Letters

Letter 10

November 14th, 2004

Dear Dad,

            While Uncle Alex was driving me to school today, he asked me if I had a crush, just like how my friends asked me. I’m guessing that he got a bit too curious about what happened two days ago. I didn’t believe him when he told me that it had nothing to do with that day. I told him no, I don’t have a crush. He said that it was okay that I didn’t have one yet. When I arrived at the front of the school, Uncle Alex then asked me if I liked how these girls looked. I said that they were okay, but he kept pointing fingers at kids and asking me the same question over and over again. When Uncle Alex saw Richard and Daxus walking around school he said “Oh, there they are, your friends” He tried to keep a straight face when he asked me if I liked them. In response I said that I liked them as friends. He sunk into his seat and said “No, I meant like, as in love?” Instead of saying what he wanted me to say, I said “Of course, they’re my friends” He sat there silently for a few short seconds and then said “No, I mean like, would you do it with them?” I stood there just looking at him. Before he could finish speaking trying to explain what he meant, I said bye and closed the door. When I caught up with my friends, Uncle Alex was still there and I could see him looking at me and at my friends. It seems to me that he didn’t believe what I had to say about that event.

            While I was walking and talking with my friends, I tried to imagine how it would work out if I did liked them that way. Just imagining every bit of detail made me feel weird and awkward around my friends. Before I went to class in the morning, I gave them each a hug and even that felt weird. It wasn’t supposed to though. I went throughout the day thinking about them and I couldn’t stop. That was weird, very weird.

            After school, Uncle Alex wanted to take me to that same restaurant where I burned my tongue a few days ago. I got really excited because I loved the smell of the fried fish, but I didn’t get to enjoy the taste. Uncle Alex then told me to ask my friends if they wanted to come along. They both said yes, but I knew what Uncle Alex was up to.

            When we arrived at the restaurant, we ordered our food and began talking. Uncle Alex started most of the conversations and he asked my friends so many questions. Some questions he asked were “Are you from here?” “What kind of books do you like?” and “Do any of you like surfing?” all these questions were relevant to me. I’m guessing that he’s looking for anything that my friends and I had in common.

            After dinner, we headed to the house and played monopoly. Uncle Alex suggested that game and he was the first person to lose. I don’t know if that was planned or not, I didn’t want to ask. He sat on the couch reading a book about two meters away from us. I’m guessing that he was eavesdropping instead of actually reading his book, but I didn’t pay much attention to him to tell if he did. I was just having fun playing the game, and in the end Richard won.

            After Uncle Alex dropped them off, he told me that they seemed like nice kids. He told me that Daxus was his favorite because he seemed like the one who had the most fun playing. I asked him about Richard, and he thought that Richard was okay. He didn’t catch Uncle Alex’s attention much because Richard seemed a bit more relaxed.

           

Your son,

Rico