characters in quarantine

It was day 9 in quarantine with Violet and Chloe that I started losing my shit.  "If I don't get out of this fucking apartment, I'm going to murder your roommate or my best friend!" I shouted at Izaak, pacing in Vic's room, eyes puddled in angry tears that threatened to fall at any moment.

In a monotone, firm voice he responded, "You do not need to go outside, it's too dangerous."

"Well what the fuck do you expect me to do?!  You're being so anal lately, it's not cute."

"You've definitely been around Violet too much.  What's going on?"

I sighed.  "Haven't you paid attention at all?  They've been playing pranks on me all week and today even interrupted one of my virtual sessions with it."

"Kiddo, listen, I'm sorry but..."

"I know, you're too busy.  Everyone's going through shit right now.  I get it.  I'm just... done."

"I'll talk to them and see what I can do."

"Don't bother.  I'm going out for a run and..."

"Molly!"  His sharp and authoritative tone caught me by surprise... he rarely used it with me anymore.  "Do not..." he broke off with an angry grunt.  "If you leave home I will..."

"What?  Come over?  Like I've asked you to a dozen times since Saturday when Chloe thought it'd be nice to feed me edibles before work?"

"Listen...  When it's possible, I'll take care of Chloe, and Violet, too, if needed.  But I'll also take care of you, young lady, if you defy my instructions.  Am I clear?"

My stomach twisted into knots.  "I guess," I muttered, hearing his car door slam and knowing what would come next.

"I have to go.  Behave.  And stay home."

With an eyeroll, I simply answered, "bye," and clicked off the phone.  I flopped on Vic's bed, squeezing my eyes shut and allowing the tears to stream down my cheeks.  This whole month had been stressful and depressing, and being on lockdown with two brats wasn't helpful.  Plus, Adam was taking care of his kids and working from home, so I hadn't seen or talked to him much lately.  Every ounce of positivity had been drained from me.

"Yoooo, don't be mad MollyPop," Violet chirped outside, jiggling the door handle.

"Leave me alone!"

"C'mon!  We were just messin' around.  Come play with us!  You'll kick our ass in the singing game.  Loser takes shots."

Frustrated, I thrust myself out of the bed and stomped to the door, flinging it open.  Violet stood there with a smirk on her face, polar opposite mood from my own.  I'm not the confrontational type, but this bitch had it coming.  "Are you fucking serious right now?  You -did something awful- and expect me to forget about it over drunk karaoke?"

She clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.  "Bro, we apologized, you gotta drop it."

My eyes narrowed and I wished I had the guts to start a physical fight with her.  It'd be a great way to let out the pent up anxiety/irritability/restlessness.  But she would most definitely kick my ass.  I'd seen her fight enough to know I didn't stand a chance.

Instead, I tried to slam the door in her face, but she caught it and forced it back open, stepping inside.  "You gotta lighten up.  We're all stuck in this shit together.  Ain't nobody like it."

I glared at her, biting my tongue.  She was trying to get a rise out of me, and I wouldn't take the bait.  I pushed past her and stomped towards my room, where Chloe sat painting her nails.  

Violet clomped after me, talking the whole time, but I tuned her out, focused only on finding a change of clothes.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood, idly aware that they were both watching me as I slipped on my running clothes.  Still ignoring them, I plugged my ears with airpods and grabbed my keys, heading for the door.

"What the fuck! Where do you think you're going?" Violet said, jumping in front of me to block my escape.

I turned on my music and walked around her, not bothering to lock the door behind me.

x-x-x-x

The sixty minutes I spent in the sunshine, wind slapping against my face, was totally worth it.  When I arrived back home, Violet and Chloe were enjoying their drunk karaoke party in my room (again), so were easy to ignore as I showered and settled into Vic's room in my pjs just in time for him to ring me on FaceTime.

I answered with a big grin, hair still wet from the shower, vape pen in hand.  "Heyyy stranger!  How's California?"

Vic's smile was equally enthusiastic.  He sat outside in the middle of a green backyard, trees and birds chirping all over the place.  My heart wrenched with envy.  "We're managing — work has been crazy, lots of overtime.  This is the first break I've gotten in a while.  How about there?  Lockdown with my sister sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."

"She's lucky I have the patience of a saint or you wouldn't have a sister anymore by the time you get back home."

He laughed.  "I'm not surprised.  Do you want to vent?  Because I can definitely empathize with you on this!"

Something stirred in my chest at Vic's warm and positive demeanor.  "I really miss you.  It'd be hard with four people here, but I'd love the extra teammate.  I don't need to vent.  Tell me your horror stories.  What's the most awful thing that happened with you guys?"

Glancing away for a moment, Vic's smile faded and he nodded.  "I'd have to say the night our uncle kicked her out.  I'd been trying to save money to get our own place and she knew it.  But since I had to work late and cancel our plans, she got pissed and stole the cash I had hidden away.  Spent it all.  Got arrested.  Fought with my uncle.  Well, I guess you know the rest... but she refused to talk to me until I crashed her therapy session."

"Ha, yeah, I remember that.  She was pissed.  But it was good."

Vic's long chocolate-colored hair fell in front of his eyes, emo-style, and he smiled, pushing it away.  "And the time she gambled away my guitar."

My mouth dropped in surprise.  "Oh shit yeah... you were super pissed then."

"Until we got it back."  His head shook at the memory. "That was one of the only times I ever hit her."

"I wish I could've been a fly on the wall.  Never in my dreams would I be able to imagine you spanking anyone, much less Violet!"

Now he pushed his hair in front of his face, slightly pink with embarrassment.  (Violet has the tendency to make relationships awkward.)  "She suggested it and at that moment I wasn't going to argue.  The little brat deserved it!  And I didn't even hit her that hard..."

"Oh, I'm sure the shame and humiliation was much more effective anyway."

"Damn straight.  After that incident, she chilled out a lot.  Maybe you need to smack her so she'll stop being a pest."

I giggled.  "I wish."  

x-x-x-x

The combination of exercise and connecting with Vic helped me get a rested sleep, so I was unusually perky again when Izaak called me the next morning demanding I put him on speaker phone with Chloe and Violet. "I'll be there in one hour.  I expect everyone to be presentable when I arrive, and the apartment tidy.  Understood?" 

We simultaneously rolled our eyes and answered, "yes."

For the first time in nearly two weeks, time flew.  Nobody wanted to clean or get ready or listen to anyone else, so we spent the first 45 minutes arguing, then used the remainder of our time to fight over who was going to shower first.  When Izaak buzzed, Violet's hair was still dripping as she was wrapped in a towel, I was still in my pjs puffing on my vape pen, and Chloe was singing in the shower.

Being the anal retentive person he is, Izaak refused to come fully inside the apartment in his street clothes, for fear of contaminating our space.  So he made us go back to my room while he stripped off his gloves, jacket, boots, and pants.  Since my room only has a beaded door, the three of us quarantined girls didn't even pretend to not see his muscular thighs changing into a new pair of pants.  Violet even whistled at him, provoking a glare.

By the time he was changed and organized, we were all ready.  

Izaak parted the bead door and ducked into my room, hands on his hips.  "Stand at attention, all of you?"

"What the fuck, yo, this isn't the military," Violet sneered from her seat on a beanbag chair.

Chloe and I looked on curiously, though much easier to break.  Izaak stepped forward towards Violet, now towering over her with intimidation.  "Esperanza, up, NOW!" His tone was so forceful that it felt like it shook the apartment.  Suddenly the three of us were lined up facing Izaak, hands behind our backs.  While Violet looked reluctant and annoyed, I was a little more scared, and Chloe shifted nervously.