Braver Than I Used to Be

Chapter Fifteen

Shortly after waking up at Victor's house my dad called me.

"Hi daddy!" I answered excitedly.

"Hi Babycakes, listen, I need you guys to do me a favor."

"Alright."

"I need you to go to the furniture store, I don't care which one and replace the furniture I sent to your mom. The living room set, the dining room set, stuff in the kitchen, portraits and so on. I'm going to transfer some money to yours and Ray's accounts, just spilt the cost between you two and pay for the quickest delivery they offer."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we are having visitors in two weeks and we can't have the house looking how it does now. If you need an adult, call me and I will send someone over."

"Yes, sir."

"I won't be home until Tuesday, but I have some guys coming to work on the backyard tomorrow, so make sure you guys are there. And get a big dining table for like eight people. "

"Dad, we have school tomorrow."

He was quiet for a second, "Okay, I'll figure out someone for tomorrow, just leave a key under the mat."

When I hung up the phone my head was spinning a little bit.

"What happened?" Ray said.

"We have to go buy furniture. Replace everything he sent to mom. He wants it done today. Someone is coming to work on the backyard tomorrow."

Ray and Matthew both looked at each other confused. "Did he say why he wants it done urgently?"

"Apparently we are having visitors in two weeks and the house needs to look presentable."

When we went to the furniture store it occurred to me that we should have measured the rooms to make sure we didn't get anything too big. Ray and I picked a U-shape looking brown leather couch with a lounger at the end and got the matching recliner to go with it along with a coffee table. I hoped it wasn't too big, but it was the most comfortable one we sat on. When we went to the dining sets there were few options that sat eight people. I didn't know much about the different types of wood, but the one I picked captured the eyes. It was thick and heavy, but the edges had little intricate designs carved into them. It reminded me of a Van Gogh painting because they looked like swirling brush strokes that took no particular shape. The chairs had the same designs along the back.

Ray pointed out that we were missing a TV in the living room too, which my dad forgot to mention. So, we stopped at Best Buy to pick up one that Ray said was the same size as the one we used to have. Ray picked one that was fifty inches, but I was sure the one that used to be in the living room was smaller.

They were going to deliver the dining room set that day since they only had the floor model. The couch would be delivered on Wednesday. We went home and cleaned up the dining room since my dad left a huge mess when packing everything up for my mom.

There was a store that sold original artwork and did framing not too far from our house, so that was where we went. I didn't really know where one bought portraits from. I also had no idea how many were missing from our house, so we bought six in various sizes. The pictures themselves weren't too expensive, it was the frames that cost the most money. We had to pick them up in a week.

Since we weren't in urgent need of dishes, I decided to wait on those. We could eat out if we needed to. However, when I did look in the cabinets, they were emptier than the last time I looked. We'd have to buy stuff sooner than later. Instead we waited for the guys to deliver the dining set and pick up whatever mess was left around the house so we wouldn't have to do it later.