Starting Point (18 page)

We ate the pancakes topped with cut berries and maple syrup, and Claude declared that, in defence of my honour, I could cook just fine.

It was kind of nice, and even Ruby seemed to relax. He laughed as Claude told Kira. “Those toasted sandwiches last night were real good, but Matt’s and mine pancakes are the best.”

“But look at the mess!” Kira replied.

“The mess don’t matter none,” Claude told him. “’Cause we cooked, you two clean. Ain’t that right, Matt?”

I bumped fists with her, and our laughter was cut short by a knock at the door.

Ruby’s eyes went wide and his body tensed. I could see him gauging the distance between himself, his sister and the back door, calculating his risks on getting him and his sister out. Always had an escape plan. It was instinct.

“Boys!” a familiar voice called out. “You in there?”

I exhaled in relief and Kira smiled at Ruby. “It’s just my mom.”

Kira stood up, still smiling—though now somewhat forced—and in sign language, said, “It’s my mom. Shit, it’s my mom!” as he stood up. “Coming, Mom!” he called out.

Well, this was about to get interesting.

As Kira opened the door I could hear Yumi mumbling something about not wanting to catch the two of us in bed, then her voice got louder as she walked towards the kitchen. “What you boys cooking? Something smells good…”

Yumi’s words trailed off when she walked into the kitchen, with Kira and Sal behind her. She saw Claude first, then Ruby, and finally her widened gaze fell on me. Claude leaned in closer to me, almost hiding behind me, while Ruby looked as though he was getting ready to run.

“Mom,” Kira said. “This is Claudia and Rueben. They stayed here last night.” Kira sat down at the table, in the seat next to Ruby, and seeing how nervous the kid was, Kira patted him on the back. “These are my parents.”

“Hello,” Yumi said cautiously, and Sal, who was just as wary as Yumi, gave a wave behind her.

“Hi,” Claude said. Her voice sounded so tiny against the awkward silence.

Yumi’s attention went from Claude to Kira, and she signed, “What’s going on?”

Kira replied in sign language. “Mom, not now.”

“Hey, guys,” I said to Ruby and Claude, collecting the dirty plates and standing up. “How about we go out to the backyard? You guys can help me with something.” I put the plates in the sink and held the back door open for them to walk out first. I signed to Kira, “Is this okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

Kira would need ten minutes to explain the situation to his parents, and another ten minutes to explain to Yumi why we had never told her before now.

I knew she’d be okay with it, but probably more upset that we’d not told her we’d had kids stay at our house before. I just hoped he would tell them not to bring up the subject of school, home or their mom and dad.

“Why were they talkin’ with their hands?” Claude asked, looking up at me and squinting in the morning sun.

“Kira’s dad, Mr Franco, is deaf.”

“Like you?”

“Kind of. He’s completely deaf, whereas I can hear in one ear.”

“How come you don’t talk with your hands?” she asked, moving her hands in karate-like chops.

I laughed. “Well, I do sometimes. When I’m talking to Kira’s dad I do. But I can still hear a bit.”

Claude stopped in the middle of the yard. “You know, if you wanted some time to tell ’em about us, you just had to say,” she said. “You don’t need to be makin’ stuff up to get us to go outside.”

I smiled at her. “Well, I actually do need your help. We’re thinking of getting a dog, so I need you guys to help me check out the fences and fix any holes where a dog could fit through.”

Her eyes lit up. “A dog? For real?” she asked loudly. “What kind? What will you call her?”

“I don’t know if it will be a girl or a boy,” I explained. “We haven’t even looked yet.”

Her excitement never waned. “Where will you get it from?”

“There’s a few animal shelters we could look at.”

“Today?”

I laughed. “Probably not today.”

“Tomorrow?”

I laughed again, and Ruby chided his sister. “Claude,” he murmured.

When she looked at him, he shook his head as though telling her to drop it.

“Not sure when,” I told her. “But we need to make sure he, or she, can’t escape.” We scouted the fence line, looking for possible holes. I was pretty sure the fences were fine, but it would at least give Kira enough time to talk to his parents.

“You might need to put something under this,” Ruby said, pointing to the side gate. “Depends on the size of the dog, I guess, but a small one could get out under that.”

I walked over to where he was, and saw he was right. “I think we have some old bricks or pavers in the garden shed,” I said.

