While Portia had begged Ace to get Alex a new job, she did not expect anything in return. Alex, however, always believed one good turn deserved another.
The problems with good intentions, however, were innumerable. The old saying about the road to hell had always implied it was about “neglecting to do the good intentions”.
That was, of course, only half the story. More often than not, good intentions could be a matter of personal interpretation. What the giver may consider a good intention, the receiver may consider as an unwelcome burden. When it came to Alex’s good intention, Portia had already stated her point. Alex, on the other hand, thought he was looking our for his litter sister. As far as Alex was concerned, that was all that mattered.
Later that week, Alex decided to drop by the 27th Street Body Shop, looking for Darren. Darren was in the front, working on a customer’s car.
“Hey man, what brings you up this way? You need something done with your car?”
“Nah, I was looking for you.”
“For what?”
“For Portia.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no,” said Alex, shrugging him off, “It’s about you and her.”
“Well, you know there’s no me and her, right?”
“That’s not completely true. She likes you, she just isn’t in love with you.”
“What good is that?”
“I know she’d come around if she really got to know you like I do. It’s mostly the pot smoking. You know she doesn’t like that, right?”
Darren nodded.
“And the drinking, too…”
“Hey, that doesn’t leave much for me.”
Alex decided not to tell Darren about the lack of direction or the video gaming. For a second, he thought he might have been better off not coming to the Body Shop at all. Then again, he knew Portia, and Portia was never as set in her ways like the rest of the Gatteaus.
“Would you give those things up for her?”
Darren thought for a moment, “I’m not sure. Maybe I could give up the pot, but the beer? I honestly don’t know.”
“Maybe you could start with something like Alcoholics Anonymous.”
“I’m not an alcoholic.”
Alex didn’t have to say anything. Darren had heard the comments and the only reason he worked at the Body Shop was because nobody at the shop cared if he came to work drunk or stoned, as long as he did quality work. He always did quality work.
“Okay, man,” said Darren, “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I can ask, right?”
“Right.”
They shook hands and parted ways. On his way to work, Alex made a call to Portia. Portia answered it immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Should something be wrong?”
“You never call unless it’s something important.”
“This is kind of important.”
Portia was immediately dubious. “Kind of important?”
“Yeah, I talked to Darren.”
“Alex, you’re acting like mom, all up in my business. Can’t you give me just a little bit of space?”
“It’s just because I care.”
“Alright, what is it?”
“He’s a really good guy and you should give him a chance.”
“You know I don’t have that much in common with him.”
“How do you know? You haven’t even spent that much time with him.”
“I’m just saying…”
“Well, I’m just saying, too.”
“I know, I know,” interrupted Portia, “just give him a chance.”
“Come on, P.”
“Alex…we’ll see.”
“That’s all I can ask. We’ll talk about it tonight?”
“We’ve already talked about it. I’m on the bus and I can barely hear you. I’ll see you tonight.”
Portia hung up the phone and tried to get it out of her head before she went to class. She opened her Algebra book and stared intensely at the page. It did not help her one bit. When she arrived at the community college, Portia skipped Algebra and headed straight to the admissions office. With Summer Quarter just about over, the office was full of new students pre-registering for Fall Quarter.
Portia waited in Wendy’s line.
“What are you doing here?” asked Wendy.
“I need someone to talk to.”
“Hold on a moment.”
Wendy went to the back and got someone to cover the front desk.
“All right, let’s hurry. I’ve only got fifteen minutes.”
They circled through the halls during Wendy’s break and stopped in the rest room. Portia explained the latest events while Wendy tried to absorb it all.
“What do you think?” asked Portia.
“I’m not sure. Do you think you could get to like this guy?”
“Yeah…no…I don’t know. I just wish I was head-over-heels in love with him. He does drugs and I don’t. It just doesn’t click, you know?”
“But Alex talked to him about that, right?”
“You think I want to go through that?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Well, I’m not sure what to do.”
“Maybe you should talk to Darren. Regardless of your feelings deep down, you’ve got to realize how lucky you are he wants to be there for the baby.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Wendy looked at her watch. It was time to head back to the admission’s office.
Portia went to the remainder of her Algebra class before returning home. When she got home, the house was empty. She worked on her Biology and English homework before digging into her Algebra book again.
Alex came home later that evening. Darren was with him.
“Hey, P. I brought home dinner.”
“That’s not all.”
“Aw, no, yea, I brought Darren, too. Hope you don’t mind.”
Portia shook her head. Then, she returned to her studies.
“Algebra?”
“Yeah, I can’t stand it.”
“I’m pretty decent at it,” said Darren. He knelt down beside Portia and took the pencil from her hand. He scrawled a formula on the paper.
“How did you do that?”
“Algebra’s easy. It’s all about balance. You take from the rich and give to the poor.”
“It’s not that easy,” countered Portia.
“If you keep the balance and follow the steps in order, it’s easy. It’s always easy.”
