Chapter 27: New Year Don't Sound Like a Word
Sos, we got a New Years Eve scene poppin’! Not ‘xactamundo, like, though: Not evenin’ just yet, so it’s like some kinda limbo, you dig -- not New Years Eve, not New Years Day, but the dawn a’ the night, the start a’ the end.
So what comes after, huh? Everyone’s ponderin’ that. Me? Your good buddy Kite’d like t’ knock out that scouting needs doing. Then I got a little time t’ myself… But we don’t get frogs ‘round here, so, uh, guess I gotta get grillin’ for that last badge.
But let’s see ‘bout everyone else.
Uncle Johnny?
“I think I’d like to raise a skill! Sure, I’ve got my comedy, but always keep improving, right?”
I asked Ka-san ‘bout it, an’ she said, “Oh! I’m glad you asked! I think I’ve finally got the end of Renaissance Sim within my reach! Let’s go all the way, and seize it with all our strength!... Or something like that, hee hee.”
“You’ve got it all snug in the bag! It’ll get done before you blink, dig?”
“I dig. The last level’s the most annoying, thouuuugh. Oh, well; I’ll worry about it tomorrow, mostly.”
“And what’s the thing for you, Mom?”
“I think fulfilling an aspiration tier would be the hardest. I don’t know if I’d finish Friend of the World, might want to save it, but a few extra points never hurt. Besides, I’d like to pick up a last person or two *anyway*.”
Course, there’s one more cat who needs some catchin’ up on. Trip, man. Shocker of shocks, I find the cat himself down in our groovy little sunken garden, chillin’ in both the literal an’ figurative senses.
“What’s happenin’?” An, now, do I wanna bring up what Christian an’ I’s riff from the other day? I’m sorta puzzlin’ on how to sort that out an’ talk on it, face all scrunched up, before he stretches an’ answers,
“My resolution for next year is to try and get my life in order… And I have no idea on how to do that or what that looks like. So I’m going to take care of my body. Sound body, sound mind.”
...Ooh, trip...Man’s gotta do somethin’ bout that.
“...Or something,” he adds, sighin’.
“Man, a thousand cranes f’r you, my dude.” I just don’t know how t’ start ‘xactly. I’ll mull on it.
As I’m headin’ back in, I hear somethin ala
“Now, father, if you intend to beat Alyson, you need to manage the timing of your buttons to something like… It appears a half-note after the main beat of the melody, and use your superior range to avoid her grips,” Yaritza, grown up a little more, coachin’ Uncle on his gaming. Crazy smart chick, you dig? Always has been.
Guess Uncle invited the fam over, since it’s a holiday an’ all.
“Why are you helping him?!” Asks Alyson from where she’s poundin’ Uncle’s dance-fighter into the dust digital.
“He needs the help.” Man, that causes both girls to nod in curly-headed synchronicity.
“Girls, be nice…” Pleads their poor old man. Sorry, pops… It’s a bad scene, man… or a groovy one, you dig?
Since we got the company over, I end up gettin’ grabbed by Hob an’ Bonnie, cuz they’re needin’ a third an’ I’m glad to oblige.
“We have got to have a party,” repeats Hob f’r the third time since we all sat down, ‘fore he risks it for the biscuit, pullin’ a side piece.
“What are we doing now?” asks Bonnie. A middle piece gets pulled.
“This is just a normal Saturday afternoon. It doesn’t
count,” ‘s his answer. Which, like, fair, man, but…
“Aint party a place of mind? Like, you go somewhere, and it’s night, an’ everyone’s in their best, and you got your tunes driftin’ out, and someone’s brought snacks, an’ it’s just a full on-scene, right? Got loads of cats… But you don’t know a single cat in the joint, so you hang back sippin’ whatever you’ve got and you’re losin’ your cool, an’ it’s all as square as a business meeting ‘bout paperclips.” I lay out my point on it. Not like you can’t have a perfectly good party, just you an’ a cat or two -- real cool dudes, ones who really dig you, right? I kinda might like a party like that a little more. It’s a type of happenin’ you don’t get every day, like a special occasion. “Like, the milky way’ll spin like any record, man, if you watch it slow enough, you dig?”