“Let’s get ’em,” he said, and walked towards the small shed in the corner of the yard. After following him, I opened the shed and found the old bricks that were stacked there. I handed two to Ruby and two to Claude.

“You right to carry them?” I asked her.

She raised one eyebrow at me as her answer, and skipped excitedly behind her brother.

Ruby fitted the bricks along where the bottom of the gate didn’t quite meet the ground. It was probably a trip hazard, and I would no doubt do something more permanent later, but seeing Ruby doing something constructive, something that made him feel important, was pretty sweet.

I held up my hand for a high five. Ruby rolled his eyes like it was uncool, but he high-fived me and I could tell he was trying not to smile.

The back door closed loudly, which sounded like Sal. Over the time I’d known him, I guessed he obviously couldn’t hear it slam so I just got used to it. Maybe it was his way of letting us know he was there.

We came around the corner of the house to find it was Sal. He signed, “Hi.”

I signed back, “How’s it going in there?” Then I said out loud, “Is Kira surviving?”

Yumi called out from inside. “He’s the deaf one, Matty, not me.”

I grinned at Sal, and formally introduced him. “Claude, Ruby, this is Kira’s dad, Mr Franco.” I looked at both kids. “He can read your lips when you talk.”

Claude was first to look up to Sal. He was a tall man, and she looked tiny compared to him, but she smiled brightly. “Hello.”

Ruby gave a more subdued, “Hey.”

When Sal looked at me, I asked him in sign language, “Did Kira explain?”

Sal nodded, then signed back, “Everything.” It was fairly obvious the big man found hearing about these kids’ life as hard to hear as we did. He clapped his hand on my shoulder, the way a father would a son.

I looked from him to the two kids. I gave them a smile. “We better get going soon, hey?” I asked. “Arizona and Boss’ll be wondering where we are. How about you go in and grab your bag.”

Claude and Ruby went inside, and Sal signed, “They’ve done it tough.”

I signed back, “They have.” I exhaled loudly, and signed, “I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.”

“One thing, Matt,” he signed. “You are all heart.” He tapped his chest. “That’s never wrong.”

“Thank you,” I said out loud.

We walked into the kitchen, just as Claude and Ruby were coming in from the living room. Claude held my old backpack to her chest.

“I’ll take these guys back,” I said. “I’ve got some work to do before classes this afternoon,” I told Kira.

“Are you right to drive?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. If I start to feel dizzy, I will pull over and call you.”

He nodded and gave me a warm smile. “Okay.” Then he looked around the kitchen. “I’ll clean this up.”

“Uh, Ruby?” Claude said. “You were supposed to help clean this up.”

“It’s okay,” I said with a smile.

“But Kira said,” she countered. “Those were the rules.”

“There were rules?” Yumi asked.

Kira stood up from the table. “It’s okay, Claude. I got it this time.”

“I’ll just grab my bag,” I said.

When I came back out, Claude was talking about dinner.

Yumi spun around to look up at Kira. “You cooked nikujaga?”

Kira ran his hand through his hair. “It was cold and late, and I don’t know why I cooked that.”

“I used to make that for you,” Yumi said quietly.

“Oh, God, Mom,” Kira said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Please don’t think too much into that. I just wanted to cook something to warm her up, that’s all.”

Yumi sniffled and her eyes brimmed with tears. She looked at Claude and Ruby. “My sobo would cook that for me.”

Kira looked over at the rest of us. “Sobo is her grandmother.” Then he shook his head, a mix of amusement and embarrassment. “You okay, Mom?”

Yumi nodded. “You such a good boy,” she said.

“Okay, we’ll go,” I said, trying not to smile. Then I signed to both Kira and Yumi, “Sorry to leave in a hurry. I think it’s too much for Ruby.”

“It’s okay,” Kira signed back.

I walked over and kissed him, a quick peck on the lips. “I love you,” I said, not caring who heard me say it. I even gave Yumi a kiss on the cheek.

I smiled at Sal, and as we walked out of the door, I told Kira, “I’ll call you later.”

After we’d been in the car for a few blocks, Claude, who was in the back seat, said, “You kissed Kira in front of his parents! That’s kinda gross.”

I laughed and looked at her in the rear-view mirror. “They don’t mind.”

