Page 14 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

“A moving truck.”

Yes, I had plans to make the next months as comfortable as possible for Maddie. She was taking my bedroom while I took the living room, but unless I performed a miracle, there was no way to fit a whole moving truck in our already furnished house.

Nick and I watched as my dad hopped out of the truck and came to the front yard with a smile on his face.

“Zeek!” Dad boomed. He gave me a half hug. Still holding on to me, he extended a hand to Nick. “Nick, my man.”

“Hi, Mr. King. Thanks for bringing all Maddie stuff,” he said with an arch of his eyebrow, making dad laugh.

He was going to say something to Nick when we heard André and Maddie approaching. The girl didn’t give me a warning, just jumped on top of me, with her little hands around my neck.

“Z!” she screeched in my ear. “Thank you so much, oh my god!” Her hair was all over my face, I struggled to breathe. She had already thanked me one hundred times when I guaranteed she’d not cramp my bachelor style. Whatever she meant by that.

“Relax, Mad Max, it’s going to be fun.”

She left my arms, putting a little space between us but still holding my hand while she adjusted her big, round glasses with the other. Maddie might look like a regular twenty-one-year-old, but her grandma glasses were just the tip of the iceberg of all the ways she wasn’t.

Her grandma hobbies were the real disaster. Maddie’s youth was a lie.

Nick got a hug, too. She was again grateful, and Nick said the same thing as me, although he was expecting all kinds of pastries in return for his hospitality.

“Nicky, this is my dad, André.”

Dad didn’t miss Maddie call Nick, Nicky. I chuckled. Maddie could get away with anything, including stupid nicknames or calling us cute from time to time. Three grown ass men who watched sports and cursed all the time. But Maddie thought we werecute.

Nick and André shook hands, but I got a half hug from Maddie’s dad. After the pleasantries, Maddie took me by the hand to stand just by the moving truck, as her dad opened it for us.

“Don’t be mad, Z.”

“Never.”

She swayed, slapping me on the chest.

“Dad will bring most of this back home for storage, but I wanted you to have a look to see if we need anything. Just don’t get your panties in a twist.”

I glanced at André, who looked like he was ready to burst into a laugh. He knew his daughter well. I looked at the beast in front of me, it was crammed with mismatched colored furniture. I kept my comments to myself, and I hopped on it with ease, extending a hand to Maddie to help her up. We stopped right at the door, my hands on my waist. The small form of Maddie was trying to peek over my shoulder. “You said you won’t get your panties in a twist.” she whispered.

We couldn’t move more than an inch. Her strange furniture was an assault to my senses. “I’d never promise such a thing.”

She pinched my arm. I squirmed away, bumping into an ugly vomit green side table. Maddie was truly a grandmother in the making with wicker baskets, and an old purple two-seater couch which I remembered well. She made me drive three hours each way to collect it from a couple that couldn’t wait to get rid of the monstrosity. Maddie was a yard sale shopper extraordinaire.

I turned to my best friend and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fess up, Mad Max, tell me the things you can’t part with, and we’ll negotiate.”

She bit her lip and turned around, eyeing her minty green fridge, the skinny legged table, and a horrible brown lamp with tassels. No wonder Aisha let Maddie keep all their furniture. I would bet middle-class 70s décor wasn’t Aisha’s style, like it was Maddie’s.

“My fridge is…” She started.

“I have a fridge.” I nipped that right in the bud.

“My fridge is green,” she sang.

“Your fridge is green.” I agreed. “It shouldn’t be.”

André laughed at us from the sidewalk, and Maddie glared at him.

“Why don’t I help you?” I offered.

She twirled around and bobbed her head.

---