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Chapter 2: The triplets and the trouble

“Here,” said his mother a few minutes later as he came down the stairs, handing him a twenty dollar bill, “get something for Sammy when he gets here and something to drink too, ok?”
“Sure, ok,” he said.
“Can I come too,” came the annoying voice of his brother.
“No, I spent three hours straight with you, that’s enough for today,” Kris said in an annoyed way. “I’m gone,” he said as he stepped out into the sunny daylight and out the door.
As he went down the steps he heard Jessica’s door open behind him, “I’ll be back mom, ok?” As Kris turned around, he saw a girl almost identical to Jessica, but instead of a red haired, cheery kind of girl, she had pitch-black hair and a “don’t-mess-with-me-or-I’ll-kick-your-a**” kind of look to her.
“Jessica,” he called to her.
As she turned around, the door opened a second time to reveal another identical girl, but instead of a cheery or gothic look, she had a fashionable look to her, as if saying, “your clothes look like rags compared to mine,” but kept her original hair color of bright red.
“What’d you just call me,” said the gothic Jessica in a threatening way, matching her look.
“Watch it sis,” said the fashionable Jessica, closing the door behind her, “you know what the judge said—“
“I know what the judge said,” snapped the Goth, “she said I can’t come within thirty yards of the guy.”
“And?”
“And that if I get into another fight for no reason, I’ll be sent back to Juvie,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t worry about her,” said the fashionable Jessica, tearing away from her sister, “she has some issues, but nothing serious. You must be Kris,” she added as she walked down the stairs of the stoop towards him, “I’m Sarah, and sunshine up there,” she said, pointing towards her sister, “is Jennifer.”
“Hi,” he said, taking her hand, thinking that if those aren’t serious problems then he doesn’t want to meet someone who has some. “There wouldn’t be anymore of you that I should know about, is there?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Jennifer snappishly.
“Nothing, it’s just that, well…” he started, trying to find a way of saying it without offense, “I didn’t expect triplets, you know?”
“Yeah, we get that a lot,” said Sarah, stepping in front of him, blocking Jennifer from view, “Jessica will be out in a little bit, in fact, there she is now.”
As Kris turned to face the door he saw Jessica just opening it behind Jennifer. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a regular T-shirt with a pink purse swinging on her shoulder.
“Are you two giving him a hard time,” She said as she got down the steps towards Kris.
“Well, one of us isn’t,” said Sarah, looking up at Jennifer and whispering in her ear, something obviously funny because they started laughing.
“What,” Kris asked, as they started giggling, being unaware of what they said.
“Nothing,” they said quickly.
“Losers,” said Jennifer under her breath as she walked down the stairs and down the sidewalk, “tell mom I’ll be home by dinnertime,” she yelled back.
“Anyway,” Kris said, feeling the moment of awkwardness increasing. “You ready,” he asked Jessica, trying to get to the store before changing his mind.
“Oh, sure, let’s go,” she said, and they took off down the sidewalk. “The faster we get back, the faster I taste that chocolate cake,” she smiled, “come on, I know a shortcut,” she said, grabbing Kris’s sleeve and cutting through an alley.
“You sure about this?” He said, looking down at a bum begging for change.
“Of course I’m sure,” she said. “So anyway, what’d you think of my sisters?” She added, turning a corner.
“They’re pretty cute if you ask me,” he answered, knowing that she would take it as a complement, since they all look almost exactly alike.
“Ha, does that line ever work?” she asked, as they turned back onto the street.
“Depends,” he said, “Did it?”
“A little,” she said, grinning and winking at him.
“Your just humoring me now, aren’t you,” he said, with an air of embarrassment and laughter.
“A little,” she laughed, “anyway, here’s the store.” She pointed as they arrived in front of an Albertson’s.
“Sweet, that didn’t take long at all,” he said, “I just need a few things.”
“Take your time, I need a few things myself,” she said, pulling out a wallet from her purse.
They grabbed a cart as they went in and started off down the aisles. As Kris grabbed the cooking supplies, Jessica grabbed some batteries and magazines. “Those are your supplies,” he asked, taking a half-gallon of milk.
“Yeah, so what,” she said, turning a little red. As they went down the pet food section, she asked, “You have a dog?”
“Yeah, name’s Sammy,” he said, grabbing a bag of dog food. “He’s half Chawawa and Terrier, so he’s really, really small, but the damn moving company hasn’t brought him yet.”
