Rumspringa

Chapter 8: Plans

   "So I just got off the phone with my dad." The beep of the phone hanging up was unexpectedly loud. This was two days after the lovely dinner. "He likes you." We still haven't had the chance to really talk since that night.

   "Well that's good, right?" Eli was not sure whether or not it was a good idea or bad. If anything went wrong, things could go bad real quick.

   "Yes. So question. When did you plan all of this out? The farm, the woodworking and all that." I had been waiting for the right time to ask him.

   "That came out of nowhere. I wish I could find a guy to do something like that for me." Emily was always throwing her two cents in, even when we didn't ask for it. It didn't bother us and I'm glad she was there. Without her, I'd probably have had a nervous breakdown by now.

   "I like to think ahead. I have been trying to find the right time to sit down and discuss it with you. With work and everything else, we really haven't had much time to actually talk." This was true. We never talked much and when we did, it was the small stuff. "Remember that lot that we had the party at? I happened to notice that the lot next to it is for  sale. I was thinking about putting an offer on it." He looked down and was twiddling his thumbs. I think that this was the first time I had ever seen him nervous.

   "I think that that is a great idea. What are they asking for it?" Pricing was everything. We were scraping by as it was. We had some money put back, but it wasn't much.

   "Twelve grand for the whole lot. I'm thinking about offering them ten." Eli was so calm and casual with it.

   "Well I'm all for it." Why not? If he had the money and wanted to do it, then I was all for it. That was pretty much our whole savings.

   "Alright, we'll let me know. I'm gonna get in the shower." I grabbed my clothes and headed towards the bathroom.

    "Hey, what about me?" Emily was almost shouting.

   "What you want to shower with me? I mean I don't care if you don't." Her and I have had some weird experiences before, but never something like that.

   "No I meant the house. I'd pay you rent. And about the shower, maybe another time love." Emily called me love all the time. I thought it was weird, but never really said anything. It doesn't really bother me.

   "That's something that we would have to talk about, but I don't see a problem with it." I headed out. We had thin walls, so even with the shower running I could still faintly hear their conversation.

   "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are in love with her." Eli let out a laugh after he said that. He could read the room pretty good and could tell.

   "Umm" she didn't laugh. She was more embarrassed than anything. "Maybe I am. So what?"

   "Oh. You really are. Does she know that?" Eli said that a little loud and I could hear that clear as day. I wasn't sure what to think. I mean I've experimented, but never really had those type of feelings. The most I ever did was kiss a girl, and that was Emily. It was in high school and we were both drunk.

   "No she has no idea. I don't want to ruin our friendship. I just don't know how to tell her without making it weird." Emily bit her lip as she dropped back into the chair.

   "Well, normally I give advice, but in this one, I'm out. I have never experienced that type of relationship, nor do I want to. I completely support you, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I'm any help here." This was the only time I think I have ever seen Eli not be helpful.

   "I get it. Don't worry, I won't say nothing either. That's something I need to work out. Besides, I know she is in love with you. I've kept the secret this long, why not wait a little longer." I didn't know that she liked me like that.

   I turned the shower off as she finished the sentence. It got real quiet after that. What they don't know, is that I heard every word. The question is do I say anything or do I let it go for now? I thought about it as I got dressed and decided that I was gonna let it go for now. I came out of the bathroom and they were very quiet. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

   "What's up?" I said to them breaking the tension. Silence. Neither of them said a word. "Alright, out with it, the tension is so tight, you could cut it with a knife." They were still unaware that I had heard their conversation.

   "I was just talking to Eli about a couple things, that's all. Working on a surprise for you." If I didn't know, I'd think she was telling the truth. She was really convincing.

   "Alright." I went along with it. I could be an ass and torture her, but I won't just yet.

   Eli's truck pulls into the driveway next to where the party was held that night. The grass freshly mowed. The shed still stood there in the corner, old and barely standing. Emily, Eli and I got out of the truck and were greeted by an elderly couple.

   "Hi, you must be Eli." The old man walked up and greeted him with a firm handshake. He was in his sixties, stood about five foot eight and had on a hat that said Vietnam veteran. His blue Jean overalls hinted that he might be a farmer. The older lady, much shorter than him, stood beside him and smiled. "I'm Randy and this is my wife Kate."

   "Pleasure to meet you." Eli, being the respectful man that he was, introduced us as well. "This is Becky and Emily."

   "So you guys are interested in buying the place. Well, what you see is what you get. It's not much and it needs cleaned up." There was debris laying around, probably from where a house was knocked down.

   "That shouldn't be a problem. May I ask what happened and why you want to sell the land?" He wanted to get some background on the place.

   "Back in the seventies, my wife and I owned both this and where drumroll lake sits. It used to be a lake house. We used to rent this lot out to my brother. He moved down south in eighty one. In eighty two the house caught fire, burned down both houses. We were gonna rebuild, but decided to just buy another house instead. It was closer to my parents. The government bought the lake property off us years ago, but weren't interested in this one for some reason." As it turned out, the legendary rumors were partially true.

    "Cleanup should be no problem. I'm planning on building a house on the lot. Would you take ten thousand cash?" Eli had pulled the cash out of the bank this morning. I have no idea how he had that much, and I didn't ask either.

   "You got it. I'm not even gonna haggle." They shook hands. Eli pulled the ten grand from his pocket and handed it to the man. "The deed is in my car. Walk on over here and we can sign it."

   "So I think this would be a good home for the three of us." Eli holds up the deed after the older couple pulled away. Just the three of us on the empty lot. "So how does a three way marriage sound?" Eli started laughing hysterically after he said it. Emily just glared at him with a straight face. "It was a joke."