"Oh ya baby! Wohoooo!" Rodrigo cried out excitedly as he raced down the street on his bicycle.

It was now the beginning of May and although it was still a bit cold to be rolling out on a bike, Rodrigo couldn't resist the temptation. The second he saw thae snow completely disappear on that morning, he ran into the garage, got out his bike and rode out. He still had to wear a jacket, but he didn't care. Spring was right around the corner and Rodrigo wanted to embrace it early on. Besides, with everyone else still shying away from the cold, Rodrigo had a virtual monopoly on the streets. No one else was riding a bike, or roller-blading or even skateboarding. The street was his!

Rodrigo rode down the streets of Hillwood as fast as he could pedal. Despite the cold still slashing and piercing his skin, he ignored the pain and continued to ride fast.

"Spring, here I come!" He yelled with a big smile on his face.

He raced past a few pedestrians who were surprised to see a youngster already taking his bike out so early in the year.

"Sorry ma'am!" Rodrigo yelled as he just barely managed to avoid collision with an older woman, who just simply frowned.

Rodrigo could not be in a better mood. He just received his latest assignment back; another A+. His parents have been doing well adjusting to their new life in Hillwood. His relationship with Helga has been going relatively well, better than he had ever hoped. Things were going well and Rodrigo had absolutely every reason to believe that he was on top of the world.

Rodrigo then came across a big hill and pedaled as fast as he could without stopping and try to get to the top. He panted and breathed heavily but eventually he made it. Stopping right at the top, he then gazed at that part of the city. With the sun still rising, it looked surreal, majestic, lively and yet, so peaceful. After spending some time admiring the view, Rodrigo then slowly started his descend down the hill.

Meanwhile, a tall, somewhat muscular man, between his late forties, mid fifties, was just coming out of the grocery store, groaning and grumbling.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Big Bob exclaimed as a bag fell down just as he walked out of the store. Rather awkwardly, he managed to grab it and then proceeded to walk to his hummer.

"I can't believe I have to get the food!" He complained loudly. "I bring home the bacon, not cook it. Why couldn't Miriam have just cancelled her damn AA meeting to go grocery shopping? For Pete's sake, it's her job! She's been doing good as of late. One day in not attending wouldn't have hurt. Ugh, Olga could have accompanied her to help out. She always knows how to pick the right meat and fruits. Heck, even the girl could have done it, always moping around in her room doing nothing!"

Big Bob annoyingly just continued to walk to his hummer, which was parking right at the edge of the parking lot, an area where the sidewalk ran right beside it.

Flushed with adrenaline, Rodrigo raced down the hill, determined to reach his maximum speed and not stop. Faster and faster he raced down. As he did so, he noticed a guy walking towards his car. It soon became apparent that the guy was going to his hummer, which was parked right beside the sidewalk, even sticking out right into it a bit. Rodrigo then rang his bicycle bell, indicating to the guy to stop and wait for him to pass.

"hmm, lousy grocery bags, they couldn't have given me bigger bags to put all of these stuff in?!" Big Bob said to himself. "Why are they so small? I'm buying food to feed a family, not a bunch of Chihuahuas!" Because of his grumbling, he didn't hear Rodrigo's ring.

Realizing that the guy didn't hear him, Rodrigo rang his bell again a few times, but again, Big Bob still didn't hear him and was now approaching the driver's seat, the part of the hummer that was sticking out onto the sidewalk. Annoyed, Rodrigo then opted to move onto the road so as to avoid colliding with the big oaf. However, just as he was out to go onto the road,

*HOOONNKKK*

Rodrigo immediately heard a honk right behind him, startlingly him and forcing him to go back onto the sidewalk in order to not get ran over by the oncoming vehicle. Big Bob, who was trying to unlock his door, heard the honk and glanced at the kid that was rapidly approaching him.

Rodrigo then realized that he was about crash right into him and frantically hit his brakes, hope it would stop him on time. Unfortunately, he soon noticed that he was getting away too close and the brakes would not be enough to stop the collision.

"What the hell?!" Bob said as he saw the incoming kid with the bike that was about to hit him!

"Oh shoot, I have to slide!" Rodrigo said to himself and he turned his bike sideways in order to put more friction between the pavement and his tires.

*Sccrreeeecchhh!*

Rodrigo just barely managed to stop his bike, but due to the amount of speed, his tire ended up hitting Bob's leg. All of this happening in mere seconds, Bob did not have time to even react to what was unfolding in front of him and felt a light kick on his leg, startlingly him and forcing him to take a few steps back, thereby losing his balance and sending him down to the ground, along with all of his grocery bags.

Both of them were a bit fazed and incomprehensible due to the shock of the rapidly turn of events. However, after a few seconds, Bob finally managed to get his composure back and to his fury, realized what had just happened.

"Hey kid, are you blind?! Watch where you are going!" He angrily bellowed out at Rodrigo. "You almost hit me!"

"Oh my God sir, I am so sorry. Are you ok?" Rodrigo frantically apologized.

"No, I'm not ok!" Bob to continued his bellowing. "You made me drop all of my groceries. You better hope for your sake that nothing is broken!"

"I am so, so sorry sir. Here, let me help you." Rodrigo said as he immediately got up and helped Bob gather all of the groceries that lay scattered around them.

"You'd better be sorry! I almost got hurt by your dumb, daredevil recklessness!" Bob continued to angrily yell at the Latino kid.

"Ya, that was a dumb move on my part." Rodrigo admitted as he continued to grab all the produce and bagged vegetables and fruits from the ground.

"For crying out loud, what are you thinking of racing down that hill. You could have killed someone!" Bob continued.

"I know and I'm sorry for that, sir." Rodrigo continued apologetically, although this time with some annoyance in his tone.

"You kids these days think you own the street, disrespecting your elders and acting like you've achieved something grand, when in reality the only thing you've achieved is how big your pubic hairs are!" Bob still continued rant.

"I said was sorry, sir." Rodrigo said rather annoyingly, strongly emphasizing the word, 'sir'. "It was an accident. I thought you would have heard my bell ring." He finally managed gather all of the grocery bags and handed them to Big Bob.

"Hey hey hey hey hey, don't give me that smart aleck attitude, got it? First you crash into me and now you are insulting me by telling me that I am old?" Bob ranted.

