"Come on home" Nana instructed.
Deke knew when to listen. He made his way back to their house. He didn't live with his parents, main;y because he didn't have parents anymore, but he had Nana and Bobo.
Deke felt good at home.
"I know you're upset about that girl at school" Nana began. She didn't look any older than Mrs. Coulson, but then again, neither did Bobo.
"It's not that" Deke pushed past her, "Sequoia can go date whoever she wants to. It's a free country" he ran into his room and slammed the door shut.
Where other boys would crank up their stereo or play music on an instrument, Deke booted up his computer. He wrote, and wrote, and wrote some more.
"Sad lemon hours" he typed, "Life gives up lemons to you, so I made you some lemonade" he clacked on the keyboard, "But it wasn't very sweet, was it?" he sniffed back some tears, "No, ours was a sad lemon. Hours, hours of sad lemons. Ours was a sad, sad lemonade"
There was a loud knock on the door, "Deke" it was Bobo, "How about you turn off that computer and come out here for dinner"
"I'm not hungry" Deke shouted
"Then you won't get anything tonight" Bobo shouted back.
"Fine!" Deke yelled, "It's not like I have anyone to stay alive for, anyway"
The door opened. Deke had forgotten to lock it.
"Now see here" Bobo sounded angry, "You've got a lot to be grateful for. You've got me, and Jemma, and -" he continued
Deke cut him off, "Oh yeah, I'm the poor weird guy at school who doesn't even have real parents"
"Oh" Bobo scoffed, "I suppose you'd like us to be one of those Norman Rockwell families, huh?" he shook his head, "Well, you just have us, so you better turn off that computer and come eat your food!"
"Make me" Deke gritted his teeth
"Oh, I plan to" Bobo glared, "let me go get my tools" he rushed from the room.
"Deke" it was Nana, "you really do need to eat something. I'm pretty sure that nobody wants you to die of starvation"
"Bobo might" Deke glared at her.
"Just come on" she suggested, "You like my cooking, huh?"
"It's better than the stuff I used to eat" he shrugged his shoulders, "and I don't want Bobo to really go get his tools"
"Oh, he's being silly" Nana waved off the idea
"Sure" Deke wasn't so sure about that.
"Besides" Nana went on, "your Uncle Mack and aunt Elena are coming over"
"Tonight?" Deke pouted, "But- I've got stuff to do"
"And you can do your oh so important stuff after our company leaves" Bobo was back in the hallway
The dining room was full. Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie and Elena Rodriguez sat next to each other while Nana and Bobo, Jemma and Fitz sat at the head and foot of the table.
Nobody sat next to Deke.
"Why do I have to eat dinner with my teachers?" Deke thought silently to himself. He didn't dare voice his thoughts.
"You know, maybe it would be good if Deke here took auto repair" Mack explained, "it might help him- get better socialized with the rest of the students"
"You mean make him into more of a man" Fitz joked
"I think he's quite nice as he is" Jemma cleared her throat
"I could say the same about the track team" Elena put in, "It might help you later in life"
"The boy runs away enough as it is" Fitz stabbed a piece of meat with his fork, "runs away from bullies, girls, probably his own shadow" he popped the morsel into his mouth.
"Try out auto body" Mack smiled, "consider it an elective" he continued, "and besides, that's usually a senior privilege"
"Ok" Deke smiled back, "If you think it'll help"
In class, the next day, Mack explained to the class, "Remember, when the catalytic converter goes bad, the vehicle will emit more pollutants that haven't been burnt. It may eventually plug up and restrict exhaust flow to the point where the car is unable to be driven" he noticed Deke scribbling in his notebook instead of paying attention. Mack walked closer to where Deke's chair sat, "If it is a 1996 or newer, your check engine light will come on with a code 0420" he glanced down to Deke, furiously writing something.
"Our love is a sad, sad lemon" Mack read aloud, "I made lemonade from the lemons that life gave you, but you didn't want to drink"
The class, mostly sports team players, laughed uproariously.
"Nice poem" Mack smiled and patted Deke on the shoulder. Deke looked up, horrified. Mack went on, "but poems don't get your car started" he added, "Lemon"
"Deke's a big lemon, and any car he works on is a lemon, too" one of the football players laughed
"Lemon, lemon, lemon" the other classmates joined in chanting
"Alright, that's enough" Mack put his hands up, "Let's break into groups and see if we can get our converters working again"
Mack walked over to Deke, "I want to talk to you after class" he wasn't smiling now.