Chương 52: Sometimes you pull the right jenga piece and the foundation proves it’s strength. Heather is that jenga piece. But we’re playing tic-tac-toe her
Me, Elon, and Heather get in my car and we drive to a pizza place I frequent. I wanted to order my usual: pepperoni, mushrooms, pineapple, olives, beef, sardines, bacon, sausage, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, oranges, cranberries, rice, beans, pork chops, maple syrup, and some parsley.
I was vetoed 2 to 1, so we just got a basic pepperoni pizza. Really? This is barely a snack. Oh well.
We sit at a table as we wait for the pizza to bake. Nola, of course, wants to sit next to Elon. He rejects the notion, of course.
"No fair," she says. "Heather, you really are trying to steal my Elon."
"In that case, why don't we just sit at equal distance from each other. That way he won't be next to me, and you'll be at a relatively close distance, but not close enough to reach him."
The table was round so we were able to distance ourselves in a manner that we kept our distance equally easily.
"Nola, that's my leg." I tell her as she pulls her foot away from mine.
The pizza came and it was pretty good, albeit lacking. Nola looks happy! I don't think I've ever seen her happy outside of being with Elon.
"Do you like Pizza, Nola!"
"Yes!" she says, taking 5 slices. I guess that leaves me and Elon with 2 and a half each. As long as she's happy. Look at her, shoving all 5 slices in her mouth. She looks so happy.
"So what did you think of me today, Elon?" I ask him.
"I'm not into sports, but I think you did great out there. You're one of the fastest players."
"Yeah. I am serious about soccer. I love the sport."
"Well, you were awesome out there."
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without the team. They put their everything too. It's a shame that stupid referee did not count that last goal. That's messed up. It went in before he blew his whistle."
"Yeah, even I saw that. That's pretty messed up."
"Anyways, glad you were here. Did you have fun, Nola?"
"Ah dnt knw bt sprts thr." She said with a mouth full.
"Nola, swallow first."
She does so as she lays her stack of slices down, "I don't know about sports, so i don't know."
"Did you watch me, at least?"
"Uhh.... yeah... kind of."
"Oh... you were looking at Elon, weren't you?"
"Sometimes."
"Nola, I'm going to teach you how to play soccer."
"No, I don't want to."
"I'm not giving you a choice. You're going to learn soccer."
"No, I don't want to!"
"You got to get your mind off of Elon. I figured with soccer, you can use that as a distraction."
"I suck at soccer. You saw me yesterday. I don't want to play soccer."
"We'll just have to try harder."
"Yeah, Nola," said Elon. "I think you should also learn to play. It'll give you something to think about."
"Does that mean you will learn with me?"
"No. I have to concentrate and prepare for college."
"Mmmmmm...."
"But I'll come and watch you practice, and if you get good enough, I'll even watch your games."
This perked her up a bit. "Okay, I'll do it." And she continues to eat.
"Say, Heather," asks Elon, "do you know that tall player? Rudy?"
"Yeah. You're tutoring him, right?"
"How did you know?"
"He told me, though I promised I wouldn't tell anyone." Heh. Don't worry Rudy, Elon won't tell anyone. He's fine. Besides, I don't trust you. I want to inform Elon about your request.
"Since you already know," says Elon, "I might as well ask. Did he tell you anything about me?"
"Like what?"
"About my past?"
"No, nothing like that. Though he did wanted know everything I know about you as a favor for replacing one of our players."
"Really?"
"Don't worry, i won't tell him about you and Nola. I'll keep that a secret."
"Well, here's the thing. He knows about that."
"He does?"
"He told me last time I tutored him that he saw us being escorted out of the bathroom in elementary. He's acting weird. He kept saying he was not going to use it against me but kept pressuring me to tell him what happened. He seemed quite compulsive and obsessed about it too."
"Really? I know he's a bit pushy, but that sounds weird coming from him. Why would he want to know such a thing?"
"I have no idea what's going on with him. I fear he might pressure me to tell him again when I tutor him tomorrow."
"You're still going to tutor him?"
"Yeah. He owes me a favor, I just got to figure out what I want him to do before graduation."
"Well, be careful. He's got a reputation of being a bully. Though there's no actual proof, but if he's anything like he's in the field, there's no trusting him. But so far, no, he hasn't told me anything other than you're tutoring him. He doesn't want anyone to know he's spending time with you."
"Man, I fear he's going to pressure me to tell him again tomorrow. I don't know what that guys want. He's just so anal about it."
By this time, Nola was starting to choke! Elon immediately runs behind her and performs the heimlich maneuver. In no time, she spits out a golf ball sized lump of pizza.
"Nola, be careful," he tells her. "Eat slowly, please."
After we finish dinner, we head to the car and drive to their building. Oh man... she's going back to her parents. Her awful parents. I hate this, knowing I'm sending her to a toxic environment. Dad won't take her in like he did with me, but considering how that went, maybe he's right to do so. I actually kind of wish Elon would take her in. He's practically a brother to her and his parents, while slightly crazy, are far more sensible. You know, I should let Elon know. Maybe he can sleep on the sofa or something, I can't have her just living with those awful people.
We arrive at the parking lot.
"Nola, can you please wait in the car?" I ask. "I need to ask Elon something in private."
Me and Elon get of the car and I pull him to the side.
"Okay, I'm going to be blunt. I tried asking my dad if she can live with me, but he declined. I don't want to send her home to her parents. They're doing more harm than good."
"You actually asked your dad?"
"Yeah. The truth is, I'm adopted. He's my second dad. My original parents were verbally abusive. I had a good laugh when I first met her parents, but now I realize how destructive they are to her. I want her out of that environment, so I figured if she can live with you in some way. Can you just sleep in the sofa, or have her sleep in the sofa?"
"But this won't help her with her mental state. We need to remain separate so that she could get adjusted to not having me with her."
"I know, but you can't send her to her parents. Oh, I wish you could just swap parents with her. I'm sure you could handle them, but that is assuming you had the mental fortitude to survive them for 17 years."
Elon grabs me by the arm, "Come to my apartment. Let's get Nola and speak to my parents."
==Elon POV==
"Hi, mom. I'm home."
"STUPID ELON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE! I SWORE YOU WERE BANNED FROM ENTERING THIS APARTMENT EVER AGAIN!"
"Jeez, don't be so mad. After all, I'm your son."
"You are not anything to me, Elon! You are only my daughter's toilet butler! Nothing more!"
"But my mom sees Nola as her daughter, so it's only natural that I'm your son, right?"
"NO YOU ARE NOT! You are a troublesome boy who has no right to talk to adult women without permission. In fact, unless you are going to follow me to the bathtub and give me my sponge bath, which I'm still waiting for from my daughter, you are to leave this place before I call the police."
"No, Mrs. Uro. I won't be leaving. I traded places with Nola. She's going to live with my parents for now on while I'm going to live with you."
"YOU WHAT!?"
Mrs. Uro stampedes her way to the neighbors and knocks. My mom answers.
"Mrs. Peeper, you get your leash and drag your boy home. Where is his collar, by the way?"
"Mrs. Uro, I think it's time you had a son!"
"What you do mean? I never wanted a son! If I did, I'd have him get a sex change by now!"
"Well, now you do and you can! My son will be your son until he turns 18, and your daughter will be... he he he... MY DAUGHTER!" My mom pulls Nola in and gives her a giant hug. Nola has a very confounded look, but she also looks complacent. Heather is right behind her, with a big smile on her face. Mrs. Uro looks like she's about to murder someone.
Oh oh. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.
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