“It’s true. He moved really fast away from us.” Keith rubbed his mostly bald head. “Hopefully, it will inspire him to leave the house more, maybe get a job. We’re hiring at the deli, you know. I was going to bring it up with him later, when he’s happy and exhausted, like a kid after Disneyland.”
Elly imagined Dennis in one of Keith’s white aprons. It was a pleasant picture, but she didn’t want to push him. “Maybe.” They wandered awhile, hand in hand, taking in the art and the crazy culture. Everything possible was represented. There were knitted superhero dolls and mind-bogglingly expensive action figures, collector’s Lego creations, and one-of-a-kind illustrations from famous artists depicting Superman and Batman. They walked inside a giant Lego castle, and Elly took a picture of Keith surrounded by chesty girls covered head to toe in green paint and wearing Star Trek uniforms. They ate a light lunch—nine dollars for a terrible turkey dog?—and ate in silence. Elly could feel a growing awkwardness between them. Her answers were short and clipped, which bewildered and annoyed Keith. Right now, they were that couple—the awkward couple on the verge of a fight, trying to hold it all together with traitorous smiles.
After lunch, they reached the end of the convention hall and stood waiting for Dennis near a T-shirt kiosk. After some good-natured haggling with the vendor, Keith bought a Captain America T-shirt for Dennis and a Flash T-shirt for himself. He held it up proudly for Elly. “I loved the Flash growing up. I have a framed copy of my first comic on my mantle.”
He has a mantle, she thought. “I’d love to see it.”
“Someday,” he replied. Then he looked up at the ceiling. A raw, emotional hole started tearing open in Elly’s chest. Keith stared over her head at a blaring screen. “Hey, I kind of want to see that new Bond movie tonight—want to watch it at your apartment? Order a pizza? Or we could see if Kim and Sean want to go out—I would love to try that new Greek place….”
Elly felt a surge of anger rise up from her core. He was avoiding it, again. Again, he was putting it off. She whirled around to face him. “I’ve got a better idea—how about we go find Dennis and then go straight to your house?” She could see that Keith was taken aback, both by her words and her aggression. It was a side of her he had never seen—not directed at him, anyway. Elly hated her bitchy reflection in his eyes.
“Um, what?”
“Let’s go to your house. Let’s go find Dennis and go to your house. Not the deli, not my apartment, or my car, or the park, your house.”
“I think Dennis is probably going to stay here until it closes. He wants to find the World of MageCraft booth girls, remember?” He attempted a smile with the side of his mouth. It quickly faded when he saw that it wasn’t reciprocated.
Something deep and buried flared in Elly. Her insecurities swirled up to the surface. Hot tears sprung to her eyes. As a woman dressed in armor walked past her, Elly fought a desire to grab her holstered sword and hold it to Keith’s throat. She narrowed her eyes as she stared up at him. Be honest, thought Elly, calm down. Be reasonable. Taking a deep breath, she gave him a straightforward look, her gaze locked on his. “Keith, why haven’t you taken me to your house?”
Keith painfully pulled his eyes from hers to look at his sandals. “I told you, it’s messy, and I want to make sure it looks, you know, appropriate when you come over.”
“So it’s good enough for Cadbury, but not for me.”
His hand reached for hers. “Yeah, because Cadbury is a dog. A pile of worms is good enough for him. Calm down.”
Elly stepped back, leaving his hand lingering in the open air. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Why haven’t you taken me to see your house? Is it because you are ashamed of me?”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it because you are a hoarder, or you have no food?”
Keith patted his roundish belly. “Does that seem like a problem?”
Elly felt mocked. “Keith, please don’t try to be funny right now. I’m asking you honestly and directly. Are you homeless?”
Keith let his head fall back with a roar of laughter. “Elly, come on.”
Something delicate snapped inside of her. He was laughing at her. Elly let her anger sweep her away. All the feelings she had been pushing down rose up, ready to pour out from her mouth in a venomous rush. She brought her hand down hard on the corner of a booth. The vendor jumped. “Is it because you have a woman there? A girlfriend, maybe?” In the roar of the crowded convention center, a great silence passed in between them. Elly watched his face, searching for truth.