Title: The Cat Lady Cometh
Summary: There was an urge to hide her afflictions as a means to protect his grandmother from being humiliated, but deep down, he knew it was to save himself from that scrutiny. During and after OCs2e2 New World Order
(Eli POV on Bernie's appearance, including asking about Olivia's funeral and moving in)
Characters: Elliot Stabler, Bernie Stabler, Eli Stabler, Kathleen Stabler, Original Characters, mentions of Olivia Benson
Past story references:
- Elliot's reaction to Liv's accident in Part/Ch 12 - Family is Everything
- Eli meeting Timmy in Part/Ch 3 - First Day of the Rest My Life
- Past mention of Doc in Part/Ch 1 - A Sliver of Light in the Darkness
- Past mention of Paco and rehab in Part/Ch 8 - Lost and Found
Bzzz. Bzz. Bzz. Leen's phone danced on the table where she'd placed it after scanning the QR code for the bistro's menu. Upon checking who was calling, her apologetic smile transformed to a look of dread, causing Eli to sit up in alarm as she accepted the call.
"Dad? What happened?" She questioned urgently. "She what?...okay…we'll meet you there. Love you, too…bye."
As soon as she hung up, she waved the waiter over, passing over her card for the bill.
"What's going on?" Eli asked as he started to gather up their things as she paid the check.
Her blue eyes, normally sparkling with such fire, were now dulled by weary resignation. "It's Grandma. Apparently, she got into trouble in the park, so the cops called Dad's boss to intercede on her behalf to avoid arrest. Dad just picked her up and wants us to meet them at her apartment to figure out what's going on.' She heaved a sigh, her shoulders temporarily sagging under the weight of the responsibility that had been shoved upon her. "I'm pretty sure she's off her meds again."
During the ride over, Eli jumped at the opportunity to pump Leen for the do's and don'ts of dealing with their grandmother. He'd found that being forearmed with information helped to ease his anxiety over new situations; in this case, that would be again seeing the woman he knew was his grandmother but in truth was a stranger he'd only met the few times they'd come to visit.
They reached the apartment in no time, and as soon as Eli saw their dad, he knew from the devastated look in his bloodshot eyes something else had occurred. Having only seen it when Liv had her "accident", Eli's heart began to beat frantically at the thought that maybe something had happened to her again…that maybe Wheatley had somehow been successful this time.
Jumping out of Leen's car, he sprinted over to where their father impatiently stood while his sister helped their grandmother out of the large SUV. "Dad, what happened?" He asked frantically, "Did something happen to Liv?"
Surprise and despair swirled in the blue eyes that swung towards him. "Why would you say that?"
Eli shrank a bit at the angry, biting tone and looked down. "Never mind."
"No. Why would you say that?" their dad demanded again, taking an agitated step towards him.
Eli shrugged, refusing to answer. Finally, the older man sighed and ran a weary hand over his slightly leaner face. "You grandma thought…" Swallowing hard, a bleak, heartbroken look entered his eyes as he spat out the words, "that Liv died."
Eli could tell that saying those two words together shook their father to the core, likely reminding him of how lucky they'd all been that Liv's accident hadn't been more serious. There were probably visions of uniformed police officers lining roads as her casket passed, of hearing the bagpipes and the gun salute, of yearly graveside visits with flowers in hand, of a coldness to the world without Liv's warm presence dancing through his mind like they were Eli's.
At a loss for words, Eli stared at him in distress. "She what? Why?"
The older Stabler shook his head, deep, heartbreaking sorrow in the depths of his eyes. "You know she gets things confused."
Before Eli could probe more about what exactly their grandmother had gotten confused this time, the two women came around the front of the SUV. Their dad seemed to rally himself and stepped over to try to help their grandmother but got a glare for his efforts.
"I can walk, you know. I'm not an invalid," she huffed as she carefully stepped up onto the curb.
The two siblings shot one another an amused look as their father took a deep breath as they fell into step behind his 82-year-old mother.
