Day forty-one of the Nate and Sully friendship
"Nate?" Sully called, after checking Nate's motel room and discovering he wasn't there.
"Here!" Nate replied, the reply sounding like it came from the motel kitchen. Sully was slightly confused, wondering why the kid would be hanging out in the kitchen, but he went to go check it out. Sully walked into the open plan kitchen of the motel and saw Nate crowded around the table. He was looking down at something, whilst holding up little objects against the light with his casted hand. Sully walked around the table, looking at Nate's face. His brow was furrowed in concentration and he was staring down at the table. Sully looked down and saw Nate was attempting a puzzle. Sully chuckled, but Nate looked up at him with a look that made him stop. Nate wasn't angry or upset, he was the opposite. He looked absolutely calm and there was a hint of a smile on his lips, like he'd just seen something wonderful. "I've never seen one of these before. You're supposed to make a picture out of these little pieces. I think it's called a" Nate looked down at the puzzle box and attempted the word, "puzzle." He said it cautiously, trying out the new word. Sully cocked his head at the kid, unsure of what to say. He couldn't believe the kid had never seen a puzzle. Sully knew there was a lot the kid hadn't seen, but a puzzle? What did the kids do back at Nate's old orphanage? Sully briefly pondered over where Nate got the puzzle, but let it go. He always seemed to have something new. Nate resumed the puzzle, but the look on his face had changed. He looked like he'd been expecting something, but had been let down. Sully watched him for a couple of seconds, then realised that Nate had probably been waiting for him to say something.
"What puzzle are you doing?" Sully asked. Nate handed Sully the box, barely taking his eyes off the puzzle. Sully looked down at the box and said "ah." Nate looked at him for a moment, the leant over to see what Sully had seen that he'd missed. "You know what this is, kid?" Sully questioned.
Nate shrugged and replied, "a big wheel?" causing Sully to chuckle.
"No, kid, this is the London Eye. Behind it is Big Ben. You know in America we have the President?" Nate narrowed his eyes, trying to think and nodded. "In England, where this is, they don't have a President. They have a royal family and Parliament. They run everything. Behind Big Ben are the houses of Parliament. See?" Sully pointed at the box, indicating everything he'd explained. Nate look amazed for a couple of seconds, but quickly controlled his face.
"Wha-" Nate croaked, the rapidly cleared his throat, his voice sounding normal again when he resumed. "What's the eye thing do?" He tried not to look interested, thinking he should play it cool.
"It just goes around and around all day and night, so you can see the whole of London. I've only been once, it was night, but it was pretty amazing." Sully leant back, lost in the memory. Nate was jealous of Sully, who was able to tell these stories.
"I'm going to go there someday." Nate announced, determined. "I'm going to go there and start my own expedition." Sully nodded at Nate, the look on his face showing Nate that he believed he could do it. After a few moments, Nate went back to his puzzle.
"I'm going out for a minute, Nate." Sully suddenly claimed. "I'll be right back." Nate nodded, but hid his face from Sully. Sully grabbed his keys and left, knowing he had to be quick because Nate had some sort of issue with people leaving him alone. Sully went out to the nearest post office and grabbed a whole bunch of postcards off the racks. He went around the store, taking things off the shelves and bundling them in his arms. He took anything with some sort of picture on. He went around to the candy section and picked up a four pack of cokes (because Nate adored them) and some assorted candy bars. He went to the till and paid, hurrying back to the motel. When Sully came back, Nate's face melted from being tense to calm. He watched Sully as he rushed back into his seat next to Nate, his excitement rubbing off on the kid. He handed Nate a coke, which made the kids face light up, and his choice of candy. Sully pulled out the postcards, with the same splendour a magician has when pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and showed Nate all the pictures. Sully began teaching the kid about history and geography and politics and other assorted subjects all at once, whilst Nate sat there with a look of wonder on his face. Nate ate his way through a whole lot of candy, and drank three of the four cokes since Sully let him do it. They sat like that for hours, until neither of them could think of anything else to say. But Nate felt like a genius once Sully had finished, the memory of everything Sully had said imprinted in his brain, ready for use whenever Nate saw fit. He felt like he had enough knowledge to go out and write a book. Truth be told, he probably only knew as much as a seventh grader knew. But at that moment in time, that was good enough for Nate.