Little Rock

Chapter 2

 Elijah came down the descent of stairs, his familiar scowl resting on his lips. Around the corner he heard his mother speaking to someone. When he finally got to the bottom of the stairs and craned his neck around the corner, his eyes rested on his mother, ear glued to the landline.

"I understand that it's urgent, that I be there, Dr. Dennis." Her eyes gently came to a close as the person on the other end of the line raised their tone in a frantic response.

His mother nodded her head as the words came to a conclusion, at least from what Elijah could hear, and responded with a simple "I'll be there as soon as possible. I was just finishing up and saying goodnight to Eli."

Elijah pictured Dr. Dennis in his head. An olive-toned stocky man with a temper swirling around in his balding head. He was middle-aged with patches of irritated skin on his hairy arms, always sporting a long white coat and a shirt that was never quite tucked in, and his tie was always off-center. He looked like something out of a Sunday morning comic strip. Every time Elijah had an appointment, Dr. Oliver Dennis would spend most of it asking questions about Eli's mom. "How is Rose, Elijah?"

She's fine, Dr. Dennis.

"Still no boyfriend, right?" His wide lips would always part into a grin after asking that, as if it were rehearsed.

Nope, no boyfriend, Elijah would always respond. This was the peak of personal interaction between the two. The other questions consisted of a scripted questionnaire that came along with a check-up. Elijah had a clean bill of health, which was surprising considering all of the horror-stories they'd tell you about marijuana.

Elijah snapped back to reality and questioned his mother with his expression. She innocently strided past him, waving her arms in the air with every word. "I know I promised I'd be home for dinner, I know! I didn't know Dr. Dennis would need me so early." Her familiar giggle rang about the air of tension Elijah passively gave off.

"That's fine," he responded while tossing his one fist into the other open palm. "Mind if I have some company over, then?"

Rose turned around and trained her gaze on her son, her eyes lowering into a squint. "Elijah, it's already 8 PM," she looked up from her watch and studied Elijah's expression again. She turned around and disappeared into another room, pulling her coat from a hanger on the wall next to the front door. He hurried over and relieved her hands of the coat, helping her push her arms into the sleeves.

A real gentleman.

"Yeah, I know, but Russo really wants to come over today. It's not too late for him to bike over, he's waiting on me to call him back with a response."

"Roo-so?" She was putting her hat on with one hand while sliding her purse up onto her shoulder with the other. A light bulb went off in her head and she nodded her head, pulling the front door open. A sudden rush of brisk air clashes against Elijah's unsuspecting face, but he doesn't budge. Autumn, finally he thought to himself. "Of course Michael can come over. And be sure to tell him to tell his mother that I'll be bringing her dish pan home sometime this weekend." She reached into her pocket to make sure that the familiar jingle of her keys met her ears, and she's satisfied. Though she suddenly turns around and gives Eli a firm look. "But, no Lizz." She pecked him on the cheek with her lips, or as she called it, "gave him some sugar", and stepped outside onto the porch.

"A girl staying over on a school night? I wouldn't dare." His mother looked very disappointed with his sarcasm and pulled the door to a close. If she wasted any more time, Dennis was sure to be a prick in her thumb the whole time she was there. "Goodni-" the word is cut off by the sound of the door closing.

He watched the warm hue of his mother's headlights back away from the stretched driveway and into the street, pulling off with a honk, her way of saying goodnight.

His legs can barely keep up with the rest of his body when he rushes off into the living room and crashes onto the couch, his finger already beginning to dial up a memorized number. "You're still awake, huh?" he chuckled. "Come over." After an exchange of witty comments and a confirmation, the phone meets with the dial and he disappears into his room.

An entire hour passed before the sound of the doorbell interrupts Queen's vinyl. And then it interrupts it again, and again, until Elijah finally pulls himself from his bed with an exasperated groan. His yelling echoed all the way down the stairs so that the person behind the door could get a taste of his tongue, "I swear to god, if you ring that doorbell one more time!" He reached the door and unlocked it, pulled it open and meets with the cold air from before.

A soft voice sang out from just beneath him, "What happens if I do?"

Lizz's cherry red lips curved into a grin and pressed the doorbell again, Elijah blinking as the annoying tone hugged his ears. His expression softened and he finally chuckled, ushering Lizz into the house with one fluid movement of his arm around her waist. He shut the door behind him and rested his back against it, pulling Lizz in and lowering his lips onto hers.

He savored the familiar taste of her soft lips in his own before he retreated, but faces barely an inch from one another, poised for more.

"Is that Queen?" she questioned in a whisper before backing away from him, grabbing onto his hand. She led him up the staircase toward his room, having already memorized the house from their secret rendezvous from a hundred nights before. He could hear her singing under her breath, Keep yourself alive, keep yourself alive in sync with Freddie Mercury.

She tossed her backpack into a love seat in the corner of Eli's room and looked around the room as if expecting something to be different from last time. All the while, Eli couldn't take his eyes off her. Her fair skin contrasted so unevenly from her auburn-red head of curls. She was shorter than Elijah, but he was 5'11 so that was to be expected. Dr. Dennis says this was his peak height, and he had such an amazing growth spurt. Rose, however, was skinny with emerald eyes that captivated people like a melody. Her cheekbones were so naturally accentuated, you would have thought she had some type of surgery. And there was always a natural rose about her cheeks, as if she were constantly being kissed by blush. She really was built like a goddess, Elijah thought and appreciated silently. She climbed into his bed and turned around, her mouth dancing in allegiance with the lyrics to the rock still spinning on the record player. Until finally she stops and gives Elijah a very sassy wag of her finger.

"What are you staring at, Peterson?" she hissed playfully. "Are you going to just stand there?"