Dirty Laundry 34

My cousin was at the door this morning around 11:30.  "Do you live here now or something?"

Walsh-:"Do you?" he asked as he stood in the doorway of mom's.

Me-:"Might have to my rent is getting increased this month. Pay-per-view was last night remember."

Walsh-:"There any coffee?" he headed right for the kitchen. I asked what he was doing here again?  He shrugged saying he had a day off. "Kids are at school, wife's at work, didn't feel like sitting home alone."

Me-:"And instead of hanging out with your real friends, you came here? What's wrong with you?"

He sat on the kitchen counter, which he knows I hate, and just sat there for a few minutes slurping his coffee. Mom chatted with him for a minute reading some of his sister-in-laws facebook comments, like they were the golden age of reporting. Then he turned to me with a look.  "Did you write today?"

Me-:"Something tells me you know that answer to that already."   he didn't say anything else. Just sat there picking at a bunch of bananas. "I bought myself a couple of weeks till I figure out what the hell I'm going to do. And I still hate you."

Walsh-:"Still?"

Me-:"I might not have even noticed that tape for weeks." I filled the kettle for more coffee. "Those three characters were only suppose to be one page, and somehow the whole story became about them. Now, what am I going to do?"  he slapped my shoulder as he moved to the kitchen table. "And to top it all off, right back to square one with the guessing game."

Walsh-:"Guessing game?"

Me-:"Who's Mr. Scratchy?"

Walsh-:"You know who Mr. Scratchy is. It's still Mad Hatter. Always has been."

Me-:"What part of it just can't are you not accepting? The it can't or the it can't?"

Then he gave me this look, like I had uttered the stupidest thing ever. Which I might have given my brains lately. 

Walsh-:"You said, that he hasn't caused the right side itch in a while right? That you thought he might have gotten into a relationship."

Okay he got me there. "I also said he might have fallen off a cliff and died. There's still that excuse. Or aliens. Joined a cult..." he laughed at me. "Okay maybe not a cult, that would make too much sense. And you know, can't have that...making sense I mean."

Walsh-:"So what are you going to do about it?"

Me-:"About what? Making sense with a cult?"

Walsh-:"Uh...the whole thing. The fairy tale, Mr. Scratchy..."

Me-:"I have no idea. I managed to write something this morning. Should be enough to buy me a few weeks to sort out where to take the story next?"

He sat there just playing with his lighter, flipping it over and over in his hand tapping it on the table. "I want to hear it once. Just once out of your mouth that I'm right."

Me-:"I can't. It means too much to me to say it's someone who will never be my guy. Sorry can't."

Then my right shoulder and hip, and ear started to itch.  Walsh was on the floor laughing so hard he ran out of breath. He wouldn't shut up for almost ten minutes after that.