Darren jotted down a list of rules. He hadn’t ever taken a college math class. He hadn’t even seen an Algebra problem in a long, long time.
“Where do I start?”
“At the beginning.”
Darren went down the worksheet, doing one step of each problem at one time. It sure did look easy. While Darren worked with Portia, Alex portioned wings onto separate plates and served Portia and Darren while they studied together. Meanwhile, he turned on a boxing match: Pacquiao vs. Matilla.
“I can’t study while this is on.”
“Alright, then let’s watch.”
Portia pushed her Algebra homework aside and sat between Darren and Alex in front of the television. They shared the dipping sauce while Pacquiao pummeled Matilla.
“No match for Pac-Man,” said Portia.
“I’m surprised at how long this one lasts. Look how winded Matilla is already. Just standing there, taking jabs.”
“It won’t be much longer now,” said Portia.
Right at the beginning of the round, Pacquiao strode to Matilla’s corner and laid down a series of jabs that Matilla couldn’t fend off.
“Pay attention,” said Portia.
Jab, jab, uppercut. Matilla stumbled backwards in a daze. Pacquiao feigned a jab as the referee stepped between them. Matilla waved him off. Pacquiao danced for a bit more and then landed a right to the jaw. Matilla stumbled back and got tangled in the ropes.
“Oh yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” growled Portia as she high-fived her big brother. Darren laughed as he watched the little girl bob and weave in place.
“What else you got, Alex?”
“How about an old Ali fight?”
“Nah. What about Leonard-Duran?”
Alex searched through his old videos and put in the fight.
“You’re really into this.”
“Of course. Boxing is something else. You don’t like it?”
“No, I like it. I’ve just never seen a girl like it before.”
“That’s my little P,” boasted Alex.
They hung out for most of the night, watching boxing together. As Portia and Darren leaned back on the couch, she still kept her distance. Alex moved back to the couch, too.
“Make space,” he said, pushing Portia towards Darren. Darren moved away, too.
“I better get to bed,” said Portia.
“Yeah, I gotta go, too. I have a long shift at the Body Shop tomorrow.”
“It’s still early…”
“Alex, it’s after midnight.”
“Alright,” sighed Alex, “I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah, I had a good time tonight.”
“Me, too,” added Portia.
They hugged, awkwardly as they said their goodbyes. Portia’s belly pressed against Darren’s belly. Portia and Darren jumped in unison as the baby kicked in her belly between them.
“What?” asked Alex.
“The baby kicked!”
“Let me feel.”
Alex placed his hand on hiss sister’s belly. Darren placed his right next to Alex’s hand, and Portia framed their hands with her own, placing one above and below.
“That is so awesome,” said Alex.
After the baby settled down, everyone removed his or her hands and Darren said goodbye again. Portia and Alex stood at the door and watched him drive away.
“Alex, you’re pushing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t give me that,” said Portia, “You know exactly what I mean. Bringing Darren over here after I told you to quit meddling. You’re just like mom.”
“I am not just like mom. This is for everyone’s best interest. He likes you, and…you have feelings for him, too. Anyway, you have something in common.”
“Boxing? You’re calling that our thing in common?”
“Not boxing, silly. The baby.”
Portia waved off her brother and went to her bedroom. She turned on her laptop and checked her notes. She noticed Darren was online, too.
“I thought you had to go to work tomorrow?”
“I do.”
“Why you up?”
“Checking emails.”
“Me, too.”
After a long pause, Portia sent another message.
“You wanna talk?”
“On the phone?”
“Of course.”
“Alright.”
---(((Alex Logged Off)))---
The phone immediately rang. Portia answered it on the first note.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Did you really like boxing?”
“Yeah. It was cool.”
“What sports do you really like?”
“I’m not like my brother. I’ve always liked cars.”
“But you look pretty athletic.”
“Yeah. I always had to follow in Marcus’ footsteps. Nobody wants to do that.”
“I know what you mean, but if you’re good at it and you like it.”
“I found my own place with cars.”
“You should do something with that instead of even thinking about culinary school.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
They talked for another two hours, mostly about Darren and the Auto Body Shop, but also talked about Portia’s school and her job at the Pet Store.
“What happened to your hummingbirds?”
“They’re not coming over to the new place. It’s really frustrating.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll get there eventually.”
“I’ve done everything I could. It’s almost Fall. It’s too late.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying that. You got this never-give-up attitude.”
“Sometimes, you just know it’s time to give up.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Darren.
Portia fell asleep only a few moments later.
“Portia?” called Darren.
There was no answer. He called for her again two more times. After the third try, he hung up the phone and went to shut off his computer.
Before he did, he looked up the website Alcoholics Anonymous. He really didn’t feel like he should give up beer. He knew Alex drank it all the time. He looked up Narcotics Anonymous. As he read the mission statement, he truly saw what he liked:
“Find the Opportunity for a New way of Life.”
Darren programmed the number into his cell phone, turned off the computer, shut off his lights, and went to bed.
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