Geneva Combs Wasp

GENEVA COMBS

Wasp

Grandpa Ambrus’s house looked like just about every other damn house on the street that they passed. Grandpa Ambrus’ house looked like just about every other damn house on the street that they passed: two stories, a false-brick trim and matching sliding, large windows, and a chimney. The fronts all looked beautiful, the sides okay, and the backs were flat out ugly. This one house was copy pasted down the roads as far as Ruben could see, just with the colors changed out and with some people having minimal outdoor decor. Their interior layouts were more or less the same from what Ruben could recall. The family was awfully quiet the entire drive here. Christmas songs played on the radio, but it was the only noise in the vehicle other than typical car and street sounds. It was unnerving to Ruben, usually there was laughter and banter between the family members. But he also expected it. They were going to Grandpa Ambrus's house. It was always quiet like this during trips here. The car came to a screeching halt, causing the family to be pushed forward a bit before falling back into their seats. "D-Dalton!" His mother turned to his father. "You have to pay more attention to the road!" "I-I am…" he managed in a weak tone. Ruben looked up to see they were at a red light now, cars passing ahead of them. "I'm paying attention… to the road." His mother sighed and reached a hand over to him. "Hey, it's alright. We're alright. Just… Please, be more careful." "... okay." Ruben looked up at his older brother, but all Nick could do was shrug. So he looked away again, staring at the passing houses until he heard his father announce that they were at the house. Ruben and his older brother climbed out of the car, eager to stretch their legs and get into the warm house. As he got out, however, Ruben overheard his mother talking quietly to his father, "I know you don't like visiting Ambrus, but he's still family. Please at least pretend to be excited for the kids' sake." He wasn't sure how his father responded, as he didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. It wasn't long after that when his parents climbed out of the car, too, heading for the door. His father knocked on the door, only a second passing before Grandpa Ambrus opened it wide. "Aha! There's my favorite little trouble maker!" Before Ruben could even do much about it, his grandfather had pulled him into a gentle noogie. He whined and wiggled a bit before his grandfather chuckled and let him go. "Alright, it's cold out here - everyone inside!" The family filed in, Grandpa Ambrus shutting the door behind him. He smiled at the family, then paused as he saw Ruben's older brother. "... ah, sorry. You are…?"

His older brother shuffled awkwardly in place. "I'm, uh, Nick…" he then looked over to

their father.

The man just smiled nervously, a hand on his eldest's shoulder. "Ah dad, I've told you about Nick! Uh, how about we all sit down so I can tell you more?"

Grandpa Ambrus just stared at Nick for a moment. "... alright."

As the family made their way to the living room, Ruben brushed against his brother. "Hey," he whispered. "Grandpa can be intimidating, but he's pretty nice. You don't need to worry too much."

Nick bit his lip. "I hope you're right…" Ruben frowned a bit. What made his brother so unsure? He took a seat next to him on the couch. Their father was on the other side of Nick, grandpa was across from them on a loveseat, and mom had found herself a recliner to sit back in. The house was decorated mostly in warm oranges and yellows. A choice his late grandmother made. A blanket with a honeycomb pattern was thrown over the couch, countless statues and wall decor of bees covering the place. There were even a few of his grandma's paintings hung up, all of gardens or beekeepers tending to their hives. She always adored honeybees. So the bees stuck around, always watching over the house even when she was gone. "So, I've told you about the mentoring program at my work, yes?" His father began wearily. Grandpa Ambrus seemed annoyed. "... yes." "Well, they handed me this scruffy lil' eighteen-year-old and told me ‘he's my responsibility now!’" He laughed a bit. "And oh, I couldn't help myself. I grew attached. And now he's here! As my newest and eldest!" He put a hand on Nick's shoulder again as he beamed. "From being a co-worker?" His father nodded slowly. "Yeah. Kid needed some help figuring things out, and so I helped him!" He ruffled Nick's hair a little, earning a grunt for it. Their grandfather just sat there, staring down at Nick. His expression was unreadable, arms crossed. Ruben could feel his brother tense a bit, and he put a hand on his arm. Nick looked down at him but… Ruben didn't know what to say. This wasn't like grandpa. "Hey gramps, who are you talking to- oh hi uncle Dalton!" A higher pitched voice called from the hall. Ruben turned to see his cousin Addilyn was here too. "Oh! Addie! I'm babysitting her for her mother while she's out." Grandpa Ambrus was smiling nervously now, seeming surprised. "Say, why don't you and Ruben go outside and play, hm? It'd be more fun than sitting with a bunch of adults!" Addilyn nodded, now running off to get her shoes. Ruben couldn't help but smile a bit. Ever since his uncle - Addilyn's dad - passed, he hadn't gotten to see her much. It'd be nice to hang out with her again. Though it felt a little odd he was urging them out of the house so soon after telling them to get inside and out of the cold. "Oh, and Dalton…" Grandpa Ambrus looked over to his son. "Mind if we head upstairs to chat for a bit?"

