Chapter 10: Sixteen
For almost a year, Elphaba's life hasn't changed a bit except for her mother being remarried to Gus three months after first meeting him in her party. With the money they have now, the family now lived in the countryside of Munchkinland, but they still lived in the same town. Elphaba didn't care that her mother got remarried again, but she barely spend time with Gus for most of the time.
During a Summer night, Elphaba and Chistery are hanging out at the back of the pickup truck of Layla's brother as they watched the starry night. As soon as Elphaba enjoyed the night, it was stopped when Layla's brother stopped at her her house. "Hey, Elphaba. You better get home. I have to get my sister home." he said.
Elphaba stood up and jump out of the truck. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later." Elphaba said to Chistery.
"Wait, Elphaba. Before you leave, take this." Chistery threw a wrapped box to her and Elphaba got confused. "Just open it till you're inside."
"Okay." Elphaba said and walked to her house.
"Hey, Elphaba. Have a nice day tomorrow. And Johnny wanted me to say have a good day to you." Layla said and her brother drove off.
Elphaba arrived back home and she noticed that her mother and Gus were still awake and that they were having a party. The guests noticed Elphaba and were surprised to see her.
"Hey, Elphaba. What time is it?" Gus asked.
"12:15, why?" Elphaba asked.
Gus raised his glass. "Happy birthday." he said and the guests cheered.
Elphaba laughed because she forgot that it was her birthday. "Happy birthday, Elphaba." Professor Evirene said. "How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen."
"Sixteen! You're two more years till adulthood."
Melena went to her daughter and hugged her. "Happy birthday, sweetie." Melena said.
"Thanks, mom."
Suddenly she found something unusual from Elphaba. "Have you've been… you know?" Melena said while she imitated smoking.
Elphaba laughed. "No, mom. I didn't smoke."
"But have you been drinking?"
"A little bit."
Melena was surprised but smiled. "Oh… okay."
"I'm gonna go to sleep."
"Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
The next day, Avaric arrived at Elphaba's house with his wife and newborn baby son. Elphaba and Nessarose gave Avaric and their new aunt a hug as soon as they left the house. "Hey Uncle Avaric. Hey Aunt Pfanne." Elphaba said.
"Hey there, birthday girl." Uncle Avaric said and hugged her.
"Hi, Aunt Pfanne." Nessarose said.
"Hello, Nessarose. Daniel was really eager to see you."
Pfanne showed Nessarose her baby and the baby smiled at her. "Hi, Daniel. Hello, little cousin! Aunt Pfanne, he's so cute." Nessarose said
"I know, Nessa. You could sit with him on the car ride."
While the others are setting up in the car, Avaric and Gus were having a conversation about their family. "So erm, thanks for giving Elphaba a journal. She told me she loves it." Avaric said
"Yeah. She's into writing now. She might start writing a story. And Melena gave her a typewriter earlier today."
"And erm, how's my big sister?"
"She's fine. Really hardworking. She's always there with her kids even if she's not."
Melena then came by and waved at Avaric. "Hello, little brother." Melena said and hugged Avaric.
"Hey there, Melly."
"Oh, it's great to finally meet you, Pfanne." Melena told her.
"It's good to see you too." Pfanne said. "Oh, honey, we better go now. My parents really wanted to meet Elphaba." Pfanne told Avaric.
"Well, we better be off now. We'll back by a week or so." he told Gus and in the car.
"Bye, mom." Elphaba and Nessarose said.
"Bye guys. And happy birthday again, Elphaba." she said and waved to them as they drove off.
While driving to her aunt's parent's house, Elphaba is really interested by her car. "So this is Pfanne's car and you still ride your 'broom' mobile?" Elphaba asked.
"Yeah, about that… I had to sell it."
Elphaba looked shocked. "You what?"
"Sold the car to some sucker in Gilken Country. I paid about eighty five hundred on it and he paid twenty five grand."
"But do you remember?"
Avaric looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"In the fourth grade, you said 'This is going to be Elphaba's when she turns 16'."
"What?! I didn't say that."
"Yeah, Uncle Avaric. You did though."
"I don't remember. And if I did I…" Avaric looked at Elphaba and Elphaba got a little bit sad. "Look, you can act like I said it, but it's my car and I paid for it. Look, I'm sorry that you had plans on it, but if you have some money, then you can get your own car. You got me?"
Elphaba got a little bit happy. "I think so."
"At a girl." Avaric said as he patted Elphaba.
As they were nearing to their destination, Nessarose showed a video of the latest musical act of the year. Pfanne was found it shocking but interested by the way the musician performed. "Does your mom let you watched this 'Bethany Dazzle'?" Pfanne asked.
"Yeah. She liked her music too. But a little confused by all the colorful setting."
"Did you see her in concert?"
"Well I'm planning to her Hempstin concert next month."
"Oh you know your uncle and can I get you tickets. You can come along."
"That'd be great. Thanks."
"Oh and speaking of music, I've got something for you, Elphaba. Pfanne, can you get her present at back?" Avaric said. Pfanne got a small present gave it to Elphaba. "Go on. Open it. I know it's small but there's more presents coming up."
Elphaba opened the present and it's a CD with a weird picture on it. "The Parade?" Elphaba said.
