Chapter Two-Aidan's Quest

Chapter 2
Aidan

    Aidan walked in the kitchen as Margo was working on dinner.  His shoulders were slumped and let out a huge sigh.  “What’s for dinner, Mom, I’m starving you know.  I haven’t eaten anything since we left Luke’s house and his mom just popped some canned spaghetti in the microwave.  I’m so tired of canned spaghetti.  Please say we’re not having spaghetti tonight.” 

    “Nope, kiddo, we’re having something good, I promise.  Now, go ahead and get your shower while I finish up.  You smell like a sweaty nine year old boy.”

    “Geez, Mom, I am a sweaty nine year old boy.  Can’t you think of something more creative than that?  How ‘bout I smell like a skunk in a garbage dump.  Now that would be gross. Or a …”

    “Aidan. Go on and take your shower, okay?  And put some shorts on, Mr. Wade’s coming for dinner.  Is Luke coming too?” 

    “No, his mom said he had to stay home tonight.  Man, I hate it when she won’t let him come over.  His step-dad wanted a family night or something. Mom, are we a family even though I don’t have a father and you don’t have a husband?”

    “Of course, Baby, a family is just people who love each other and watch out for each other.  Mr. Wade is part of our family and he’s coming over tonight.”

    “Cool, I’ll tell Luke tomorrow that we had a family night too.  And he can’t come over on family nights, right Mom?

    “Right, Hon, you got it.  Now, go get your shower before Mr. Wade shows up with you still in the shower and his dinner burned.  Now, git.”  Margo patted his behind and pointed upstairs. 

    Aidan ran upstairs and got his clothes and towel ready for his shower.  His room was a wreck but he knew where everything was.  His mom finally figured out that if she left his room alone, he could find things.  If she cleaned his room, he was in trouble ‘cause then he wouldn’t be able to find clothes that matched.  He got his shower and was putting his favorite robot t-shirt and blue jean shorts on when he heard the knock at the door.  He scooped up his latest topic of interest, a book on WWII weapons.  His Gifted class went to the military museum the previous Thursday for an “end of school year” field trip.  He couldn’t wait to show Mr. Wade. 

    “Will you set the table, Sweetie.”  Aidan already knew the routine, forks on the left, and the spoons and knives over the napkin on the right.  He just could never remember which side the drinks went on.  Oh, well, he’d just put ice in the glasses and let everyone fix their own drinks. 
   
Aidan pulled out his chocolate soda from the fridge he saved from his trip to the gas station using the left over money from the donuts.  Luke got a candy bar but Aidan loved the chocolate sodas the best.  He usually had milk or tea for meals but sometimes his mother would buy something special and this is what he always asked for.  He twisted the metal cap all by himself, even thought it poked the flesh of his palm a little bit.  It was the kind of cap Luke’s step-dad has on top of his beers but he has to use a bottle opener. 

    “Aidan, tell Mr. Wade about your trip to the museum your school made last month.  I told him you had a lot of questions about that book you bought.”

    “Yeah, look at this.  It’s a knife at the end of a pistol. What is that called?  I know the ones at the end of a rifle are called bayonets but is it the same thing if it’s shorter and at the end of a pistol? 

    “You know, I think it’s called the same thing.  After dinner, we’ll look at that book of yours.  Is that okay?” 

    “Sure, that’s fine.  What kid of weapons did you carry when you were in the war?  Aidan was fascinated with weapons from different wars, including Japanese swords, and Karate weapons.  He wouldn’t harm a flea and had no interest in threatening anyone, but weapons were things that every culture had and they all were a little bit different but similar too.  It all just fascinated Aidan to no end.  He could talk all day about weapons and most of the time, he could answer any questions he could think to ask just by reading more or looking it up.  Grown-ups generally weren’t much help.  They just knew what they did in their jobs or something but had no idea about Japanese swords.  But not Mr. Wade.  He had been in the Army forever, and had been in two different wars. 

    Aidan practically inhaled his taco salad and chocolate drink and then peppered Mr. Wade with questions for the duration of the meal.  When he got focused on something, it was hard for him to stop.  He knew he was probably talking too much but he felt comfortable with Mr. Wade and his mom.  It was the one place he could let his guard down and quit trying to be “normal” for a while. 

    Since he did realize, for once, that he wasn’t letting anyone else speak, he decided to practice what the counselor suggested.  She said if he felt like he was talking too much about something, he needed to go get some water and drink it slowly to give others a chance to talk.  When he tried this, his mom and Mr. Wade got in their own discussion about something Aidan had absolutely no interest in.  He decided to just sit and think for a while, and drink his water. 
    He was sort of glad that counselor gave him a name for what he had.  He used to have another name, well, he guessed he still had that one too.  They said he was “gifted” when he took some tests in second grade.  At least he knew why he was bored to death in class.  But even then, he wasn’t really like the gifted kids either.  At least the gifted class got him out of recess sometimes when they did experiments or field trips. 

    The gifted kids were okay, though, Aidan thought.  They didn’t pick on him like the rest of the school kids, but they didn’t want to talk about what he was interested in and he didn’t really like what they were into.  Still, it was more fun than sitting in a classroom with a bunch of kids who hated to learn.  Aidan just didn’t understand why someone would want to be dumb on purpose.  Maybe he was a geek like the other kids said but he was going to be something big when he grew up, not just a car washer or something. 

    “Aidan, how would you like to go with me on my rounds at the nursing home tomorrow.  I go just about every day to visit some older folks who don’t have family around and they would be tickled pink to talk to you about World War II.  A lot of them were there but they are all getting in their 80’s or 90’s now and won’t be around much longer, sad to say.” 

    “Can we?  I’ll bring my book.  Is that okay?” 

    “Sure, Son, I figured you would.  You write down some questions you want to ask them and I bet they will be happy to answer.  You can bring your notebook too, and a pen, if you want to write down some things.  Who knows, someday you might be a History Professor and you will need those notes.” 

    “Okay, I will.  Mom, can I go upstairs and get ready for bed?  I have stuff to get together for tomorrow.”

    “Sure, Babe.  Give Mr. Wade a hug and I want one too, if you’re not too old to hug your mother.  In private at least, right?

    “You got it, Mom.”  Aidan gave hugs, added a kiss on the cheek for his mom and grabbed his book.  He had things to do before he slept.  His bedtime wasn’t for another hour but that was okay.  He could always entertain himself pretty well. 

    Aidan started gathering what he wanted to take with him to the nursing home the next day and stuffed it all in his backpack.  He pulled out his sketch pad and decided to draw some of the weapons in the book.  It seemed like only minutes later that his mom called from downstairs.

    “Bedtime, Aidan.  Lights off, okay? Love ya.  We will be on the front porch if you come down and can’t find us.”

    “Okay, love you too, Mom.  See you in the morning.”

(1463 Words - Finished 6-11-08)