had now been decorated too. Cushy, forest green couches lined each side of a thick, wooden coffee table. A plant stood in the corner, looking like it had always been there. The mantel over the fireplace was cluttered with candles and vases. Even the poker that I’d left covered in cobwebs stood like a new, shining, gold rod propped next to the fireplace screen.
I did recognize that their additions made the house more like an actual home, but I’d seen enough by then. Heading back to the kitchen, I stopped at the doorway and demanded, “WHO are you people?”
“Now t hat should have been the first order of business, shouldn’t it have been?” said someone from behind me.
I spun around to find a stout, swarthy woman with a mug of coffee and a broad smile. Dreadlocks hung down over her shoulders, lying against a dress swirling with colors and intertwined with the wooden bracelets stac ked up both of her th ick arms. Incidentally, s he only added to the surreal situation.
She held out her hand , and as I shook it, she explained. “ I’m Ezra Wood. Cottage cheese flapjacks, here, can be called Felix Pluck. And there,” she nodded toward the giant man who’d returned to the stove, “is Rufus O’Malley…We’re your new roommates.”
I glanced between the three of them realizing they couldn’t possibly be from the same family. Ezra was dark-skinned, rotund, with prominent , full facial features . Felix could have passed for a scarecrow and was far shorter than the other two. Rufus stood like a tree trunk: tall, thick, and carved with tattoos and scars. Yet, he had a depth to him . The manner in which he carried himself and his facial expressions told me that al though he could certainly do a lot of damage it was not in his nature.
All this sunk in while her final word registered with me .
“Roommates? ” I said, snapping my head back in her direction. “ Aunt Teresa only mentioned you .”
“ She has a tendency to ignore details ,” Ezra replied nonchalantly , standing to pour herself another cup of coffee . She was unapologetic , but it didn’t bother me. She clearly k new my aunt well. “We moved in early this morning .”
“I’ve noticed,” I replied, my voice sounding defensive though I didn’t mean for it to. It was a reaction to my mood.
“Thought we’d wake ya with all the racket,” said Rufus over his shoulder. “Felix dropped his side o’ the couch three times.”
“ I told you and you already know it anyways …” Felix whined. “I have bad knees.” He then turned to address me. “I am sorry if I woke you.”
“ I’m a deep sleeper.”
I watched Ezra retu rn to the table and then muttered “r oommates” to myself, allowing the idea to settle .
I’d never had roommates before . And I preferred it that way. My lifestyle seemed to open up doors , dangerous ones, for others around me. It hadn’t take n long for me to recognize that i t was safest – for them, for Aunt Teresa , and for me - to keep everyone at a distance and so I had for a very long time.
Felix must have sensed the direction my thoughts were taking because he swayed across the kitchen toward me and patted my shoulder. “Don’t you worry, ” he said , in an attempt to be comforting , as he guided me back to the kitchen table, pulling out the chair and pushing me down into it . “ We have fabulous furniture…and w ith the exception of Rufus’s odd feet stench and Ezra’s predilection for coffee all day long , we’re a good lot to live with.”
I caught a glance at Rufus , who flicked a piece of bacon at Felix which hit him square in the nose and caused an offended gasp in return.
I could just barely see the side of Rufus’s cheek turn up , and I figured he was satisfied with the reaction he’d gotten .
“Well, I’ve asked you to take care of it in the past and you refuse,” Felix replied, his pride wounded more than his nose .
Rufus pick ed up another piece of bacon, threatening, and Felix