“Oh well, hey Hannah,” she yelled out, making some people turn their heads in alarm. But a few seconds later a slender girl with light brown hair came up, looking worn out.
“Hurry, hide me,” she said, looking frantic and hiding behind Jessica, not even noticing Kris.
“Why,” she asked, looking frantic herself about how her friend was acting.
“Carlos is looking for me,” she whispered, looking around as if he were mere feet away. “There he is!”
And sure enough, a tall boy with black hair and yellow highlights came running up to them, spotting Hannah and grabbing her by the arm, shaking her a little harder than necessary and yelling, “You thought you could hide from me that way? Hiding behind your friend.”
“Hey,” Kris burst out before realizing what he was doing, and alarmed everyone else, who just noticed he was there, “we got a problem here?”
“No, not if you keep your nose out of other peoples business, but if you are that nosy,” at this he stepped up to Kris so that they were face to face, “then yeah, we do have a problem. So, do you think we have a problem here?”
“What do you think,” Kris replied, and at this point, they were nose to nose, and at a stare-off.
“Fine then,” Carlos said after a few moments, letting go of Hannah, “you’re safe for now, but just you wait,” he said, pointing at her, “your little bodyguard won’t always be there for you.”
“Yeah, but if I hear that you’ve been harassing her again, then you won’t have enough time to hire a bodyguard to stop me from kicking your a**, got that?” said Kris, now stepping in front of Hannah, separating the two.
And as Carlos walked away, Hannah hugged and kissed Kris’s cheeks. “Oh thank God you were there, you have no idea how grateful I am.”
“I think I get the idea,” he said as she was torn off him by Jessica, who looked impressed at what Kris did, but annoyed at the reward for the stunt.
“So anyway,” she said, still annoyed about the last few minutes, “what did he want with you anyway?”
“You know that Carlos is territorial about the things he has. He still thinks that I’m still his girlfriend,” she said, with an air of laughter at this.
“Well, why don’t we walk you home then,” Jessica said, as they were at the checkout counter. “I mean, it’s on the way home, right?”
“It should be, you live on Maple Street, right?” she asked, nervously looking around as they walked outside.
“Yeah.”
“Sure, as long as I’ve got someone like you around,” she said, criss-crossing her arm through Kris’s.
“Look,” said a now very annoyed Jessica, “we just want to make sure you get home safely, alright?”
“Ok,” she said, tightening her grip around his arm, “what’s with the supplies anyway?”
“Oh, she brought me to the store so I could get some supplies for dinner tonight,” Kris said, pointing at Jessica, “name’s Kris, I’m new here, so she’s showing me around and we’re having a welcome dinner tonight.”
“Oh, you’re having dinner together, huh?” she said, letting go of Kris at this piece of information and saying, “I didn’t know you two were together, or anything.”
“We’re just having dinner with our families…all of us…not just the two of us,” Jessica hastily explained.
“Ok then,” she said with a sly smile on her face and slipping her arm back through Kris’s, “just making sure. So Kris,” she said, turning to him, “where’re you from?”
“Dallas, Texas,” he answered as they turned the corner, back into the alleyway.
“Oooohh,” she said in an awed voice, “a—“
“Please don’t let those next two words be ‘country boy’,” he said in a begging voice, tired of all the stereotypes.
“Nothing to be ashamed of,” she said, looking him up and down, “more muscles.”
“Dallas is a city, dimwit,” said an even more annoyed Jessica. “Here we are, your house, now we can go home,” she said in a hurried voice.
“Ok,” Hannah said in a disappointed voice, letting go of Kris’s arm, “Maybe I’ll see you guys around then,” she said as she walked up the stairs.
“Hold on,” Kris said, pulling out a pen and the store receipt, “here, call me if Carlos bothers you again,” he said, scribbling his number and handing it to her.
“Ok, thanks again,” she said, walking back down the stairs and kissing him on the cheek and taking the receipt, “I’ll see you around then.” And walked into her house.
“Come on,” Jessica said in an annoyed voice, snapping Kris back into reality, “I want to taste that cake of yours.”
“Alright, alright, I’m going, I’m going….” He said, as she started dragging him away and back onto the street, towards the house. “Hey, don’t forget the pans, ok,” he said as they climbed the stairs.
“I won’t, and hey,” she said, just stopping him at the door, “don’t worry about my sisters if they bug you tonight, they’re just playing around.”
“Ok, we’ll be over there around seven-thirty, maybe eight, ok?”
“Sure,” she said as she opened the door and disappeared behind it.