“Yeah, it sucks. I’ve been trying, Elijah. You know I have been.”
“I know. For what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you, Brandon. You looked great out there on the track.”
“Thank you. Believe it or not, hearing that from you makes me feel great.” I leaned back in my chair when the waitress came over and set down the basket of breadsticks. “I’m just sick of her,” I continued once the waitress left our table. “I want out of there. I can’t stand listening to her and her overnight guests. But I’ve stopped saying anything about it because I know it leads to issues. Seriously, though, I’m done, Elijah.”
“Well, you’re almost done with your junior year. You need to stay focused and finish high school. Then you can do whatever you want.”
“I will,” I said confidently.
“Do you have any idea about what you want to do after high school?”
“No.”
“Do you know where you’ll go if you move out?”
I shook my head.
“Well, if you find yourself on the street with nowhere to go, you come see your Uncle Eli.”
“For real?”
“Yes, Brandon, for real. We’re friends. You can rely on me.”
“Man, I wish I could come live with you now,” I half joked.
“We could sit and have breakfast together. Then dinner together in the evening.”
I was envious of the simple life he taunted me with. I didn’t care about a big fucking house, or an expensive car; I just wanted someone to spend some time with me and pay attention to me.
“Sounds enticing, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“You finish school first,” he told me as he reached for a slice of pizza from the metal plate that the waitress had just set down.
We ate in silence for a few minutes, and then I decided to ask him about his tattoo.
“So I see you have oars peeking out from under your sleeve; do they mean anything special?” I asked before I took a big bite from my pizza.
“They do, yes. I was on the rowing team in college,” he proudly said.
“Rowing explains your bigger framed upper body. You have large biceps,” I noticed out loud. “Do you still get the chance to row?”
“Not so much in actual water anymore, but I have a rowing machine at home. So I enjoy working out with it.” Elijah laughed and then reached for his glass of Coke. “It’s nice to know you noticed my upper body strength.”
“It’s interesting how you can almost tell what sport someone does, just based on their physique.”
“Do I look like I row to you?”
“I didn’t know what you did or had done.” I paused to take a sip of Coke before continuing, “But I know you don’t get biceps like that without working for them.”
“Runners have very different physiques … don’t you? Very lean and toned,” he suggested.
I nodded while I chewed and then laughed.
“Except when we eat like this.”
I stayed and talked with Elijah about a variety of things after we finished eating. We talked about college athletics and academics. I learned that he had attended Harvard, which was pretty impressive.