"I wasn't trying to insinuate that you are old, sir." Rodrigo countered. "I just said that I thought you would have heard..."

"You've got some nerve, kid." Bob grumbled as he rudely interrupted him. "You'll be lucky if I don't decide to press charges against you!"

"Charges for what?! Rodrigo exclaimed in shock.

This guy is really pushing me. Rodrigo thought.

"For felony and delinquency!" Bob exclaimed.

By this point, Rodrigo lost it.

"Delinquency? For accidently touching your leg with my bike? Pfft, you big baby." He said.

"What?! What did you say to me?!" Bob angrily yelled at him and approached him closer to him, using his size to intimate Rodrigo, which had no affect on him.

"You heard me." Rodrigo said. "For someone who seems act as the big man, you sure like to complain a lot."

"Why I outta..." Bob said, now completely furious at his kid's lack of respect. "Do you know who I am, kid?! I am..."

"I don't care who you are." Rodrigo instantly shot back as he picked up his bike without even bothering to look at him.

"I would complain to your parents, but they must by the reason why you act that way to your elders; with no respect. They must have never raised you good to be a proper man and citizen!" Bob yelled.

"Actually, they did raise me to respect my elders." Rodrigo countered as he mounted his bike. "Just not to big, cry babies like you." And off he rode away as fast as he could, leaving Bob to eat his dust.

"Come back, kid! I'm not done talking to you!" Bog bellowed at him, but Rodrigo was gone.

Bob could not nothing as Rodrigo rode away, other than give him a serious glaring stare, wishing that his vision would pierce that kid and cut him into a million pieces! In the end, all he could was just grab his keys from the ground and go home.

"Lousy kid, who does he think he is?" He grumbled to himself. "If I ever see that kid that again, it'll be the last thing anyone will ever see him!"

Bob wasted no time on continuing on with his grumbling all the way home.

Rodrigo had not yet met Helga's family. Although he knew that they were at the Annual Dancing Performance that his school hosted back in March, both teens decided not to yet introduce themselves to their family as they felt it was too soon. Helga's family for their part, did not get a good view of Rodrigo when he danced with Helga on stage, other than seeing that he had brown skin with black hair and was the same height as Helga.

Rodrigo didn't even notice the ads around the city, explicitly showing the Beeper-Cell King, Bob Pataki in all his glory. Whether if it was on the bus, or whenever he drove, Rodrigo was either on his phone, talking to his friends or simply watching other things other than advertisements.

Later that evening...

Big Bob grumbled his way into his house, still highly annoyed with his encounter with Rodrigo. When Miriam heard him grumbling and asked what was the matter, Bob went off as he retold his story and how he was almost killed by a delinquent kid. Miriam and Olga thought that whatever his encounter was, it must have really ticked him off because he went on about it for a good thirty minutes before finally settling down. However, no sooner had everyone sat down for dinner when Bob went off again about his 'near-death experience'.

"I'd tell you Miriam, kids these days have no decency or respect for their elders, let alone anyone." Bob said as he took a big bite from his chicken. "Especially that delinquent kid. Probably came from the lowest level of society."

Ugh crimeny, when is that big olf going to stop complaining? Whoever it was, I should probably thank him for giving Bob a good scare. Helga thought as she took a bite from her food.

"Oh B, you can't judge these youths from our time. Things have change and how they see things are different than how we used to see them." Miriam tried to reason to him.

"Oh please Miriam." Bob scoffed as his wife's reasoning. "Things haven't changed that much and even if they did, what makes you think that these changes are any good? They have been giving these kids way too much freedom and as a result, they have come idle and lazy, not knowing what do with their 'freedom'." Again Bob took another big bite from his chicken and ate some rice.

Helga did not bother to participate in this discussion. Rather, she quietly ate her food and allowed her mind to drift off.

"But Daddy, studies have shown that giving kids more freedom and choices in life makes them that much more responsible adults." Olga intervened. "Not to mention that it allows for greater creativity and having a more fulfilling life. Parents are encouraged to allow their children to make their own decisions, with some guidance of course, in order to take responsibility for those choices."

"Oh ya? Then how do you explain the crap that has been happening at the girl's school lately? I guess the parents there must have screwed up in that department." Bob said as he pointed at Helga, who just kept on wondering in her own fantasy, completely oblivious to anything going on around her."

"We parents had to be pulled to a school night meeting in order to figure out what the heck has been happening at that school, precisely because these kids don't know to do with so much freedom in their lives! I tell ya, the school system is failing them and the same goes with those parents who adopt those 'liberal' attitudes with their kids. Good luck!" And again Bob grabbed some more rice and vegetables and put them in his mouth, munching loudly.

"Oh B, we can't put all the blame on the parents." Miriam said. "There is a lot going on in society right now and these kids are having a tough time adjusting to the circumstances."

"My point exactly! These kids have become too fragile and weary of any challenge coming their way. Instead of yearning for the challenge, they cower and run away. No worse, they allow themselves to get suckered into those stupid rumours and slanders going on there. They are not causing problems; they have become the problem. This is what happens when we allow them to 'make their own decisions.' They not only become lost, but lose any respect for authority." Bob then took another bite from his chicken and groaned a bit when he realized that there wasn't enough salt on it.

"Hey Olga, pass the salt would ya?" He mumbled with his mouth still full. He wasn't referring to his eldest daughter though.

Helga was by now so immersed in her own thoughts that she did not even hear him.

I wonder what Rodrigo's doing right now. Probably doing something more exciting than having to sit here and listen to Bob rant on and on about that guy who 'nearly killed him'. The cry baby. Although, he did have a point about whether teens should be given more responsibility for the choices that we make. It's not like that has made things any easier for us. Hmmm, Dad can sometimes pull through in making some points every now and then, but oh well.

Anyways, Rodrigo and I have been going out for quite a while now. I think I should give him a little something to celebrate. He gave me this necklace, so I should at least give him something, lest he would think I am being cheap. But what? Last time I had to think about this, I ended up taking him to dinner only because I wasn't able to come up with anything that he would like for me to give him. That kid, so humble and modest, it can be quite annoying...

"HELGA!" Big Bob cried out at his youngest daughter.