As soon as Eli stepped foot inside the dim apartment, his eyes met Leen's and saw his own shock and concern at its state reflected there. His first step from the short hallway faltered when he noticed cats sitting or curled up on various surfaces like breathing, furry statues among the frayed, scratched up, and dated furniture.
"Now, it might be a little untidy here," their grandmother stated as she flicked on the lights and led them into her space.
"A little untidy" seemed to be the understatement of the century. Empty boxes, envelopes, and other random paper littered the floor and various tabletops. Unopened mail and bottles of medication and vitamins were randomly strewn on the top of the dining room table. Dust bunnies were evident on the floor, cabinets, and lampshades. Laundry baskets filled with random papers, canned goods, and unfolded clothes, towels and blankets were everywhere.
At Leen's urging, Eli agreed to fulfill their grandmother's request for water. As he got closer to the kitchen, his nose scrunched a bit as the smell of cat urine emanating from litter boxes hit him from…somewhere. A flash of pride shot through him when his grandmother praised him for being "such a sweet boy", a feeling crushed by their father's rather distracted and dismissive "yeah". There was no fatherly pride or love. No real indication that he even really agreed with the sentiment, and that…that was like a gut punch.
All their dad seemed to really care about were the cats, his aggravated voice almost interrogating his poor, elderly mother about where they came from. Her humorous statements about them "all needing homes" and needing to be "nice to our animal friends" were almost enough to prevent Eli from slipping into a proper funk. But he couldn't help but reel from the impact of that one word in that tone.
Swallowing down the tears that threatened, he turned to fill a glass from the drying mat with tap water, all the while scolding himself for caring. This shouldn't surprise you, the dark voice in his head whispered, He hasn't really wanted you around since Mom died. Hell, he even went undercover to avoid dealing with you all the time. Why would you think that's changed now? You're still a burden, and you always will be. Unlike Leen the Saint…
He shook off that thought, knowing it was unfair to his sister who'd had to take up the slack left behind after their parents ditched the family for Rome. Even after their return, it'd become evident to Eli that their father relied on her too much, asking her to not only take on the burden of his care but to also care for the oldest Stabler as well.
This was reinforced when their father asked Leen, "When was the last time you checked on her?" As if this entire situation was all her fault…for not checking on their grandmother more often. Why the hell didn't YOU do it? Eli yelled internally, It's not like we don't live here now too!
The resentment with which Eli'd so recently become familiar flared within him but this time on his sister's behalf. The burn of this dark emotion dried any tears that may have threatened, so that by the time he handed their grandmother her water, there was no indication of the state he'd been in.
At least, Leen could take care of herself as was evident by her retort "she had a caretaker". Eli's gaze swung to stare at his father as his voice began to rise, growing more irritated and frustrated with every answer their grandmother gave about firing Rosa, not going to the doctor for months, and her resistance to going to the hospital.
From his spot in the kitchen, Eli had a vantage point that the others didn't; it was probably why they didn't see it. For just a moment, those blue eyes usually filled with loving irritation flared with actual anger and hatred. The body once tense from exasperated frustration suddenly seemed to vibrate a bit with suppressed violence. It caused a shiver to go down Eli's back, as he caught a glimpse of the man their dad had been pretending to be all these months. It was the deep breath resulting from his grandmother's shout of "Don't yell at me!" that fortunately restored the man in front of him to the lovingly, frustrated father they all knew.
Eli's heart broke at their grandmother's exclamation of "I'd rather stay here and die if I have to!" and her tearful explanation of her frustration with trying to manage her disorder. Of course, it was Leen, the one who could relate to the situation the best, who knew the words to convince her to accept help.
As Leen worked her magic, Eli couldn't help but wonder if his other siblings had even tried to share the load of checking in on their grandmother or had they simply written her off as being too…difficult, forcing Leen to bear the brunt of the responsibility because of their similar affliction. It was blatantly unfair for any of them to be taking on their father's responsibilities for his own mother, but Eli was coming to realize that their father seemed to be accustomed to someone else filling this role. It was only later that it dawned on him that this had been his mother's responsibility before the move to Rome left someone else to manage the load.
