Chapter 41
April came and went, and May was upon them, which meant summer vacation was right around the corner. Luke was glad Shelby would finish first grade and move on to second grade. In fact, he couldn't believe he would soon have a second-grader. Just a year ago, she was just a kindergartener. Where did the time go, and why did it move so fast? At least one of his charges would move on, anyway. Though Shelby was doing really well in school, Jess, not so much. It was odd, though. The kid put effort into helping his little cousin with school but couldn't care less of his own schooling. Luke tried to talk with Jess about the fact he was facing the possibility of having to repeat the eleventh grade over again, but Jess really seemed to not care. So with much thought and consideration as possible, Luke decided to get some help from the only person he knew had a better chance than he could: Rory.
Since he needed to get rid of a batch of brownies, he destroyed by pouring in too much cocoa powder; he figured the Gilmores would eat them since it would be a waste of food, anyway. Shelby tried asking for a piece on their way there, but Luke denied her request, trying to steel himself from giving in to her puppy dog look. Besides, even though the kid loved sweets, at least Shelby had a limit and he knew the amount of cocoa would be too much for her. Lorelai ended up letting her try some while he was in, talking with Rory about tutoring Jess.
On the way out, Shelby told her dad, "I promise to lis-ten, nex' time, Dad."
Luke chuckled. "Okay," he replied and grabbed onto her head once they were down the front steps.
Lorelai ended up following them, calling out for Luke.
"Um, listen," she said, coming over. "About Rory doing this tutoring thing..."
"I really appreciate it, by the way," he said.
"I know you do," she reassured him. "Just...Rory's so sweet and she would never say no to anybody 'cause she loves to help. I'm not so sure if it's the best idea."
Luke looked at her, confused. "Why not?"
"Well, she's got her own studies to worry about."
"I know, and I promise this isn't gonna take up all of her time," he reassured her. "It's just for a little while."
"Yes, but..." she tried to input, but Luke continued.
"Plus, Rory's pretty serious about school. I don't think she wouldn't say yes if she didn't have the time."
"I know Rory's a great student, but she's just a kid. Don't you need like a professional tutor to help with Jess? Somebody with a degree and a pipe and one of those coats with the elbow patches on it?"
"I need someone Jess is gonna listen to. Someone he's gonna..." Luke paused, trying to search his head for the right words. "I don't know...look up to. That sure isn't me, and that sure isn't some tutor. He likes Rory, and Rory's on the path I'd like to see Jess on, school and college. He needs somebody he respects, doing what he should be doing, and Rory's the only person I can think of who fits that description."
"Yeah, but you don't know for sure if he'll listen to Rory," Lorelai pointed out with a shrug.
"No, but I gotta do something. I mean, what would you do if you were me?"
"Uh," she looked away in thought before giving in. "Okay, just make sure it's not too much time, okay?"
Luke looked away at the ground. He glanced up at her, assuring he will. "Besides, if a six-year-old has power over him, Rory should be able to convince him, right?"
"Right," she replied, but didn't sound one hundred percent sure.
Turning around, he noticed Shelby had taken to playing some sort of fighting game, which she told him she was Wonder Woman fighting bad guys when he asked. It was something he knew was a childhood favorite of Rachel's, whom she shared with the kid while Shelby was staying with her. The kid had been so thrilled to learn there was a female superhero and was reading through the old comic books Rachel collected as a kid. Now, whenever Shelby played superheroes with her friends, she always chose to be Wonder Woman.
Hating having to interrupt her play, Luke told her they were leaving and told Lorelai to enjoy the brownie she had in her hand before they left.
Both Lorelai and Rory came by the diner for dinner that evening, so Shelby had someone to eat with. Lorelai couldn't believe a kid willingly, and happily, ate vegetables as she watched Shelby dip her broccoli in cheese sauce. Once Lorelai left so the teens could study, Luke told Shelby she either had to work or go back to her mom's, but not bother them. Not wanting to leave yet, Shelby chose work. At the end of the night when Luke closed up, she helped him clean and put everything away for the next day, working around Rory and Jess. Afterwards, he took her back to Rachel's.
"When am I gonna be able to come home?" she asked on the drive there.
Luke thought about it. The work on the apartment was pretty much done already, the crew just finished a few days ago. "How about this weekend?" he asked.
Shelby nodded, eagerly.
"I'll get everything organized and make sure the floor's swept and everything, and you can finally come home. Deal?"
"Deal." Besides, Luke really wanted his little buddy home already. Things haven't been the same the past month without her.
