An Excerpt from a Writing Project

From Rockybado 3: The Invasion of the Naughty Blue Aliens

It was the day that school got out for the summer, and the Ingram’s knew that they had quite a few plans. It was a sunny day in Crown Point, a city in Northwest Indiana, about forty-five minutes away from Chicago. The Ingram’s didn’t really have anything planned tonight. However, David and Brody Ingram were going to play tennis with their friends tomorrow. Brett, the second oldest, had a gig for his band in a couple days. Among other things. The five siblings were not about to waste this summer by doing absolutely nothing.

Dawson is 28 years old, almost 29; he lives in an apartment in Merrillville with his fiancée, Daniela Cardis. They are getting married in a couple weeks.

Brett is 24, and he lives in a house owned by his friend’s uncle. He lives in Crown Point with his fellow band members, John Coolwood, Chris Paragnotti, and Tony Rossi. Brett’s main band is called the Hawaiian Geeks, as a take on the Hawaiian Dweebs from the three seemingly “fictitious” islands. However, Brett is also a part of another band called Mr. Morton, but he spends more time with the Hawaiian Geeks.

David is 22, going on 23 on September 30th.

Brody is 21, going on 22 on September 23rd.

Toby is 18 and now a senior in high school, not quite sure what exactly he wants to go into; however, he has his eye on the business field. Toby is looking into some good colleges around the area, as well as some schools in Chicago and Indianapolis. He has obviously not made his final decision yet.

According to most people, it was the year 2014. According to others, it was the year that has made a positive impact on their lives. And still, according to others, it was the year that has made a negative impact on their lives. However, it was still the year 2014. And the Ingram’s were okay with that. A little confused as to how much time has quickly gone by, but they were open to any possibilities in their futures.

After graduating with his Bachelor’s in Marketing and Spanish in 2008 (he dropped education and switched to business because marketing was more interesting to him), Dawson returned to the same school in Valparaiso and received his Master’s in Business Administration last year around this time. That was also the year Brett received his Bachelor’s in Finance. However, Brett did not graduate from the same college as Dawson; he graduated from a university on the north side of Indianapolis. David also recently graduated from a small school just south of Warsaw, Indiana, with degrees in Marketing and Finance. Brody is now a senior at the same university that Dawson graduated from; only he is studying Computer Engineering and minoring in Marketing. And, of course, Toby has not completed high school yet.

Brody and Toby, especially, did not have anything to worry about, in terms of academics for a good two months, and they were okay with that. They wanted to focus this time on playing video games and gaining insights on what they would like to do when they get older. At this very minute, however, the two boys just wanted to play video games.

“What game do you want to play, Toby?” Brody asked his younger brother of four years.
“Beats me. I can’t think right now,” Toby replied.
“Want to play something older or newer?”
“Whatever you’d like.”                                                                          
“Seriously?! You’re putting all this on me?!” Brody exclaimed.
“Yes,” Toby replied with a grin.
“Okay then. I’m in the mood for….”
“Baklava!” Toby shouted and ran downstairs toward the kitchen. Brody ran after him.
“I WANT BAKLAVA, TOO!!!!”
“CAN’T BEAT ME TO THEM!!!!”

Even though Brody and Toby are twenty-one and eighteen years old respectively, they are still very young at heart. And chances are, that will not change for a while. The two boys were downstairs, fighting over the package of baklava. Brody grabbed the package and split the Greek goodness in half. However, while trying to cut into the baklava, he didn’t realize that there was a wine bottle right next to him until he heard a crash on the floor.

“Wha….” Brody mumbled as he saw the accident that he had caused.
“Oh dear,” Toby remarked.

The wine bottle wasn’t just broken. It was shattered. All over the floor. And the contents of the wine bottle looked sad on the white tiles. Brody didn’t quite know what to do. And Toby wasn’t quite sure what to think.

“I was hoping for some wine with my baklava,” Brody said with a sigh. “Oh well.”
“Can I get the mop?” Toby asked.

Brody nodded, and he picked up as much debris as he could with the nearby broom. Toby came in and mopped up the mess. In a matter of fifteen minutes, the mess was cleaned up, but Brody couldn’t help but feel sorry for himself. Not necessarily because that was a bottle of wine, but more because that wine was not the cheapest wine on the market. The two boys completely forgot about the baklava, and they returned upstairs.

“Okay. I know what we should play,” Toby said after he and Brody found a place on the floor to sit.
“What?” Brody asked, still a little down.