“...A fair point, my friend. Probably. And, of course, I love hanging around with everyone. Someone has to catch the gossip. But! Consider, Kite: We could have fireworks! We could count down as the ball drops! Someone could make a toast! That sort of thing. That’d be an important part of the journey as teenagers.”
“Someone’ll have to stay with mom, so I think I’m okay,” answers Bonnie, takin’ another piece. The llama’s still out.
“And you, Kite?”
“I’m downerooni, my dude.”
“Shame neither of us have a girlfriend --”
“Eh, or a beef. Or general smoocher, dig?... I don’t think that kinda junk really matters,” I just gotta say, before sittin’ back an’ tryin’ another pull. ‘M buildin’ a little side tower.
“Amended, amended. Or a boyfriend or other form of datemate for Kite. It’s not really New Years without a midnight kiss.”
Now, my dude, A coupl’a shape in the kitchen window told me, midnight or naw, I think we’re about to get covered, dig? Lemee sit the scene.
Mom’s been mixin’ drinks. There aint a gold in it, not f’r a holiday, so she aint sure her evenin’ plans. But she figgered, ‘eh, might as well stockpile.
“Heeeeey, sweetheart.” ‘Course, I think Ka-san’s been gettin’ into the stocks. She grooves up t’ Mom, croonin’ the line -- and then she’s lost in giggleville. Trip, man, just crackin’ up like an egg. “Sorry -- try -- hee hee -- Trying to be smooth, heeheee, but that -- just too --haahahaa.”
Mom smiles at ‘er, takes a sip, an there’s an A-OK in her peepers, dig?
“I thought you were doing well, babe. But hey… You just leave the smooth to me.” She reaches over an reels ka-san in by hookin’ her mitts on the small a’ Ka-san’s back.
“I really should! I would have just glomped you,” she says, shakin’ her head an’ cracking up again, fittin’ like, trip, man, just a perfect thing into Mom’s squeeze.
“And there’s no problem there. After all, you’re plenty seductive as it is.”
And it aint midnight yet, but the ways I see it, they’re just gettin’ a head start.
Eventually, everyone swaps partners; Mom and Ulises come out an’ join me puttin’ the llama’s pad back together after totally trashin’ it, man.
“These things are always such a jumble,” Mom’s sayin as we try an jam everythin’ in there. “How are you even supposed to re-assemble it correctly?”
“There gotta be a wrong or right? If the Llama’s fallen out, it’s all cool all the same.” I ask, to her givin’ her noggin a shake.
“There are a specific number of pieces. It’d be easy to lose them.”
“This is a weird family,” is Ulises’s observation.
“Naturally. An ordinary family wouldn’t suit me,” says Mom, smilin. Then the thought a’ charmin’ crosses her mind, an’ she goes in for the “So tell me about yourself: I know your mom, of course, but you can’t figure out a kid from their parents.”
“Yeah, or we’d all be interested in wordplay,” he answers. An’ we kinda keep goin’ on like this a while.
Inside, Unc’s spendin’ time with Hob ‘n Rosa ‘n Yaritza still.
“So how was your year, Dad?” Hob’s sayin. Like, Rosa’s grooving with the game, see, so the rest of ‘em are just kinda watchin’ an’ chatting.
“I think I could have gotten farther. I’m sure to get the last promotion I need soon! ...Well, I say that, but hours have gotten weird. The venues decided that time flies, so they should throw their clocks out the window.” Ooh, that’s a kinda sly chain-puller, dig? He looks over an thinks a beat more, and says, “It got better as it flew along, though.”
An’ he sits back an he takes in the couch around him, an he’s got that smile of a dude who’s got something happening, you dig? A cat who knows somethin’ all to himself. The fire crackles on an’ he says,
“I think this year will be better than the last.”
The scene’s gotta scatter eventually. In a little lull as night falls, Ka-san’s watchin’ out for Magpie. He’s gettin’ better at dreamin’ big every day.
So he ended up takin’ charge a’ the story.
