All I know

Chapter One


It was a night like any other in Los Angeles, save the fact that Mary had been dragged out of bed once again to bail her son and his best friend out of jail.

" I'll see you tomorrow" Rusty said opening the passenger side door.


“Yeah” he heard his mother say as he and Dallas stepped out the car.


“Thanks mom!” he called as she began to drive off.


“Thanks Mair” Dallas shouted watching her drive down the street. Rusty looked at his best friend.


“Asshole”


“What?” Dallas asked in what sounded like genuine innocence though Rusty knew better. There was nothing even remotely innocent about Dallas Porter.


“You’re an asshole. You know she hates it when you call her ‘Mair’.”


“Come on, dude, lighten up.” He spat as he stumbled towards their front door.


“No I will not lighten up. With my luck, you’ll piss her off so much, she won’t bail us out of the shit we get ourselves into anymore.” Rusty replied as he followed Dallas up the steps.


“Of course she will. You’re her baby” Dallas mocked, making himself laugh a little.


“Fuck you. Oh! I’m picking up my cousin tomorrow, she’s gonna stay with us for a while.”


“She hot?” He teased as he made his way towards the refrigerator, grabbing a beer out before turning to face Rusty. “Damn, relax, I was just kidding.” he said referring to the glare Rusty was giving him. “What’s her name?” He asked trying to change the subject.


“Her name is Butterfly and don’t even fuckin’ think about trying anything with her. She’s my baby cousin.” Rusty said, standing his ground.


“Relax, fat-ass” he said walking to his room, calling out as he closed the door to his bedroom. “I’m not gonna fuck your little cousin.”


“Damn right you’re not” Rusty muttered as he crossed to his own room.

----------------

The next morning, he headed to the bus station to meet his mother. It didn't take long for him to spot her waiting near the doors that led out to the buses.

"Is she here yet?" he called out once he'd spotted her.

"She should be here any minute." She replied not looking at him. "Butch, listen" she began "I know you’re just as tired of hearing this as I am of saying it. You can’t keep getting into bar fights like some kid in high school. You’re twenty four for Christ’s-sake. Start acting like it. And do me a favor, make sure Dallas and Butterfly are never left alone. Bad enough I couldn’t talk her into staying with me."


“Mom, he already promised he’d be on his best behavior.” He assured her. She rolled her eyes, knowing very well that Dallas simply was not capable of behaving, especially around women. They hadn't even noticed the bus slowly pulling up and opening to let all the passengers out.

"Excuse me, could I trouble you folks for a ride into town?" He heard from behind him. Turning to look, he hardly recognized the young girl standing before him.

"Oh my God, Butterfly! I hardly recognize you!" Mary bellowed, allowing a warm smile to spread across her face as she embraced the younger girl.

"I’ve grown quite a bit in fifteen years." she replied in a slightly sarcastic tone, which she’d learned from growing up on the streets of Brooklyn, New York as she returned the hug.

"Last time I saw you, you were in diapers." Mary smiled, noticing how much her niece looked like her mother. "Look at you, you're a woman." Butterfly smiled and did a little turn, holding her hands up with pride. Rusty couldn't stop looking at her. She'd grown into a gorgeous woman and he had trouble believing that this was the same adorable little toddler who would follow him everywhere he went every summer that she and her mother visited them when they still lived in Texas.

"Jesus, Butterfly, who told you to grow up gorgeous huh?" he teased, pulling her into a tight embrace. She giggled and clung to him, not wanting the hug to end.

"It’s so great to see you, Rus." she said kissing his cheek dramatically. Pulling away she beamed as she picked up the bag she'd discarded next to her feet. "So, what's the plan, Stan?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well I have to be somewhere so, mom is going to drop me off and to take you to breakfast. I’ll come meet you guys as soon as I get out." he explained knowing his mother wasn't happy with the fact that her only niece would be staying in the same house as Dallas.

"Sounds good to me; where are we going, Aunt Mary?" she asked in the same cheerful voice.

"There's a waffle house not too far from here, you feel like waffles, B?" Mary asked trying to keep her voice just as cheerful.

"I could go for anything. I'm starved." Butterfly replied pulling her duffle bag up over her shoulder.

"Great. Let's go." Mary replied as she began to walk towards her car. Rusty and Butterfly followed, walking a bit slower.

"I can't believe you're here." he said, looking at her.

"Me either. I never thought I'd come to California, let alone L.A... It's fuckin' hot out here."

"Hey, language. Please." Mary scolded turning briefly. The two cousins looked at each other and giggled silently as Rusty opened the passenger side door and gently took Butterfly’s duffle bag from her. Smiling thankfully at him, she slid into the seat as he tossed the bag into the back seat next to him. "So, Butterfly, how was your trip?" Mary asked as they drove away from the bus station.

"Not too bad. I'm really into this book so the forty eight hours flew by pretty fast."

"Forty eight hours?! Christ." Rusty muttered to himself. "What book are you reading?" he asked.

