literature

The Art of Relations 6

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I was almost regretting agreeing to tutor Benjamin during lunch. I was getting hungry and I sort of wanted to speak with Nikolai again. Still, I had agreed to help Benjamin and I would try my best to do so. If only he would focus more on the work it might be easier to help him.

"Benjamin, you know this verb." I reminded pointing to the picture that he had left blank and unidentified. "Where is your mind today?"

"Nowhere." He muttered pulling his work closer and looking at it closer. "This is just hard, Serj."

I sighed a bit and took another sip of my Gatorade. "Let us move on to the next page." Benjamin nodded and we started on the next page of homework. After several minutes, I noticed that he was glancing at me and I raised an eyebrow. "What is it, Benjamin?"

"I was just wondering...i-if you would be able to help me out this weekend with my Russian?" He asked hopefully, a faint pink blush painting his cheeks. "I mean; I know you don't usually, but I could really use the help."

I thought about if for a minute. It really wasn't a secret that Benjamin was struggling with the subject material. Though I usually spent most of my weekends with Skylar and as far away from my textbooks as possible. "Perhaps, I shall have to see what else I have planned, Benjamin. But I may be able to arrange something."

Benjamin smiled. "Alright, that's great! Just let me know alright?"

"Of course." I agreed. "But for now, let us get back to your homework." We spent the rest of the lunch period finishing his homework and making sure all his questions were answered and explained. It seemed to go much easier than before. Benjamin seemed as if he was actually paying attention this time.

The rest of the day sped past and soon it was soccer practice. I spotted Nikolai looking at me a few times and the blush he had made my heart skip with hope. Maybe my affections weren't as one-sided as I had feared. I was beyond impressed when he managed to score a goal on the varsity net. He was definitely getting better and I couldn't wait to see just how good he would get.

I wasn't even able to start the car after practice before Nikolai showed me his white board. Kyle said you had lots of questions. I'll answer one for you,

I was quite surprised at that but glad for the chance. I thought for a minute, I had thousands of questions but I wanted to ask something that wouldn't make him entirely uncomfortable. That threw out every question about his mother and his scars. So I settled for something a bit easier to talk about. "I... Can I ask why you eat so little?"

At my old home, with my mother, I wasn't allowed to eat with her. I was only allowed to eat whatever was leftover, which was never much. My neighbors had noticed this and when Children's Services did nothing, I had one who would slip me a bagged lunch on school days. Others would let me do chores in their yards or houses and pay me with snacks. But since my mother disliked them so much, it was hard to get away from her. I guess my appetite just compensated to use what I got sparingly. Was what he slowly wrote on his board.

I took a minute to shove my first reaction back. A stream of Russian curses was not what Nikolai needed to hear right now. It took a minute for me to think of something else to say, though all I could think of was, "Who are these neighbors? We should write them thank you notes. It was nice of them to look out for you when the system failed." Nikolai's head jerked up and I could see tears in the corner of his eyes.

"Damn," Skylar muttered. "How the hell could you have lived like that?"

Nikolai shrugged. Kyle's figured out how much I can eat though and tries to keep my meals balanced enough that I get what I need with as little as I can eat, He wrote on his board.

"That is good," I stated as I started my car. "You definitely got a good foster father. He cares a lot about you." Things settled to a normal easy routine and Skylar rambled for most of the trip. I was taking my time as I drove, but mostly because I was trying to figure out how to ask Nikolai to spend more time with us and not make it sound like a come on. "Hey, Nikolai, would you like to get together with Sky and I this weekend and hang out? I am sure between now and then we can figure out something fun to do."

Sounds fun. I'll ask Kyle if it's okay, he wrote out.

"Do that," I said smiling as he got out of the car. "I will see you tomorrow." Skylar called out his own goodbye and I smiled as he once again used the nickname 'peanut'. He'd been using it more and more lately and I was definitely seeing his point. It suited Nikolai very well.

It wasn't five minutes after we pulled away from Nikolai's house when I let myself swear. "Damn! How could someone do that, huh?" I asked my friend angrily.

"I don't know, dude." He answered despite the question being rhetorical.

"It's disgraceful! Not feeding your own son! How could she get away with that?" I demanded gripping the steering wheel firmer beneath my hands. "It is insane! No one deserves to be treated that way! No wonder he is so small!"

"Your accent's getting a little thick, Serj." Skylar commented.

"I don't care!" I snapped.

Skylar sighed a bit. "I know you're mad. I'm pissed too but I think you're gonna leave permanent marks in that steering wheel." I scowled at him slightly but loosened my grip nonetheless. "There's nothing we can do about it now. She's already dead." He pointed out.

"She is lucky." I muttered angrily.

"Let's just get the peanut healthy and leave it at that." Skylar suggested.

I muttered an agreement before starting to grumble under my breath in Russian. I was far from happy at what I'd learned but like Skylar had pointed out there wasn't much that could be done about something that had already happened. But now I was more determined than ever to break past Nikolai's shield. I wanted to make certain he could never be mistreated again. I wouldn't ever allow it to happen again.
Can you feel the tangle that is coming? I can

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AlecWolfe's avatar
lucky Nikolai to have good friends... for now?