’re not late. Ian came too early.” Mrs. Manson says coldly.

I pull the chair and sit beside Ian, whose face pale. Hell knows what Mrs. Manson has said earlier.

“So….you two went to Birmingham without informing me. And luckily, you bumped into my daughter and ask for her help. Is that so?” she asks frigidly.

I don’t like how she stresses on the words ‘luckily’ and ‘ask’. We’re not that terrible! We’re not even that lucky to meet Hayley. And she’s a kind girl and we’re friends. It’s not like we begged her or felt thankful for her.

“Yes. Quite like that.” Ian finally says.

“And you still want to work here?” Mrs. Manson raises her eyebrow.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ian replies.

“What about you, young lady?” she asks me.

“Yeah, I still want to work here, too.”

“Do you have any idea what consequences you two will get?” she asks, then she answers before I even open my mouth, “you two, who fortunately knows my daughter, will sure get a dispensation of the punishment.

“Actually, you two should work here 2 months without any earnings, but….” She looks at us intensely, “you will only get no earnings for a month.” She finishes unwillingly.

“Sure! Thanks a lot, Ma’am!” Ian face’s bright and he looks at her thankfully.

“yeah, thanks.” I say unenthusiastically. And it seems like she wants me to thank her the way Ian does, so she asks me again “you still want to work here right? I know punishment sounds bad, but that’s the consequence.” She says. “and I gave you a dispensation!”

“Yeah. I’m……grateful!” I say, beaming at her.

If she’s not Hayley’s mum, not the owner of this wonderful shop, and it’s not for Ian, maybe I’ll slap her ignorant face and say “Screw you!” and leave the store. Lucky for her, she happened to be Hayley’s mum.

We’re about to leave when Mrs. Manson says, “Oh, and don’t try to persuade my daughter to be your friend. She’s all different from you two. You know that, right?”

This time, rage is rising inside my body, I hit my step to her desk and say sharply, “Listen, ma’am. She’s the one who come to us and want to be friends with us! Besides, we never beg her and if you don’t want us to be friends with her, it’s perfectly ok with us!” I stop for breath, Mrs. Manson has gone pale, she’s paralyzed with a really ugly expression.

“And don’t step on people just because they’re less fortunate than you!.......screw you!” I yell with all my anger, then march my way to the door, open them and bang them. Diane’s there, staring at me in horror. She must have heard the yelling.

But I really don’t care! Who she think she is! Threat me, yell at me, and step on me! Lemme show you what dignity means…

I pound my feet in anger on the busy pavements with people walking pass me. And suddenly it’s like I’m plunged into a deep cold sea, my legs are shaky and my hands are sweaty. I turn to the nearest ice cream café and sit my self down.

“Anything you want to order, Miss?” A voice calls. I look up and there, is a guy with a blond hair and a series of white neat teeth, looking at me with a pair of bluest eyes. It’s almost like, Vi’s.

OMG! Vi! I have to go to Vi’s house!

“Umm, actually, I’m in a bit of hurry.” I say, pushing the chair back to get up.

“Are you sure?” the guy asks doubtfully.

“Well, yeah. Why?” I say, looking at him.

“Cos, you look so tense and pale.. why don’t you have a glass of ice cream first, then you can go?” he takes a really good look at me from top to bottom.

For real, I’m not tense and pale! It’s just every time I get up, my legs are shaky and wobbly. And ok, I have to admit this, I need a glass of ice cream.

“Ok, fine.” I say, sitting down again.

“Great.” He hands me the menu and I look at it for a while, “I suggest you New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream..” he says.

“Yeah, ok, whatever suits me.” I say, hand him the menu back.

“Ok. Is that all?” he says after note down my order.

“Yeah. That’s all.” I say.

“Ok, be back in a min.” then he strides inside the shop.

Where the hell am I, anyway? I look up to see a board with Ben and Jerry’s on it. Oh, right, I’m in Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop, that’s ok.

Unless…. I have just shouted at my boss, ruin my boyfriend’s job, and if Hayley knows, she’ll get mad at me…

My whole body freezes as I remember what I have done. Dang! What was on my mind? Shout at her like that?

“Hey, here’s the ice cream.” The guy walks back again with a glass of yummy ice cream. Then he points to an empty set right in front of me with a questioning expression which means ‘is this seat empty?’ and I nod which means ‘yes it is. You can sit there’ and so he pulls the chair and sit.

I scoop the ice cream and put it inside my mouth. Ummmmm…..I forgot how yummy ice cream is. I practically close my eyes to feel every bit of it.

“Yummy, huh?” the guy asks. I open my eyes and nod, ”yes it is.”

“I’m Scott. Scott McKinsley.” He extends a hand and I shake it, “Sugar. Sugar Dale.”

“Nice name.” he says.

“I know, a bit weird, isn’t it?” I say, scooping another spoon of ice cream.

“No. it’s just. I don’t know. Weird?” he says. And we both laugh. “No, I’m just kidding” he says kindly, “When I heard it, the only sense that I can feel is: sweet! It’s like hearing the name Honey. It feels sweet.” He says.

“Yeah. Maybe I should change my name into, New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream..” I grin.

“No, no. it’s too….macho.” he says at last. And we giggle even more.

“Yeah, right.” I say in the middle of my laughter.

And after a min or so, we both silent and suddenly the atmosphere become more serious.

“Got problem, isn’t it?” Scott asks in an understanding voice.

“Yeah, quite like that.”

“What about it? Tell me in a sentence without details.” He says.

“Ok. Here it goes: I just yelled at my boss, putting my boyfriend’s job in a danger and it’s not all, the boss is my friend’s mum and my best friend’s parents are showing signs of divorce and now, I should have been at her house.” I say without breathing.

He looks at me unbelievingly, “Wow! That’s a lot!”

“Yes it is.” I exhale. “And when I saw your eyes and hair color, it reminds me that I should be at my best friend’s house. She got the same hair color and eyes as you.” I say.

“Really? What a coincidence.” He says unenthusiastically and suddenly, he looks around, avoiding my eyes. And I daren’t raise the topic.

“Right then.. I should be going.” I say, standing up.

Then he suddenly jumps to his feet, “oh yeah right…well..”

“Here.” I hand him the money.

“No. no. no! just take your money.” He refuses.

“What? No! it’s can’t be! I’m a customer.” I say, thrusting the money into his hand.

“No.” he put the money back to my hand, “Let’s just say, it’s a little yummy present to cool down your problem.” He says firmly.

I pause a bit, “Ok. I’ll just go then. Thanks a lot!” I say.

“You’re always welcome!” he let out a big grin. And with a much lighter steps, I take a bus to Vi’s house.