AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Reagan: What? School is so much fun, he’ll love it!
Me: Not everyone was a nerd who liked school, Reagan
Reagan: Jackass
I laughed at her response, but then an idea formed.
Me: Hey, maybe he just needs to be around someone enthusiastic about school—someone who can make it exciting for him.
I told myself it was just because I was desperate to help Wolfie, and I was, but that didn’t mean that the rest of me didn’t instantly respond to the idea of having Reagan close.
Reagan: What do you have in mind?
Me: We have to pick up some school supplies today, and I’d rather it not be a trip of doom. Maybe you could come along?
The three dots danced across my screen for an interminable amount of time. “Shit, is she writing a novel to tell me to fuck off?” I muttered to myself.
“Are we still having sugar puffs?” Wolfie asked hopefully as he emerged from the bathroom in some of the new clothes I’d gotten for him. He didn’t have a lot of clothes when he’d arrived, and let’s face it, I wasn’t one to hit the laundromat several times a week, which all meant one thing: Wolfgang now had a ton of clothes. It looked like my little plan to avoid having to do the laundry more often was backfiring, though, because when we’d gone shopping, he’d fallen in love with this Batman T-shirt and wanted to wear it nearly every day—including today.
I’d headed to the kitchen as he got dressed. Hastily, I shoved my phone back into my pocket. “Sugar puffs for two, I’m on it,” I said as I grabbed the box of cereal from the cabinet along with a couple of bowls.
“Can I watch TV while I eat my cereal?” he asked when I handed him his bowl.
“Sure, buddy,” I told him. He promptly headed towards the couch as my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I tried to ignore that annoying rush that shot to my chest. “You’re a grown man, Rollins, you’re acting like a schoolgirl,” I chastised myself as I scooped my phone out of my pocket.
“What the hell?” I mumbled. For all of those three dots taking their time, her message was surprisingly short.
Reagan: What time?
I typed out a response that was more honest than I wanted it to be but hit send before I could think better of it.
Me: What are you doing now?
Reagan: I’m out on a run.
Me: So? Bring your sweaty self over here.
Reagan: Gross.
Me: Hey, I’m a doctor—you think I’m not used to gross?
Holy shit, what the fuck was I saying?
Those damn three dots appeared again, then disappeared.
“Nice, Rollins, way to draw her in,” I grumbled before taking my now soggy bowl of sugar puffs to the couch and plopping down next to Wolfie. “Okay, Wolf-Man, what are we watching?”
***
A half hour into Sunday morning cartoons, a knock sounded at my door. “You want me to get it, Uncle Adam?” Wolfgang asked.
“No, buddy, you better let me. Just hold down the fort. I’ll be back,” I said, getting up from the couch. Apparently, wherever he’d lived in Germany had been a fairly small, safe place, but he’d been accustomed to answering the door to just anyone. I’d found this fact out the hard way a couple of evenings before when I’d parked Wolfie in front of the TV so that I could take a quick shower. When I came out, there was a salesman sitting at my kitchen table, asking Wolfie if his “daddy had considered a premium cable package.”
Before I could say anything, Wolfie told the man, “My daddy died.”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a sick twist of satisfaction from the horrified expression on the man’s face. He sputtered, struggling to respond to that bit of that information. Wolfie turned to see me there. “Uncle Adam, this man wants to know if you thought about a package?”