It was Leen's idea to ask their grandmother to stay with "us". Who is "us"? Eli wondered as he found himself voicing his agreement with that plan. Me and Leen? Where would she sleep? Glancing at their dad, he saw him standing there glowering with raised eyebrows before swallowing hard and agreeing to the idea. Indeed, while his dad's mouth said "I really want you to" and "we'll figure it out", Eli didn't think his expression and tone reflected those sentiments. But the words seemed to be enough to get their grandmother to suddenly agree.
Her concern about her cats was touching, and when he heard Leen take on handling that too, Eli's mind turned back to the times that the Crew had mentioned one of their members collecting strays until they'd somehow helped her to figure out how to get off the streets and become a vet tech. He came to realize that maybe this was something he could help with, so he turned towards Leen as they walked towards where they were parked. "I know someone who can help with cats."
A relieved look came over her somewhat stressed out face. "Really? Can you handle that then cuz I don't even know where to start?"
Eli nodded with a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."
After getting their grandmother installed in their recently purchased apartment, Eli dug out his cell phone and, without a second thought, called Sketch.
It rang a few times before the call connected. "What's up?" Sketch greeted.
Eli was a bit thrown by the distracted tone in his voice.
Trepidation about whether this would prove to be a good idea settled over him, and he licked his suddenly dry lips. "Hey," he greeted hesitantly before his excitement at the developments of the day took over, "So, I'm moving back in with my dad."
Silence descended upon them before Sketch sighed and said, "I'm happy for you."
Eli nodded as he continued to eagerly share what he considered to be good news. "Can't believe I'm gonna be finally out of Leen's! I mean, there's still so much to do. I gotta pack, and we gotta empty out Grandma's place and clear out the cats. Oh…that's…"
Sketch suddenly interrupted as he stated dryly, "Let me guess. You need help."
Giddy at the turn of events in his life, Eli flopped down on his bed and remained unfazed by his friend's interruption and completely oblivious to the undertones of his voice. "Yeah, I wondered if Doc could help with them," he rambled, "Leen has no idea where to start, and I thought this might be something we could help with."
"We?" Sketch inquired a bit of curiosity in his voice.
"Yeah, there's a lot of cats," Eli explained, casting his mind back to mentally count, "I mean I saw at least four but more kept appearing. So I'm really not sure. That's why I think it's gonna take a group of us."
"What about the sibs? I mean there's enough of you. Why us?"
Eli pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it, perplexed by the pushback. "Everyone's working, so it's hard for them to get away at the same time."
Sketch gave an understanding hum just as Eli heard Blaze's voice in the background ask, "Who dat?"
"Eli," Sketch replied back, throwing him a bit at the fact that his nickname hadn't been used, "Says he needs help."
"Course he does," Blaze muttered with a hint of anger in his voice.
Sketch sighed. "Look, I'll contact her. How soon does this need to happen?"
Feeling like he'd missed something, Eli licked his lips and explained, "Before Sunday. The family will head over after lunch."
"Right," Sketch agreed, "I'll let you know."
Eli stared down at his phone, stunned at the fact that his friend had just hung up on him. He cast his mind back over the short conversation in confusion as he tried to figure out where things had gone wrong.
The next day, Sketch called him back to let him know that Doc had agreed to meet up on Saturday morning. It was only by a stroke of luck that Eli found himself game-free that day, and since Leen was taking their grandmother to a doctor appointment, she agreed to drop him off at the apartment.
The day of the meetup, Eli jumped out of Leen's car after reassuring their grandmother that they'd be careful with all of her "animal friends" and found himself nervously shuffling his feet at the idea of meeting Doc for the first time. In no time, Sketch, Blaze, and a smaller female with black, curly hair climbed out of a van with the name of a local rescue blazoned across the front.
