It's Definitely Not All Mary Poppins

As For the Child, I Shall Take Charge of Them Myself! (5)

"Ugh, finally," Liza sighed, flipping her phone closed as she kicked herself off her gently-worn Mercury Milan. "What took you? You said it'd only be half an hour." A breeze rustled over them as they trekked the empty parking lot, the school building seemingly staring them down, wanting them gone.

A collection of birds watched from the school's parapet, clustered in trees and hopping about the tarmac.

Matthew groaned. "Liza, please, not right now."

"Holy shit, your face. What happened?" she asked, stepping back the closer Lilly drew to her.

Stopping by the back seat door, she whispered, "Matt got really mad at Mrs. O'Reilly and started swearing."

"Oooo, really?" Liza asked, grinning, wavering only when she realized how red the scratches on Matthew's face were. "W-what else?"

She hummed her response. She paused, glancing back to her cousin. "...Eli's withdrawing from school."

Liza met Matthew's eyes as he glanced away, opening the trunk and unloading every piece of Elliot's life at Brookfell, including art projects torn from displays. She watched him as he did, placing everything carefully to not break or bend, but she seemed to realize the collective exhaustion because Liza drew in a slow breath. "Okay."

"C-can I curse them, Matt?" he asked, shuddering as Matthew slammed the trunk down, the car bouncing on its springs. His eyes were red, face a natural color again. His face was still wet.

Matthew sighed. "Yes, but on the condition you lift it for the year if Lilly has any of them. Okay?"

"Mm." He held out his hand.

He took it.

Eli dropped his hand. His gaze fell to his feet. "Is your face okay?"

"I'll be fine," Matthew whispered. "I'll need some of your hydrogen peroxide, just to make sure they heal okay."

The boy hummed. "You're not bleeding, so you will."

Matt offered a smirk.

"I'm sorry," Eli whispered, wiping his eyes. He sniffed. "I...I didn't mean to."

Kneeling down again, Matthew put his hands on Eli's shoulders. "You've thrown worse at me," he said, only to realize that was not the right thing to say to him. "You've said 'sorry', dude. It's okay. I still love you. I'm here for you and Lilly, first and foremost."

Eli nodded, wrapping his arms tight around Matt's neck. "Sorry," he muttered again.

"Uh, Mr. – Matt?"

Matthew withdrew, to find Danny standing with his backpack draped at his side, a look of wild uncertainty in his eyes.

"I...c-can you call my mom? I wanna..." He swallowed.

Elliot rubbed his arms. "You'll get in trouble."

"We haven't had a play date in, like, a bajillion years, and my mom won't let me hang out with you because she's stupid."

Standing, Matthew removed his phone. "Your mom won't be mad?"

"No, she will," Danny sighed. "Piano lessons are really important to her." He stepped forward. "Are you gonna curse Steven? Because if you don't, I want you to teach me to do it. He's a jerk. He deserves it."

Elliot, despite his sad appearance, smiled. "Yeah! I got some leftover rice from the time I made Matt into a voodoo doll."

Danny glanced to him. "You got made into a voodoo doll?"

Closing his eyes, Matt nodded. "Long story."

"I told you he said I could," Eli insisted, opening the back seat and climbing it. "Lemme set the scene again. It's a great story. It was a dark and foggy night – "

"Elliot Yang-Snyder, you and I both know it was the middle of summer, and it was a very sunny afternoon."

"Don't wreck my story, Matt!"

Danny turned to him. "I prefer Eli's version."

Matthew couldn't help but smirk. "Climb in. We'll call your mom when we get home."

Lilly climbed in following the boys. "Make the curse a really bad one, Eli. I mean, like, boils and lots of bad luck!"

"Don't encourage," Matthew sighed, plopping himself into the front passenger seat. He prodded his fingertips gently across his face, watching himself in the vanity mirror.

"Who is this other child, Matt?" Liza asked, buckling in.

Danny leaned forward. "I'm Danny. Who're you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Liza, stop it," Matt sighed. "Also, can we swing by the garage where Lloyd is? I told Eli we could."

Liza sighed, turning the ignition. "Why can't you just drive the Civic Yang got you? That Nazi deathtrap is going to be in the shop for a while."

"Liza, please," he begged, "I am so not in the mood for you to not listen to me right now."

"What's a Nazi?" asked Danny, sitting back as the car rolled forward.

"I asked that, too," Lilly said, "but no one's told me because Matt was saying something to my dad." She slid her hand over the seat's back and tapped Matthew's shoulder. "Matt, what's a Nazi?"

Matthew groaned, wiping his face as he sank into his seat. He so desperately wanted a cigarette. "Give me a minute to breathe, guys. I'm tired and need a rest."

"Who's cooking dinner, then? Audrey burns everything," Lilly asked. "It's sad. She needs to be better at it."

Liza shook her head. "The plot thickens," she whispered, pressing gently on the gas, finally driving away from Brookfell Academy.

Across the parking lot, a flock of birds started pelting the teachers' cars with white poop.