“And then! The princess an’ the dragon flew away!”
“Did they, now?” Ka-san asks with, like, the most 500-watt smile you ever saw.
“Yeah!... What next?” he asks, wrigglin’ in his seat; trip, man, thinkin’ the book’s gonna know the end of the story he’s tellin’. But, hey. He’s got Ka-san on his side.
“...Well, then, they had many fun adventures, and lived happily ever after, honey,” she tells ‘im. “Now, I bet we can go inside and get nice and warm.”
And from there, we all gathered round f’r a little toast. Weren’t 12-O yet, but, hey, not like that’s a problem. It’s Ka-san’s jam, so lemmee lay on you what she said.
“So much has happened this year. We tend to think of years as long things -- epochs, changing of the guards, such a huge chunk of someone’s life. And that’s all true. But they’re also nothing more than matters of weather. The things we’ve done this year, the bonds we’ve made, the things we’ve learned… The family we’ve built. They won’t be thrown out as the new year begins. They’ll just go around the sun once more. I look forward to another year!” She raised the glass so, just fer a moment, it all caught the light, bright and new an’ shinin.
“I dig it, Ka-san. I dig. Propalots.” Time’s always runnin’ along, true ‘nough -- not in big chunks, but just little things you gotta keep an eye peeled on. I got sparklin’ juice this time, drag, right, but it’ll slosh ‘s well as anything, and it’ll clink when it’s up against the rest.
“Wonderful toast, Miko,” says Mom. “I’m ready for another ride around the sky. You coming with?”
“As long…” An Ka-san don’t break it out; she don’t wanna break the moment, dig? But the truth’s the truth, dude… Everyone ‘cept me an’ Maggie’s last birthday’s in Spring. It’s a trip, man. It aint no time f’r the blues tonight, yeah? So she’s gonna say somethin’ that I think’s gotta be much, much longer. “As long as you’ll have me.”
An’ that’s when I got Hob ringin’ me about a scene he’s got goin’ down in San Myshuno -- little end a’ the Year get-together in their ooh-la-la park, yeah? Fireworks, an all that jazz.
“Dude, think I can cram in my folks an’ their cats?”
“Sure, bring Dad and them. I’ll bring Diya, too!”
An’ that, like, seems like a killer start to a real New Years bash, my dudes.
But b’fore I can just chill an’ watch the ball drop, I gotta clear what’s been rattlin’ around ol’ Kite’s noggin all day. So I grab Uncle Akira an’ we have a sit-down outside.
“So...I was, uh, like, kinda thinkin’. ‘Bout what you were sayin’ earlier, an’ earlier, an’ earlier.” Trip, man, this is gonna feel like I’m kool-aid manning my way through his life, huh? Well, Oh Yeah!, my dude. “‘Bout not knowing how to get a groove an’ make it happenin’ how you want, dig?”
“Oh, you were worried about that? Look, it’s… Maybe it’s fine. Maybe
I don’t have to do anything. How do I know it’s not her... “ An’ that stops him cold a second. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“
Dude.”
He sighs.
“It’s nice that you were thinking on it. I… I do want to call her. So I guess I’ll take what advice I can get.”
“So, see, like, my dude Christian was spinnin’ me a story ‘bout this potion, kinda a medicine thing. Sorta changes a cat around a little, helps break up ol’ thinkin, letcha get your ducks in a row how you want...Donno if it’d be what might do you a solid, but thought I’d say. It aint a thing where you’re not the one steering, it’s not a bad trip, man.”
“Huh. That is a thought. You’re kind of a granola kid -- I didn’t think you’d suggest something like that,” he says with a little smile.
“Aint no harm in wantin’ help of a pharmaceutical nature; you gotta do what you need.” Kite aint gonna harp on someone doin’ what’ll help ‘em, you dig?
“Yeah Well. I’ll think about what I want. Go hang out with your friends.”
“Peace, man.” Yeah, yeah. OK, thass all Kite’s gonna muster… But you know who I saw runnin’ around?
A little wolf pup, you dig? He’s probably ready t’ be a kid on his own; he’s gotten zippy, on top of it all. An’ that’ll sure be, like, a far-out thing.
