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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:43 pm
You ever have a neighbor that becomes so comfortable with being over and among your family, they start blending in and acting like one of your kids and showing up to dinner unannounced?
Zia, unfortunately, had slowly become one of those people. And her not-family? The Gallos. Even after Chris moved out and she became more or less an adult, it did nothing to break her habit, she'd just gotten more polite about it.
"Dinner smells amazing, Claire" She said, leaning on the kitchen island and giving a casual glance to see if any spare ingredients were left out to pilfer for a snack. "Do you need any help?" She asked, even though it was a transparent offer that was really only made to seem polite and maybe be in a better snack stealing position. Zee had a bad habit of eating everything as she cooked.
Okay, so acting like this and running around barefoot in anyone else's house would be rude, but with these people it was okay, right? Right?
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:19 pm
You know that neighbor that always comes over to mooch off of your mom's cooking and pretend to be the long-lost child or relative? Yeah. Zia was that person.
Peter scowled to himself when he heard her voice, girly and annoying, coming from the kitchen where his mom was making dinner. Dinner for him. Neither Michael or Dad was home, and who cared where Chris was. But no. Zia had to show up and eat all the food that was supposed to be made with love for him.
"Oh, thank you, Doodle," Peter heard his mom say, practically gushing all over whatever she was making. Mom says that the nickname is short for 'snickerdoodle', because Zia was sweet as candy or something mushy like that. He thought it was better explained away as how Zia looks like a poodle... who rolled in crap.
"I think I'll be okay, though. Just make yourself at home!" Yeah, like she didn't do that on her own, anyway.
"Hi Zia," Peter grinned, slipping his phone into his pocket as he made his way around the corner to the kitchen. "Did you get kicked out of your house again?" Because she seemed like she was lost.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:14 pm
Zia's passive smile had turned into a forced, stiff one at the nickname. Oh god, why did that nickname stick? Of course she'd never tell Claire she found it humiliating so all she did was grin and bear it. Literally.
And then Peter walked in. Like feeling a disturbance in the force before he even spoke up, Zia had to stop an involuntary eye roll before she whirled around and gave him her classic 'I hate you' smile.
Not that she hated Peter. She hated a lot of people for far more serious crimes. Hate was too strong a word.
Peter was just annoying. Like the little brother she never wanted.
"Hi, Peter," She said flatly, grabbing her drink and sipping for a silent little 'haha, I'm making myself at home in your house'.
"Nope, I just thought I'd drop by," She said sweetly, though it was an underlying challenge. A pretty obvious 'what're you gonna do about it'.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:49 am
Peter had to force back a scowl with his mother standing right there, and instead plastering a smile to his face just like Zia. At least his mom didn't call him 'Doodle the Poopy Poodle'. Oh wait, no... that was him calling her that. Immature? Yeah, sure, but he could get away with it because he was a good decade and a half younger than her.
"How old are you now? Why don't you have your own place like Chris and Michael?" he wondered out loud, moving over to the 'fridge in order to pull out a juice box for himself. "Since you can't stand your own house, I mean," he added.
"Peter," Claire piped up to scold him, although she didn't look all that upset. She rarely looked upset about things, and when she did, she made sure everyone around her felt guilty for making her upset. "Zia is allowed over whenever she wants. You know that," she said, throwing some of the vegetables she'd been chopping up into a pan to cook.
The boy gritted his teeth in an awkward looking smile up at his mom, before reaching up onto the counter to grab a handful of carrot pieces that she hadn't gotten to yet, so he'd have something to munch on. "I was just curious why she hadn't moved out!" He happened to think it was a legitimate question!
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:37 pm
"Well, you know, my dad needs all the help he can get," Zia said, turning her attention to Claire with her usual go-to guilt trip, "You know, after his triple bypass last year, he's just not the same."
Of course he was the same. The same gluttonous, blowhard whore monger he always was who would throw one of his famous tantrums if he knew his morality was being brought up, but Zia knew he was a feeble old man to all the neighbors. It was way too easy to bring this up and finish it off with a sad shake of the head.
"He's just a lonely old man, Peter," She said, putting the spotlight on him. She knew Peter wouldn't believe that, after all the times Robert yelled at him for playing ball near his house and various other shenanigans. But this guilt trip wasn't for Peter.
This was all for Claire.
She only let it linger long enough to be awkward before she turned to what she considered a lighter subject. At least she thought picking on her brother was lighter. "Besides, Noah just moved out of his mom's place last year," She laughed, ignoring the fact Noah only had to move back in with his mom a few years back because his adventures after college across the country left him with about six dollars to his name. "And quit delivering pizzas. Finally."
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 11:24 pm
"Except you decide to spend more time here than you do with your dad," Peter shamelessly pointed out. "And he seemed fine to me the other day when he decided I shouldn't be in your backyard." Which wasn't fair at all because Zia was always over at heir house, so why couldn't he play in their backyard? He'd been sure to tell the old man that, too! Although, he was only ten or so years older than his father, so it wasn't really much of a difference.
"Peter, you behave, understand?" Claire frowned at her son, although she nodded sympathetically to Zia. "Yes, Doodle, you just do what you can, okay?"
The ten-year-old rolled his eyes. This was so rich... Part of him really hoped that his mother was trolling Zia right back, but sadly his mom tended to believe people always told the truth. Well, most of the time, at least.
"And what are you doing now?" Peter chirped, deciding to climb into the seat next to her, sipping noisily at the juicebox he'd opened for himself, making sure to make it crinkle and pop as he squeezed it.
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