VLADJI and the Avatars: Family Matters

Chapter 5 - I Introduce Knuckles to My Fam

Harsh? Maybe. A little like coercion? Absolutely.

But I needed Knuckles to help me. I needed my family to know. I'd received a vision from the Vortex that was still burned in my brain, of... let's just say things that would be pretty catastrophic if we didn't act and much worse if we kept it from our families. And as much as I hated my parents, I would not have wished half of that on them.

Knuckles turned the key in the ignition. "Are you crazy?" he asked me as the engine roared to life.

"Yep," I said. At least I should acknowledge it.

I could feel the motion of the vehicle as he pulled out of the lot. He was driving jerkier than usual. Perhaps my short notice had thrown him off.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "I can hardly come in to accompany you. They don't even know who I am –"

"That's the whole point of this," I cut in. "So they do know you."

"– and you know how Muslims are about a girl dragging in a strange guy."

"Don't remind me." I didn't need Knuckles nitpicking. I was going to tell them about my echidna buddy anyhow. At the very least, they deserved to know what I was going through. Besides, the trouble I was going to be in was nothing compared to getting attacked by an avadark or a mountain giant (again, don't ask).

As we passed through the city, I saw a variety of people out there – regular pedestrian tourists sightseeing in the park, gaping at various landmarks; people in expensive suits strutting like they owned the city landmass; a homeless fellow panhandling here; a gangster teen mugging a woman there.

Yep, good old Philly life in a nutshell.

My family's restaurant was one of those jobs where the family living quarters was right over the business. The place hosted some of the finest Arabian cuisine, courtesy of Mom. It was an innocent-enough looking place, with a sign saying Fadjir's Fancies, and a cheery storefront. But inside, my stepmom had decked out the place with plenty of touches of modernity – such as a front desk and a kitchen in the back. The place was now somewhere commercial, a bit too much like a fast-food place for my liking.

When we pulled into the drive, Knuckles pulled into the parking lot, like we'd agreed. I got the feeling he really did want to meet my family, just to see if they were as awful as I'd told him. He just wasn't sure what they'd think of him with me. Most people wouldn't have looked twice at a boy and a girl traveling together – alone, no less. In fact, they would have thought it pretty cute. But Muslims, as Knuckles had noted, can be a little more straitlaced than that.

I was also a little worried they wouldn't make sense of my avatar buddy, period. Knuckles had had a lot of experience with weirdness, but his encounters weren't exactly something you could talk about with a normal family. (Well, normal was pretty relative in this instance.) He'd also have to keep his powers under wraps. I hadn't looked into how fireproof our house was, and I didn't want to learn the hard way. Besides, spontaneous combustion was not something easily explained anyhow.

"Keep it together," I said to Knuckles as we got out of the Blazer.

"I am keeping it together."

I studied Knuckles' posture. "The smoking hands beg to differ."

"I just... I would wonder if you thought this through, but of course you never do."

I smiled at him. "You know me too well."

We headed into the building.

Interestingly, the first person to meet me wasn't my parents. It was Achmed.