Chapter 5

September 16, 2017

“You’re smiling, so I assume the sleepover went well. Yes?”

The tall, young girl looked at her mother in the rearview mirror and said, “Yes, it sure did. It’s always so fun there. I’ve said it before, but thanks for letting me spend so much time with my friends. While seeing them every day at practice is good, actually spending time with them doing things, talking ... is so much more enjoyable.”

“There seems to be one every time, so what was the biggest surprise this time,” her father asked from the passenger seat.

Sitting in the middle of the back seat, she turned her head to face her dad and responded, “Something that I’d have never thought. The ... parents got towels just for me.”

Her dad’s face quirked in an expression of confusion, then he asked, “What do you mean?”

“The upstairs bathroom and spare bedroom were renovated this week. The bathroom was changed to make it slightly larger to allow for a ... larger, more-modern shower. Apparently, the new shower, which is really cool, came with free monogrammed towels. There are six sets of towels, each set with a single initial on them. One set is monogrammed with a ‘C.’ Beth explained that the shower is theirs and that the ‘C’ was not for Carol, but for me.”

Her dad looked nonplussed for a couple seconds, then replied, “Their parents really do appreciate having you there. I see that as affirmation of you as an interesting and well-behaved ... person. I also see that as affirmation of the way that we have raised you, although your mom and I give you a lot of the credit for that.”

“Thanks, Dad. The girls even voted me in as an official gang member.”

“‘Gang member’?”

“Yes, Mom. It’s just a fun thing they do, as a play on groups or societies with rigid rules. Before Heather joined the group, Beth’s dad coined the term ‘Gang of Four’ for them. Beth said that it had something to do with something in China. Anyway, when Heather came into the picture, they became the Gang of Five. Heather made a motion ... Oh, yeah ... er ... yes. Heather made a motion right after Beth informed me about my towel set to admit me to the gang, which is now the Gang of Six.” She lowered her eyes a bit, then said, “I had cried when I realized that their parents considered me family enough to get bathroom towels just for me, but I cried again when I was in ... inducted into the gang.”

The tall, young girl’s eyes began leaking.

“Oh, Civia,” her mom said with feeling.

Amidst some blubbering, the girl said, “It’s great having friends, but it’s just so wonderful having such good friends. I ... I really love them.”

When she put her forehead on the right side of the back of her mother’s seat, her dad caressed her head with his left hand, not saying anything, letting his touch impart the love he had for his daughter. Their discussion continued at their house.

“Relevant to the gang you’ve joined, we contacted the realtor that Charlie suggested. While he couldn’t get us inside the house on such short notice, he did show us the place and explained some of the details. He said that the owners were picky and that they didn’t need to sell the place, but that doing so would provide them more ... liquidity [she spelled the word], having assets in cash or similar accounts that are simpler to access than the value of real property.”

The girl’s mom looked at her with a questioning mien.

“I understand. I assume that it can take some time to sell a house.”

“Yes, quite a bit, at times. The realtor asked us many questions about our family, where we lived now, where you went to school. What we did for work. He said that he would take those answers to the owners, but that his initial take was that we were the sort of family in which the owners were interested as renters or buyers.”

“Where is the house?”

“It’s just a block west of the park that has the premier team’s practice pitch.”

The girl’s eyebrows flew up into her hair and her eyes went round and wide.

“That close?!” When her mom nodded, she said, “Oh, wow! I hope this works out!”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high, but it does seem ideal up to this point,” her mom replied.

“It’s also only a few-minutes’ drive for your mom to work from there ... and she could walk on nice days. Being there would also cut my commute in half.”

The tall, young girl stood abruptly, then climbed into her dad’s lap and hugged him.

“Ooof,” he responded with a smile. “You’re almost getting too big to have in my lap! However, I believe that I can endure for the sake of our daughter.”

“Da-add.”

September 27, 2017

“Thanks for teaching me more algebra, Dad. I’ve always thought math was interesting, but this is fun!”

“You really like learning. Don’t you?”

“Yes. Heather told me in that conversation that advancing through math is logical and predictable, and she was right. Plotting those two-value equations on the number plane really made it clear to me what this math is doing. It’s so exciting!”

“I’m glad, Honey. However, I’m beginning to ponder an administrative challenge.”

“What challenge?”

“Determining whether the school system has an established route to testing out of classes, and classes well ahead of your grade level.”

“You think I could do that for algebra?”

“You’re soaking this up likes it’s one plus one equals two. Algebra was my favorite part of math as a high-school student, and you seem to have gotten that gene set. I won’t be looking into you testing out of algebra in the next day or so, though. You’ve got a long way to go, yet, and quadratic equations are looming on your horizon. They’re not actually difficult, although I remember lots of kids in my class having trouble at that stage. However, your facile mind ... Do you remember “facile’?” When she nodded, he continued with, “Your facile mind is not having any troubles with the basics that we’ve been covering, and I don’t expect you to run into any roadblocks in the near future. With a solid understanding of all the basics, you shouldn’t have any serious problems with quadratics.”

The tall, young girl stepped to her dad and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Thanks, Dad. It helps a lot that you explain things so clearly. I’m going to go do my evening workout. Thanks for getting the five-pounder. The workout is now harder, but I understand why that’s important.”

The girl squeezed her dad one more time, then stepped to her mom and hugged her.

“Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, Honey. Thanks for your help with dinner and dishes. It sounds like you’re moving right along in the algebra world. Perhaps if your father had been my teacher, I wouldn’t have had the problems I had in the class.”

“He is a good teacher. Isn’t he?”

The girl closed her bedroom door and stared at, or through, it for many seconds. She smiled a small smile, then began disrobing. Once she had put all the clothes she had worn into her hamper, she stepped over to her “official” exercise area and began doing the exercises that Coach had suggested only two months ago. However, as she started into her work out in front of her mirror, she pondered how much of her life had changed in those two months, and all of it was for the better. She had learned in those two months more about the fine details of playing soccer well and of strategy and tactics than all of her previous time at the game. She was even happier with her home life than she had been and her relationship with her parents was even stronger. She was learning a new and fascinating aspect of math, her favorite subject. Those aspects of her changed life were more than satisfying. However, they paled in comparison to another change. She had friends.