The supper ended well, and as much as she wanted to get out of the house and get going, she didn't want to do that. It would make her a very bad role model, everyone was always supposed to eat, say you are grateful, and wash their plates.
She stared at her brother chatting happily with Jordan, they were talking about how the game they had played was so good and they hoped they would get one of their own.
With that Jordan looked at his sister and Timothy at his mother, their eyes speaking the same thing. "Yes, you hear that? We want the new game."
Gal and Jordan's mother stared at each other, Gal was sure the woman was thinking the same thing as hers, how much did the game cost. They were sure it wasn't going to be cheap, both of them didn't have the money to buy such a game.
Gal smiled, and the woman smiled back. It was like they knew exactly what each had said, they were going to buy one for the boys and let them share. They were always together anyway and that didn't seem like a bad idea, if they were not at school, they were at Timothy's house. They rarely go to where Jordan lived.
Gal didn't know how she would explain to Timothy and his mother why they were staying in a house that looked like it belonged to one family member and Gal was grateful her brother never questioned that or bring Timothy to the packhouse.
They finished eating and Gal took the plates to the sink to wash, not listening to Timothy's mother who was busy telling her not to bother about the dishes, and she was going to wash. Michaela stood too to help her and told Timothy's mother there was no way they were going to leave the plates unattended after all the woman had just given them dinner and they weren't counted on the dinner plans.
Timothy took Jordan to his room to show him a picture he tried to draw the previous day, Gal found herself listening to them as she heard his brother telling Timothy to keep on trying and that he was getting better but not before teasing him first.
She remembered her childhood best friend and felt sadness creeping in, she didn't want to think about Judy. She didn't know what was happening in her childhood best friend's life, some days she wanted to find any means to reach out but stopped herself.
She knew how Michael Patrick was, and if she reached out to Judy that meant her father would know and that wasn't good. If Michael Patrick hear anything, anything at all about Gal he would surely make sure that she was no more.
Michaela was staring at Gal feeling disturbed, she knew her best friend was hiding something. She had arrived at her place looking like someone had told her hell had frozen only to find out it was because her brother wasn't home. Okay, she wasn't thinking thoroughly about why her best friend would look scared like that but come on Jordan wasn't under ten, he was having fun with his best friend. He had a playdate.
From the corner of her eyes, she could also see Timothy's mother staring at Gal and she concluded it was also weird for Timothy's mother how Gal was, and yes they were thinking the same thing, Timothy's mother was questioning herself why would Gal get scared about that yet she was going to drop Jordan after he finished his playdate.
Gal wasn't aware the women were staring at her; her mind was far away rewinding her childhood memories with Judy. She finished washing the last plate and handed it over the last plate to Michaela.
"Thank you for the super. It was delicious." She said to the woman.
"Welcome, once again I am sorry about the situation with Jordan." Timothy's mother said, she didn't know why she apologized again but she had the feeling that she had to apologize. To her, Gal was like a second mother to Timothy and she didn't anything to come between them because it would affect Timothy and Jordan's friendship.
Timothy and Jordan came back talking using lower voices and then did their goodbye greetings style, just some random moves which the women found adorable. Jordan handed Gal her bag and said thanks to Timothy's mother for the food.
Timothy's mother asked if she could drop them off then drop Michaela but they said no. Gal wanted to take a walk back home while talking to his brother, to know how his day went and the new friend was. Because they had already eaten and that meant Jordan would arrive home, take a shower, and sleep.
"No, thanks. Just drop off Michaela." Gal said to the woman and took Jordan's hand which was received by a questioning look, Gal only squeezed his hands and they left the house with Michaela, Timothy, and his mother. Timothy wasn't going to stay back in the house alone, he found it dark to be scary to be alone.
Michaela hadn't spoken and it surprised Gal, Gal turned to her and ask, "Cat got your mouth or you ate too much?"
Michaela lied that she was just tired, and they said their goodbyes to each other and promised to meet each other the next morning on their way to work.
Gal wanted to ask her brother two questions that were on her mind, who was the new friend and if he was no longer on the swimming team, but didn't get to ask as Jordan began talking about how happy his day was.
"Sister let me tell you, we had a competition at school and I won."
Gal was shocked to hear that, it meant Sheryl hadn't done what she had asked her to do, her brother was still on the swimming team. And oh, he won the competition.
Gal thought of the ice cream and the yogurt in the house she brought for Jordan, which she was supposed to give him to soothe his poor little broken heart because he was kicked out of the team. But she was wrong, she didn't have to buy. Ice cream and yogurt were for a rare occasion.
Jordan was so happy talking and Gal didn't want to ruin her brother's perfect day. She didn't wasn't that kind of a person, she listened to him, and ask who came second, which coach was there thinking maybe Sheryl wasn't there again.
"Every coach was there; they were proud of us. They even said we were the best team, and then after that, this girl from my class asked me and Timothy to go to her place, her mother knows Timothy's mother and we share our table sometimes during lunch hour." Jordan continued, skipping happily.
The way he was acting at that moment made Gal promise herself, they were not going to run again. His brother was attending the perfect school, has a best friend and he has a new friend.
Or was the girl his mate?
That would be a miracle, what will Gal do if her kid brother finds a mate before her, even if she didn't care about that it was not good.
Jordan continued and said the name of the girl and explained how happy he was to find a new friend, and who knew to play games. He pleaded with Gal to buy her the game, and Gal told her she was going to think about it,
With her normal boring job, she wasn't going around buying just anything her brother wanted, her salary was meant to cover the food, clothing, Jordan's school and most importantly she was saving some for emergencies. You never know.
"I met the alpha today, he heard about you and other kids about your swimming skills." Gal found herself telling his brother, why did she even tell him that? It wasn't like she was going to enjoy doing it, after all, she was still serious about Jordan leaving the swimming team.
"Yes, yes! I am going to crush it. Can I be the team leader for my team? I am going to recruit some of the boys to my team. This is good." Jordan told her, by now he was jumping up and down. Gal stared at him, that was the right way she wanted her brother to behave.
To be happy.
To be free.
It broke her heart knowing she wasn't going to leave her plan to make sure Jordan and the water were like the water and oil. She was still going to stick to her plans.
She diverted the conversation and her brother didn't even realize it, he was too happy to realize that his questions were not answered. They walk home, Jordan chatting away about the other swimming teams, how the school was and what he drew for her sister.
For Jordan, drawing was something he wouldn't go by the day without doing. He loved it.
They arrived at the packhouse and Jordan asked for the ice cream. They ate the ice cream, continuing talking, it was nice that Gal forgot that she was scared of where her brother was. Jordan finished his ice cream and headed to take a bath but before he would lock the bathroom door he shouted at Gal asking why she looked scared when she arrived at Timothy's home.
Gal hesitated, how was she going to explain to her brother, " You know what, we are hiding and I thought someone found you."
That was a hard pass.
She wanted her brother to not worry about anything.
To live like a happy normal boy.