Kleo of the Trees: Episode Two
By Vember Judgement

And there Terry sat, twiddling his thumbs at his own messy dinner table, smiling dumbfounded. Across from him was Kleo, who was gobbling up a plate of salami sandwiches. She occasionally looked up from her meal, giving him a satisfied smile. Once she finished, Kleo brushed the back of her hand against her mouth and sat staring at Terry with a huge smile.

“Wow, that was like the best meal I’ve had EVER! Your salami tastes sooo good!” she said playfully, which caused Terry to blush.

“Um, why are you in my house? I don’t remember anything after the car incident.”

“Well, after you passed out, me and your pretty sister helped carry you home. You were so cute mumbling in your sleep!” Terry blushed some more.

“Okay…So why did you stay, if I might be so bold?” Kleo suddenly sat up and saluted him.

“Your sister said I could make myself at home, and so I did! I’m sorry if I went so overboard, but it has been a while since I've been indoors. And boy, what stuff you have here!”

Kleo suddenly bent down over the table and placed her ear to it, knocking against the wood. Terry got up and stared at her strangely.

“What the heck are you doing anyway?” Kleo looked in his direction while still knocking.

“I’m checking to see if the tree that turned into this table was happy or sad.”

“The Hell?” Terry said with a surprised blink. Kleo began to knock louder then stood back up.

“Nope, wasn’t a happy tree, not one bit. Then again, getting all chopped up and made into a tacky breakfast, lunch, and dinner table would make me sad too…” She continued to stand there, rubbing her chin and staring at the table, while Terry stared at her blankly.

“Wow, this girl’s crazy…” he thought. His eyes then suddenly wandered down to her cleavage, which was all that held up the towel she still wore.

“Hey!” Kleo suddenly screamed out, which caused Terry to jump.

“I wasn’t looking, really!”

“What are you talking about? Anyway, can I go up your garden upstairs? I wanted to go up, but the door is locked.” Kleo asked with pouty lips. Terry scratched the back of his head and nodded yes. She was referring to the garden his mother created years ago, turning their roof deck into a lush flower-ridden getaway. He especially enjoyed climbing the large oak tree that was transferred up there back when he was younger. He was always proud of it, having maintained it well after their deaths. As Kleo hopped up and down in glee (and completely forgetting she was wearing nothing but a towel), Terry grabbed the house keys by the front door and walked her into the lobby. From there, the only place to go was either in the elevator back down or up to the roof deck. He opened the roof deck door, and headed back inside the penthouse.

“Aren’t you coming with me?”” Kleo said, all pouty again. Terry blushed, realized he liked her cute little pouts.

“Um, I gotta go talk to my sister for a minute, okay?” Kleo cocked her head to one side, then closed her eyes and smiled.

“Okay. But don’t you take a long time now!” She said happily before heading upstairs. Terry lowered his shoulders and sighed, then headed straight to Cathy’s room. He banged on the door a few times before she opened up, her deafening metal music bellowing out behind her. She wore a long black sleep shirt.

“What is it? I’m playing with Beer and Fosters…” she said loudly. Terry rushed her inside and locked the door behind him, then turned off her stereo. Her entire room was disarray, as it seems she was in the process of destroying all her Bratz dolls. He could see her pet hairless mouse Fosters nibbling on one doll by her closet, while her boa snake Beer was coiled up on her queen-sized bed, some of the dolls intertwined in his grip.

“Hey, who said you could come in my room!” Cathy said angrily, putting her hands on her hips. Terry put his hands on his hips and stared her down.

“Who said you could invite that homeless girl in the house? You do realize she’s completely off her rocker, right?” Cathy crossed her arms and looked away.

“Hey, I felt sorry for what I said to her. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have almost died.”

“That’s very noble of you sis, but in the meantime she has been running around the house unsupervised. She could’ve been some sort of serial killer or thief or something.”

“Chill out, Kleo is actually a really sweet girl.”

“Sweet girl? She trashed the kitchen and is in nothing but a towel which holds little to the imagination!” Cathy smiled.

“Oooo, she’s running around half naked…Gawd, why can’t you be a normal perverted guy and enjoy that, huh? I swear you are so gay sometimes.” Terry could feel himself blush and get a bit warm.

“Hey, don’t talk like that! But any who, we have to send her on her way. We don’t know anything about her.”

“Hey, that’s rude! I told her she could spend the night, so chill out.” Terry’s eyed widened tremendously.

“Spend the night!? Okay, this is getting out of hand. Come with me.” Grabbing Cathy’s right hand, Terry pulled her along all the way up to the roof deck. Once they got there, they saw Kleo was nowhere in sight.

