Chapter 3: Cockatoo HostageIke opened the door and Zac stumbled in with a tray piled high with food and a huge bag of chips conveniently located in his mouth. He awkwardly placed the tray down on Ike's bed and opened his mouth to let the chips fall.
"Hey, you finally decided to get up!" Zac said nodding towards Tay, who was now sitting up in his bed. With a softer tone of voice, he asked, "How are you feeling? Any better?"
"Yeah, I woke up and felt pretty off but I'm starting to feel much better." Tay answered.
"I'm glad to hear that! Well, you didn't eat much last night and you've been sleeping all day, so I figured you'd be hungry when you woke up, and Ike and I didn't eat, so I made us all lunch!" said Zac cheerfully.
He immediately began unloading the massive amount of food from the tray. "Okay, we have three heaping sandwiches loaded with the works: ham, roast beef, turkey, salami, American cheese, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and onions topped with oil and oregano, complementary with a nice, cool looking toothpick!" Zac said in his best sales pitch voice.
"NEXT! We have a large bag of potato chips, complete with ridges! For a beverage, we have a nice, foamy, refreshing can of Dr. Pepper. AND! For DESERT! We have cool Jell-O pudding cups! Yummy! Plus Twinkies for me, and I brought you some jellybeans, Tay. You may not remember, but they are your favorite."
Both Taylor and Isaac stared in amazement first at the food, then at Zac, and then back to the food again. "Wow..." they said simultaneously.
Zac took a huge bite of his sandwich. He began to start a conversation.
"Zac, not with your mouth full! We can't understand you! I still don't know what you said at the door!" Ike playfully scolded.
"Oh! I Just said 'Open the door, please!'" Zac clarified. "Okay, mom would like you to go down and see her after we're done eating, Tay. She suggested Ike and I tell you some stories that might trigger your memory, but we won't overload you. If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask any of us... well almost. Just don't ask Zoe. She won't be much help. If you feel like it's too much we can move on to another conversation."
"Oh, I have a good story!! Remember the time we held our neighbor's pet cockatoo hostage?" Ike said laughing while remembering the situation.
"Yeah! That was classic!" Zac said laughing.
Tay looked at his brothers with a confused face. "We did that? I mean, I did that, too? Well...how come?"
Ike looked at him. "As much as you'd like to think it, you're no angel. It all started two months ago..."