So Far Away

The ride to school that day was probably the worst car ride I had ever had the pleasure to partake in.
However, I did have a signed chemistry test to show for it.

Dad was like a broken record, stuck forever on a loop of, “I’m sorry’s” and “it was a mistake’s;” he even dared to go as far as “where did I go wrong’s,” and “how could you let it get this bad’s.”

I was grounded for a week; I wouldn’t be allowed out; I had to think about my school performance and how to better it.
I had to report home, directly, after school.
But that wasn’t all.
Dad said it was time that he should welcome Gena into our home with a family dinner on Saturday.
It would strictly be a family affair; it would be “just the three of us;” and I would get the opportunity to really sit down and get to know, Gena.

I had met Gena before, but only briefly.
Usually when she and my Dad went out, Dad would stop by her place- grab her, go out, and then drop her back at her place later on.
He didn’t usually invite her here to stay.

When she was here, it was because Dad had accidentally left his wallet in another set of pants.
I remember, because when I went to grab a drink in the kitchen- unaware that they had stopped back home, I had the most unfortunate pleasure to greet her in my underwear.
But, before I could leave, she held up her hands as if to say, “don’t.”
She made for the dishtowel near by the kitchen sink, held it as to shield her eyes, and then blindly extended her free hand and said, “You…must be Ian. I’m Gena.”
What Dad had said about her had been true; she was in fact “one of a kind.”

School the rest week was miserable; Wednesday was a disappointment.
Apparently the french fries in the cafeteria were so fresh, that they were gone by second period lunch.
I had lunch fourth period, and I didn’t stand a chance.
Eugene did what he could to attempt to coax my Dad to begin the parole process early on grounds of good behavior.
Unfortunately, the attempts were futile.

It was currently, 2:30 in the afternoon, Saturday.
I was miserable and at the table on the back patio, my Chemistry book open to the practice problems as a review for the end of the term exam that we would have in a week.
If I could nail it, I would academically redeem my pride and my freedom, perhaps my Chemistry grade as well.

I felt, what I soon found to be a wad of paper, ricochet off my head and land in the midst of practice problems nine and forty-seven.
“Pst.”

The piece of paper was actually a grocery store ad, and when the initial toss did not warrant a response, a nerf football made it clear of the fence and crash landed on the patio table.
“For Christ’s sake, Eugene, what?”

“How did you know it was me?”
The sound of a metal chair being slid across a cement patio resonated over the top of the 5 ft wood plank fence, and made the skin on the back of my neck crawl.

“I do not know Eugene, it was a 50/50 shot.”
It was between the yard of the four Czerwinski children to the right and the yard of the elderly widow, Ethel Perkins, on the left. Some how, I didn’t forsee a seventy-nine year old woman with much need for a ‘nerf ball’ of any sort.

“What are you doing?”

“Homework.”

Eugene let out a bemused yell,
“You, do homework?”

“Eugene, Shh!”
I could see my Dad peer out behind the curtain of the kitchen window. He was busy with dinner.
I would bet any amount that had heard Eugene, and if Eugene didn’t learn how to disappear, I would be in a world of trouble.
I bent my head down and made it appear as if I were lost in the scientific manuscripts of chemistry, and hard at work.

When Dad was nowhere to be seen, and the coast was clear, I made for the nerf football and made a deliberate toss in the direction of Eugene.
“Are you nuts? Are you trying to get me in trouble? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Eugene was able to dodge the nerf ball, but nearly lost his balance in the process.
“What’s wrong with me? What the hell’s wrong with you? You could have killed me.”

“I seriously doubt it, Eugene. But, if you don’t get lost, you’ll wish that I had.”
I gestured half-hazardly with my World of Chemistry volume seven, and in a way that meant business.

Eugene not only paid the threat no mind, but he also failed to vacate the fence.
“I can’t do this anymore; I’m going crazy over here.”

I had been grounded for less than a week, and Eugene was already losing his marbles.
I used to joke around all the time that I was Eugene’s only friend, and usually he would wave it off and shrug. But now, in the current situation, I could see I probably wasn’t far from the truth; and I almost felt sorry for him- almost.
“Don’t you have homework of your own to do, or something?”

Eugene slapped the top of the fence and hooted,
“Uh, dude in case you haven’t noticed, it’s Saturday.”

Unfortunately, I was well aware that it was Saturday.
“And…”

Eugene made a face and began,
“If it’s due on Monday…”

“Do on Monday…”
How could I overlook the ‘slacker motto’?

For a moment, the conversation died, I was actually able to work past my third problem in the half hour I had been on the patio.
I could hear Eugene drum a steady beat on the fence to occupy the silence.

That was until the smoke detector began to sound from the kitchen.

“Why the hell is your Dad in the kitchen? Easter was like three weeks ago…”

It was rare that my Dad would actually touch a stove outside of the holidays.
Unless it was a day like today…”It’s a special occasion, Eugene.”

“What’s the occasion? Did you invite Barnes to your house for dinner and a movie so you could seduce him into passing you in Chemistry for the year?”
I made to deliver a sarcastic aside, but before I could muster a syllable, Eugene who was on a roll in his mission to add insult to injury, beat me to it.
“Is that why you’re out here with your nose in that book, you going to woo him with your knowledge of the periodic table?”

He was behind the fence, in an uproar, and I said, “He is entertaining a lady friend.”

I don’t know if he had heard what I had said, but I was not about to stick around and find out; that usually lead to a topic of discussion I really did not want to discuss.
I would have plenty of time to think about it today when her replacement sat across the table at dinner.