“They seem nice,” Ruby said, looking out of the window. I almost didn’t hear him.

“They’re the best people I know,” I told him. “I’m not sure where I’d be if it weren’t for them.”

Ruby looked at me then as though he was going to say something but decided against it.

Figuring the subject of parents wasn’t a good one, considering what we’d learned last night, I chose the topic of conversation. “So, we gonna have a look at those papers Janelle gave you today?”

“I guess,” Ruby replied.

“Come on,” I said, trying to gain some enthusiasm from him. “It’ll be fun!”

Ruby gave me a raised, have-you-lost-your-freakin’-mind eyebrow, and it was only when Claude said, “School sucks,” that he smiled.

I pulled the car up near the gym. “Well, you gotta get used to it. It’s part of the deal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ruby grumbled.

We got out of the car, and as we made the short walk to the gym’s front doors, Claude looked up at me and asked, “You feel okay, Matt? You not dizzy or nothin’?”

I opened the front door and held it open for the two kids. I grinned at Claude. “I feel good, squirt.”

Claude and Ruby walked inside, and when I scanned the street, I saw two familiar faces watching me.

Darius and Tyler.

They made no attempt to hide watching me. I considered waving, but remembered Mitch’s warning not to draw unnecessary attention from these two. So I went inside and closed the door behind me.

We said a quick hello to the guys, and I told Claude to help Boss and Arizona while Ruby made a start on his schoolwork. He grabbed his paperwork from his locker and when he came back into my office, I had one of the tables pulled aside with a chair, and handed him a pen.

Knowing Ruby as well as I did—even as little as I did know—I figured he was the type to want to go through at his own pace, without feeling like I was watching over his shoulder.

“I’ve got stuff to do here too,” I told him, sitting down at my desk. “Give me a yell if you need. Any question, big or small, okay?”

He mumbled, “Yeah.” He sat down and started on the first page, reading first. I saw him write something on the paper and smiled to myself, proud that this kid was trying.

I pulled out my checklist for the fast-approaching fundraiser and ran through all the last minute details. I made a list of people I wanted to call, to double check and confirm we were all still on track. I ran through the radio advertising proof and emailed the confirmation from my phone. I’d never done this kind of work before and while it was a steep learning curve for me, I enjoyed it.

I looked up at Ruby, to find him staring out of the window. “You okay, Rube?”

My voice must have surprised him. He startled, but quickly straightened out his papers. “I don’t think this is gonna work,” he said. “Thanks for all your help, and for tryin’ and all.” He wouldn’t look at me, but he stood up. “But this ain’t for me.”

I was quick to walk to his table and stopped him. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothin’,” he said. “I just can’t do this kinda shit.”

I looked down at the papers and saw the problem. There was some writing, though it was big, messy and very childlike. Words were spelled wrong and some had angry lines through them. “Rube, this is okay,” I told him. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I’m here to help.”

He shook his head. “I shoulda known it was a bad idea.”

“It’s not a bad idea. It’s just gonna take some work. Here,” I said, pulling up a seat next to his table. “Sit back down and we’ll go through these. Look at this one.” I pointed to the first question. “You got it right! And the second one!”

“I’m no good at it,” he said, defeated. “My writing’s shit.”

“Ruby, you haven’t been to school in a while, so it’s gonna take a while to get back into it. It’s kinda like skipping rope,” I told him, something he could relate to. “It’s fine if you’re doing it all the time, but as soon as you stop doing it every day, you’re gonna find it real hard when you start again, yes?”

“I guess.”

“Well, reading and writing’s no different,” I told him. “It’s just a different muscle group you’re workin’, that’s all.”

Ruby nodded, like he understood that analogy, but when he looked back at the papers, he frowned. “Some words I can’t read,” he mumbled.

“Then I’ll help you,” I told him. “You just need to ask me, Rube. It’s okay to ask for help sometimes, okay?”

He didn’t answer.

“So let’s take a look at question number five,” I said, not giving him a chance to back out.

He needed a gentle push, but he needed reassurance too. And the truth was, as we went through the questions, Ruby could verbalize the answers. It was just the writing he struggled with. He was smart, and given that his last schooling was the fifth grade, he was doing very well.

I made a mental note to buy some math and word posters to put up for the different age groups. I should have thought about that before. “You know what we should do?” I asked him when we were done.