"Hey, guys," Eli greeted with a smile, happy to be able to hang out with his friends for a bit. He hadn't realized how long it'd been since they were able to spend time together, so he looked forward to catching up with them all.
Sketch and Blaze welcomed him back with a nod before turning over to help the lady who was busy pulling cat carriers out of the back of the van. "'Brina, this is Eli."
Handing Blaze a carrier, she turned toward him with a big smile. "Nice to meet you. Crew calls me Doc."
Reaching out to grab the other carrier in her hand, Eli shot her a pleased smile as she handed him another. "They call me Wally."
Closing the van's door, Doc bent down to pick up two of the carriers, and the others followed suit, crates in each of their hands. "Ok. Let's get this thing started," she announced, with an expectant look on her face.
Eli nodded, and as he led their little group towards his grandmother's place, Doc asked, "Do you know anything about the cats?"
"Nah, Grandma just said that they come from the neighborhood."
"Do you know if she spayed and neutered them or took them to a vet?"
Arriving at the apartment, Eli pulled the key Leen'd given him out of his pocket and shook his head. "No clue," he replied as he unlocked the door, seeing the disappointed look that crossed her face out of the corner of his eye.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open before picking up the crates and taking the first step into the unkempt apartment. The others trooped behind him, and the group stared at the place in stupefied silence. Perhaps he'd blocked out the extent of the mess from his mind, but somehow it was worse than he'd remembered.
There were cats that he didn't recognize from the last visit, so he couldn't help but wonder where on earth they all had come from. He then spotted a little head poking its head out from behind a vase. "Oh shit," he mumbled, "there's kittens."
"I think that just answered your spayed and neutered question," Sketch pointed out dryly, cutting his eyes to Doc whose face had fallen at the current state of the situation.
She heaved a big breath as she put the crates down and pulled out her cell phone. "You guys get started. I gotta make a call to the shelter and see if they can take all of these animals."
"Doc, where do we even start?" Sketch whispered, amber eyes wide.
She waved towards the room. "Start grabbing as many as you can. Lift them by the scruff of the neck. Fit more than one in the carrier if you think they can fit and then put the crate by the door."
"Right," Eli whispered with fake confidence, "Just that easy."
While Sketch moved to the living room and Blaze the dining room, Eli headed towards the one room he'd never been in before - the bedroom. Staring in horror at the sight that greeted him, he called out, "Umm…guys, I think we're gonna need more crates."
The boys dropped their carriers and headed over to join him in the doorway. "Shit," Sketch mumbled, as they saw more kittens crawling all over the room and scurrying up curtains or towards the open closet door.
Suddenly sharp claws were felt on Eli's head. "Fuck!" he yelled as he swatted at whatever had landed on him. His hand brushed the hair of the little furball that had been perched on the top of the door as it jumped down and scurried under the bed.
Blaze clapped him on the back and moved off with jaunty, "Good luck, man!"
"Wait, what?" Eli asked, watching in bewilderment as the two other teens moved to return to their self-appointed spots. "Guys, c'mon help me with this. We can catch-up while we work," he begged, taking a step towards them as he managed to swoop up a kitten or two and put them in one of the crates.
Blaze paused in his progress and swung around. "Oh so, now, you're interested."
Sketch put a calming hand on their friend's shoulder and whispered a warning, "B."
"No," Blaze railed, hurt blazoned across his face as he shrugged off Sketch's touch. He glared at Eli who stood there in a shocked daze. "You didn't care enough to come to the celebrations we held for the end of Paco's rehab or my GED graduation."
"It wasn't like that." Eli stuttered at the accusatory tone in Blaze's voice.
"No?" Blaze said, raising an eyebrow. "Then what was it like? Go ahead." Crossing his arms, he gave Eli a faux expectant look. "Tell us why you bailed on little Timmy's sixth birthday last weekend when you promised him you'd go."
