Page 12 of Hilarina and the Ogre

Usually, it was Albert who specialized in non sequiturs, but Annette liked to pull random shit out of the clouds too. “What?”

“I was hoping to do a Seniors class some mornings,” Annette went on as if nothing had been said. “If you can take over the beginners’ class Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I can make a go of it.”

It was something she’d talked about before. Ballet for Fogeys, his father called it. Annette didn’t plan to charge for it. Even for the regular classes, she didn’t ask for much. She was classically trained, and had danced on some famous stages, but her prices never reflected that. It was why Hilary drove the Shitheap, and why his clothes were mostly castoffs. But the older he got, the more he loved her for it. In their kind of town, none of her students could have afforded standard studio prices. “I can do it.”

She ruffled his hair. It had been a while since she’d done that as well. He leaned into it a little and realized she looked older these days. When had that happened?

Trenton showed up that evening at six on the dot, which was confusing because Hilary had thought the shift itself was over at six with twenty or so minutes stacked atop that for the commute back. It was why he hadn’t yet been listening out for the door, so when Trenton set a mug of tea down on the desk, Hilary nearly shit himself. “Christ!”

“Do you not like this tea?” Trenton asked, feigning ignorance. “Your mother said you did.”

“Can’t you knock?”

“The door was open.”

“Then call my name or something!”

“Hilary,” the boy said, as if that would work.

Hilary sighed.

They set themselves up at the kitchen table. A bad idea, as it turned out, because it opened them up to comments from the peanut gallery.

“Look at this,” Albert said, coming up to smack his back. “I didn’t even know you could read.”

“Har, har.”

Albert leaned in, always ready with the comedy routine. “What a nerd. Should I give you a swirly? You have a swirly-inviting face.”

“Blame your genes.”

“My genes wouldn’t have made you so handsome. It was obviously the mailman.”

“I’ve never looked like any of our mail carriers.”

Albert squinted, then changed angles, then made a kind of straining sound like he was trying to poop before finally finishing with, “If you say so.”

Trenton was the one who finally put an end to it. “I think you’re bothering Hilary.”

That had Albert roaring his appreciation. “I like this kid,” he announced after slapping his back numb. “Call me Dad, Trenton.”

Trenton didn’t so much as blink. “Please let us study, Dad.”

“Right you are, son.”

They covered a lot of ground, though it didn’t seem like it. Because every time he seemed to figure out a problem, Trenton would present him with another that would just have him staring blankly again. But they worked through a lot of pages, and then suddenly Trenton said, “That’s it for today.”

It was just after ten. They’d taken a couple of breaks to shovel down some food and to piss, but it wasn’t nearly as late as Hilary expected. It had him panicking a little. “You’ll come tomorrow though, right? Or do you have to work again?” They were only a little over halfway through the material, and he didn’t feel comfortable with any of it.

“I have work, but I’ll come again.”

There was no mention of the time Trenton was investing into the tutoring, and none either about the other end of the bargain Hilary was meant to be upholding.

He followed the boy to the door to get his keys, but was refused again. “I have my bike,” Trenton said.

“It’s late.”

“It’s only a ten-minute ride from here.”