Chapter 10 - Will he be able to save the universe?
Julia brakes the car. We arrived home.
Paul's mother was very kind today: she could have given a damn, but instead she wanted to help us.
She hasn't even known us long, but you can tell she's a good person.
Lucas grips the headrest of Julia's seat with his big hands and pulls himself forward. His head protrudes between the two front seats. "Thank you so much for the ride."
"No worries. When I have time, I can always help you."
Lucas looks at her admiringly and for a few seconds remains silent. He looks dumbfounded.
His lower lip seems to be tipping downward.
What is he doing? Does he want to cry? Lucas? So big and bulky?
Strange: I always thought of him as big and bossy, but now he looks so small and vulnerable. He looks like a teddy bear.
To unlock himself from the petrification spell, he gives the seat a little slap and rocks back in place. "I'm going to go. Thanks again. Bye, Paul. See you later." He turns to me. "Bye, Mara."
Martha. It's okay, I forgive him this time. I greet him by raising my hand.
Lucas gets out of the car and across the street, on the porch of his house, a woman seems to be waiting for him. She could be his mother: I had never seen her in the years they have been moving.
She is standing, motionless: wearing a gray robe and black furry slippers; she has her arms folded and a lit cigarette between her fingers.
Lucas walks with his head down toward her. He does not walk briskly; in fact, he even seems to have slowed his pace.
The woman brings her cigarette to her mouth. Okay, she is not stuffed. She is alive!
She scratches her shaggy black hair, which is held up by a hair clip.
From here, she looks quite old, but I'm not sure. Maybe she is young, but she wears it badly or there is some porch shadow that betrays her true appearance.
From the car, Julia brings her hand out the window and nods in the woman's direction.
The lady I think moved her head in greeting.
Julia retracts her hand from the window. "Do you know Lucas's mother?"
Mom answers first. "I've hardly seen her over the years."
Lucas is on the porch and the woman does not even say hello to him.
I guess the two are not on good terms.
Why does the mother keep looking at us?
The son spins straight into the house: he looks dejected. She takes two deep puffs, very close to each other, and throws the cigarette on the ground in her garden.
Julia turns to Paul and me. "All right, guys. We're here."
Mom gives her a hug. "Yes, thanks for the ride."
"No worries. Now Paul will see if he can give you a hand with the car."
"Yes, Mrs. Smith. We can see right away."
"You can call me Catherina."
The two separate from the embrace.
"So, I'll park the car in the garage. Paul, I'll see you at home."
I open the door. "Thank you very much."
"You're welcome, see you next time."
I get off and the others, except Julia, do the same.
Paul approaches Mom. "Catherina, where is the car?"
"Come on, I'll show you."
They walk toward the garage. I follow them.
Mom slips the key into the lock and with her other hand grabs the handle of the shutter. "It's not as easy as it looks. It takes a while: it's a little defective." She adds a few tugs to the handle.
Usually, it doesn't open right away. It takes a few tries before it opens.
The jingle of keys begins to override any other sound present.
A male voice shouts from Lucas's house. Paul crosses my gaze: he has a worried face.
There is the click of the lock.
This is the moment Mom always breathes a sigh of relief.
She turns the handle, smiles, and throws out the air.
I knew she would.
Paul rubs his hands on his pants. "Did it open?"
He seems eager to examine the car.
"Yes, it opened." The shutter slides upward. "I just need to get it fixed."
She has been saying that for three months. She has never called anyone.
Paul sees the car and with quick steps reaches it. "May I?"
"Go ahead." Mom puts the keys back in her purse.
Paul's face transforms: he squints his eyes, frowns, and his jaw muscles contract.
He seems to be doing the most important thing in the world.
He takes a deep breath.
Then again, you know: if he didn't fix the car, the whole universe would collapse in on itself and every loved one would be wiped out of this world.
Everyone is in his hands.
People don't know it, but while they are playing basketball, cooking, driving the car, drinking a glass of water and doing all actions considered normal, there is a boy who will decide the fate of their simple lives.
What choices will he make?
Will he be able to save the universe?
I smile.
I return to myself. Paul looks at me. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing I was thinking about something. I'll tell you someday."
I have to start writing again. This year I want to enter the school's literature contest. I'm really going to enter this time.
Maybe not with the story of the boy who has to save the universe. Or maybe I will?
Paul opens the hood and locks it with that sort of iron rod. "This morning, I said it might be the radiator's fault..." He scratches his head. "...But, my father always said, 'Before you blame the radiator, let's see if there's a leak in the expansion tank.'"
"What tank?" Mom walks up to him and sets her bag down next to the tire of the car.
"It's this tray here." He points to a plastic container. "Here, you put coolant and if this tank has, for example, a leak, then the engine can overheat and make smoke come out of the hood."
"What can we do to be able to fix it?"
"I have to figure out what the problem is first..."
Paul can handle engines: his father taught him well. Anyway, they'll know what to do even without me.
"So, I'm off! I'm going to feed Crumb."
"Bye, love! I'll try to figure out the car situation with Paul for a moment. I'll catch up with you later."
"Bye, Walkgirl. See you tomorrow."
Mom grimaces in disbelief. "Walkgirl?"
Paul looks at me. "It's a long story." He smiles and turns to the engine. "Now, let's think about the car."
Walkgirl, I like that.
And what about Paul?
Maybe, I'm starting to liking him, too...
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