"Huh? What? What?" Helga asked, startled as she snapped right out of her thoughts.

"Are you death or something? I said pass the salt!" Exclaimed Bob as he pointed to the salt that near almost beside Helga.

"Oh, here." She said annoyingly and passed him the blasted salt. Helga was then on the verge on going back to her own thoughts when Bob continued to talk to her.

"Speaking of teens, when are you going invite that boyfriend of yours to come over and meet the family?" He asked as he put some salt on his chicken.

"Come again?" Helga asked with a raised eyebrow, finally getting her full attention.

"I said when are you going to bring that boyfriend of yours to our house so that we can meet him?" Bob annoyingly re-stated his question.

"You...want to meet him?" Helga asked with a surprising, if not disbelief look on her face.

" Did I stutter? Yes!" He exclaimed.

"Uh, why?" Helga asked, still surprised.

"What do you mean Why? You're my daughter and I need to know the type of man that you're going out with. You've been dating this guy since that dance performance, which by the way, I still think you should have won, so it's time for us to meet him. Besides, there are standards and I need to make sure that that boyfriend of yours meets them." He explained.

"But, we've only started dating for about a month, Bob." Helga countered. "Isn't it a too early for him to meet the family?"

"Not my books, it's not." Bob said, but then glanced at Helga and gave her a suspicious look. "Why? Are you hiding something?" Bob asked suspiciously. "Oh crimeny, are you pregnant?!" He worryingly asked.

"Huh...wha...are you kid...NO!" Helga shot back in shock. "Geez Bob, what do you think I am?!"

"Ok good." He calmly said. "So tell your boyfriend to come over next weekend for dinner and to meet the family."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, daddy!" Olga said excitedly. "I would love to meet the man who 'exuberated' my little baby sister." She continued flirtatiously. "This is just so exciting!"

Helga said nothing and just gave Olga an annoyed frown.

"Wonderful idea, B." Miriam with a smile. "Helga dear, let us know if your boyfriend is able to come over this coming Saturday evening for dinner and Olga and I will prepare a fabulous dinner."

"Oh joy to me." Helga said sarcastically as she nibbled on her food.

"What is his name?" Miriam asked.

"Rodrigo." Helga said nonchalantly.

"Ah great, Rodrigo. Such a strong name. Is he allergic to anything?"

Probably just you guys. Helga thought.

"No." She responded without even looking up.

While the family excitedly planned on a not yet confirmed dinner for next Saturday, Helga was still reeling from the shock that her father was taking an interest in her life and wanting to meet her boyfriend. This is the first time in years, many years, that he wanted to know anything about her life. He had no such desire to meet Arnold when she got together with him, so why start now? But then again, it's not like Arnold and Bob have never met before and given Arnold's good reputation, it's not like he needed an introduction.

Nevertheless, Helga was taking this with a grain of salt. She knew that Bob would not find anything or anyone interesting unless there they were in some ways useful to him.

But just how useful would Rodrigo be to Bob? She thought. Rodrigo's smart, but he is not tech savvy, and as far as I am aware, he doesn't have any interest in business. So what's Bob's game in this? I'll invite Rodrigo to come over for dinner, but I'm going to have to keep my eye on the big olf.

The next day...during lunchtime...

Everyone had already sat down and were busy eating and chatting away. Helga was sitting beside Rodrigo and while both were busy eating, she needed to ask him about Saturday evening.

"So, got some news for ya, Latino boy." Helga said.

"What is it?" Rodrigo asked.

"My family would like to meet you and asked if you can come over this Saturday evening. You free to come?" She asked.

Rodrigo knew this day would eventually come and wasn't surprised that Helga finally extended the invitation for him to meet her family. He was just surprised that she was extending that invitation after only dating for about a month!

"Um Helga," Rodrigo began a bit shyly. "isn't it a bit too early for me to meet your family? We've only been dating..."

"About a month or so, ya I know." She finished his sentence. "I told Bob that, but him being as stubborn as a mule, is adamant on meeting you. I'm not sure why. He didn't have the same desire to meet Arnold."

"Really?" Rodrigo asked surprisingly. "How come?"

"Not sure." Helga said. "I thought it may have been due to his bitterness with Phil over their cars hitting each other all those years ago, but once Arnold actually met the family, he didn't take it out on him."

"I see." Was all Rodrigo said.

"I guess it's also because Bob already knew Arnold before we got together, so there was little need for me to 'introduce' him to Bob, considering as how he essentially saved the neighbourhood and everything." She continued. "Anyways, you free on Saturday evening?"

"Ya sure, I would like to finally meet them." He said.

"Cool. I'll let them know. Come over at 6pm sharp." She said. "Don't be late." She continued firmly.

"Will do. Thanks." He said. However, despite this being an inevitable encounter, he was not thrilled about meeting them.

The truth was, Rodrigo was reluctant, if not unhappy about meeting her family. After everything they put Helga through, especially her parents, Rodrigo had little desire in ever wanting to meet them. Actually it's worse; he had little respect for them, especially for her father. Rodrigo even went so far as to assume that Bob would not even bother giving him the usual fatherly warning that all fathers stereotypical do for their daughters. Heck, he even thought getting her out of that environment as quickly as possible. If he had it his way, he would have allowed her to move into his own house. For obvious reasons, he decided against making that suggestion.

Nevertheless, despite how he may feel about them, he did not want to cause any issues between himself and her family. Like it or not, if things went long-term with Helga, he they would become part of their lives and it made little sense for Rodrigo to make enemies out of them. Plus, he didn't want to be rude, so he accepted the invitation.

"Um, should I bring something?" Rodrigo nervously asked.

"Ya, yourself." Helga responded.

Despite his reluctance, Rodrigo tried to be positive about all of this.

Who knows, I mean, maybe this is an opportunity to get to know them and I might find something nice about them. He thought.

Although, he wasn't holding his breath.

Saturday evening...

Rodrigo arrived at the Pataki's house exactly at 6 p.m. Wanting to make an impression, he dressed a bit formally for the occasion. He rang the doorbell and nervously waited for it to open.

There was a lot going on in his mind at the moment. Firstly, he remained adamant that despite how her family treated Helga, Rodrigo would not allow that to cloud his judgement, nor prevent him from trying to make a good impression. He wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them to open up so he can see for himself who they really are.

