Tale of Redemption

Chapter 5 : Forgiveness with a New Friend

I opened the door slowly, to find Alli yelling at some stranger in our living room. But then it became clear it was no stranger--it was the man that almost killed me. 

 "Why can't you pay attention to the road and stop being in a hurry all the time?! You almost hit my best friend, and you didn't even pull over to see if she was okay?! I can't believe you!" Alli screamed at the man. Her teeth were clenched and eyes on fire. Definitely wouldn't want to be him when she was about to go super saiyan. 

 The man spoke in a british accent, and very quickly. If you didn't know it, they could've been related. "Allison Dawson, you need to calm down. If you're not careful with that mouth of yours, I'll make sure you don't go out to hang out with those misfits for a month! I can't believe you took the steering wheel over. You don't even have your license yet! What were you thinking?" 

 "Thanks, Dad. You know, I love them like family, and they are not misfits! You're so judgemental! Oh, go ahead, put the blame on your poor, uneducated daughter because you don't know what a red light means? Real mature. You know, sometimes I wish you weren't so overprotective! None of my other friends' parents are stalking them every moment, and nagging on them to take their cell phones! Why can't you just be...be a normal parent?!" 

 While they fought, I hung my jacket up. I guess I left my keys in the pocket, because they fell out and clinked against the floor. 

 "What in the bloody--" The assumed 'parent' of Alli spun around and stared at me.

"Oh my god, Ayumi, you weren't supposed to-" Alli gasped. 

"Weren't supposed to, what...? Know you were lying to me about living on the money your parents left in the will, or you had gotten protection from the government so you could live on your own...? Wow, what great friends I chose." My whole body burned with anger. How could she just lie to me like that? 

 "It's not what it looks like, I didn't totally lie to you..." She hung her head in embarrassment.

"This is Wheatley, the 'old friend' I told you about? He's my, I guess you could say, my..." Alli mumbled the last part. 

 "Your what? I can't hear you." I hissed. 

 "He's my...adopted father.." She said it again, but the last word she barely whispered. I thought I got the point. 

"Your adopted...father?" 

 She nodded quietly. Wheatley was fiddling with his pocket watch, tapping his foot nervously. It wasn't the best introduction, considering he almost ran me over about half an hour ago. 

 "I... apologize about earlier, Miss Ackerman. You see, I was in quite a hurry to get A-Z back to the house. A very complicated relationship exists between us."

Looking between the two, everything made sense now--the phone calls, unexpected and unexplained absences, the gourmet breakfasts and dinners... 

 "Hey, don't worry about it. Lots a people do worse things when you go to L.A., and lucky for me, I'm in a small town twenty miles away. No grudges, let bygones be bygones, eh?" I held out my hand, indicating for him to shake it. He looked down at it, and chuckled.

 "Let this moment mark the beginning of a new friendship, no? Here, to make up for it, how about I make some tea?" He asked politely, after finishing our handshake. 

 "Ahem! Wheats, you owe another person an apology for being like, extreme bossy and rude?" Alli tilted her head to the side and did that pokey finger thing, like, 'Pick me! Pick me!'

Wheatley scratched his head and laughed nervously. 

"I'm sorry, A-Z, for being overprotective. Will you please, my adoring daughter, please forgive me?" Alli cocked her head to the side, and acted like she was thinking hard on it. 

"Only if you take us to Dairy Queen!" Her face quickly lighted up from the heavy, pouting grimace she wore moments before.

"Hmm...I think it should be up to Miss Ackerman, considering she may not trust me to driving a vehicle again with her near it." He winked at me, and grinned. Man, I liked this dude already! 

"Only if you pay! Who knows, hanging out with you, I might need the money for health insurance." Patting my pockets, Alli rolled her eyes. "Not funny, Ayumi Chiyako Ackerman! If you didn't show up, I would've killed him, or worse."

 "Ooh, you used my middle name, how terrifying! Maybe next you'll wave your finger at me!" My face contorted into a shocked look. 

The car ride was pretty quiet, none of wanting to talk. It was a rather short ride, and we quickly got our Dairy Queen and decided to hang around for a while.

We sat down in an old booth inside of the Dairy Queen, eating our various desserts. I had a chocolate dipped vanilla ice-cream cone, while Alli was slurping on a half melted brownie batter Blizzard. Wheatley was watching us devour our confections. 

"So, you just kind of hang out in the office upstairs? No wonder I've never seen you. Alli told me it was just for storage." I mumbled as I crunched down on the chocolate shell.

 "Pretty much. I use the back door to go to work at the labs. I'm a scientist, you know." Wheatley twiddled his thumbs. 

"Yeah, sometimes, he spends days there just, researching." Alli nodded, her mouth full of brownies. 

"It can get very...intense, occasionally." He interrupted. 

"I think the first time I saw you, you were wearing a lab coat. At the party the other night, I think." 

"Y-Yeah, sorry about that. Came home later than expected and was a little curious what all you kids were doing up late." He said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Nothing with foul play, sir. Just some good friends watching Full House!" Alli sputtered, almost choking on her ice cream. Her 'father' and I laughed softly. Alli could be an awkward girl, but hey, we all could. Introverts for life.