Day Ninety-Nine

   ****NAMES CHANGED TO PROTECT PORTLAND'S STREET KIDS****

In the morning I go to Whole Foods to hang out until it's time to go to the baby shower. I watch the movie Ink which I highly recommend.  It sparks my muse which is nice. It's been a long time since I've written fiction and I really do miss it. I text Baby Mama asking if I can stop by her place. She says she's about to leave for Vancouver. I insist saying I need to drop baby stuff off. The boyfriend must have said something to her because she obliges. I don't give any more information; I have no idea what our story is.

I run to #2 to try and get my clothes back as Kitten Lady's latest story to me is that they lost the bag of clothes but are going to replace it. I ask the director guy if he's heard any of this and he tells me it's a blatant lie. The bag of clothes is there and safe but they can't release it to me because Kitten Lady said the clothes were hers. Shit. I ask for a hoodie at least. They give me a red zip up hoodie.

I run to max and race to Baby Mama's house. Her boyfriend, Turk, opens the door. "I'm a bad liar," I whisper as soon as he opens the door. "I know," he says, "I told her we're going to dinner."

We go to Vancouver but every time Turk leaves me unattended with Baby Mama she starts asking questions I end up yelling, "Don't leave me alone with her!" I accidentally say the words baby shower once but I keep talking and she doesn't even notice. We stop by Walgreens where Turk steals some alcohol. Then we meet up with Baby Mama's dad who drives us to a park where her family and friends are waiting.

I'm nervous. I don't always make good first impressions when I'm trying to fit in with people I don't really know. My tooth hurts but I ignore it and eat the food they've brought. They don't have diabetic treats which I think is weird since Baby Mama is diabetic but they say they couldn't find any. Instead there are caramel apples, truffles, chocolate strawberries. I get fat on the sweets. They are orgasmic.

After the baby shower we go to her apartment. She is going to babysit her cousin for the night. We get her to go to sleep by putting on Tangled on my laptop. I finish The Walking Dead before passing out myself. I'm pretty drained. My tooth is hurting a lot more than I ever would have expected from a tooth being pulled. I fall asleep with a thing of frozen vegetables on my face that Turk later puts back away.

--mm