CHAPTER 22
“B ut if you don’t clean it out first, it just does the same thing again,” AJ said to Myra.
“This house wasn’t the worst I had seen.
Far from it,” Myra replied as she pointed to something that Elisa couldn’t see from her position at the kitchen sink with Adele.
“That’s good. When hurricanes come to town, it’s not just bad for a week.
Even if a house doesn’t flood, there’s still potential for mold damage if things get inside through leaks.
It looks like your mom caught it early enough and did the right thing.
Now, we’re just pulling out all the damage and replacing things or cleaning it if it’s not that bad.
It would’ve been a lot worse if she had waited. ”
“Yeah?” AJ asked.
Elisa smiled at Myra’s mention of her because she knew Myra had done that on purpose.
“Yes. And this old house has a lot of history in it. Do you know where the term shotgun house comes from?” Myra asked him.
“No.”
“These houses are common in the South, but New Orleans is known for them. With every hurricane, we seem to lose a few, which is unfortunate. This one has been redone a few times, but these houses have been here in one way or another since the early eighteen-hundreds, and they’ve found houses like this in Haiti and Africa even earlier than that.
They were built this way for a few reasons, but some that make the most sense are that they have excellent airflow because they’re long and don’t have hallways. ”
“This one has hallways,” AJ noted.
“Short ones that were added later. That’s a common remodel.
But before there was air conditioning, air flow in New Orleans was important.
They’re also long, not wide, so when they built them down the street, more houses could fit.
Your house has hallways and a second story now, but it didn’t when it was first built.
In fact, if you think it’s cool, you can go to city hall and the Department of Records.
They have all the old documents and blueprints.
You can see what this house looked like when it was first built. ”
“Wait. Really? This exact house?”
“Yeah,” Myra said.
“How do you know they would have this exact house?”
“Because they have mine there. In my work, I spend a lot of time with blueprints and historical documents because sometimes, I’m trying to update a house but keep the history. Your house and mine were actually built by the same family. Two brothers. I found out when I did research on my own house.”
“Whoa. Cool,” AJ said.
“It is cool,” Myra replied with a laugh.
“If it’s okay with your mom, I can take you there if you want.
They’re closed on the weekends, but my cousin works there, so she lets me in when it’s not busy.
We can’t take anything out of there, but we can look.
It’s actually pretty remarkable how some things have held up.
We’ve had so many storms here over the years that a lot of history has washed away. ”
“Oh, I don’t know. I want to, but I’m supposed to be back at my dad’s this weekend,” he said.
“Well, another time, then,” Myra replied.
“Mom?”
“Yes?” she asked, trying to pretend like she hadn’t been listening in.
AJ appeared at her side as Adele handed her a plate she’d just rinsed to put into the dishwasher.
“Can I stay here this weekend and go to city hall with Myra? She’s going to show me some stuff on the house.”
“I thought you wanted to go back to your dad’s.”
“I do. I can just leave after, if that’s okay.” AJ looked at his sister. “Do you want to stay, too, or go without me?” Then, he looked at Myra. “Can we do Saturday morning? I can stay here Friday night and leave for Dad’s after we get back. Maybe Mom can come. Mom, do you want to come?” he asked.
“That’s a lot of questions at once,” Elisa said. “It’s up to Myra when she can do this for you since she’d be taking time away from her own life to show you stuff.”
“Saturday morning is fine with me , but I need to check with my cousin first. I’ll text her now, and we’ll see what she says,” Myra replied, pulling out her phone.
“And I can’t stay here until Saturday,” Adele said. “I’m going back Friday morning.”
Elisa looked over at her and smiled.
“You can’t wait so we can drive together?” AJ asked. “Or do you need your car there, too? Yeah, that makes sense.” He nodded. “We can take more stuff that way. You can fit your stuff in your car, and I’ll get what I need until we leave for school in mine.”
“Yes, that’s why,” Adele said and went back to rinsing a glass in the sink.
They usually drove to their father’s house together since they were coming right back in a couple of days and didn’t need both of their cars.
Archie Senior had three cars of his own there.
One was his pride and joy, and no one drove it, not even him.
It was a collector’s item, but Elisa didn’t know cars and hadn’t bothered to remember what kind or year it was.
He also had a Mercedes that he drove day to day as well as an older Mercedes that he had planned to sell at one point but still hadn’t, so it mostly sat in the massive garage and was available to the kids whenever they stayed there.
