Planet Rock

“Clover, how are you doing?” Muriel asked after a long beat.

“Good…” the young woman said, looking at every old person in the room. “Why are you here?”

“Uh…” she said. Michael looked up from the couch.

“Oh, hi Clover,” he said. “Who are these weirdos?” Clyde tried to pet his hair again but he dodged his head.

“Stop,” he said.

“Clyde, enough!” Aisha shouted. The dirty old biddy stuck out her tongue and backed up. The leader glared at her. William cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry for that, Clover,” he said. “I just didn’t know when Mike just appeared in the house. Lizzy should’ve told me ahead of time.” His younger niece narrowed her eyes.

“Right…” she said. Michael straightened up his hair in the punk rock style that he had earlier.

“Is Liz coming back soon?” he asked.

“Oh, sure,” Clover said. “Has anyone eaten yet?”

“No!” Clyde shouted. Aisha smacked her in the head.

“Ow,” the dirty old biddy said. Clover did a quick headcount of the living room. She turned and headed towards the kitchen.

“Good thing I did the shopping this morning,” she said to herself.

---------

Liz leaned against the counter, smiling. Annie looked at her with her eyebrow raised.

“What’s his name?” she asked.

“Mike,” Liz said. “I met him in New London.”

“What is he like?” Annie asked. The young woman played with her long dark brown ponytail.

“He’s so fit,” she said. “He’s like a punk rocker but he’s like the sweetest guy in the world.” Tucker looked up as he finished filling the bag with scones.

“What happened with John?” he asked. Liz wrinkled her nose.

“That one was over,” she said. “He wanted to get married and have kids.” Liz made a face.

“You don’t want that?” Gloria asked. Liz turned her head.

“No!” she said. “Can you picture me having any children?” The whole room went quiet. The young woman nodded her head once.

“Exactly,” she said. Tucker handed her the bag of scones.

“Thank you,” Liz said.

“Fifteen pence,” Annie said. The younger woman paid for the treats.

“Cheers,” she said. Liz turned to leave.

“Tell Mike I said hi!” Tucker shouted.

“Sure will!” the young woman said back. Annie turned to her husband with a strange look on her face as the door swung closed. Meanwhile, Gloria finished up her tea.

-----------

Everyone sat around at the small kitchen table as Clover got to work cooking. All of the elderly stared at Mike. Muriel had to sit between Clyde and the young man to keep her off of him. Mike narrowed his eyes at the dirty old biddy.

“So these are your neighbors?” he asked.

“I am,” Muriel said. “These are just my mates.”

“Hello,” Lewis said.

“Nice to meet you,” Michael said. Silence hung over them. Clover looked over her shoulder.

“My sister should be back soon,” she said. “We were running errands this morning.”

“Oh, okay,” Mike said. Aisha cleared her throat.

“Where did you come from, young man?” she asked.

“New London,” he said.

“Is it nice up there?” she asked.

“I guess,” he said. The leader gave him a strange look.

“What do you mean you guess?” she asked.

“Aisha,” Lewis said. Suddenly, the phone rang.

“I’ve got it!” William said. He jumped up from the table and picked up the phone. Everyone could breathe for a bit. The old biddies all looked at each other.

“What were we supposed to do today?” Muriel asked. Aisha took a moment to think.

“Volunteer work around the church, I believe,” she said.

“Oh,” Muriel said. Conversation kept dying around them. Aisha turned back to Mike.

“What do you do for a living?” she asked. The young man perked up for a moment.

“I’m a musician, miss,” he said. The leader frowned at him.

“That’s it?” she asked.

“Yes,” Mike said.

“Oh…” Aisha said in a flat tone.

“Stop,” Lewis whispered. Mike gave the leader a strange look. William returned to the table.

“That was a wrong number,” he said. “What did I miss?” There was no answer.

“Nothing then,” the old man said. “Okay.” William sat back down. Muriel looked around for a clock. Suddenly, the front door opened.

“I’m home,” Liz said. Everyone looked up.

“We’re in here!” Clover shouted. “Breakfast is almost ready!”

“Great,” her sister said. “I brought us some scones.” Liz walked into the kitchen. She froze with a confused look on her face.

“Oh…” she said. Lewis put up her hand and waved.

“Hey, Lizzy,” she said. Liz looked at her uncle, the old biddies, and her boyfriend at the kitchen table looking so awkward.

“I didn’t know that everyone was going to be here,” she said. “What’s going on here?” William kind of shrugged.

“I asked Muriel to come over and things just kind of happened,” he said.

“I see…” his older niece said. Clover turned around with a spatula in her hand.

“Uh… breakfast is ready,” she said.

End