“Hey Terry, Cathy, this is a great view! I can see all the way to Times Square!” They both looked up and found Kleo was all the way up the oak tree, looking out in the horizon. Terry had done that many times in his youth, and he knew how breathtaking the view could be.

“What the Heck are you doing up there!? Are you insane!?” Terry screamed up. Kleo looked down from the twenty foot oak and smiled.

“I’m just checking out my sleeping arrangements. I love this tree, it will be perfect to sleep on!”

“What do you mean sleep on?”

“Kleo likes to sleep in the trees over in Central Park when the weather permits it. It’s a thing she does,” Cathy said with a smile. Terry looked down at her completely confused.

“And how do you know this?”

“She told me, duh! Jeese, you can be so uptight…”

Before Terry could say another word, his cell phone rang. He was going to just let it ring until he saw it was Wesley calling.

"What's up, Wess?"

“Hey bud, I just closed up the store. I’m heading over there within the hour, okay? Me and Scratch wanna see if you’re doing okay.” Terry glanced up at Kleo in the tree and panicked.

“No, no, you don’t have to come over, I’m fine! Really!”

“Naw man, we gotta come over. Besides, Scratch really wants to see you, ya know? Here, you wanna talk to her?” Before Terry could say no, he heard the phone change hands.

“Um…Hi…Mr. Shaw.” It had been a whole week since he last heard Scratch’s timid voice. She was his register girl, who was soon going to be a senior in high school. Most called her by the nickname Scratch because of the scar she has below her left eye, which was created from a jump rope accident when she was little. Terry was the only one who actually called her by her real name.

“Hey Deborah. You don’t have to be so worried about me.”

“But Mr. Shaw, you almost got hit by a car…I- I mean, we want to see you…”

“Hey Terry, can I have some more of your delicious salami! It tastes so good!” Kleo screamed from the top of the tree. Terry nearly choked.

“Um…Who was that? And what did she mean by…your salami?” Scratch said in a low voice. Wesley could be heard laughing in the background.

“Aw yeah, rich boy’s get’n his meat smoked!” he cried out in laughter. Terry grew warmer.

“Don’t worry about me, really! I’m okay, so you both can just go home, okay, so-” He suddenly was receiving another call. He cringed when he saw it was Grandma Shaw. Cathy saw his reaction and also knew who it was.

“Um, hold on a minute, my nana is on the other line.” Terry quickly switched to the other line.

“Terry! Who were you on the phone with!? You made me wait almost five whole seconds!” Terry rolled his eyes.

“I was on the phone with one of my employees, nana. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” Cathy had overheard what he was saying and gagged playfully.

“Listen boy, I’m about to enter the Holland Tunnel, so I should be there within the hour. I want my favorite meal prepared, because I’m coming to visit.” Terry pulled at his hair with his free hand.

“Um, nana, why come at this hour? It’s getting late, so-“

“Don’t you dare question me, boy! Now do as I ask and prepare for my visit!”

“Ter-ry! You didn’t answer my question! Can I have another taste of your salami or what?” Kleo playfully screamed, now sitting down on the branch she was standing on. Grandma Shaw gasped on the other end.

“Who was that? And what did that girl mean by your…salami?” she nearly screamed. Terry began to panic more.

“I’m sorry nana, but the phone’s starting to fizz out, so I’ll see you when you get here!” With that, he hung up the phone, dropped it, and grabbed at his hair stressfully.

“So Grandma, Wesley, and Scratch are coming over?” Cathy asked, a cold shiver running down her spine.

“Just Grandma…She always picks the worst times to visit…”

“So, you told Wesley and Scratch to go home? Well, that was rude…” After Cathy said that, Terry realized he had hung up on them. Knowing they had still intended on heading to the penthouse, Terry picked up his cell phone and dialed Wesley back. His voicemail came on, indicating his phone was off. His internal panic meter reached its limit.

“Great, this is just great!” he screamed out, pulling on his hair more. Cathy rolled her own eyes.

“Jeese, chill out, what’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal!? The kitchen is trashed, and we have a spazzy half naked homeless girl up in our tree, of which you said she plans to sleep in!”

“Yeah?”

And with Wesley and Scratch coming over, Nana’s gonna flip out! You do remember what happens when she flips out, right?” Cathy realized what he meant and cringed.

“Oh yeah…Well, we can clean up the kitchen before they come, and order out…”

“Yeah, but what about her!?” Terry said, pointing up at Kleo. Just as he did, a lone navy blue towel fell down onto his hand.

“Oh no, my towel came off! Terry, be a dear and don’t peep at me, because we don’t know each other that well yet!” Kleo screamed down, hiding her assets. Terry quickly turned around, the towel still on his hand.

“Oh wow, she has a cool tattoo on her-”

“Don’t look!” Terry said blushing, quickly wrapping the towel on her head.

End of Episode Two