Roscoe And The Rat King

Part 9

Arthur is cold in the morning; I can feel it as soon as I walk into the dining room. Lauren looks awkwardly between us. She has an open seat next to her, but I take the one closest to Arthur. He's looking away, answering my questions in short sentences. When Nia comes to the table, he excuses himself to sit next to her.

Whispering in her ear, Polo urges Lauren to follow him and they both seem to be on a mission. Nia looks exhausted, her eyes are slightly puffy, and I can tell she's been crying. She places her hand on Arthurs, but he doesn't look up, and continues to eat his cereal with his other hand. She rolls her eyes and heads to the pantry.

Polo and I were lucky to grow up with parents who were best friends. Nia would drop him off when Arthur would have to work late, and I finally had something close to a brother after being surrounded by women. Before he'd become close with my sister, he and I would come up with plans to annoy them. We actively avoided telling our parents anything at that age. That was between us. That was childhood. That was nostalgia.

We spend the rest of the day together at home. Lauren and Polo are nowhere to be seen but I'm slowly bringing Arthur out of his shell until we're all laughing together over a puzzle. Nia starts to speak less as we go on. Watching me from her chair, slightly incredulously.

Arthur glances at her, imitating her facial expression.

I laugh at Nia, 'I think I like Arthur better than you.'

The comment is innocent but Nias expression changes to anger. She lowers her head, patting the armchair. She moves her hand up and down for a while before looking up, locked in eye contact with me.

'You know, I think maybe we can stop here. I didn't need this, all I wanted was to bring everyone together.' I stop and apologise; I feel bad that I've offended her even though it wasn't intended. She seems to soften up but is still quiet.

'Nia, you are my friend.'

She smiles a little. 'We're basically family at this point.' Her eyes open wide to meet mine then she looks away.

Lauren jumps into the doorway.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, just wanted to grab Nia if that's okay?'

She kisses Arthur and pats my hand before grabbing her coat and purse.

'For what?'

'You're not qualified to know.' He says matter-of-factly.

'Funny.'

'We need to do something for Nia.' Arthur looks at the door closing behind her, then back to me.

'Huh?'

'I'm serious man.'

'Look, I get it, we were out all day with no communication. Anyone would have the right to be mad.'

'No, son.'

Son?

'Something lowkey obviously, just have to do something nice.'

I chuckle. 'Okay, what are you thinking?'

'Uh, I don't know, maybe like a fancy dinner.'

'Ok, that I can do.'

Frantically, he gets up and starts to search the kitchen. Pulling out different cookbooks and checking the covers before putting them back. He finds one he likes and starts flipping through the pages.

He snaps his fingers.

'She's always wanted to try that salmon en croute.'