Why I Can't Rule The World

No. 9

"If you don't
control your mind,
someone else
will."
--John Allston
<<<<<<<<<<

    The next day, after Tanner and Alivia had broken up, I went to the doctor and managed to get rid of my crutches. He said that it healed fast because it wasn't badly broken in the first place, so I was off the hook with a brace and cleared of my concussion. I still wasn't supposed to run, and with the season ending this week, I didn't plan on it anyway.

    I drove up to Grandma's house after school so I could retrieve Asher and grab dinner. Mom wouldn't be home for another few hours and Dad was off somewhere. He never really tells us where he goes, he just does what he wants, when he wants.

    The familiar gravel driveway welcomed me to her small house that was actually in the opposite direction of ours. I didn't mind, it was nice to get away from the packed neighborhoods. Because of farms in the area, housing developments were often clustered together near the school.

    I put the car in park as Pearl and I stepped out into the open air. Leaf piles were scattered over the yard along with some acorns that fell from her gigantic oak tree in the middle of the yard. Asher was sitting in the center of a circle of leaves, stacking acorns with his little hands. Grandma was raking them around the little guy, who was really content just where he was.

    "Look Asher, it's your brother and lovely sister!" she called, bringing Asher's attention to us.

    "Hey!" Asher screamed. He scrambled up and looked around, confused by how he was going to get out of his leaf kingdom. He pushed them aside to make a path for him to escape, then went running to Pearl.

    "It's Asher," Pearl said halfheartedly as he hugged her legs.

    He giggled up at her, then ran over to me. I don't know what Pearl's problem is, but lately she's been in a lousy mood. I'm sure she didn't want me to interfere with her business, so I didn't bother asking. If she wanted me to know, she would tell me.

    "Squirt!" I shouted, lifting him high in the air.

    "Tin!" he yelled back as he latched onto me.

    Grandma laid her rake against a tree and greeted us. She invited us inside and we crashed in there. It was an older house, with worn wooden floors and faded carpet that reminded me of Alivia's house. There was a counter that separated the living room from the kitchen and dining room. In the basement were our rooms while hers was on the main floor.

    Grandpa had died before I got a chance to know him. He was a veteran, and from what I heard, was just as friendly and simply awesome as Grandma is. She hadn't remarried, but often spent time with other friends since she retired.

    "How was Alivia's?" she asked me when I started on my homework and Asher found the link-n-logs in the family room.

    "Friday night or yesterday?" I asked, not looking up so she couldn't see my flushed cheeks.

    "Oh you got invited over again?" she said, sounding excited.

    "Grandma... We're just friends," I laughed.

    "For now," she stated. I looked up to see her leaning back in her chair with a cookie in her hand, smiling suspiciously.

    "Right," I said, glancing back down at my homework.

    "You know, her family goes to the same church I do. They have a wonderful group there, I bet you'd like it," she told me.

    Sometimes we had conversations like that, where she would talk to me about church. It wasn't often, but every once in a while she'd ask if I would like to go and I'd always say, "Maybe when I'm older."