Toby grabbed an older game out of a nearby shoebox and showed it to Brody. They played some older video games for quite a while, try an hour and thirty minutes. The two boys were waiting for their parents to return home from work, for Brett to finish band practice with his friends, and David to come home from an interview that he had with a local business. Dawson and his fiancée were probably coming over to the house later tonight, and the kids’ parents were probably going to order in pizza or Chinese take-out. Typically the family has this kind of treat the day that school gets out for the summer.

“I GOT THE JOB!!!!” a familiar voice suddenly boomed in the room where Brody and Toby were playing video games.
“You did?!” Brody asked excitedly to David, his older Irish twin brother.
“Yes! They told me they liked me, and I start next week!”
“So, what will you do?”
“Finance mostly, but a little bit of marketing as well,” David remarked.
“Nice!” Brody replied.
“You have an internship, right?”
“Yes. I started a couple weeks ago, but I have a week off because my supervisor’s in Spain. As a side job, I’m working at Uncle Alan’s business. I got off today at three o’clock.”
“Does this internship count as college credit?”
“Not this time around. Last year’s did.”

This is the second internship that Brody has had since he started college. Both internships involved the knowledge of computer engineering, but Brody wouldn’t need to report to his internship supervisor for another week because his supervisor was on a business trip. In the meantime, Brody wanted to pick up some hours at their uncle’s consulting agency, which is only ten minutes away from home.

“Do you have to go to Uncle Alan’s tomorrow?” David asked his younger Irish twin brother.
“No. I went in three days in a row, so I can finally sleep in tomorrow!” Brody replied with a lot of excitement in his tone.
“That’s good. I can sleep in tomorrow as well!”
“How long should we stay up tonight?”
“However long you’d like to stay up,” David answered.
“When will Brett be here tonight?” Brody asked.
“Probably in thirty minutes. He sent me a text saying that he just finished up his practice. His gig is in a couple days!”
“Can’t wait.”
“And chances are that we are going to have pizza tonight because you, Toby, saved the day!”
“Last day of school for Toby!”

David just graduated from college, and now he has a full-time job. For all the college graduates out there, it must be extremely weird to receive a sheet of paper worth thousands and use it to obtain a dream job. It must also be a weird feeling to be out of college and not have to return the next fall. That was probably how David was feeling at the moment. A bittersweet feeling, because David now has a “big boy” job, and he won’t have to return to college in a few months.

Brody will be in the same boat as David next year, as long as he can get into the classes that he needs for graduation. Like David, Brody has had a great experience in college, and he probably wouldn’t want it to end so quickly. But, then again….

There’s the real world.

“I’M AT YOUR HOUSE!!!!” another familiar voice shouted from downstairs.

David, Brody, and Toby dropped everything they were doing and ran downstairs to meet up with Brett. He was here to pay everyone a visit. His friends were off to their own families’ houses tonight, and chances were that Brett was going to stay here for the night because he did not want to be at his own house alone.

Brett was, of course, in his band garb, consisting of a green Irish golf cap, a nice white collared shirt, blue jeans, gym shoes, and….the Hawaiian print vest that their grandma made for him a few years ago. Every one of the members of the Hawaiian Geeks owns at least one Hawaiian print shirt or vest.

Of course, that is the theme of the band.

“How was band practice today?” Brody questioned his older brother of two years.
“It was great, as always,” Brett replied.
“That’s good to know. Are you excited about your gig?”
“Definitely! This is the one that we are all looking forward to, because Coolwood’s sister has always wanted us to play for her graduation party.”
“And what’s her name again?” Brody asked.
“Melissa,” Brett answered.
“She was crazy about me in high school. She was a freshman when I was a senior, and she and her friends always went to my tennis matches.”
“Tennis is fun to watch.”
“It’s much more fun to play.”

After one year of playing tennis during his freshman year in high school, Brett found his real passions: bowling and playing in a garage band.

Dawson and Brett are still on the bowling team, and that is how Dawson and Daniela met. Brett and Olivera Slobodan have been in an on-and-off relationship for a few years. Right now, they are happily dating.

“How’s Olivera?” David asked Brett.
“She’s doing well, as always,” Brett replied with a smile.
“Is she going to the gig?”
“She can’t because she and her family are going to London for a few weeks.”
“That’s where Dad was born and lived until he was eleven!” David pointed out.
“Yes. That’s true,” Brett replied.
“When will everyone be here?”
“I guess Mom and Dad will be here within an hour. Not so sure about Dawson and his fiancée.”
“Well, we need to figure out if we want pizza or Chinese food.”
“Definitely.”

​In a matter of thirty minutes, the Ingram’s parents arrived at the house, closely behind Dawson and Daniela. So, with this in mind, let the fun begin.