Chapter 6 - Panda Bear
Amanda had really begun to worry about Alexi when she realized he had left the night before. She realized that he could be sneaking out to find his parents and therefore, he could get hurt. Since Lee had been hanging out at that bar posing as Ricky Joe, she had no way to talk to him so she decided to take a chance and pop into the bar. She played along perfectly that she was Ricky Joe's ex-wife and was able to get the message to Lee but then he had asked her to dump his beer in his face and make a scene to keep his cover. She couldn't resist having a little fun and telling him that sex wasn't good with him. She could see that he was having a hard time from smiling as she said it so she turned around and left the bar so he could recover. It was fun to work with him. She returned home and took Alexi off her Mother's hands and brought him back to Lee's apartment. She and Alexi began a lengthy argument about him taking a bath as he didn't feel he needed one. Amanda continued to try to talk it out with Alexi as she cleaned up Lee's apartment. Finally after about a 90 minute discussion, Amanda did what she hated to do with kids and told him that she was the boss and to march in and take a bath. Alexi sighed and she heard him mumble as he went that he wished that Lee was around more because he was fun and Amanda was a drag. Her boys had never felt that way, at least she didn't think they did. They always seemed to enjoy her being around for their Trailblazer events and baseball games. She was sure they would have complained if they thought she was boring. This young man just wasn't used to anyone standing up to him. Amanda went into Lee's kitchen and began preparing the chicken she had purchased to make chicken tenders. In no time, she had them in the oven along with some homemade French Fries. She was just putting the finishing touches on making Lee's apartment look nice by putting flowers in a horn statue when he walked through the door. He was loaded down with stuff for the kid including this gorgeous huge Stuffed Panda Bear. Amanda didn't feel the need to tell Lee that her childhood nickname had been Panda since he wouldn't share his childhood stories. She couldn't help but wonder how he managed to pick out a bear that would mean something to her. Her Mother had begun calling her Panda when she was very young because of her soulful beautiful brown eyes and laid back, docile personality. Amanda, even as a child, had a mild manner about her so Panda just seemed to fit her.
Then Lee noticed that she had cleaned his apartment. She could tell that it took a little bit for him not to blow up at her completely and he even said he was grateful but she had invaded the King's palace and she knew he would have some issues with it. She just couldn't leave Alexi staying in a place that had become so neglected though and she knew Lee would get over it.
Amanda had to admit that she was impressed with Lee's perseverance to stay on Alexi's good side. As she listened to him explain again about how Alexi was just a scared kid acting like a tough guy, it dawned on her this time that Lee was talking about his own childhood. She mentioned that it sounded personal and he asked if he had ever told her about his childhood but then didn't offer to elaborate. She was slowly busting down his walls though, she knew it was just going to take a little bit of time and a lot of patience. In the meantime, Alexi came out of the bathroom and Amanda decided to leave and let the two tough guys bond together after agreeing to pick Alexi up at 7am the next day.
She arrived back at Lee's apartment at 6:53am and Lee met her at the door in his normal charming morning attitude. He sure wasn't a morning person. She wondered what had caused him to be so disagreeable in the morning. Even Alexi was eager to get away from him so they made their escape and headed back to Amanda's house. As soon as they entered the house, Alexi ran upstairs and spent the whole day in the boys' room while they were at school. Amanda decided to give him space in hopes that he would come down on his own to talk to her but it never happened so she finally asked her Mother for advice. Dotty West had some of the best words of wisdom that Amanda had ever heard and after they discussed him, Amanda called him down and tried to talk to him. She didn't feel she was making any progress until she told him that she liked him and his face lit up. He soon made his escape back up the stairs though and she was disappointed that she was wrong about making progress until he turned around and said that he had never said he wasn't the hugging type. She really wanted to trust him and was determined to do so. As she sat trying to find enough Peter's to rob so she could pay all the Paul's that her bills had to offer, she heard the back door shut. She ran out to tell the Agent on guard that Alexi had taken off and sent him one way only to notice Alexi running in the opposite direction. It didn't take long to catch up to him and be caught by the bad guys. Lee was going to be so angry with her but she sure hoped he found them soon.
TBC