Page 50 of Ellie Hayes and the Himbos
I am never watching that footage.
“Took himout. Ended his career. And, I dunno. Maybe he’s super controlling because of it. Since something someone else did screwed up his life, he wants to call all the shots here.”
“That’s pretty insightful,” I say, impressed. “If you put that theory in an essay, with that support, I’d give you full points.”
He smiles, and it’s quiet for a moment as we watch Penny’s fastidious work with the Legos.
“I know he’s a hardhead, but have you brought up anything to him?” I ask. “Any ideas?”
Grant shakes his head. “He’s my big brother, y’know? He’salready done so much for me, so, like, it feels weird to tell him I think he’s not getting something right.”
“I get it. It can be hard to confront a superior about anything. But when that person is also family, and the business is theirs, it’s probably too close to home.”
“He worked so hard to put this together. And after the way things shook out with Denny, his mentor?” Grant pauses, watching me until I nod that I recognize the name. “I know he wants to prove himself. He…” Grant grimaces. “I’m sorry. That’s Ian’s thing. It feels like a”—he mouthsdick—“move for me to go off about it. It’s not mine to share, y’know?”
“If it’s not your story to tell, it’s not your story to tell,” I say, though my curiosity is piqued. “But…” I try to decide how I want to ask the next question. “Is your only concern that he’s sensitive, or…” It feels wrong to even allude to aggression, but I haven’t even been on the scene for two weeks. Who knows what might be in the background. “Does he get…mean?”
It takes Grant a moment to cut through my vagaries, but when he does, he laughs; I am awash with relief. “You know better than that! Ian’s not some rage monster. He can be grumpy, but it’sIan. He cried atInside Out.” His eyes widen. “Oh, dude, donottell him I told you that!”
I mime locking my lips and throwing away the key, butGod, is that inconveniently hot.
“Cool. So, yeah. We don’t want to hurt his feelings. He’s a softie.”
“Who cried atInside Out,” says Penny. Grant lets out an affronted gasp. “He watched it with us,” she says, deadpan. “We were at your house.”
“Dude,”he warns. She just smiles. This kid does rule.
“Was it Bing Bong?” I ask her.
“He’s not really gone, you know,” she says, deeply serious. “Weremember him.”
“Penny, I love that. Thank you,” I say, and smile. And keep smiling. At her cleverness, at the thought of Ian, crying at the demise of an imaginary friend in a kids’ movie. At Grant’s earnestness and the excessive but charming dedication of the members of this gym, how wickedly sore I’m going to be later from today’s workout, and I don’t know…The generally bonkers direction my life has taken, I guess.
For now, I remind myself. This is my life, but not really. Not forever. Because that would demand more hope than I can afford.
“Did you ever work with little kids?” Grant asks, rousing me from the ugly thought.
I shake my head in an emphaticno. “I chose secondary ed for a reason. In my experience, that demographic tends to be sticky.”
Penny meets my eyes and presses two Legos together with an admonishingclick.
“Present company excepted, of course.”
She nods and gets back to work.
Grant laughs. “I like ’em. I miss them when they leave, like, when they’re old enough for school. Kids are so lucky, getting to go learn. Every day they find out something totally new. Can you imagine, being this little nothing blob of a baby person, and then learning,bam!Sharks! There are giant fish that can eat you and also they die if they stop moving. Did you know that?” he asks me, eyes alight.
“They have to keep water moving over their gills to breathe,” says Penny.
Grant beams. “Yeah, they do!”
“They probably won’t eat you,” she drones. “More people die every year from falling coconuts than from shark attacks.”
“We looked that up. But I’m the one who told you about the gills,” he reminds her.
Penny waves him off. “I need a red two by three,” she says, fishing through the bricks.
Grant grins, joining in the hunt. “That’s gotta be a fun thing about teaching, right?” He passes Penny her desired brick. “Like, sharing all the stuff you know? Or discovering things along with them? Seeing what they come up with?”