Within less of a minute, the door swung open.

"Well, you're on time; for once." Helga said as she opened the door for him.

"What are you talking about? I'm always on time." Rodrigo said as he came inside.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." Helga said with a smirk and offered to take Rodrigo's coat. Just then, two more people arrived to greet him.

"Rodrigo! So nice to finally meet you. I'm Miriam." She said as she extended her hand to greet him.

"It's very nice to meet you as well Mrs. Pataki. Thank you for the invitation." Rodrigo said with a smile and shook her hand.

"Oh, and I am Helga's older sister, Olga. So nice to finally meet the man that has put a bit of bright light into my baby sister's life." She said with a delightful smile.

Helga didn't say anything other than give Olga an embarrassing scowling face. Lucky for her, Rodrigo wasn't looking at her.

"Nice to meet you too Olga." Rodrigo said to her as he shook her hand. "I picked these flowers for all three of you." He continued as he gave each woman a flower.

"Oh my, thank you, Rodrigo! How sweet of you." Miriam happily said.

"It's beautiful, thank you." Olga said as she tried not to blush.

"Gee thanks." Helga said dispassionately. "Didn't learn your lesson the last time you got too close to a plant?" She continued with a smirk, reminding Rodrigo of the incident he had at the botanical gardens.

"Oh I learned my lesson; never take you to the botanical gardens again." He retorted back at her.

"There you go. You're getting to know me more day by day." She said as she gave him a slap on his back.

"Well Rodrigo, I hope you brought your appetite with you." Miriam said.

"Oh I did Mrs. Pataki." Rodrigo said.

"I hope so. We butchered a whole cow for this dinner." Helga said. "We put the head on a pike and left it in the backyard."

"Wow, that's beautifully savage of you." Rodrigo said sarcastically.

"Oh don't be so dramatic, baby sister." Olga said with a smile on her face. "We just cooked up a nice dinner for this special event."

"Well, please come on in." Miriam said as she gestured with her hand for Rodrigo to fully walk into the house.

Rodrigo and the three ladies then walked into the living room and prepared to sit down to chat a bit before having dinner. However, after just taking a few steps into the living room, a noise was heard from upstairs, then some stomping. Rodrigo realized that it must be none other than Bob Pataki.

"Miriam is he here yet?!" Bob called out.

"Yes B. Come on down and say hello to Rodrigo." Miriam responded.

That voice. Where did I hear it before? Rodrigo thought to himself.

"Alright, alright." Bob said as he stomped his way down to the main floor.

Rodrigo sat down and waited patiently for Helga's father, if he can call him that, to enter the room and make their introduction.

Man, I hope he doesn't give me one of those typical father threats to 'not mess with his daughter's heart or he'll kill me', or to 'not deflower her.'. Rodrigo thought with a shiver.

Eventually, Big Bob entered the room and made his debut. Rodrigo got up and prepared to politely greet him.

"Alright, let me take a look at hi..."

"YOU!" both Rodrigo and Bob said to each other in pure shock and much to the confusion of Miriam, Olga and Helga.

"What is this delinquent doing in my house?!" Bob angrily roared.

"Bob!" Helga shocking exclaimed at her father.

"B!" Miriam exclaimed in horror.

"Daddy!" Olga exclaimed.

As much as Rodrigo wanted to say something back for that offensive remark, he said nothing, other than giving Bob a serious scowling face.

"Olga! I thought you said you were bringing your boyfriend over! Why did you bring the guy that nearly ran me over last week and how do you know him?!" Bob angrily shouted at her.

The big baby! I merely touched his leg with my bike. What a whimp! Rodrigo thought.

It had now become apparent to everyone that due to cosmic twist of fate, the delinquent that Bob was talking about and had him all worked up last weekend was Helga's boyfriend.

"Bob! This IS my boyfriend, Rodrigo!" Helga angrily shot back as she pointed at Rodrigo.

Helga could not relief the shocking, disbelief and angry look on her face. Out of the dumb losers that could have been, it had to be her own boyfriend! She instantly saw whatever little opportunity there was for her family to make a good impression was quickly going out the window!

You have got to be kidding me?! Crimeny, what do I have to do in order to get some damn good luck around here! Helga angrily thought. It's bad enough that there was little hope of these people making any kind of a good impression, but now I have to deal with the fact that my own father is going to try and kill my boyfriend!

"What?!" Bob shockingly exclaimed.

Rodrigo by this time was within inches of just leaving the house. Feeling utterly furious for that offensive remark and not wanting to cause a big scene, he felt it was wise to just leave. Besides, whatever hope he had about trying to make a good impression had just essentially gone out the window.

However, just as he was about to take his first step to get out of the house, he noticed that Bob's angry demeanour quickly changed.

"Oh well, please to meet you Rod." Bob said rather calmly and he extended his hand. His face had changed from one of anger and scowl to an almost emotionless and calm expression.

Rodrigo at first did not move, feeling very confused by his sudden change. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Was he pulling something? Eventually, not wanting to leave him hanging, he extended his own hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you too...sir." Rodrigo said hesitatingly.

"Well, what's everyone standing around for? Come on, let's eat. I'm starving." Bob said as he turned around and head to the dinner table.

Rodrigo, still confused and hesitant, nevertheless followed suit, leaving Olga, Miriam and Helga completely baffled in the living room. Their eyes were wide and their jaws were hanging. None knew what to make of Bob's sudden change in both tone and demeanour, let alone that he was acting rather tolerant thus far. Eventually, all three ladies snapped out of their trance and headed to the dinner table.

Helga was especially suspicious at Bob's sudden change in behaviour. She knew that Bob wouldn't ever try to be civil unless it was in some ways useful to him or if it already did something for him. She knew he had an angle, but what was it?

Better keep my eye on him. She thought.

Dinner at the Pataki table with the Patakis was...awkward and annoying, to say the least. If Rodrigo thought eating dinner would have lighten things up, oh he was soundly mistaken. No sooner had they sat down and started serving dinner, Bob wasted no time in dominating the conversation. Seemingly to have forgotten the rather tense moment between him and Rodrigo, Bob spoke about his latest business dealings, and its ups and downs. Rodrigo was rather flabbergasted by Bob's tendency to dominate the dinner table. They had only just sat down to eat and it looked as if Bob was giving no one else the opportunity to talk, not even Rodrigo.

