COME ON PEOPLE, DON'T BE STINGY! REVIEW!
A few plates crashed and cracked on the floor, then more as I emptied the platter full of muffins into the trashcan. We didn't know yet if Alfred or Cecil were allergic to strawberries but I wasn't taking any chances. It was bad enough that Helga had eaten one.
"Arnold!" Helga fretted. She buried her face against my chest. With one arm I held the phone and the other I held Helga in a one-armed hug. I stroked her long blond hair with one hand.
"Don't worry, Helga. I've called an ambulance. They'll be here soon."
"Son, what's going on?" said my Dad bravely. His own face was empathetic. But I scowled fiercely back.
"What's going on?" I shouted, fed up. "I can't believe this! It's bad enough you come here and make trouble for Helga, but then you've got to poison her, too!"
"Son, what is going on?" my mother said quietly. I dragged my hand through my hair and forced myself to calm down.
"Helga is allergic to strawberries. When she was a little girl they made her pass out." Mom's eyes went round wide with understanding. She rushed to the kitchen cupboard and pulled out a box of tea.
"Here. Get the hottest water you can from the sink and make some chamomile tea for Helga. It will help keep her throat open."
"Chamomile?" I said looking at the box in my hand. My mother was a specialist in medicinal herbs. So she would know what she talking about.
"I'll be right back, Arnold. Sit tight," my mother said before dashing down the hall. I was puzzled when she came back with a paper box.
"Here," said my mother tossing over the package. "It has an antihistamine in it. It should help keep her breathing passages open. She should sit down in case she feels dizzy or faints."
"I'll drink it," said Helga surprising me. "Give me the tea. Arnold?"
"What?" I stuttered for of all the people in the world she was the one who should have been the most angry.
"Look, Arnold," Helga said snatching the cup from my hand. "I'll drink it! I know you've been hurt but at some point you've got to let go or you'll only keep hurting! I know. I don't think your parents are bad people!"
"Helga!" I replied with real astonishment. Helga sipped the tea, then wrapped her arms around me.
"I need to sit down."
"Helga," I said picking her up and carrying her bridal style. I sat down on the couch with her draped across my lap. "How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy," Helga replied as we waited for the ambulance. I gulped. At its worst, people with Helga's allergy could go into shock or even have a heart attack. But so far she had remained conscious. All that bothered Helga was her head and her throat. Helga sipped her tea. I kept her hand clutched in mine until I heard the ambulance's wail.
The ambulance medics gave Helga a shot of epinephrine. Theoretically, this would stop her allergic reaction. But they took Helga to the hospital to be looked at by a doctor, just in case. I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. I put my hands in my pockets and rolled back on my toes as the ambulance drove away. I dialed Mrs. Johanssen to babysit.
"Arnold," said my father holding my mother against his side as I set down the phone. Both looked repentive. "You should know that your mother and I would never harm Helga on purpose!" I paused. I tried to be calm. But my hands balled up into fists anyway.
"Yeah, I know. I can't blame you. But you know, what? I do! I'm sick of it! I'd fed up with you ruining everything in my life!" I yelled, the angry teenager coming out. "So what if you messed up today? You've been messing up for like...forever! First you disappear on me for years! Then you come back and ground me for everything! You think everything I say or do is because of bad parenting! Well, I say, let me make mistakes! I'm not just a person in need of guidance! I'm not just a copy of you! And I'm not just a name. I'm Arnold! I'm an individual. I may not live and breath the same as you but I'm real in the minds of everyone I love- the people who love me. I can't or won't let you place me wherever is convenient for you! You will listen to what I have to say! And I'm staying right here in Hillwood, forever. And I'm marrying Helga not because I shamed her but because I love her and I always have!" My parents cringed from the volley of words I slung at them, but they exchanged a tender look between them with their fingers intertwined.
"We're so glad you finally are telling us how you feel, son. I mean… Arnold," my father spoke slowly from where he and my mother stood. "But think about it from our perspective. We came back and your principal had a long report on you. You were a young boy and you would go out all night. You were friends with children who were bullies. You came home with black eyes sometimes from school. The neighborhood was dangerous- we heard you had been mugged several times!"
"Yeah? So what?" I asked pulling a Helga.
"That's not the half of it!" my father pleaded for understanding. "We read in the paper all about the 'save the neighborhood' incident! Crashing a bus in the middle of the night! We looked it up and found you had even been arrested once!" My mind flickered back to that time. Gerald and I had been playing hookey and mistaken for the "Yahoo soda bandits".
"So, I got arrested. Everyone in Hillwood has."
"That's precisely the attitude that worries us, Arnold! Your Grandpa told us over and over you were a happy child, but that wasn't what we were seeing. You are… well, easily depressed. Your attention gets.. spacy. You get attached to people whom might not be safe and people who abuse you. From what we saw of Helga, she called you a lot of names."
"Like Football-Head?" I asked. "I got used to it. I'm stronger than that. It was like a game Helga would play because it is a rough neighborhood and Helga is tough. I came to realize 'Football-head' is a pet name."
"You were very attached to her," said my father, "and no matter if you didn't do anything... even if you had acted honorably, your mother and I felt twelve was too young for you to have a girlfriend."
