The next day started on a downbeat. Bonney was late and real quiet but wouldn’t tell me why. I figured she was still working on Aunt Tina about getting a fish tank.
Once we finally got to school though, the day flew by ’cause we had a science fair assembly and Bonney was taking lots of notes. That made me feel a little better ’cause when she gets her mind set on something, just get out of her way, or she’ll run right through you.
It was time to outline our experiment, which would get graded like a homework assignment. So now the pressure was on. Based on the really lame ideas we heard at the assembly, I was starting to think this whole piranha thing might just take the cake; or should I say, eat the cake.
After school, just as I was washing down the last of my Quarter Pounder with a chocolate milkshake, Seldon showed up and slid into the seat across from me, right next to Bonney. I think he likes her. Heck, most of my friends like her. She knows it too, but she only has eyes for Shrek. Why should I be surprised she has a crush on a green monster? She has so many living right there in her nose, and she’s pretty keen on them too.
“Sorry, dude. I was late getting to school this morning and I forgot to grab some cash for you. You guys can come home with me, if you want. We can hang for a while and I can pay up. Gricelle’s been living with us full time, which is cool ’cause her cooking is awesome, but she sucks at video games. I could really use some competition to get me to the next level.”
“Why’s she living at your place? Is your Dad away again?” “Yeah, he’s down in the Bahamas this time. He won’t be back ’til summer. I gotta say though, as much as I miss him, Gricelle’s cooking is making me pretty spoiled. A guy can get used to this. I can smell her cooking while I’m going up the elevator. She should have her own restaurant!”
Gricelle is the housekeeper who turned into Seldon’s nanny, and then his second mom. She’s from Puerto Rico. She speaks perfect English but she likes to speak Spanglish just to see the expression on our faces. She’s pretty cool.
You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted Gricelle’s cooking. She makes the best breakfast burritos I’ve ever had, the kind you eat after school on a rainy day and then never want to move. And her smores! She melts this special chocolate she gets from a shop somewhere in Spanish Harlem into a fondue dip. We toast the marshmallows in the kitchen fireplace and dip our cracker sandwiches into the pot. She calls her chocolate dipping sauce “Holy Mole,” which is pronounced kinda like “molay” the way Gricelle says it. It’s a pretty good name ’cause it tastes like something you would eat in heaven, like at an angel’s all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. It’s that good.
Seldon’s got a pretty interesting family. His dad, Burgess, is a famous scientist who’s a marine biologist. He goes on scuba diving trips and stuff like that, but never takes Seldon ’cause Seldon has bad ears and hates the water. He can’t swim either. So anyway, when Burgess comes back from these “paid vacations,” he writes papers about them and talks on TV and at colleges and stuff. He makes, like, a ton of money.
Seldon’s gramps was rich too. He owned a whole bunch of apartment buildings that some dude wanted real bad, so he could knock them down and build a mall. Instead of selling them though, Grandpa Farnsworth worked out a deal where they could build their mall but have to pay him rent for the land for, like, life. Talk about a sweet deal.
Teresa was Seldon’s mom and she’s the only sad part of his life. She died three years ago from malaria. Burgess took her on some exotic scuba trip on the other side of the world, near Madagascar, like in the movies. The big boat they were on had some kind of electrical trouble so they ended up in Africa waiting for it to get fixed. I guess Teresa never got her shots. One mosquito bite, and she died by the end of that year. It’s hard to believe, and super sad.
Ever since she died, Seldon got real shy-like and quiet. He stopped raising his hand in class, and he stopped laughing too. I haven’t seen Seldon’s teeth one time in the whole three years since his mom passed. I call him “Seldom” sometimes just to see if I can get a rise out of him. It never works though. That takes all the fun out of it so I don’t do it much anymore.
“Yeah, we can swing by and hang for a while. Your dad’s really gone ’til summer? That’s, like, insane. Did he leave you a ton of cash to live off or something?”
“Yeah, he did. It’s in a safe, but I can’t tell you where it is. I promised I would never talk about it. I can take a certain amount every week. Gricelle keeps tabs on me. So instead of spending it on the usual junk, I just eat Gricelle’s food and read books from the library. Guess that makes me low maintenance. That leaves plenty of money for homework, ’cause you’re definitely high maintenance.”
“Hey, dude, I really appreciate your business. Like I say, you get what you pay for.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. I really appreciate your homework.”
“Okay! I’m in. Let’s go!” That’s Bonney’s way of announcing she’s ready to move on and the conversation is starting to bore her. But I know she has a soft spot for Seldon ever since his Mom died.
I remember, after the funeral, she held his hand for like three hours and never left his side. I know that meant a lot to Seldon, and that’s probably why he always likes to be near Bonney. She must make him feel not so alone. It’s just that now I think he looks at Bonney more like a girl than like a friend.
I wonder how long it’ll take for Bonney to figure that out. Although maybe she already figured it out and she doesn’t mind. After all, she’s a girl and I know girls can hide all that stuff and bring it out and surprise a guy with it when he least expects it.
Hey, I’m not stupid. I have a Mom.