"So anyways, this customer came in two days before, asking if the new iPhone that only came out about a month ago was on sale. I simply told him no and the idiot tried to argue with me, telling me that other stores have that same iPhone on sale. I knew he was a load of crap, but I just told him just go to those stores for his damned sale. The cheapskate! Can you believe that?!" Bob retold his story.

What was the point of inviting me if this guy is just going to talk about himself? Rodrigo thought annoyingly.

While eating, Rodrigo covertly looked around the dinner table and saw the rather disgruntled and/or bored looks in the faces of the rest of the family. Helga looked rather bored, if not also embarrassed by her father's abrasive antics and looked to as if she was just counting the minutes to when this scenario would just end. It became clear to Rodrigo that Helga was just not liking him to meet her family. Over to the other end of the table, Miriam ate her food quietly but looked as if she was about to fall asleep at any minute. Rodrigo couldn't tell if it was due to the boredom or if perhaps she...relapsed again. Directly in front of him was Olga and the look on her face kind of frightened him. Olga ate and but listened attentively to her father with a rather pathological smile on her face, almost as if she was trying to hide her true feelings, but what they were, Rodrigo didn't know.

"In the end, I just told him that what the price says on the ticket is what it is and if he didn't like it, then he can get lost and stop wasting my time! Two days later, he came back and bought the stupid phone. What a loser!" Bob happily exclaimed at this seemingly great work of salesmanship.

Not really paying attention and feeling somewhat disappointed, Rodrigo just slumped down on his seat and just quietly ate his food.

Well, at least Bob seems to have forgotten our 'encounter' last week. I should at least be happy about that. Rodrigo thought. Whatever prompted Helga's dad to all of a sudden change his behaviour, I should be thankful.

At the very least, both Rodrigo and Helga got to enjoy some rather good food. The ladies carefully prepared a rather fine cooked roast beef, baked with various vegetables. As side dishes, mash potatoes and salad were also prepared, while red wine was served, for the adults of course. Both Rodrigo and Helga enjoyed a good yahoo soda bottle.

Rodrigo wanted to thank the family for a well prepared dish, but Bob's continued ranting prevented him from saying anything.

Ugh, so much for talking. Rodrigo thought.

After about a total of twenty minutes of this torturous scenario, Bob took a big bite from his roast beef and stuffed himself with some vegetables, to the amazement of Rodrigo.

Wow! Well, I guess I know now where Helga got her table manners from. He thought.

During this whole time, Miriam was passionately dispassionately looking at her plate and eating whatever was on it. It wasn't even known if she was enjoying her own food. Although still retaining some sense of desire to talk, she had long given up at any attempt in talking at the dinner table while her husband was there. Only during certain gaps when Bib sometimes stuffed his mouth full did Miriam used the opportunity to talk, but it did not come often. Incredibly, upon glancing at her husband and seeing that he was momentarily neutralized, she took her chance to finally speak.

"So Rodrigo, what are your interests?" She abruptly asked him.

That prompted Rodrigo and everyone to finally snap out of their boredom or thoughts and glanced at Miriam who all of a sudden seemed to have been completely rejuvenated. She was previously slouching at the table, but now she was sitting upright, eating a bit more properly than before and even had a bit of a smile on her face.

Thank you! Rodrigo happily said to himself. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he took it.

"Well, I love to read." He said.

"Oh, what kind of topic interests you?" Olga asked.

"Just about anything, really. But I am mostly interested in the social sciences, political science, philosophy, religion, fantasy, etc."

"Oh really? By chance, have you read The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts and Muggle?" Olga intriguingly asked.

"No, but I heard a lot of good things about it." Rodrigo responded. "I've heard of a commentary on YouTube about the book and although it didn't go into all of the details, it was still quite fascinating!"

Olga, a bit impressed with Rodrigo's seemingly book smarts, gave Helga a wink, to which Helga merely rolled her eyes.

"How many books have you read?" Miriam asked.

"He lost count." Helga interjected. "He's got a full shelf full of them. I don't even know where he gets the time to read them."

"It's true." Rodrigo said. "I have a lot of books that I've collected over the years and I honestly do not know how many of them I have. It's a lot."

"You got any books about business?" Bob all of a sudden asked, finally freeing his mouth from all the food he stuffed himself with earlier, which kind of surprised everyone, as he didn't seem to attempt to change the conversation back to him.

"I have a few." Rodrigo said shyly. "One is about accounting; the other is on business strategy."

"Business strategy, huh?" Bob remarked, looking rather interested. "What did it teach you?"

"Well, it's a book that basis its study from the ancient Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu, but you can apply his teachings to sports and business in much the same way as in war." Rodrigo explained.

"Oh really? And what does this Shunzi guy have to say about taking out your competitors?" Bob asked.

"It's Sun Tzu, sir." Rodrigo politely corrected him. "He would advise to always attack the areas where your competitors are at their weakest, while also understanding them very well. You know, how their supply chain works, the way they try to sell; a cell phone, or as a gateway into a whole new realm of information and networking, even the type of people that they recruit. Once you understand your competitors, it shouldn't be too hard to take them down."

"You can get all of that from reading the works of a Chinese guy that some people say may have never even existed?" Helga asked a bit curiously

"Hold on Olga, can't you see we're talking here?" Bob quickly interjected before Rodrigo could have a chance to respond. "Yes, I remember reading a bit about him back in my college days. I think it was enticing your enemies to attack you in a place where you want them to attack, and then hit them from behind! Ha, I love it."

Helga frowned at her so-called dad for shushing her, but said nothing other than roll her eyes in annoyance. By coincidence, she then glanced at Rodrigo, who saw that his facial had completely changed. Furious at Bob's rude and neglectful remark at Helga, Rodrigo was giving Bob a scowling face, although the Latino kid was unsuccessfully trying to hide it. Helga noticed his hands forming a fist and it soon dawned on her that he was about to explode. Not wanting to allow this mundane episode to ruin everyone's dinner, Helga gently extended her hand below the table and grabbed his, before Rodrigo had a chance to explode. Surprised by the sudden sensation he felt on his hand, Rodrigo turned his head to look at her, to which she simply merely shook her head. Rodrigo instantly got the point; whatever he was planning on doing, it was not worth the fight.

