Maybe baby/Ain't That Cute
By:
Ella ( [email protected] )
Chapter
Six: "Phonecalls to Kevin"
AJ pulled his call from his pocket, scrolling through the numbers until he found
Kevin’s. He looked at Brian.
“You know Kevin’s going to go mad about all this.”
“Yep,” said Brain casually, “But what else can we do? I don’t know shit
about babies. You don’t know shit about babies. Nick doesn’t know shit about
babies…but oh! He’s not here anyway!”
Brian’s sarcastic tone was enough to make AJ laugh. “Okay it’s ringing,
here goes nothing…”
Kev: “Hello, AJ.”
AJ: “Um hi buddy. You ok?”
Kev: “Yeah, I’m cool, just sitting at home watching the football. So … you
alright?”
AJ: “Me? Yeah, I’m great. But, Nick isn’t – he’s got a large problem.”
Kev: (laughing) “Tell me something new.”
AJ: “If you’re sure…you’re not goin’ to like this, though…” his
voice trailed off.
Kev: “Go on.”
AJ: “Okay, basically, Nick has a baby. She arrived this afternoon. Her
name’s India, she’s one and a half and yeah…”
Silence.
AJ: “Uh hello?”
Kev: “This isn’t funny AJ, I’m not in the mood for messing around.”
AJ: “Jeez Kev, I wouldn’t muck around about this, ok? I’m telling ya the
truth. We came home and there was a little girl in our garden with all her stuff.
And, a note saying she was Nick’s.”
Kev: “This is for real, is it?”
AJ: (Angrily) “YES!”
Kev: “Well, it’s kind of hard to believe.”
AJ: “Okay, okay fine. If you come over here now, you’ll see I’m not lying.
Brian’s sat here next to me with a little girl on his lap. You can see for
yourself.”
Kev: “Well, where’s Nick then?”
AJ: “Where do you think? Where does he always run to when he’s in trouble?”
Kev: (Sighing) “His mom’s.”
AJ: “Exactly. Please could you help us out here. Me and Brian don’t know
fuck all about babies and you … well, you’ve got god-daughters and stuff, so
you know.”
Kev: “Tell me honestly, AJ, is this a wind-up?”
AJ: “No.”
Kev: “Okay, give me ten minutes, I’ll be over. Do you want me to get Nick on
the way?”
AJ: “No, that’d take too long - we’ll sort it out later.”
Kev: “Okay, but he’s not getting away with this. (Pause) I’ll leave now,
see ya.”
AJ: “Thanks, see ya in a minute.”
Brian looked expectantly at AJ. “He’s just leaving.”
Brian breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank God.” India wriggled on his lap. “AJ, you hold her a sec, I’m
gonna see if I can talk to Nick.” He passed India to AJ, who held her out in
front of him as far as he could stretch.
Chuckling, Brian said “She doesn’t bite!”
“Ya I know dumb ass, but she sure as hell dribbles.”
Brian surveyed the pink bundle. “Yeah she does, but she can’t be all that
comfortable with you holding her like that.”
Considering this, AJ pulled India closer towards him, watching Brian pull out
his cell and dial Nick’s number. He held the phone to his ear for about two
minutes.
“He’s not answering,” Brian said angrily, “What the fuck is he
playing at?”
“Look, give the guy a break okay, dude. Nick’s, like, just turned nineteen
and I think he might be…I dunno…in shock or something. Give him time.”
Brian looked wildly at AJ. “I DON’T CARE IF HIS EYES FELL OUT AND HE GREW AN
EXTRA HEAD…OR IF HE WAS MADE KING OF ENGLAND! THIS IS HIS MESS AND HE’S GOT
TO DEAL WITH IT!”
Brian slammed his fist into a cushion.
This was a nightmare.