Luke reluctantly dropped Shelby off, receiving a hug and kiss, good night. Before he left, she wanted him to tuck her in, letting Rachel do her part first as Shelby said her bedtime prayers. Even though the kid didn't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter bunny, he was glad she believed in something. To be honest, he was still skeptical about a higher being himself, but if Shelby thought He was real, Luke wasn't about to crush any more dreams of hers.
Once they finished, he went over to lean over his little buddy, kissing her good night once again. "Love ya, kiddo," he smiled.
Shelby smiled up at him, her arms around all three of her stuffed animals. "Love you too, Dad." He leaned in, letting his forehead touch hers. "Your the best."
"So are you," he told her. With one last good night, the parents left the room, leaving the door open, ajar.
Exchanging good nights between the two of them, Luke left, heading back to the diner, finding Rory and Jess gone. Their books and everything was still out on the table, but Rory's car was gone. Shortly after he got back, Lorelai knocked on the diner's door, looking frantic and asking where Jess was. She then rushed upstairs without telling him anything, calling out for Jess. Finally, Luke got her to tell him there had been an accident, only stopping long enough to tell him Jess had been driving Rory's car when they crashed and Rory had fractured her wrist.
"Look, I'm sure it was an accident. Accidents happen," he tried to assure her.
Lorelai was not in a reasoning state. "Not with my kid in the car, they don't," she stated and started to leave.
"Okay, you just need to calm down," Luke tried to tell her.
Suddenly, she stepped back, getting in his face as she demanded, "Why did you do this?"
"What are you talking about? Why did I do what?" he asked.
"Why did you bring him here?"
He quickly asked, "What?"
Raising her voice, she told him, "If you hadn't of brought him here, none of this would have happened."
"This is my fault?"
"Yes, this is your fault! You told him to come. You let him stay. Everybody hated him. Everybody knew he was trouble. But you wouldn't listen and you wouldn't send him home. And now my daughter is in the hospital!"
Luke just stared at her. He couldn't believe he was being blamed for this. So apparently not even Lorelai believed him when he said Jess was a different person with Shelby, that the kid, and possibly Rory, was actually having an effect on him for the good? Well, it didn't matter. Luke was glad they knew Rory was alright aside from her broken wrist, but he needed to make sure his nephew was all right and not hurt somewhere.
Without a word, Luke stormed around Lorelai and out of the diner, in search of Jess.
Lorelai followed him, continuing her rant. "You kept pushing them together. You asked her to help him study. You knew she'd never say no. I told you it made me nervous. I told you I didn't like it and I should have stopped it right there. But you thought Rory would be good for Jess, never mind what he'd be to her. That wasn't important at all. Was it?" They were crossing the street as she stormed after him.
Luke was watching the ground, her words not really helping his anxiety, worrying whether Jess was fine or not. "Of course it was important," he managed to reply.
"Why didn't you put a stop to it at the first sign of trouble?" she questioned of him. "Why didn't you make him leave?"
"He's my nephew, I had an obligation to take him in. I had an obligation to care for him," he told her, raising his voice a little.
"You had an obligation to this town and to me and to Rory," Lorelai argued. "Not to mention Shelby. Everyone knows he's the reason she got into that fight at school. Wonder what else he's been teaching her. God, Luke, how could you be clueless thinking a little kid could have an impact on a guy like Jess?"
That had done it, but Luke tried his best to keep a lid on it, not wanting to explode on her.
Finally she asked, "Where are you going?"
"I have to find out where Jess is," he said as calmly as he could.
Lorelai scoffed. "I'll tell you where he's not. He's not in the emergency room having his arm plastered up."
Having had enough of her remarks, Luke turned on his heel to face her. "Hey! I am sorry about Rory. You know I care more about her than I do myself," he pointed to himself. "But at least you know where Rory is. And at least you know she's okay. Now I have to find Jess and I have to make sure he's okay, and if that cuts into your screaming time, then that's just too damn bad!"
"Go to hell!"
"Right back at ya!" Luke then turned right back around and moved on, not looking back. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a tow truck pulling along what looked to be Rory's car, smashed up in the front. Luke tried not to look at it, not wanting to think the worse that could've happened. Instead, he focused on finding Jess.
Lorelai stopped following him once he snapped. The guilt he felt, not only from what he said to her, but of the accident itself. Luke really hoped things would be different, that he really could help his nephew. After all, he was doing so well with Shelby. Why couldn't he help his nephew? And the kid was family, Luke knew he couldn't deny the kid when he needed help. But Lorelai's words kept stinging him over and over with its painful venom. It was all his fault.
Wait! Shelby! Rushing to the nearest pay phone, he dialed Rachel's number. Thankfully, she was still up. She barely said hello when Luke told her to put Shelby on the phone.
"Luke?"
"I need to ask Shelby something." The urgency alone was enough to make her sound worried.
