Welcome Home By: Shawn B.

Welcome Home

By:

Shawn B.

  It had been 3 months since Chet had moved in with his roommates. Overall, they had a pretty good relationship. Chet had known Rory since 6th grade. The two were inseparable. They stood side by side at graduation and kept in touch throughout adulthood. Chet had been living with his longtime girlfriend, but time had taken a toll on the young couple. They mutually decided it was best to take a break. After the split, Rory welcomed Chet into his home with open arms. Rory had a three bedroom apartment with his expectant girlfriend, Vanessa. It was not hard for the couple to agree upon letting Chet move in. Vanessa was 5 months into her pregnancy at that point, and they all three liked the idea of saving some money.

Chet was in a particularly good mood today. His roomies were getting ready to leave town for the weekend. Vanessa was having her baby shower in Vermont, where majority of her family lived. He loved his roommates, but the past couple of weeks had been tough. There was an unsettlingly tension throughout the house, especially between Chet and Vanessa. Vanessa hated that Chet smoked in the house, and Chet hated her cats. They were both on edge and due for some much needed time apart.

Chet was packing a bowl when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. “Who is it?”

“Rory bro.”

“Come in ya’ douche.” Rory opened the door and entered with a smirk on his face.

“Nice. You about to spark that up?”

“Nah. I was gonna wait until you guys rolled out. Why, you wanna hit it?”

“Please. It’s a long drive to Vermont. It’s even longer when you have a pregnant woman who’s about to pop, riding shotgun.” They both laughed.

“Yeah, I bet.”

Chet lit up the bowl and passed it to Rory. Rory took a big hit and proceeded to cough to the point of tears. “ Damn bro! Don’t die Rory.”

“Fuck you man.” Chet continued to smoke while his friend gained his breath.

“I better get on the road man,” said Rory. “Vanessa is downstairs waiting on me. I just wanted to say peace out to my boy. I know you are gonna enjoy having the place to yourself all weekend.”

“You bet your sweet ass I am. I’m gonna walk around this bitch butt booty naked the whole time.”

“I know that’s right. That’s what I’d be doing.” They both chuckled.

Rory stood up. The two exchanged fist bumps, then Rory left the room. Chet waited until he heard the front door open, close, and lock before making his way downstairs.

Chet entered the kitchen to find the leftover spaghetti he had thawing in the sink, scattered all over the floor.

“DAMN THESE CATS! I HATE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?!?!” Chet angrily stomped through the apartment, searching for the feline culprits. One had hid behind the washer and dryer, thus making him unreachable. The other one was hiding behind the couch. Chet whacked her twice with the broom. She ran out from behind the couch and darted upstairs to Rory and Vanessa’s room.

“YOU STAY YOUR ASS UP THERE! I DON’T WANNA SEE YOUR STUPID, FURRY ASS FACE AGAIN! FUCKING BITCH!”

Chet smoked another bowl to calm himself down. He had had it with these cats. This kind of thing had become an everyday occurrence. Chet felt so disrespected by Vanessa. He tried to level with her and work together to come to a solution, but she wasn’t having it. Enough was enough.

Sunday came and Chet’s roommates were on their way home from Vermont. He felt it necessary to greet their return properly. He had decided to make them dinner. Chet hoped it would help relieve a bit of the tension that had been between him and Vanessa. Chet received a text from Rory, letting him know they were about an hour out. Chet made sure to let Rory know for them to come home hungry. Chet started gathering the ingredients and got to work.

Rory and Vanessa arrived to the aroma of a home cooked meal.

“Oh my, that smells good,” claimed Vanessa. “Yeah it does,” replied Rory.

Exhausted from the drive, they dropped their bags and nested on the couch.

“Hello roomies,” said Chet as he brought them each a plate.

“Wow Chet. You didn’t have to do this for us,” said Vanessa.

“It was my pleasure. I know things haven’t been great around here lately, so I thought I would do something to brighten the mood a bit.”

“Well thank you Chet. I appreciate it.”

“Me too. Are you not going to eat?” said Rory.

“I already had a plate. I couldn't wait. It looked too damn good.”

Rory and Vanessa wasted no time digging into the food. About 10 minutes had went by before either of them had said a word.

“Where are the cats,” asked Vanessa.

“I think they are upstairs. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

There was a brief, yet awkward silence.

“Great spaghetti, huh?” Chet asked with a grin as he took a sip of his wine.