"Yeah, I know that you're into them and I created a mix tape of their solo work. Basically, I got the band back together in one album. I even included their reunion song as well."
"Very arranged and very organized by your loving uncle." Pfanne said.
Elphaba looked at the CD and got interested with the songs listed. "I don't know. I kinda like some of their solo albums, but thanks for the present, Uncle Avaric."
Avaric then drove to a rural area and stopped at a small house, which is the home Pfanne's parents. Unlike some of the adults they knew, Pfanne's parents are more traditionalists like the rest of Munchkinland, but Pfanne is a little different than her parents. They own a ranch and used it for recreational purposes.
"Nice to see you again, Randy." Avaric said.
"Hey, how's my son in law doing?"
"Oh good. Doing great and all."
Pfanne's mother saw Elphaba and hugged her. "Oh and you must be Elphaba? Happy birthday kiddo." she said.
"Thank you."
"Well why don't we go in. She might be eager to see the present." Randy said and went inside the house.
While they wait in the living room, Pfanne's mother took out a chocolate cake, light them with candles and handed them out to Elphaba. "There you go. Your uncle me told all about how much you like chocolate cake as a child. So I made my special chocolate cake just for you."
Everybody sang "Happy Birthday" to Elphaba just as she blew the candles on the cake. "Alright. It's time for presents." Avaric said.
"Oh, I'll give mine's first." Pfanne's mother said. She went to a drawer and gave Elphaba a book. "It's your very first Unionism book. Look, I put your name in gold." she pointed out.
"Thank you." Elphaba shyly said.
"And the red markings inside means the most important teachings."
"Oh and the next one is from your uncle and me, Elphaba." Pfanne said.
Avaric got up and took his present from the closet. "Now I know it's early, but overtime you can use it." Avaric said. Elphaba opened her present and it was a black formal dress. "It matches your hair also."
"Thanks, Uncle Avaric."
"And here's one from mine." Randy said. He went to the other and gave Elphaba a big present. She opened it and she was surprised that it was a shotgun. "Oh you're gonna need. It's a tradition for Munchkins like us to have it at their homes."
Elphaba hesitated. "Erm... thanks... I guess."
After opening presents, all of them went to the ranch and use Pfanne's parents' shooting range. They gave Nessarose a pistol for her to use, but carefully hid it inside her jacket. "Nessa, are you going to use that pistol?" Avaric said.
"Of course not, Uncle Avaric. I'm not the type of person that uses a gun." she said.
"Well, if you're not interested in a pistol, then here." Avaric went to his pockets and gave Nessarose a slingshot. "I've been having that since I was six. Never failed me. Not even once. Now, I want you to have it."
"Thank you, Uncle Avaric." Nessarose got a pebble and laid a soda bottle in front of her and readied herself. She took a shot and it pierced through the bottle. "Yes. Bulls eye!" Nessarose exclaimed and high fived with Avaric.
A few feet away, Elphaba was with Randy as they test out the shotgun he gave her. "Ready, Elphaba?" he asked.
"I think so." Elphaba said.
"Pull!" he shouted. Randy threw a disk in the air and Elphaba shot it, but missed it. "You, erm, you hit it a little low. You have to wait for it to go a little higher, alright." Randy got another disk and flew it in the air and this time, Elphaba hit it. "Good shot Elphaba. It might come in handy at a later time.
Later that night, everyone had a big dinner with the food that are most common Munchkin people. After dinner, Elphaba and Nessarose were with their aunt and uncle by the porch and they sang a song that Avaric wrote. The next morning, Elphaba and the rest of her extended family attended a Unionist church service, while wearing the dress her aunt and uncle gave her the day before. Elphaba and Nessarose felt uncomfortable during the whole service while Avaric just sat there quietly and Pfanne and her family enjoyed it.
After the service, the group went by the lake for some peace and quiet. Avaric, Elphaba and Nessarose were by the lake to skip some stones while Pfanne took care of the baby. "Hey Elphaba, are you kind of okay of hanging out with Aunt Pfanne's family?" Nessarose whispered.
"No. It's uncomfortable being with them in my opinion. But I'm fine hanging out with just Aunt Pfanne."
"So guys, you want to coming back here again for Daniel's Unionism orientation on the twenty-first?" Avaric asked his nieces.
"No, it's okay." Elphaba replied.
"I'm fine too, Uncle Avaric." Nessarose replied.
"That's cool. But it'll be cool if you and Daniel do it together, Elphaba. Might dunk heads at each other."
Elphaba laughed. "No it's cool that I don't want to do it."
"You're not becoming one of those radical Unionist people, are you, Uncle Avaric." Nessarose asked.
"And what's that suppose to mean?" Avaric asked.
"I can hear you!" Pfanne shouted from a far.
Avaric laughed and waved at her. "Listen. I know that you are uncomfortable with her family, but Pfanne is not like her family. Except maybe a little bit religious. But she's a lot like me you know. You understand, right?"
Elphaba and Nessarose nodded. "I understand. But I'm not into the Unionist religion or other types." Nessarose said.
"I understand, Nessa. Oh, and Elphaba. I'll keep the shotgun at my house because I know you and your mother wouldn't like to keep it in the house." Avaric said and Elphaba nodded.
While Avaric and Nessarose went back to skip stones, Elphaba sat on a log and started to write something on her travelling journal.