"See?! That's what I'm talking about!" The anger I felt inside fluffed. "Always doubting me! I may have still been just a kid but I was a man inside! I am capable of knowing right and wrong for myself! I'm just not the 'goodie-two-shoes' you wanted me to be. And you know what? I'm not going to be either!" I said not even mentioning that they were hysterical about the word, "party."
I was waiting for Gerald's mother to arrive still but I was as angry as a caged wolf. I walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. I ran the tap and used my hand to splash cold water all over my face. I had said a mouthful. But I was angry enough to not care a bit. Letting it all out had even been a little helpful because I had always been too polite to tell my parents up front how much I resented their overparenting. I had enjoyed a lot of freedom before they came along. It had been too much a leash for me to bear when they decided to reform me from a street kid into Princeton material.
I washed a lot of my anger down the drain and then I remembered Alfred. "He must be terrified!" I remembered before unlocking the door and rushing to my son. My mother Stella was knelt beside him and I felt a stab of relief that someone in the family had been minding him- even if we had our disagreements.
"Hey there," I said to Alfred picking up my son. "You okay?"
"I want Mommy." he said and I swallowed hard. I felt guilty. I had argued in front of him instead of drying his tears.
"Mommy's going to be alright," I promised. "She's had her medicine. But Daddy's got to go and get her back from the doctor's office so you wait here with Mrs. Johanssen, alright?" I kissed Alfred when he gave a small nod. He may have been young but he was sharp.
I was a little surprised when Gerald showed up with his mother. He did have work today. But instead of going to work, Gerald shoved my back with his palms to get me walking faster towards the Packard. His mother would watch Cecil and Alfred for us.
"Come on, man," Gerald demanded. "I'm here to make sure you don't lose it. Let's get cruisin'."
Gerald sat in Helga's normal seat while my parents sat in the back. I could understand what Gerald had implied about me. My ill temper still smoldered deep inside of me like a molten volcano.
Helga sat upright and was looking mostly well in one of the emergency rooms. The doctor declared he would keep her a few hours for observation but Helga had not gone into shock. My deepest fears had not come true. The worst we had to fear for now was a rash.
"Whew," I said as Helga sat bored in the emergency room bed. Recent events considered, it was the most peaceful half-hour I had ever spent inside an emergency room. I held Helga's hand for a good long while, just glad to be able to still do so. Then, when Helga flipped on the television to watch Court TV, I got bored and looked through her things on a table nearby.
"Arnold, why are you looking in my purse?" Helga asked with a shrill voice I did not pick up on. My hands closed on something odd and instinctively I pulled it out of the purse. A ring box? Why would she have one of those? Unless…
"Oh, Arnold!" said Helga fluffing up to her wider and tougher self. She glared at me with both hands on her hips. "That was supposed to be a surprise! Oh well, there's no hope for it now! Give me that!" Helga said snatching the trinket from my hand.
"Helga, you're supposed to be in bed!" I protested.
"Shut up!" my beloved snapped before kneeling down on one knee before me and snapping the ring case open. Inside lay a single golden band with a dash of five, smoldering rubies in a long line.
"Marry me, Football-head!" Helga demanded like a threat- like if I didn't she would pummel me like she did other kids back in our grade-school days.
"Helga," I said taking a step back from her enraged eyes. I was reminded of the time she had flung herself onto me at FTI. "I was supposed to ask you!" Helga caught one of my hands and held it fast.
"I know all about that, darling," she said with an amorous purr. "I overheard you talking to Grandpa the other night. You should know by now that sneaking around corners and eavesdropping are my specialty."
"I wasn't being gutless!" I protested, my face turning pink as I recalled that conversation. "I was just ill-fated. I've still got the ring in my pocket!"
"I'm already down on one knee, Bucko," Helga taunted. Feeling beaten, I relaxed my hand in her grip.
"Okay, but if I wear your ring, you've got to wear my ring, too? Okay?"
"So you will marry me?" Helga said her eyes gleaming with triumph. She tilted her head and cupped her ear with one hand. "I want to hear, Arnold, say it!" I rolled my eyes but smiled.
"Yes, Helga, I will marry you. Are you happy now?"
"Great," said Helga sliding the ring on my hand. I turned my head at the sound of the door. Gerald stood framed in the doorway for a moment before he slammed the door shut again.
"What's going on? What's the holdup?" came Grandpa's voice from beyond the door.
"Oh, Arnold's being unusual again. The boy just continues to defy expectation!" I lifted my eyebrow a little at Gerald's comment.
"Can I give you the ring now?" I said. We both stood up. So I reached into my pocket for my wallet and the little compartment that held Helga's ring.
"Sure," said Helga offering me her own hand. I knelt and kissed the back of her palm. Then slowly, gently, I slid my own ring onto Helga's finger. It fit beautifully.
"There," I said standing up again. "Now I just need to endure Gerald laughing at me for the next ten years."
"I could introduce him to ol' Betsy," said Helga with a wicked grin. But we both knew she would never go through with it. I drew Helga into my arms for a deep kiss.
OKAY NOW IT SHOULD ONLY TAKE ME ONE MORE CHAPTER TO WRAP THIS STORY UP. :D