Day Twenty-Six < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Twenty-Eight

Bennie's Big Meeting

It seemed like just another Friday. Marnie was up early, fixing the bathroom plumbing so the kids would be able to get ready for school. From the other room, all she could hear was Bennie sitting on his rear watching the sports channel. The longer it took her to fix the plumbing, the more annoyed she got.

Consequently, once the plumbing was fixed, Marnie turned to taking care of Bennie. Incensed, she yelled at him about rarely opening the store anymore, and about skipping work days. Bennie looked at her with a stunned expression, and didn't say anything for a while.

He was still stewing about it when Marnie got back up and went to take care of the kids and make sure all got to school okay.

But, by the time he got to eating breakfast, his anger was pretty much boiling over. How DARE she get on him for not working hard enough after what he'd done for the family yesterday. No WAY was he going to open the store this morning, either. Just to prove to her that he didn't have to listen to her. He had been planning on telling her his surprise as soon as the kids left for school, but he decided, to punish her, that he'd make her wait until after school when he announced it to everyone. (Marnie, however, was busy with the twins.. and was clueless to being "punished" for something she had no idea about.... )

To pass the time, he tried dumpster diving, but eventually, he decided it wasn't really worth it. All he was finding were some small amounts of change, and nothing good to sell.

Back inside, he was watching one of the twins playing peacefully by himself when his phone rang. His boss was yelling at him for missing work - again. Bennie assured him he would be there in a short while, that he had to have a quick meeting with his family when the kids got home from school first. His boss grumbled a bit, but in the end, relented.

Once the kids were all home, Bennie had everyone (except for the twins, who he deemed too young to care) sitting at the table.. mostly just staring at him in wonder, because something like this had never happened before.

"I have GREAT news, everyone! Just wait until you hear this!" Bennie started, grinning internally at the wonder on everyone's faces (except for Marnie, who still looked thunderous).

"I got a truly amazing deal on a real house for us. I found it at auction for real cheap, and we'll be able to move in as soon as we clean it up and move our stuff. No longer will we have to stay in this apartment, or worry about the store, since I got a promotion at work, and found someone who was more than willing to buy the store as-is."

Phoenix was the first to react, squealing in joy.

Glancing around at his family, Bennie tried to gauge their reactions. Marnie was still staring at him in confusion, and not a little bit of distrust, but smiles seemed to be the biggest reaction around the table. Feeling like he'd done his good deed for the day, Bennie excused himself and headed to work. (Two hours late!)

While trying to help out his mother, Benji discovered that he really didn't like handiness. He vowed to find an easier way to deal with things.

When Bennie got home from work, he found Marnie getting ready for bed. Suspicious, Bennie wondered why she had waited up for him. She quietly apologized for yelling at him that morning.

"I had no idea you were working to get us a house, Bennie." she said, and Bennie suppressed a satisfied smile.

"Of course you didn't, I hadn't told anyone because I wanted it to be a surprise!" Bennie crowed. "You and I can go look at it tomorrow to see what will need to be done this weekend to get it ready to live in."

Marnie smiled to herself, sighing happily. Perhaps this was the change she had always been hoping for. She'd always dreamed of having her own home!

Behind her, Bennie closed his eyes and hoped this whole thing would go by easily, and that the new job position would lead to the success he truly wanted.

After everyone was in bed, Benji was still awake. Finally, sick of trying to sleep, he got up, got something to eat, then bundled up and wandered around outside. He wondered to himself how to get out of the situation he found himself in. He didn't want to be stuck living in this family.. and now that he'd just graduated (barely, at that...), he was realizing that he needed to move on. Soon. He was pretty sure a cheap house from an auction was NOT the good thing Bennie was saying it was, and Benji wanted no part of it. While wandering idly, he suddenly noticed something he hadn't really noticed before.

Was this an actual suit of armor just standing here? With nobody paying it any attention? Benji wondered how much it might be worth. It certainly wouldn't be hard to steal, and he doubted anyone would even notice it gone this weekend with all the chaos of moving....

His mind now whirling, Benji chuckled to himself, and started trying to figure out who he could sell this thing to under the table. First, he had to find someone to appraise it on the sly... but that wouldn't be an issue. It's not like the store was going to be filled with customers this weekend, or anything!

Finally smiling again, Benji wandered back upstairs and climbed back into bed.

Squeaks and skittering noises woke Marnie and Bennie up early. Marnie sighed, and looked down at the mouse hole in consternation. Good thing she wouldn't have to deal with them soon.

Bennie, on the other hand, was furious. If there were mice in the new house.. he swore to himself he'd call a pest control company and get rid of them for good. No more living with mice. He munched on a mid-night snack, then made the "rounds" - depositing traps in all the holes before heading back to bed to get a little bit more sleep.

(Um.. Bennie.. I think you missed one... Also. I got the life scared out of me while playing this day.. while everyone was in bed, the save feature went grey, and it said I couldn't save while someone was dying.... !!!! I have no idea who it was, but thankfully, it wasn't the Murphy bed. LOL. Eventually, it went back to white so I could save, and I breathed a VERY relieved sigh.)

Day Twenty-Six < | Challenge Home Page | > Day Twenty-Eight