"Eli!" Ms. Parrish shouted.
Matthew had already jumped forward, rolling over the eleven-year-old and off Steven. Yet the moment they stopped, Eli pressed forward, his hands clasped in Matthew's.
"You asshole!" he sobbed, face a gentle brush of red, teeth barred and his eyes closed so tight before opening to revealed tearstaned eyes. He kicked against his nanny's legs, hissing and screaming. He leaned down and bit Matthew's hand. "Let go of me, Matt. He deserves to be cursed. His whole lineage deserves it for being a Gods-awful human being!"
"Freak!" Steven screamed, shuffling back until he bumped an empty desk, glancing to the teachers. "You fucking freak! Y – " He looked at Mrs. Jefferson, who fell to her knees beside him.
She checked him all over.
"You saw what he did, right?" Steven asked.
"Shut up, you goody-goody!" Danny shouted, kicking Steven once in the chest, drawing back to do another but foot caught by the teacher.
"Daniel," Mrs. Jefferson warned.
Danny shied away, his hands balled into fists. His jaw was clenched.
Matthew tugged Eli back until his face was pressed into Matt's chest.
"No! Let go of me! Let me at him! LET ME AT HIM!" Elliot snapped, scratching and hitting Matthew, his hands pressed all over his face. "Come over here, you weakling! F-foetorem extremae latrinae.*"
"Eli, please stop."
"No."
"That hurts."
"No, n-no!" Eli still pressed away, his eyes wanting and wild and hurt. "Jus – just let me go, Matt. H-he needs – "
"Eli."
"No!" he shouted, his hands balled against Matt's chest. His eyes seemed to linger over the scratches glowing red against Matthew's skin before he hung his head, body shaking with heartbroken tremors. Falling back, he covered his face and sobbed, curling into himself.
Matthew watched. He stood, brushed himself off, and kneeled in front of the crying child. "Why are you crying?"
"It happened," he wailed, throwing his head back. "I-I thought I was okay. But Steven's such an asshole and it hurt to hear him say that about Mom and Dad and I couldn't – I didn't mean to hurt you, Matt. I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Take a breath."
Eli's response was to hyperventilate louder.
"Am I okay?"
"You're hurt. I did that."
"Am I dying?"
He sniffled. "N-n-no."
"Hey...look at me."
Eli shook his head, but peeked over his fingers at him.
Matthew smirked, only for it to fall. "I asked your cousin this, but...you should be asked, too." He swallowed. "Do you want to stay here? Keep coming to Brookfell?"
His body shuddered. Eli scrunched his face and shook his head. "I hate it here, Matt. No one listens to me like you do. It's like everyone's Uncle Jun and they look down at me like I'm a bug, and not even a good one. It's like I'm alone and no one cares. They don't like it when I try to protect it from spirits, when I teach anyone anything that could help them, and no one cares."
"Eli," Ms. Parrish started.
Matthew raised a pointed finger at her. A warning.
"Life is so short and I don't wanna spend it so sad," he whimpered, wiping his eyes, "especially with someone like Steven."
"I – " Steven spluttered, sitting forward. "I didn't – "
"Quiet," Matthew snapped. "This isn't about you right now."
The look in Steven's eyes shifted to disgust, surprise. Confusion.
Matthew pressed his palm against Eli's shoulder and leaned down. "Do you need any help getting your stuff?"
Eli shook his head. He fumbled to his feet. "A-are we going...home?"
"...yeah." He glanced at Danny. "Wanna come for the afternoon?"
Danny glanced at the teachers before whispering, "I...have piano."
Pressing his mouth into a thin line, Matthew sighed. "Thanks for putting up with him."
He glanced away. Danny shrugged. "He's cool."
A small hand on the classroom door window knocked, and Lilly peaked over the bottom edge, her own eyes glimmering and tearstained. "I got Eli's stuff," she said, voice muffled.
"Go with Lilly to get your stuff in your desk," Eli whispered. "I'll meet you outside your locker, okay? We can visit Lloyd before we go home if you want."
Eli nodded, wiping his face with his whole arm and wobbling towards the door. By the time it closed, Lilly had him in a tight hug and whispering something to him.
Matthew turned back to the teachers, still spread out with Steven on the floor. His hands were pale, nails pressed too tightly into his palms. "You call yourself a child behavior specialist?"
Ms. Parrish seemed to glare back, muddled only by the tears in her eyes.
His gaze moved to Mrs. Jefferson. "I'll take everything you've confiscated from him. Now."
A potato sack (where Eli got a potato sack Matthew did not know nor question) filled with trinkets that could only be described as Elliot-esque – a plastic knife carved with Celtic runes, a poorly made voodoo doll with WRENCH sewn sloppily into the backside, a rotted sugar skull, a sparkly black Christmas ornament of a human bone, among other things – slapped itself against Matthew's back as he turned to walk out. He stopped, glanced over his shoulder, and sighed. "This really is such a waste of money," he muttered, slamming the classroom door as hard as he could.
~
*"You are the stench of a low-life latrine."the phrase is latin, and i looked up roman era insults because it seemed like eli would know them for fun
YOU ARE READING
It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins
General Fiction[A Slice-Of-Life LGBTQ+ Story about Found Family] Matthew Robinson's career as a teacher seemed to have stalled, yet when the winds in the East suddenly lands him in the employ as a nanny, Matthew realizes he's probably signed up for more than he ba...