"Luke, she's sleeping, remember? What's going on?"
"Just wake her up. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but she's the only other person who may know where Jess might be. Please, just do it. No questioning it, right now."
"Um, okay." There was a long pause before he heard Rachel go in and wake Shelby, telling her her dad was on the phone. It took a minute for Shelby to wake up enough to talk to him.
"Shell, I need you to tell me where that secret spot of yours and Jess' is," he told her, some urgency still in his tone, but not enough to make her worry as well.
"I can', i's a secre'," she reminded him.
"I know, kiddo, but I have to know. You know I don't make you tell your secrets if you don't want to. I promise this will be the only time. Okay?"
"Okay," she sounded reluctant but told him, anyway. "I's a' tuh lake. On tuh bridge."
Luke blew a sigh of relief. "Thanks, kiddo. Love ya." He didn't let her respond though, hanging up before hurrying in the lake's direction. Sure enough, there he was. Jess was sitting on the bridge, near where Luke had pushed him in.
Luke made his way over, glad to see the boy was alright.
Blowing out a puff of cigarette smoke, Jess breathed, "I made sure she was okay." If Luke didn't know any better, he swore he heard his voice crack.
"I know you did," he assured him and sat down right next to him.
The two sat in silence for a while until Luke finally asked for Jess' side of the story. Jess told his uncle about convincing Rory to go get ice cream and how some kind of animal had jumped out in front of them, causing Jess to swerve, to avoid hitting it. Instead of hitting the animal, he crashed into a bench. The impact caused Rory to hit her arm on the dash. He then explained he had been the one to call for an ambulance and told the police everything that happened, even though he wasn't really a fan of being around cops. Once he made sure Rory would be taken care of, Jess booked it out of there to be alone.
"I want to go home," he finally said after another moment of silence.
Luke suddenly looked at him. He wanted to object but thought it best if he just went along with his wishes. So they headed back to the diner to grab some of his stuff while Luke called his sister to let her know what happened and that he was sending him back home to New York.
Before Jess stepped onto the bus, he turned around to add one last thought. "Tell Scout..." He paused for a few seconds. Jess seemed to hesitate on his words. "... See ya."
"I will."
They exchanged one last look before Jess climbed on to the bus.
Luke watched even after the doors closed and continued as the bus drove on down the road. He then let out a huge breath of air. As the bus rounded the corner, Luke dropped his gaze towards the ground, staring at it for a minute. He felt his eyes close as he felt his chest tighten. How could things change so fast?
What made things hurt so much more for the guy was when the thought crossed his mind: how was Shelby gonna react to this?
As he neared the diner, Luke now felt so broken. Suddenly, he sprang towards his truck and jumped in, heading back to Rachel's. Not even caring he was double-parked, Luke hurried inside, pushing the button for the elevator a dozen times until it finally came down.
As soon as it reached her floor, Luke immediately stepped out and raced down the hall towards Rachel's apartment, finding himself pounding on the door. A lot of time had passed since he called, so this time, Rachel had gone to bed. He stopped once he heard the door being unlocked, twice.
She was still waking up when the door opened. "Luke? What the heck's going on tonight?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes.
"I need Shelby home tonight."
"What...?" she shook her head, trying to fully wake up. "Luke, it's the middle of the night."
"I don't care. I can carry her home," he said, not really wanting to argue at this point.
"Luke, what's going on?"
Luke took another deep breath. "There's been an accident. Both of them are fine. Car's totalled, but they're fine."
That woke her up. "Accident? With whom?"
"Jess and Rory." He then quickly explained, giving her a brief summary of the events.
"Oh my God... And you're sure Rory's okay?"
"Aside from the fractured wrist, yeah, she will be." She sounded relieved Rory was fine, but then saw her drop her face into her hands.
"I knew it," she began when Rachel lifted her head towards him.
"Please don't. I'm not in the mood for any more..."
She blurted out, "What if that had been Shelby?"
"Rachel, come on. Don't do this, too," he tried to reason with her.
"I knew something would happen, but I never suspected it to be this bad. How could you let a kid like your nephew be around our daughter, Luke? He had no respect for you, or for me, or for anyone in this town. He was constantly getting into trouble, he got Shelby suspended from school."
Luke finally snapped once again. "You know what?! I didn't come here to be yelled at again! I just want my kid!"
That silenced the woman.
Lowering his voice, he told her, "He's gone, okay? I sent Jess back to his mother. Happy?"
Rachel didn't respond. She took a couple breaths, looking a little relieved again, but not another word was said. There was a brief pause before someone else broke the silence.
"Jess is gone?"