“So, is it okay? Mom?”
“Honey, you can stay here whenever you want. This is your home. You know that.”
AJ smiled and said, “Cool. I just think it’s cool.”
“Do you know any other words?” Adele asked. “Everything is cool with you.”
“I know the word asshole ,” AJ replied to her.
“Hey,” Elisa said and glared playfully at him.
“Why do you want to go back Friday night?” AJ asked his sister, returning to the previous topic. “We can just drive separately on Saturday and grab lunch at the place between here and there that we found before.”
“I’m hanging out with someone Friday night. I already made plans,” Adele said and looked away from him.
“Who?”
“None of your business, AJ,” Adele replied.
“Is it Tucker? Are you two together again?”
“What? No. I told him no before dinner.”
“Before dinner, I heard you giggling in your room. Did you giggle at him when you broke his heart?” AJ asked.
“No, I talked to him first, but then I was on the phone with someone else. Why don’t you mind your–”
“Hey, why don’t we just finish the dishes and watch a movie together or something?” Elisa interjected.
“Can I skip it?” AJ asked. “I’d like to see if Wendy wants to hang out this week. Just hang out. I’m hoping if she sees that I’m a good friend and can handle rejection well, maybe she’ll see that I’m a good guy and might want to let me call her or something when we’re at different schools.”
Adele cleared her throat, and Elisa had no idea how to handle this situation.
“Honey, you can go upstairs and call her, but maybe Wendy’s right.”
“About rejecting me?”
Elisa chuckled and replied, “Not exactly what I meant. I mean that she’s going to a different school hours away from you.
You’re also both eighteen, and that kind of relationship at eighteen is hard.
You’re going to be in soccer and class a lot, and she’ll be in class and activities, too.
You’ll be making new friends, and you might even meet someone at school whom you might like.
She could, too.” She looked at Adele, who gave her an expression that told Elisa that she couldn’t believe she had just said that.
“Or not. She might not.” Elisa nodded. “I don’t know.
You also have to be respectful of her feelings, honey.
If she said she doesn’t think the two of you should go out, that’s her answer, okay?
If she changes her mind later, she can let you know, but if she doesn’t, that’s okay, too.
You need to be a good friend to her if you can, or move on if you can’t. ”
AJ nodded slowly in realization and said, “Yeah, okay. I should’ve asked her out last year when I first wanted to, but she was always around other girls.” He looked at Adele. “Why do you always hang out in groups like that? How’s a guy supposed to ask one of you out when you’re always together?”
“My cousin said she can make it,” Myra let them know as she walked back into the kitchen.
“Really? Cool,” AJ said.
“ Cool ,” Adele mimicked.
“Okay. Both of you, go upstairs. Get out of my hair.” Elisa laughed.
“Want to play Call of Duty with me?” AJ asked Adele as they walked.
“You just want me on your team because I’m better than you,” Adele teased.
“Yes, that’s why,” he said, meaning it. “So, do you?”
“Yeah, sure,” Adele replied as she laughed.
When they went upstairs, Elisa let out a massive deep breath.
“Everything okay?” Myra asked. “Should I not have offered to take him this weekend?”
“What? No, that’s fine. That was actually really nice of you,” Elisa said and took a few steps toward her.
“He’s been so into soccer his whole life, but he’s likely not going to play professionally.
He’s good, and he might be able to transfer to a better school after this year, but his coaches tell me that might be it, so he needs something else to be excited about.
If this is that something, I’m happy to let you take him and show him stuff. ”
“I should’ve asked you first,” Myra said.
“If he were six, yeah. He’s eighteen, though. He doesn’t have to check with his mommy to do things anymore,” she replied and wrapped her arms around Myra’s neck. “The reason I kicked them out is that I have a secret. Can you keep it if I tell you? ”
Myra wrapped her arms around Elisa’s waist and said, “Maybe.”
Elisa smirked at her not-so-subtle suggestive tone and said, “You know the Wendy that AJ keeps bringing up?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Wendy and Adele kissed,” Elisa revealed. “And Adele called her tonight and asked her out on a date. That’s who she’s spending time with Friday night.”
“Adele and…”
“Yes,” Elisa said. “She told me she really likes her, and I’m so proud of her.”
“You should be. She just told you straight-up how she’s feeling about another girl?”