For the second time, her soft and gentle gesture managed to calm Rodrigo down. He instantly felt his anger disappearing and his released the tense in his hands. What was her secret? There was none. The years of being around Arnold, as well as her continued therapy sessions with Dr. Bliss have paid off. It had allowed Helga to be in more control of her anger, reducing her tendency to explode or take it out on anyone. Although this did not mean that one did not have to be careful when being around Helga, as there were certain things that still set her off.

Regardless, it came just in time..

"This Sushi guy seems like the real deal! What was it that you have about him?" Bob asked Rodrigo.

"It's Sun..." Rodrigo attempted to correct him again, but then realized the futility of it. "The book is called The Art of War for the New Millennium: Sun Tzu's Strategies for Winning In Business Today."

"Ya, that does sound catchy. Fetch me that book of yours, would ya? I need to read something like that in order to sharpen my management skills on conquering the market." Bob said as he continued eating his food.

"Sure." Rodrigo responded nonchalantly.

The rest of the evening want as good as it was able to when it came to the Patakis. Bob seemed to have finally allowed the rest of the family to engage in some conversation, much to their relief. More questions were asked to Rodrigo about his history, family and goals.

"So what your plans after high school, Rodrigo?" Olga asked. "Have you considered what career path you would like to take?"

"Well, I'm mostly set on being a professor." He responded. "I just need figure out what subject I'm going to study; politics, sociology, or philosophy. That I'm not sure."

Both Miriam and Olga smiled at the young teen, impressed with both is mannerism, intellect and solid future. Just the fact that Rodrigo was able to not just tolerate, but also have a descent conversation with Bob was impressive in and of itself.

"Hmhm." Bob mumbled, who didn't seem to be any more interested in the conversation.

Once dinner was over, everyone then gathered to the living room, where Miriam and Olga brought out some dessert for everyone.

"Thank you." Rodrigo said as he received his dessert. "And thank you for the lovely dinner, Mrs. Pataki."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Rodrigo." Miriam said with a smile.

The next several minutes that were spend at the Pataki living room was...extremely awkward for Rodrigo. Bob still dominated the conversation, although this time he allowed others to make certain comments or ask questions. However, it had become apparent to Rodrigo that Bob was an extremely obnoxious and inconsiderate person. He awkwardly looked about and saw the same facial expression that he saw earlier at the dinner table. The difference was that it was more profound.

Helga was sitting on the sofa, looking extremely agitated. She simply rubbed her eyes with her hand, a clear indication to Rodrigo that Helga was just wishing this night would end. By the looks of things, she looked as if she was embarrassed by them.

Rodrigo then looked at Miriam who was again looking passionately dispassionate about the events around her. Rodrigo did notice that Miriam was constantly eyeing that red wine that was on the table and worried that this scenario might push her to relapse again. Despite having initially felt contempt for Helga's mother, Rodrigo couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Miriam on having to put up with someone like Big Bob all of these years. Based on how Helga described Miriam's neglect of her, he had initially thought that Miriam was a deeply selfish and uncaring person. Now it seemed that much of the reason as to why Miriam looked so zoned out and unenergetic may have something to do with her husband. Although that didn't mean Rodrigo was rendering her blameless for Helga's neglect, meeting her family did reveal more about them than Helga divulged.

Next he looked at Olga, whom he was by now just mortified at her smile. It wasn't genuine, but more so, it was downright scary, like in one of those horror movies where the killer made that smile as he/she taunted his/her victim. It wasn't because her smile was hideous. It was just so...fake. Rodrigo could tell from a mile that Olga was completely faking her smile and cheerful personality throughout this whole time. However, he understood why. Given how Bob's constant domination was sucking away at the life of both Miriam and Helga, Olga felt she needed to step up and attempt to salvage not only this dinner, but the entire family. She knew what everything else was thinking about this family and she was desperately trying to cover it up.

That is just so...sad. Rodrigo thought somberly. Is anybody happy in this family?

Naturally, this only made Rodrigo feel worse not just about the awkwardness that he was feeling, but also about everyone. Because he had only spoken to Helga about her family life, it had never dawned on Rodrigo on how the her family might be feeling about their stake in this family. He had come to the conclusion that no one in this family seemed to be happy with their situation. Only Bob seemed to be somewhat content with how things are going.

Rodrigo then looked at Bob who still talking and couldn't help but give him a frowning face. Looking at him was looking at the source of the Pataki's woes. His grotesque demeanour, his obnoxiousness and rude remarks, not to mention just how inconsiderate, if not completely ignorant about other people feelings he really was.

There is nothing good about this man. Rodrigo thought.

Finally, after being in that house for a bit more than two hours, it was time for Rodrigo to leave. He thanked everyone for the dinner and 'complimented' on how nice it was to have met them all. Olga and Miriam reciprocated the same feeling, genuinely, about Rodrigo and Miriam commented on how such a nice boy he is, much to Rodrigo's delight.

At least I impressed someone tonight. Rodrigo thought.

"Alright, let's go. I'll walk you home." Helga said, finally relieved that this night had ended rather well despite the initially tense moment between Rodrigo and Bob, as well finally looking forward to spending some time with him alone.

However, just as they were about to leave, Rodrigo then felt someone grab his shoulder.

"Hold on there, Rod." Bob said to him. "I want you to stay a bit later. There is something that I would like to discuss with you...privately."

Uh oh. Rodrigo thought worryingly.

"Privately? What are you planning here, Bob?" Helga bluntly asked him with a suspicious look. "You'd better not scare the living daylights out of him. That's my job."

"Oh for crying out loud, I just want talk to him ok?!" Bob said with a raised voice. "Don't keep your pants in a bunch. Women."

Rodrigo wondered nervously about just what Bob wanted to talk to him about?

Is it about the incident that happened last week? I thought he was past that. Rodrigo thought. Or, is he going to offer me a job? The latter could work.

"Rod." Bob called out to him as he showed him the way where he wanted to talk to him privately.

Rodrigo then looked at Helga, who merely just shrugged her shoulders. Then, he started walking away from her and followed Bob.