Luke and Rachel turned their heads to see Shelby standing a few feet away. The look the kid held would come to forever haunt Luke for a long time. It broke his already hurting heart as tears appeared.
Kneeling to her level, he held his arms out as he said, "Come here, kiddo," softly. Thankfully, Shelby came to him, dashing right over. She then buried her face into his shoulder. Luke squeezed her in a tight embrace, eventually switching his hand to the back of her head, as he brushed it along her hair. Then realization kicked in. As he held his little buddy, Luke heard muffled cries from his shoulder. Before tonight, no matter if they were alone or not, Shelby had always cried silently to herself. Hearing her cry out loud was the final straw as he felt a lone tear fall down his own face. Her little heart was as he feared and tried so hard to protect: shattered.
"I know, kiddo. I know," he choked out and continued to hold her tightly in his arms.
Luke carried Shelby upstairs. "Which bed, kiddo?" he asked.
Clutching all three stuffed animals to her in one arm, she pointed over at his bed. He moved over and laid her down, assuring her he was just going to change in the bathroom and would be right back. Once he returned, Luke slid in beside her which Shelby immediately snuggled up to him. It took several minutes until he could get her to fall back to sleep, rubbing her stomach in soothing circles while singing their song of George Strait's over and over, only their version.
Shelby finally asked on the way home why Jess had gone back to his mom's. It took all Luke had left to explain as best he could what happened earlier that night. She asked if both he and Rory were okay, which he told her they were both fine, but that Rory had fractured her wrist.
"Jess is just shaken up about it, kiddo. I'm sure he didn't want to leave ya like that." Luke hadn't wanted the kid to come to hate her cousin like she did her mentor. "I told him to call once he got home." But there wasn't a call, not even on the answering machine.
Luke called first thing in the morning, getting his sister. "Hey, did Jess make it home last night?"
"He did," she replied.
Relieved, he said, "Good."
"Didn't say a word. Just went straight to his room," Liz explained.
That was understandable. "Is he up yet?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
"Well, can you see? Shelby wants to speak with him. She didn't get to say good-bye."
"I think we should just leave him alone for now," Liz told him.
"Liz, please. Just check."
After a moment, his sister agreed. They had to wait for Liz to go knock on his door. He could hear her call for Jess, knocking on his door. There was a short pause before she came back on the phone. "Sorry, big brother. No dice."
Luke let out a sigh. "Tell him he has to, that it's Shelby who wants to talk, not me."
"There's no telling him anything. If he's not coming to the phone, there's no trying."
He tried to pursue things further, but Liz wouldn't budge, finally telling him she had to go. Afterwards, the call ended.
Luke heard the dial tone, looking at the receiver before hanging it up. He turned to look at Shelby, who looked close to tears again. "I'm sorry, Shell. I tried," he shrugged his hands out a little. Seeing her start to cry, Luke moved closer, kneeling to her level and pulled her in, kissing the side of her head.
Even with this storm cloud hanging over them, Luke still made Shelby go to school, though he ended up regretting it and wish he let her take a sick day. Why not? Luke was pretty sure the kid only missed at least a day. Come to think of it, he didn't even recall Shelby ever getting sick, even during cold and flu season.
It had been a struggle to get her ready and out of the apartment, and even when they pulled up to the school, Shelby wouldn't get out of the truck. It took a lot of coaxing and encouragement to convince her. Watching her walk inside the building broke his heart and just when things couldn't get any worse, Luke got a call around ten that morning, asking to come pick her up, telling him Shelby had not only lashed out at the teacher, but another student, as well, who was only trying to help.
Two principal calls in two days. He had to be the worse guardian in the world.
Heading straight for the school, Luke went into the front office to find Shelby's feet sticking out from underneath one of the chairs and made his way over. He kneeled in front of the chair, placing a hand on the edge for balance. He ducked his head to look underneath. Sure enough, there was Shelby, curled into a ball. She was hugging her knees against her chest.
"I kicked someone," he heard her squeak as soft as a mouse, remembering what he had told her about kicking.
Not saying anything about that for now, Luke held his hands out, gesturing for her. Scooting out of her hiding spot, Shelby allowed him to lift her onto his side. Once she was signed out for the rest of the day, Luke carried her home. He left Caesar in charge for the rest of the day, closing up early that evening. Instead, he turned on cartoons and the two watched as he held Shelby on his lap. Not even Pokemon cheered her up when it came on later.
After a while, Luke finally suggested, "Hey. How about we finally take that camping trip this weekend?"
Glancing up at her dad, Shelby turned back to the TV, nodding her head, yes.
So it was settled.
Early the next morning, Luke and Shelby packed and loaded up the truck, attaching a sign on the door that read Gone Fishing! Then they were off, heading for their camping spot.
