Sarah and Kevin 29

Kevin stared after Peter. He couldn't believe what was happening. Peter, he knew, loved to sing. He didn't just enjoy it, he loved it. When Peter sang, people stopped to listen. And yet he's willing to throw it all away because he's too stubborn to go to AA meetings. Kevin shook his head and went downstairs.

There were two old chairs and a beat up sofa near the bathroom. Kevin grabbed an acoustic guitar and walked over to one of the chairs. It was an old swivel rocker. It was soft and comfortable and allowed you to lean way back in it. Kevin lay back in the chair, staring at the ceiling, holding the guitar.

Kevin heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Tom flopped down on the sofa.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

Several minutes passed in silence.

"This is like a nightmare," Kevin said.

"At least she's OK," Tom said.

Kevin sighed. "If you can call that mess OK, I guess that's true."

"Yeah," Tom agreed. "You wanna go into town?"

"Yeah. You coming with?" Kevin asked and turned to look at him.

Tom nodded.

They got up. Kevin returned the guitar to it's stand and they went out to the van. There were two empty bottles of Jack Daniels on the floor. Disgusted, Kevin threw them in to the garbage cans on the side of the garage. They checked under all the seats and made sure there were no other open alcohol containers in the van before they left.

They drove into town in silence. Kevin pulled the van into a parking space at the grocery store and they got out.

They quickly found the six cans of pineapple juice and brought them to the check out counter.
The cashier was a short, fat woman with red hair. She looked at them over the top of her glasses.

"Hey, aren't you the boys living at Sarah's place?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kevin said.

"How is that working out for you? Are you getting work again?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kevin just wanted her to shut up and ring up their juice.

"Six cans of pineapple juice!"

"Sarah asked for it." Kevin responded.

"Well, what's she going to do? Bathe in it?" She laughed at her own joke. Kevin smiled politely.

Finally, she gave him the total. Kevin handed her the money. "You tell Sarah that Sharon said 'hi', OK?

"Sure." Kevin said. Tom took one bag and Kevin took the other.

"She was obnoxious." Kevin said after they got back into the van. "Do you get the feeling that the whole town will know we bought six cans of pineapple juice before the end of the day?

"Yeah." Tom laughed.

When they arrived at the house, Kevin put two of the cans in the fridge. Then he went over to Sarah's door and knocked. He heard her footsteps coming down the stairs. She opened the door for him.

"Hey," Kevin said. "I brought your pineapple juice."

"Thanks," she said and took the bag from him.

"Sharon said to tell you 'hi'," he said quietly.

"Oh."

"Do you need anything?" he asked. Sarah, let me be with you, please.

She looked into his eyes for a moment before shaking her head.

"Can you close the door for me?"

He nodded and pushed the door closed. He heard her lock it and the sound of her footsteps retreating up the stairs. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the door for a moment. Then he walked into his bedroom and laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.