Timmy'd been the first of the kids at the Corner with whom he'd interacted and grown close, so of course, Eli'd had every intention of going. However, as he cast his mind back to last weekend, he realized guiltily that he'd forgotten in the midst of a furious video game tournament with the guys that day. Not wanting to add more fuel to the fire, he settled on, "Something came up."
Blaze let out a disbelieving chuckle. "Yeah, I bet," he sneered, his brown eyes filled with a mixture of accusation and pain.
Eli stared at them in shock, completely lost. "Seriously, something came up, and I couldn't go."
"Shoulda seen it comin'," Sketch mumbled in resignation, "Proximity always triumphs."
When Eli's brow crinkled in confusion, Blaze shoved his friend in the shoulder. "What genius here is sayin' is now that you got normal friends nearby, you don't need us Manhattan street punks no more."
Offended by the accusation, Eli's head shot up as he shot them a glare and demanded, "What the fuck you mean 'normal'?
Sketch gave him a wise, knowing look. "Friend you don't gotta make much effort to meet. The ones you can talk to about school, video games, music, and movies. The ones that understand pop culture references and technology. The ones who can afford to go out to eat at random hip spots. The ones you can go to arcades, fairs, and other shit like that with." Crossing his arms, he stated definitively, "That's what we mean by 'normal'."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Eli protested, "School, homework, and soccer keeps me busy, and yes, I got new friends. So sue me." He waved his hands around emphatically. "It's not cuz I don't wanna hang out; it's that with everything else going on, I just don't have the time to anymore."
"Tell yourself whatever you want." Sketch shook his head before sadly pointing out, "You could make the time if you really wanted to." He looked away before shooting Eli a serious look. "All we ask is that you don't make promises to Timmy or any of the other Corner kids. They deal with enough."
At the sound of the door opening and closing, the boys turned to see Doc had returned with more crates. She paused in the doorway at the tension in the air and asked as her eyes flicked between them, "Everything okay?"
Sketch stepped towards her to grab a crate and reassured her, "Yup."
She looked at them skeptically before a meow reminded them of what they were there to do. "Good news," she announced as she deftly grabbed one of the cats on the cat tree next to her and seamlessly put it in one of the crates in her hand, "the shelter can take them, and the clinic will also look them all over before they're admitted."
Scrutinizing the lack of filled crates, she huffed in annoyance. "What've you been doing? These are empty!" Picking up another cat by the scruff, she eased it into the carrier to join the other feline she'd just grabbed. "Only thing is they both close early, so we gotta pick-up the pace."
In an attempt to copy her move, Blaze grabbed a cat by the scuff, but once in the air, it wiggled around, hissing wildly until he inevitably dropped it to prevent being scratched. "Shit," he muttered, glaring at it as it scurried away.
Eli pointed at the new crate supply and said, "You're gonna need those over here. Seems to be a lot of kittens running around."
"Right, I'll help with that room then," she announced with determination, the very picture of a person on a mission.
Eli took a moment to watch in amusement as Sketch stalked a cat crawling under the table before making a dive for it. Of course, the wily creature managed to twist just in time for his friend's head to connect with the cupboard it'd run under. Rubbing the impact site, Sketch's amber eyes narrowed in annoyance at the animal before they locked onto another target which he managed to snag successfully this time.
He then swung around to see Blaze searching the kitchen cupboards for any feline presence. Just as he opened an upper cupboard, a cat jumped past him. Thrown for a loop, the kid spun around to track the furball's progress only to let out a pained hiss as one of the little ones began to climb his leg like a tree trunk. Plucking it off of him, Blaze gently added the ball of fuzz to one of the crates.
As he moved to help Doc with what was bound to be bit of a more challenging room, Eli took comfort in hearing the boys' movements; their curses as they as they, like him, tried to grab cats that scurried behind furniture or cupboards; the opening and closing of doors; the scratch of furniture being moved; and shouts of triumph when another little rascal was caught.
"Need more hands?" Eli heard Sketch ask just as he turned to see a streak of black bolt towards through their legs. "Watch out!" he called, pointing to the escapee.
