To Build a Home

Harvey To The Rescue

CHAPTER 7: WAITING FOR A SUPERMAN

Is it getting heavy?

Well, I thought it was already as heavy as can be.

Tell everybody waiting for a Superman

That they should try to hold on the best they can

He hasn't dropped them, forgot them, or anything

It's just too heavy for Superman to lift.

-From "Waiting for a Superman" originally by The Flaming Lips and covered by Iron & Wine

From Chapter 6: He checked his watch and, upon seeing that they only had an hour left, decided to just go for it as casually and nonchalantly as possible. "Well, the real reason I stopped by for a chat is...uh, you wouldn't mind loaning me 500 dollars at some point during the next 58 minutes, would you?"

Harvey stared blankly at Mike in bewilderment for a moment before demanding to know what was going on.

"Nothing's going on, Harvey. I don't know why you're going off and jumping to conclusions here. Maybe I just need $500 dollars for....something. You spent 500 dollars on those pants that you're wearing and that wasn't a big deal. Why does this have to be a big deal?" Mike protested weakly, trying to think of a logical argument to distract Harvey. It didn't work.

"Oh, I'll admit that I'm jumping to a lot of conclusions right now but I'm still having a hard time figuring out what the hell is going on," Harvey snapped with a sort of weary exasperation. "And let me tell you, kid, subtly is not your strong suit. Any idiot with two neurons to rub together would be able to tell that something is wrong. Shall we count the clues together?" Harvey said mockingly, as though talking patronizingly to a small child. Mike scowled and may or may not have purposefully smeared a bit of blood on the couch in retribution.

"Let's see; you burst into that conference room looking like you had just seen a ghost, you're bleeding on my very, very expensive leather couch, and your shirt is buttoned incorrectly. Not to mention that you look like you just lost a fight with the Incredible Hulk," Harvey counted off.

"Well, actually—" Mike began animatedly, thinking of the half-giant who had beaten him up. He stopped and backpedaled upon seeing Harvey's face. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Look, If you help me I'll pay you back, I swear. By my calculations, it'll only take me a few years to make 500 dollars. I've already saved 200 dollars over the past 14 years, so it won't be so bad, right? Of course, I'm still a minor so I can't access my bank account to get that money, but once I turn 15 I'll get a job and then it'll just take me a few years to make 300 dollars because I'll have to use most of that money to help Grammy, and I can pay interest, of course, but then it'll take like 10 years with the interest and I suppose it really all depends on how the stock market is doing in the future, so—"

"Michael," Harvey said forcefully. He was pinching the bridge of his nose as though nursing a migraine. "I will give you 500 dollars payback free if you stop rambling and tell me why you need the money."

"I'd ramble a lot more often if I knew that was all it took to get 500 dollars," Mike said with a forced laugh. He worried his lower lip anxiously. This was really what it all came down to, wasn't it? Trust. Mike had been dealing with his own problems for years. Even as a little kid, he hadn't wanted to tell his parents about getting bullied in school because it made them sad, so he dealt with it on his own. Could he trust Harvey, someone he had only known for a month, to fix his problems for him? Could he surrender control for awhile and let an adult take the wheel and call the shots? He wanted to, he really did. He envied his classmates who complained that their parents never gave them the freedom to make their own choices. He supposed that his peers were only responding like normal teenagers trying to find themselves and distance themselves from their parents, but he wished he had someone that wanted to be involved in his life and wanted what was best for him unconditionally. Grammy did, of course, but she was always so tired from work and he didn't want to bother her or upset her.