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“I’ll talk to him, where is he?” I asked, getting down from her bed.
“I think he’s in the sitting room, I saw him leave his room earlier.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to him, yeah?” She sighed and I bent back to her level, raising her chin with my index finger.
“Hey, I said I’ll talk to him,” I said and she nodded with no humor in her normally shiny dark brown eyes, causing me to groan. How many angry kids could I handle?
I walked to the sitting room and frowned when I didn’t see Kendal there. He was supposed to - according to his sister - be in the sitting room. I checked his room and the kitchen, but he wasn’t there either. Then I heard movement in my room.
I walked toward it and immediately opened the door. He flinched from the sound and I narrowed my eyes at him, as he looked at me and grinned.
I thought Ariana said he was upset, he looked more nervous than upset.
“What are you doing here?” I inquired, as I turned to close the door. It was not common for them to enter my room because they knew I hated having people in my personal space and they were never the type to trespass.
I faced him again and he sat on my bed. I raised my eyebrows, silently urging him to answer my question. He looked away from me and I scoffed. I guessed he was mad after all.
“Ken?” I spoke again. “I said what are you doing in my room?”
‘To talk to you.’ he signed.
I walked over to sit beside him on the bed. “I was looking for you to talk to you as well, Ariana mentioned that you haven’t spoken to her all day.” I immediately shook my head at my words when I remembered what the time was. Ariana had a way of rubbing her overdramatized behavior on me.
The fourteen-year-old chuckled and faced me. I knew he was about to insult both Ari and me, and I squinted my eyes – daring him, but the truth was that they were not scared of me at all, even though they really should be. I laughed inwardly when I recalled that I had learned sign language for a whole year just to be able to communicate with him.
You still have a heart. Only for them.
‘All day? It’s only eight in the morning.’ He signed and threw his head back, laughing. I told you he wasn’t afraid of me, if it were to be someone else who laughed at me like that, I wouldn’t even need a knife. My hands were more than enough to bring them the pain I wanted.
“Fine, but she said you’re upset, what’s wrong?” He sighed as soon as the question rolled off my lips.
It was about his education, I knew. I should address it soon, hoping to change Ari’s school as well. I’d send both of them to a boarding school because what I had prepared for all my life was near and I wanted no kid to disturb me.
‘Won’t I study?’ He asked.
“You study,” I answered deadpan, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. It was not as if he hadn’t been studying, he just didn’t want to be homeschooled. He preferred going to arealschool.
He huffed and started signing fast. He only did that whenever he was done with my bullshit. ‘I know, but I don’t like her, I told you. She disgusts me, that woman eats raw garlic and she smells too. She smells like cheese and I hate cheese. She smells like she hasn’t taken her bath in years, and I know it's because she eats raw garlic. Who eats raw garlic?’
I dropped his hand. He was signing too fast and it was all too much to read at once. “You’re too fast. What did you say about cheese again?”
He started over, dramatically slow this time. ‘Sorry, I said I hate my homeschool teacher, she smells like cheese and she eats raw garlic.’
He hated cheese. In fact, if someone’s name was Cheese, he would hate them. I burst into laughter and he threw a glare my way, probably trying to figure out how I found it amusing. He might be dumb –literally– but he was sassy as fuck.
“Okay fine, before the end of this month, you will attend a real school.” He turned suddenly at my proclamation. “Be careful or you’ll snap your neck.” He hit me softly and I chortled.
‘I swear if you’re lying this time, I’ll run away and you’ll never see me again.’ Great, now we were making threats. Who would tell this guy that he would be helping me if he ran away?
“I’m not lying. I’ll work something out and…” He interrupted me with a hug. I didn’t like hugs, so I shook him off and he giggled.
“Since you don’t like your at-home teacher, I’ll drop Ari at school and drop you at your crush’s place.” I suggested and a frown came down on his face.
‘That lady is not my crush, she talks too much and she’s way older.’ His face scrunched up in disgust.
“Alright, get ready quickly.” He nodded, getting up with a bright smile. I guessed he was really happy about going to arealschool.
‘Thank you, I love you and you are the best.’ He turned to me and signed when he got to the corridor, before skipping out of my room.