On Thin Ice

14

"Nothing, nothing," I muttered, continuing to look down at my plate.

Fox turned to look behind him to see what had grabbed my attention and I cursed at him, hitting his hand that was resting on the table.

"Don't look, idiot!" I forcefully whispered.

"Don't look at the guy that's walking over here?" Fox asked in an amused tone, causing my head to shoot up to see that Dave was in fact walking over to us. And he didn't look happy.

"Elijah," Dave said as if my name was cursed. To him, it probably was. "Your mother has been trying to contact you and she is not happy that you haven't been responding."

Dave stood in front of us with his arms crossed over his chest, looking as if he was chastising me as if he had any business doing so. My mouth was dry and I made no move to respond to him. I wouldn't have been able to even if I tried.

"Elijah..." Dave trailed in a warning tone, looking angrier by the second. "I won't have you disrespect me or your mother."

Still, I said nothing. I just blankly stared at him.

"You're the one being disrespectful," Fox spoke up in an offensive tone, his expression challenging and defiant.

"Excuse me, young man?" Dave retorted, shifting his gaze to Fox.

"You heard me," Fox replied, his eyebrows raised in a confrontational manner. "Coming over here and interrupting our lunch is rude, old man."

I looked at Fox in shock with a hint of dread. Dave wasn't a particularly easy going guy and I was worried this would cause a scene.

"That is not how you talk to your elders," Dave scolded, glaring down at Fox who just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fuck off," Fox spat, shaking his head and picking up his burger to take a bite.

Dave's eyes bugged out of his head at Fox's vulgar language, but before he could blow up, one of his church friends came up behind him. He was my old best friend, Micah's, father. He came up behind Dave and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Let's just go, Dave, the food is ready," he urged him. Dave listened and wordlessly walked away from our table.

Micah's father looked at me with an unreadable expression before saying, "I'll continue praying for you, Elijah."

The words sent a jolt in my chest because I knew what they meant. He would continue praying that I would somehow end up straight because in his eyes, I was a walking sin.

Fox loudly scoffed and glared at the man. "You can fuck off too." And with that, Micah's father walked away.

Fox and I didn't discuss the incident for the rest of the afternoon.

***

"I'm never letting you drive me anywhere ever again," Fox told me after we pulled up to his house.

"I hit one curb," I argued, following him up the walkway to his home.

"I would prefer if you hit none."

All I could do was roll my eyes as I waited for him to unlock the door. I notice this morning when I picked him up that Fox's house was bigger than I expected it to be. It wasn't a mansion, but it was big enough for a big family. My suspicions about him having a big family were proven to be true when I saw a large family portrait in the living room.

"Are those all your siblings?" I asked him, pointing to the portrait. Fox looked to where I was pointing and nodded.

"Yeah," he blandly replied.