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The room was less tense when she left, and she made sure to slam the door behind her. Benjamin sighed and slowly walked back to where the books were.
“Uncle Barney? Christ!” he muttered to himself. “How long has it been?”
He closed his eyes and remembered the visits from years ago. Uncle Barney was the kind of person who imprinted himself into the lives of others, despite how brief the interaction was. Benjamin had actually always liked Barney, but his mother had broken off all contact at some point when he was still young. Benjamin had visited him once when he was in college, but after that, the connection had totally faded.
He picked up the red book with Elijah’s name on the spine and opened it to the front page.
To my grandson, Benjamin Radcliff, a great man in the making.
He stared at the words scrawled in blue ink, like an accusation, and then slammed the book shut, his breath quickening.
“Great man,” he mumbled and replaced the book, his hands shaking. He settled down on the chair opposite his grandpa’s desk and sighed. “It’s still a good thing, I guess,” he mumbled to himself. After all, Uncle Barney might get Ava out of the house. That’s still the plan, right?
His eyes settled on his grandpa’s seat and he felt uncomfortable, getting flashes of those days when he actually had to sit where he was sitting right now, while his grandpa sat across from him, admonishing him and trying to make him a man. A great man.
“Is that what all this is about, grandpa?” he said out loud, his eyes still on the empty chair. “Are you trying to test me, to see if I can meet your expectations?”
His eyes lowered, and his hands clenched into tight fists. The study was almost completely quiet, except for the slow, steady ticking of an old clock. He waited, listening… his thoughts almost silent.
He stopped drifting off into the depths of his mind and stood abruptly, heading straight out of the room as if responding to a summons that only he could hear. His stomach rumbled and he sighed, changing directions to the kitchen. He rummaged through the fridge for food and found a sandwich and a bottle of juice. Using his leg to close the fridge, he decided to eat in the garden.
“I’m not slacking off,” he said out loud, his voice muffled by the sandwich in his mouth. He walked out of the kitchen and, just like before, nearly clashed with someone. He didn’t see her at first.
“Watch out!” he said and looked up to see Ava staring at him. He saw the surprised look on her face, which lasted only a second.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” she apologized.
“I—” he made to speak, but she’d already gone into the kitchen.
Just leave,he sighed, but for some reason he was rooted to the ground, waiting for her. He could hear her in the kitchen.What now? You gonna ask her to join you in the garden or what?
He could see her shadow moving around. Then the sounds stopped, and she appeared from the kitchen with a plate in her hand.
“Would you like to join me in the garden?”
She looked a bit shocked.
“I’m sorry…maybe another—”
“Sure…why not.”
You’re slacking off… he heard his mother’s words echoing through his head. He shook the thought off as they both walked into the garden to the area near the porch with the wicker furniture seating. Ava smiled at him as they both sat down across from each other. Benjamin smiled back.
“This can count as one of the mandatory dinners,” he said, watching her smile vanish in seconds. She nodded.
Great, you idiot. Make things worse again so the next few months will be hell once more…
They both ate in silence for a moment but then Benjamin remembered something that had happened at one of the gym chains he owned. He was dying all week to tell her about it; he almost couldn’t wait. He knew she would appreciate the story, make a funny joke about it.
He put his sandwich down with a huge grin on his face. “Oh gosh…I have to tell you about this…”
Ava’s curiosity almost swallowed her.
“Remember that crazy gym trainer I told you about? Who insists on being called a Native American name although he is white?”
“You mean Dances-With-Muscles?” She instantly smiled, knowing where this was heading. They had talked about this before at dinner, both cracking up.
“Yeah, that guy. Well guess what. On Monday I had the manager of the gym storm into my office, sweating, his face desperate for help.”