"It's called Twilight. It's about this girl who moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad and she falls in love with a vampire." She explained.

"And he just wants to suck her blood?"

"No. That's the thing; he's in love with her too. See his family isn’t like your typical ordinary vampires; they don't feed on humans- they feed on animals. It's a story about true love despite impossible circumstance. It's beautiful." she said gazing out the window and Rusty rolled his eyes at her.

"I think that's romantic" Mary agreed, going into her own day dream.

"I can’t wait to get to the sequel."

"There are two books for one story?" Rusty asked, cocking his head to the side to look at his cousin.

"It's not really one story. Twilight is how they meet and it looks like New Moon-the second book-is going to be about how they deal with the simple fact that they're madly and truly in love despite their...difference in appetite. It's supposed to be out next year sometime in May."

"How exciting." Rusty teased from the backseat and she smiled silently to herself. It seemed surreal to her to be here with the only family she had left. After her father ran off with his secretary, her mother died and she was all alone. For a while, she stayed in Brooklyn where she'd grown up but soon she wanted bigger and better things, and she was lonely. She wanted so much to be part of a family again that she called her mother's sister who'd moved from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California and was so relieved when Mary welcomed her with open arms and even helped her pay for the bus ticket.

"You look so much like your mother." Mary said softly after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Really?" She asked looking at Mary.

"Oh yeah. You have her deep dark eyes and her soft nose. Her small petite frame. You're beautiful, Butterfly." She smiled at her niece, loving that she'd heard from her even after so long since they'd seen each other. It seemed as though the drive to the diner flew by because before she knew it, they were parked in front of a tall building across the street. "Bye, Butch." Mary called softly as he got out of the car.

"Bye, Ma." He said poking his head in through the window to kiss her cheek. Walking around to the other side, he repeated the gesture with Butterfly. "I'll see you after I get out of here, okay?"

"Alright"

"Hey how about we go to a movie tomorrow night?" Mary asked as they drove away from where Rusty stood. She watched him go into the building through the rear view mirror hoping that sending him to meet Bob had been a good idea.

"Sure that sounds great." Replied Butterfly as she stared out the window wondering if she would be able fill the void in her heart by coming here. She let a soft deep breath escape her sensual lips and listened to the soft sounds of the cars engine humming under the hood. Before she knew it, they'd stopped and Mary was getting out of the car and walking towards the entrance of a small but cozy diner. Butterfly followed and they were sat right away by a window.

"Aunt Mary, thanks for helping me pay to get here." she began after the hostess went back up to the hostess stand. "It really means a lot to me."

"You don't have to thank me, B. You're family and you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. I mean that."

"Well...thanks anyway." She replied, smiling.

Just then a heavy set woman wearing a warm smile came towards their table.

"Hi there. I'm Nancy; I'll be taking care of you. What can I get you to drink?" she asked in a voice that matched her smile.

"I'll have a glass of Orange Juice, please." Butterfly replied, smiling back at her.

"I'll have the same" Mary followed. "And Belgium waffles with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for both of us." she finished, handing Nancy her menu, as did Butterfly. Nancy took the menus and walked away to get their drinks.

"How did you know that I love ice cream on waffles?" Butterfly smiled.

"You'd be surprised at how much I know about you. We may not have seen each other in a long time but your mom and I always stayed in touch." Mary explained, letting herself briefly slip into her own world before bringing herself back again and smiling at Butterfly. "So, what are your plans?" she asked casually.

"I'm going to start looking for a job tomorrow. I have some money but not enough for my own place yet. I'm thinking a few more months’ savings should do it. How would I go about looking for an apartment here?" she asked.

"You don't worry about that right now. If it gets too crowded at Rusty’s house, you can always stay with me. I still have Rusty's old room put together; he left his bed and a dresser so you'll be all set." Mary assured her.

"Alright."

"Now tell me" Mary began as Nancy came back to their table with two glasses of orange juice.

"Waffles will be about another five minutes." She said before turning back towards the kitchen, still wearing her warm smile.

"Thank you" Mary responded before looking back at Butterfly. "What brought you from Brooklyn, New York all the way to Los Angeles, California?"

"A bus?" Butterfly replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"Very funny." Mary teased. "I'm serious. Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to see you and I'm so happy that you're here and that we're finally going to be able to spend time together in person as apposed to over the phone. I wouldn't be asking you this if you were just visiting but clearly, your plan from the beginning was to move here permanently. Why here?"

"After mom died, everything I wanted just sort of got put on hold...and pretty soon I wanted something new. I wanted to start over and I figured if I moved here, I could be near family. Life wouldn't be so lonely anymore.” Butterfly confessed keeping her eyes on her juice as she spoke. It wasn't until Mary reached across the table and held her hand that she looked up and was met with a look that she knew all too well. It was the same look that her mother always gave her when she was assuring her that everything would be alright, and she felt her insides smile for the time in seven months.