Page 78 of Medium

“Um, I am curious, though. You mentioned a job? Is it maybe something to do with the billionaire Dominic told me to ask y’all about?” He looked from Ms. Jackson to me, Ellis, and Shane.

Yessparkled on Ms. Jackson’s board.

Shane put his hand on Pia’s back. “But we’re not going to discuss it at the table.”

Pia made a face. “I don’t mind, especially if you’re discussing putting him in jail.”

I looked around, but I didn’t see Lorraine anywhere. Grandfather was in the kitchen trying to slap at things on the counter with his hands. I made a mental note to find out what Garfield and Mercy had found out.

Arch had frozen, staring at Pia. “You... were, um, being held by that... guy?”

I wanted to call Grandfather in here to whack Arch on the head again.

Ellis reached across me to slap Arch’s forearm. Close enough. “Arch! We’ll talk about this later.”

Pia shivered, and Ms. Jackson morphed into a giant panda form. Arch dropped his fork, which made me super happy. Ms. Jackson reached out and hugged Pia, who leaned her head on their furry belly.

“Uh, sorry.” Arch darted a glance at Ellis. He kept his eyes on his plate for the next few minutes.

Ellis took a sip of his water then set the glass down with a thump. “I told Arch I was moving to Houston to be with you two.” He looked at Shane and me with a little smile.

I put my fork down and rubbed his back. “Can’t wait.”

“He’ll help us pack and then caravan to Houston with us.”

The rest of us nodded and continued eating, but Manny heaved a huge sigh. His eyes were closed, and his palms were pressed together in front of his face like he was praying. Then he dropped his hands and snapped his eyes open. “Pia, Ms. Jackson, and I will ride with Arch. You three haven’t had much time alone together.”

“Really?” Shane beamed. “That’d be fantastic!”

I smiled. “Thanks, Manny. You’re right. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Ellis smiled and put his hands on Shane and my knees.

Arch, however, had stiffened, his eyes darting between Manny, Ms. Jackson, and Ellis. But in the end he just nodded and didn’t say anything. Sorry, dude. Partner time beat out estranged brother time. Ellis was riding in my car.

After dessert—Ms. Jackson had not been able to order any brownies, but they seemed content with more Fig Newtons and the leftover Oreos from yesterday—Arch helped us pack up the rest of what Ellis wanted to take. I took pictures of his furniture so we could decide what we wanted to keep after the house sold.

Since we had another vehicle, Pia and Ms. Jackson emptied the refrigerator and freezer into a couple of coolers Ellis had in his garage. Okay, Pia put food into the coolers. Ms. Jackson put food into their mouth. But, given that yesterday they not only turned into a dragon, but they also healed Manny, they could have whatever the hell they wanted.

I made sure Pia knew we were packing up all of Ellis’ gaming systems and games. Shane didn’t have any, and mine were at my condo.

Finally it was time to leave. I went outside and woke Manny, who’d been napping on a deck chair.

“You feel better?”

He groaned as he sat up. “Yeah, but I’m hoping I can sleep in the car on the way home. I don’t think I’m up for four hours of Mr. Personality.”

“Maybe Ms. Jackson will volunteer to sit next to him.”

Manny scoffed. “Pia will make sure the snacks are in the back seat.”

I laughed and gave him a hand to help him stand upright.

He walked a little slowly back inside, but as soon as his eyes fell on Arch, he straightened his back and added a swagger. “Did you miss me? You ready for some rockin’ tunes in the Arch-mobile?” He waved his phone in Arch’s direction. Then he looked at Pia and smirked. “Hey, Pia? Wanna listen to some Janet Jackson songs? They’re Ms. Jackson’s favorite.”

Pia gasped. “Can we?”

Ms. Jackson, still in their giant panda form, stood upright on their hind legs, turned their head quickly to the left and back, then spread their arms and legs out in a big X. Manny cheered. “Go, Ms. Jackson! Pia, when we get to Houston, we’ll teach you that entire dance sequence. It’ll be fun!”