Bob took Rodrigo to another, somewhat smaller room. There was a couch, a rather old computer on one side of a desk, with a laptop right beside it and a bunch of papers scattered around the desk. Naturally, Rodrigo thought this room was Bob's office as he went inside and Bob closed the door.

"Have a seat, Rod." Bob said.

Rodrigo took it more as an order rather than as a kind gesture, but nevertheless sat down without question. By this point, Rodrigo was starting to become even more nervous. Neither of them has uttered a word since they entered the room and although it was only a few seconds, to Rodrigo, it already seemed like minutes.

I'd just wish he get on with it already! Rodrigo thought anxiously.

While still not speaking, Bob then went towards the desk, where there was a bottle of Scotch whisky on top of it, along with a few glass. Taking a glass, he then poured himself a small bit of whisky inside it, and then took a simple sip of it. Rodrigo said nothing but just cringed at the mere sight of it, as it forced him to remember his unfortunate encounter with whisky some years ago back in L.A. He was just thankful that he was still below the drinking age, deterring Bob from wanting to drink with him.

After his sip, Bob pulled the desk chair and sat down in front of Rodrigo. Throughout this whole time, Bob was calm and seemingly confident, as if he was in full control of this situation. However, no sooner had he sat down when Rodrigo noticed a sudden change in him. Almost immediately, his confidence gave way and he started looking quite nervous, confusing Rodrigo,

Why does he all of a sudden look so nervous? What does he want to talk about? Rodrigo thought.

"Rod, whatever is discussed here will not leave this room, got it." Bob finally spoke, trying to sound his usual dominating self, although it was obvious that he also spelled out some nervousness in his voice.

"Yes, sir." Rodrigo acknowledged.

After clearing his throat, Bob began.

"Alright, I brought you here because I wanted to discuss something with you, or rather share something. Or I guess, inform you of something and wanting to show my appreciation, but mostly just tell you something." He nervously stumbled his words.

"Sir?" Rodrigo said confusingly.

"Ugh crimeny, this isn't working out!" Bob exclaimed frustratingly. "Look, I'm no good at this, so I'm just going to flat out say it! I brought you here because I wanted to umm...well...thank you."

"Thank me, sir?" Rodrigo asked.

"Did I stutter? Yes, to say thank you." Bob retorted back nervously.

"Thank me for what?" He asked.

Knowing that Rodrigo was obviously confused, Bob just sighed and attempted to just tell him.

"Look, I'm not dumb." He began. "I know that Archie..."

"Who, sir?" Rodrigo interjected. "Who's Archie?"

"Umm, I mean Arnold." Bob corrected himself. "Arnold leaving Hillwood to be with his parents really affected Helga."

As he began to tell Rodrigo, Bob's facial expression turned to one of sadness. "When Arnold left, Helga would coup herself up in her room for days on end, never coming down unless she had to, never saying 'hi' to any of us. Miriam and Olga also told me that she wouldn't even hang out with her friends, not even that scrawny little Asian girl. The few times I did see her, all I saw was a very sad or highly irritated look on her face. She never smiled, never uttered a word, she would often explode in anger at us. This went on for years. It was as if she was dead inside."

"I tried talking to her about it, and tried to push her to snap out of it, but it always ended up in us just yelling at each other and her slamming the door. I realized that I was only making it worse for her, so I just let her be and hope she would get out of it." He continued.

Rodrigo remained utterly quiet as he heard Bob. What Rodrigo found very surprising was not the state that Helga was in when Arnold left. That he already knew. But the fact that Bob actually noticed how depressed Helga was during that time is what surprised him! He noticed.

"Then, I noticed a change in her." He continued, even allowing himself to smile a tiny bit. "During these last few months, Helga became more 'active', more 'alive', you know?"

"Um, what do you mean by that, sir? How was she 'active' and 'alive'?" Rodrigo asked.

2 weeks earlier...

It was a late Saturday morning and the Patakis were in the kitchen. Big Bob was sitting on one of the stools reading his newspaper, grumbling away. Miriam and Olga were also in the kitchen and just sipping away at their coffees while talking to each other. Then, Helga came downstairs and then walked into the kitchen, smiling and...humming?

"Good morning." She said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen.

Everyone, including Bob, noticed her cheerfulness, although Bob reframed from looking at her and just continued to stare at his newspaper, pretending not to bother. Miriam and Olga meanwhile stopped their conversation and glanced at her with surprising look on their faces.

"My baby sister, you're in a cheerful mood today." Olga commented with a smile.

"Well, what's not to be cheerful about today?" Helga responded as she took a piece of toast. "The sun is shining, the bird are chirping and mating away, the flowers the blooming. It's a nice day!"

Olga and Miriam said nothing and just stared at Helga, completely baffled by what she just said. She said something...positive, something happy. Is she sick?

"What?" Helga asked, noticing their staring. "Do I have boogers on my nose or something?"

"No, it's just that...well...we've never seen you this...happy" Miriam carefully responded. For the first time in a long time. She happily thought.

"Indeed, this wouldn't have anything with Rodrigo, would it?" Olga asked teasingly with a wink and a smile.

That comment struck Helga hard and stared at both her mom and older sister with wide eyes. Up until now, she hadn't realized that her behaviour would ever change, at least not to the extent that her family would notice.

"Wha, I mean um, sure I may 'like' him, you know." Helga attempted to nervously himself. "B-B-But that's doesn't mean that Latino boy has changed me!" She quickly reaffirmed her assertiveness "Nor will he ever, unless I say so." She said with a triumphant smile and then attempted to lean on the counter,

"Offf!" Only for her to miss it and completely fall to the ground. She quickly got up and, with a nervous smile attempted to lean on the counter again, only to miss it a second time and fell right to the ground again, much to her embarrassment.

Miriam and Olga looked on and merely giggled. Bob meanwhile was listening to everything that was going on and from time to time took a peek from above his newspaper.

"Anyways," Helga spoke as she got up from the floor a second time. "I gotta go. I told Rodrigo that I would meet him in a few minutes and I'm already late."

"Oh?" Miriam said. "And where you two might be going, hmmm?" She continued teasingly.