Blaze's eyes grew wide and charged after it with a curse. "Yes!" They heard him shout as he carefully carried the little animal and added it to one of the crates already teaming with several others from the same litter.
Doc stood with her hands on her hips trying to figure out how to get to the two young-ish cats currently perched on the top of the curtain rods. "You guys see a ladder somewhere?"
The three boys began to search the apartment for a step stool, a ladder, anything that would give them the height needed to get the little trouble-makers. Finally, Eli came back with a stepstool in hand and Blaze with a chair. "Maybe we can stack these to do it."
Doc looked at them like they were crazy. "Yeah, no…it's too dangerous."
"Aw, c'mon," Blaze wheedled as he placed the chair as close as possible to where they sat. Eli carefully balanced the stepstool to make sure it was braced against the backrest.
"Where's your sense of adventure?" Blaze, the tallest of them all, cajoled, "It's a good thing you're not gonna be the one climbing it." He carefully made his way to the top of their tower, with Eli and Sketch bracing him on each leg. Teetering rather precariously, he managed to reach one of the kittens which he passed to Doc.
At his motion, the other, slightly older cat, hissed at him and moved just out of his reach. Blaze shook his head. "No good."
"I wonder if they're hungry enough to be lured by food," the vet tech mused, "It might be worth a try."
Eli went into the kitchen to pull out a can of wet cat food from the stack he'd spotted earlier. Cracking it open, a few more cats came running, allowing him to easily scoop them up. He put a little bit on the spoon which he handed to Blaze who tried to get as close as possible to the little nose. "C'mon. C'mon," he whispered, as the boys tried to brace him to prevent a fall. Disheartened by the lack of interest, he shook his head and carefully climbed down from their makeshift tower.
The cat blinked its yellow eyes at them before seeming to settle in for a nap. Suddenly, a bit of string flickered toward it, hitting the curtain rod. Its eyes opened with interest, and when the string came up again, it watched curiously where it hit before trying to bat at it with its little paw. Tracing the string to the end, the three boys saw Doc on the other end, a hopeful look on her face. Turning their attention back to their prey, it seemed that her little trick worked as it was now watching the string's movement with interest.
At the next swing of the string, instead of trying to hit, the little body launched itself off the curtain rod and onto a nearby dresser, knocking over picture frames as it landed with a skid on the table runner. It then began to scamper behind a vase and jewelry box, past Eli who tried in vain to grab it before jumping down to the floor. Sketch made a grab at it, but the agile cat slipped past him and slithered through Blaze's legs.
"Shit!" Sketch groaned as they all headed back into the much larger space. The four humans stood still trying to see if they spotted any other movement, and Doc finally spotted the little rascal poking its head out from around a box on the kitchen floor. They strategically placed themselves, hoping to block any exits as Doc carefully crept towards it. Suddenly the head disappeared as it turned around and tried to bolt past Eli whose short time as goalie finally came in handy when he dove towards and scoop it up. Sitting on the dirty floor, he kept hold of it until Doc came over with the crate to put it in.
"Yes!" They all shouted as the four humans fist bumped one another with big grins on their faces. Heaving out relieved sighs, they surveyed the number of crates stacked by the door in disbelief, as the symphony of meows began to grow in volume.
"How the hell did your grandma not notice them multiplyin'?" Blaze wondered incredulously.
It was a question that he'd wondered himself, and Eli's mind stuttered as a feeling of shame and embarrassment at her flightiness overcame him. During the four times his family had visited at Christmas, her condition hadn't really been talked about or even acknowledged by anyone other than Leen. His mother hadn't seemed to know how to handle…well…anything about it, and it was obvious this had caused issues with Leen in the past. At least, his dad had been better at trying to patiently get his grandmother help in between bouts of obvious frustration and exasperation. There was an urge to hide her afflictions as a means to protect his grandmother from being humiliated, but deep down, he knew it was to save himself from that scrutiny.
Just as he opened his mouth to mumble out some sort of excuse, Sketch concluded, his eyes assessing the medicine bottle scattered on the table, "Looks like she might have dementia, D."