Diya an’ Hob are already inside, chillin’ as some tunes turn. Mom’s perched behind the bar.
“There we go, New Years party unlocked! Hooray for youth!” Hob flings out his arms with a crazy gusto.
“Hooray for youth!” Chimes in Diya. “Why invite me, though?”
“Well, we’re clubmates, right? Or close enough. The more people for a hang-out, the better.” Man, I love the guy, but I gotta take a gripe with that stone-cold drag of a sentence, you dig? Eh, well. Different drums, right?
“A real thing’s somethin’ you gotta ‘preciate, dig? Besides, you’re a cool chick; what’s gotta have a reason?”I ask, tiltin’ my head.
“Alright, then! Oh, oh, Kite, you should get a picture with us!” She grabs me an’ my phone at once, holdin it up ‘till I take it. Now, if we’re gonna do this, we might as well, y’know, make it totally groovy, so I spend a while fiddlin’ with it. Checkin’ poses.
Shudder clicks.
“So, got it?”
“Great, great!” She nods. “Wait, are you actually doing a peace sign?”
“Wazzat s’pposed to mean?” I ask, blinkin’.
“Nothing, it’s just cute. Old-fashioned, maybe.”
“Sometimes, I think Kite might have arrived from some sort of time warp,” my totally turncoat main man’s gotta say, ‘fore addin. “Maybe from an alternate timeline.”
I play at staggerin’ back like he’s hit me good.
“...Man, you cats puttin’ a dude down.”
“It’s cute!” She’s gonna repeat.
“I didn’t mean anything mean by it. You’re just something else,” an, look, I know he’s on the level when he says it, arright?
“All is gravy, my dude.” A cat’s gotta have some chill ‘bout these things, you dig?
“Well, let’s dance!” Diya says, already gettin’ ready to move on to the next thing.
“Wait! I need to change into something a bit more party ready.” Hob bursts out ‘fore we move on.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s cold, anyway!”
“Not as cold as Windernburg, I’m roasting. I put something together for tonight.”
“...Sure a look, man. I’m diggin’ the print.” Duuuude, what happened to those looks I pulled for you? What’s a guy gotta do but shake his head an’ support his bestie, even when his bestie’s just pulled the squarest rags in squaresville, you dig? ‘Course, I meant it on the print. That helps.
“It’s maybe a little tourist,” he concedes. “But now the party can begin!”
We groove out for a while while the folks do… Trip, man, folk stuff. Guess I sorta forgot, huh? My bad, my bad. I donno if this is really siezin’ a moment of youth, right? ‘Cuz Mom’s gonna run a scene like this all the time. But then, hey: maybe it’s what you make it. Maybe youth’s just puttin’ aside a worry you got until later, an’ havin’ a chunk a’ now, long as a summer afternoon an’ short as a summer afternoon, all for expanding your feelings out into its shape, so the memory sets whole an’ shiny like that. I could dig that.
It’s gettin’ the end of the year now. Everyone’s watching the ball on the tube.
“Five!”
“Four!”
“Three!
“Two!”
“One!”
Happy new year, my dude. Had a nice one yourself that year?... Yeah, yeah, I dig. Peace in the new one, all th’ same.
Another New Year’s kiss.
“Happy New Year, babe.”
“Happy new year!”
“Thanks for thinking of me, kid. Happy New Year.”
“’S casual, Unc. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, they really dropped the ball on that one!”
“Zest. I’m going to thank you for your help this year, which I remind you is not my normal thing, and we’re all going to pretend you never said that.”
“That’s just giving me a chance to say it again!”
“Have a groovy New Year, Ka-san. Mom.”
“Happy New Year, sweetheart. You’re going to do amazing this year.”
“Of course he will. He’s our boy.”
The party breaks up. We head on home. Trip, man. New Year don’t even sound like a word no more. An’ our little guest who just enjoyed the park’s got one thing to say to close out the ol’ year:
“I wanna party, too! Me too!”
Ka-san laughs.
“Of course you’ll get a chance to. It’s your birthday later, after all.”