"Eh, nowhere in particular." Helga casually responded, as she made her way to the door. "We're just going to go for a walk at the park and later grab a bite to eat. You guys want anything?"

Again, both Olga and Miriam became silent, surprised that was Helga even offering to bring back food for them. She had never done that.

"Oh um, no thanks dear." Miriam responded. "Have fun."

"Alright, see ya." Helga said, as she made her way to the door, put her shoes on, then walked out of the house, closing the door, smiling and still humming with a smile while she walked to meet up with Rodrigo.

Miriam and Olga, the second Helga left the house, watched with both awe and joy as the youngest member in their family seemed to finally have some measure of happiness. Bob, although not having moved an inch during the whole thing, returned back to his newspaper and smiled.

Back at the present...

Rodrigo stood silent, completely stunned at what Bob had just told him.

"Wow..." was all Rodrigo could say.

Bob took a sip from his whisky before he began to talk again.

"Anyways, I'm thankful that Helga is able to finally move away from her sorry state that she was in and found a decent guy like you."

"Um, thank you, sir" Rodrigo said surprisingly.

"By the way, sorry for acting all aggressive on you last week." Bob said a bit reluctantly. "I know you didn't mean to bump into me like that and I just...overreacted a bit."

"It's ok, Mr. Pataki." Rodrigo said with a bit of a smile, prompting Bob to smile back a bit as well.

"Look Rod, I'm not trying to pressure you to be with Helga." Bob said. "That's not why I'm telling you this. I don't want you to think of anything long-term with her because you feel you have to; I want you to do it because you want to. I just wanted to show my gratitude in helping Helga out in her time of need."

Rodrigo, although still stunned by all of this, proceeded say something about that.

"Sir, I wish I could promise you that things will become long-term between us and will eventually lead to, marriage and stuff. But, the truth is that I don't know how things will turn out between me and Helga. Because of that, I cannot promise you that we will last. I mean, I would really like it to. I really like Helga and I want to be with her, but I don't want to make any promises when there are so many factors outside of our control. However, what I can promise you is that I will do whatever it takes to make her feel safe and happy."

Bob, appreciative of Rodrigo's honesty, then smiled and extended his hand. "Thank you for that Rod."

Rodrigo also smiled and shook his hand. However, Bob then tightened his grip on Rodrigo's hand, yanked him towards him and said,

"But seriously, if you break my daughter's heart, I'll break your neck. Kapish?"

Seriously?! I thought I dodged that bullet. He thought.

"Got it, sir." Rodrigo responded back annoyingly.

After their talk, Rodrigo and Bob then said good night and walked out of the room. When the ladies saw Rodrigo and Bob again, they weren't sure what to say to them.

"So what did the two gentlemen talk about?" Olga asked.

"I've said my peace." Was all Bob said. "Night Rod." And he walked upstairs.

"Night, Mr. Pataki." Said Rodrigo. "Olga, Mrs. Pataki, thank you again for the lovely food and your hospitality." He quickly said to them before they got a chance to ask him about what transpired.

"It was our pleasure, Rodrigo." Miriam said with a smile. "We hope to see you again soon."

"It was lovely to meet you Rodrigo." Olga said with an actual, genuine smile.

"Same here. Good night." Rodrigo said to them.

"Come on Latino boy. Let's go before I fall asleep here." Helga interjected.

Rodrigo then grabbed his coat and walked with Helga outside. As soon as they were on the pavement, Helga then instantly got closer and wrapped her arm around Rodrigo's and held his hand, much to his surprise.

"So, what did you and Bob talk about?" Helga asked, as they continued walking.

"I can't say." Rodrigo said.

"Really? We've only started dating for about a month and you're already keeping secrets from me? Wow, you move fast! Next thing I know, you'll plant a ring on my finger without me even knowing it." Helga joked and gave Rodrigo a nudge on his arm with her arm.

"Funny, Helga." Rodrigo said. "I can't say because I promised your dad I wouldn't say anything. He spoke to me in confidence."

"Fine, whatever floats his boat." Helga said as she rolled her eyes. "At least you got out of that room in one piece."

"What I can tell you though," Rodrigo then said. "is that nothing bad or negative was said between us. Actually, I would even go so far as to say that, we didn't really bond, but I was able to see a side of him that I didn't think was there and that brought us a bit closer."

"Closer? Ha! That's a laugh." Helga scoffed. "There's only one person Bob likes to get close to and that is himself."

"To be fair, I kind of had the same opinion of him...and of your family; you know, after everything you've told me about them and after what you went through. But after tonight, I saw a different side of them, especially your dad. Despite our tense moment back there, they, including your dad, in his own way, accepted me with open arms and were really nice and warmly welcomed me into their house. So, at risk of sounding a bit idealistic, they are...ok. I got to see their nice sides." Rodrigo explained, trying carefully to explain how he felt about them without indicating to Helga that the neglect that she suffered was irrelevant, if not all forgiven. In Rodrigo's eyes, it wasn't.

"You don't have to be nice about it." Helga said. "You can tell me the truth about my family."

"I was telling the truth." Rodrigo confirmed. "Ok sure, there were moments when I thought your mom was on the verge of relapsing again, and I could tell from a million miles that your sister's laugh and smile was not genuine. I could tell she was hiding something and that smile was only a facade. That, and it scared the bajeezus out of me. And your dad...well, I'm just not going to go there. But regardless, they were still nice and welcoming. It just showed me that despite the amount of flaws that they have, they still have a nice side to them and I appreciate it. I got to know them a bit more today and this time, it was more positive."

Helga, although still not believing Rodrigo, felt relieved to hear him say that.

"Well, thanks." She said. "I was nervous as to how this was going to turn out, especially after all the things I told you about them. When we found out that it was you who almost 'ran over' Bob last week, I nearly had a heart attack. I'm actually relieved to hear you say that."

"You weren't the only one who was nervous." Rodrigo said. "I really wanted to impress them and not give them any excuse for them to not like me. I didn't want to complicate your life any more than it already is."

"You don't make it complicated." She said. "You...make it better." She continued with a smile.

Rodrigo said nothing and just looked at her. Then, he smiled at her, held her hand a bit more tightly and continued with them walking to his house.

"Hey, your dad does know that my name is Rodrigo and not Rod, right?" He asked.