Eli shot him a look of surprise. "How'd you know?"
A passing look of devastation crossed his friend's face as he gave a dismissive shrug and said, "Recognize the names of the pills."
Having a feeling that there was more to the story, Eli opened his mouth to ask but before he could, Doc looked at him and asked, "Okay, so you guys are coming back here tomorrow, right?"
Eli snapped his mouth shut and gave a nod.
"Okay, I put a clean litter box and the already open can of food on the floor in the bedroom." She stated as she propped the door open and motioned them to grab hold of crates and take them to the van. "Check it when you come to see if you spot any activity."
As they went back again for the next batch, she continued her instructions, "If you find signs, you should try to catch them and put them in a box." As they made their way back for the next load, she dug out a business card. "Call this shelter and tell them Sabrina told you to call. They'll let you know where to bring them."
"Got it." Eli shoved the card in his pocket before turning towards her with a grateful smile.
They made a couple more trips. Once she was ready to leave, Eli reached out to shake her hand. "Thanks for your help, and nice to meet you."
With a laugh, she slapped his hand away to give him a hug. "Anything for a fellow Crew member. Nice to finally meet you, too."
She then turned towards Sketch and Blaze, first hugging one then the other, and as she did so, she said something that caused Eli's heart to stutter, "Good to see you guys. Tell Mama K sorry for missing the engagement party, and I'll stop by the diner soon."
Engagement party. The words echoed in Eli's head as he absently waved at her as she drove off. His forehead wrinkled a bit as he tried to recall if he'd been invited. "When was the party?"
The boys looked at one another before Sketch replied, "Wednesday night."
"Why wasn't I invited?" Eli wondered in a pain-filled voice.
The two boys gave identical shrugs before Blaze said flatly, "Didn't see no point. You wouldn'ta come anyway."
Eli opened his mouth in protest, but Sketch raised an eyebrow as if daring him to contradict their assumption. "Would've been nice to have been asked," he wound up complaining petulantly.
Sketch sighed and ran a hand over his face. "What good would it do to get Mama K's hopes up like that, huh? It'd be like little Timmy all over again." Eli shot him a confused look to which Sketch just shook his head with a distant look of sadness. "When Timmy arrived, he was almost bouncing in excitement at seeing you cuz he wanted to show you the stuff he'd learned in school. He'd looked at that damned door with so much hope each time it'd opened, thinking it'd be you. He even held off blowing out his candles cuz he was sure you were gonna show. Finally, with shoulder slumped, he gave up, and instead of having the best day of his life, that little boy had to face one more disappointment in a string of others."
Blaze shot him a glare and snarled, "So don't blame us for not doing that to Mama K, too." Turning on his heel, he started to move down the street.
Sketch turned to follow but not before saying in a distant voice, "See ya."
Shame filled him at the hurt he'd inadvertently caused, but it wasn't his fault that things had changed. That he'd been busy. It was just a fact that his life had changed. They just need to accept it, he thought disdainfully as he called Leen for a pick-up.
Change. It seemed to be the only constant in his life these days. This time, though, it was a good thing; after all, he was back living with his dad. Sure, his grandma was there too, but he was finally home.
Moving back in was supposed to be a sign that his father wanted him around, but those hopes were dashed once it became apparent that his father wouldn't be around anymore than he'd been before because he'd once again found a suitable stand-in. This caused his initial giddiness to be overtaken once again by resentment at his father for never being home from "work" (the simplest terms they could use to explain the situation to his grandmother) and for shifting the burden of watching his grandmother from Leen to himself.
That dark feeling spread like cancer, soon tainting his view of his grandmother as well. For instead of his father showing interest in his life, his innocent grandmother was the one who asked about school, soccer, and friends. She was the one who questioned where he was going and who he was with, something his dad used to do when they were in Rome. She was the one who made sure he was fed and his clothes washed. And all he found himself doing is resenting the hell out of her for it.