Ruben's dad tensed a bit before nodding and standing up. "Oh, ah… s-sure." Ruben stared at them a bit in confusion, but didn't get to think about it much as soon Addilyn rushed back in and out to the back door. He got up to follow her, his mother saying "You two be careful now. And behave." "Alright, mom." he replied, already in the kitchen. He was out into the backyard before she could say much else to him. Cold November air immediately hit the two kids, causing Ruben to grunt. Yeah, he'd rather stay inside but there was nothing to do inside. So this is what they got. The backyard was mostly what you'd expect from a suburban home. Decently sized, fully fenced in, with an entertainment pit off to one side. Along the right hand side of the fence were a series of four small ornamental apple trees. "Ugh, grandpa still has these nasty things?" Ruben complained. "Seems so." Addilyn was also making a face at the tree. They'd never tell this to grandpa, but the trees were rather gross. Sure, in summer they were a beautiful vibrant green. And in the fall for exactly one month, the apples in them were crisp and red. But at all other times, they were mostly bare and surrounded by rotting apples. Some of the fruit was even rotting while still on the branches. Ruben remembered once when he was little and tried to eat an apple from these trees. Even though it wasn't rotten, it still made him sick. His dad had begged Grandpa Ambrus to do something about the trees - to get rid of them, or at least fence them off so tiny troublesome kiddos couldn't get to them. Grandpa had insisted that he should've just kept a better eye on his son. It was the first time he saw his dad get into a loud argument with someone, but it didn't last long. He didn't remember what was said, just that his father backed down fairly quickly and was upset with himself for the rest of the week. It was weird. Wrong. He never saw his dad act like that either. "I at least figured out something we can do with these dumb things." Addylin went on. She grabbed a nearby branch and stabbed an apple with it, quickly making a face at how bad it smelled. "Uh… what are you doing?" Addylin smirked a bit. "Watch." She then flung the branch hard, causing the rotten apple to fling off of it and hit the white picket fence. It left a nasty yellow mark where it hit before falling to pieces on the ground. "Can you hit that mark again? That's it. That's the game." Seemed fun enough. Ruben took the branch, stabbed an apple, and flung it. It hit the mark, though landed a bit more to the right. "Hey, not bad." "Thanks." "My turn!" She took the branch. Stab. Fling. It landed right in the middle of the other two. "Niiiiice." And so they passed it back and forth, flinging rotten apples. Most hit in roughly the same spot, though a few landed off to the sides. As they played, they talked. "So, what's middeschool like?" He groaned a bit. "Bad. More homework. Meaner teachers. No recess to get a break."

"Gross. Not excited to start it next year." "I can try to help. No promises. But I can try." "Thanks man." Addilyn paused for a moment to watch an apple land before continuing. "Your dad seemed tense. Do you know what that's about?" "... no. I wish. He's always like this when we visit grandpa though." "Wait, really?" Ruben nodded. "Yeah. Tense in the car and tense while here." Maybe even nearly got into a wreck from it… "... my dad was always tense coming here too." Hearing that caused Ruben to look away from the branch. The apple missed the mark by a considerable amount, and soon after he just dropped the stick. He just… stared at her, not knowing what to say. "I always thought he was just weird, but..." she looked down now. "And grandpa didn't seem to like Nick." "Nick…?" "This guy my dad basically adopted. He's really cool, actually. Helps me with homework." Addylin paused. "You know how we have many cats?" "What does that have to do with this?" "All are dad's foster failures. Raised them back to good health and kept them. Was too attached. Grandpa always seemed weirdly annoyed by it. Still seems annoyed." "But that doesn't sound like grandpa." "No. Not the one we know." Ruben bit his lip. He didn't like the many ways that sentence could be interpreted. He was pulled from his train of thought as he watched the apple he just flung move a bit. "Is - something in that?" "Huh, what?" Addylin turned to the apple, watching it move. Slowly the two of them walked over to it. It wiggled more and more. A wasp crawled out from a hole in it. Both kids screamed, running off without a second thought. They were too scared to see how slow and lethargic it was. They tumbled inside of the house, just about slamming the door and leaning against a wall to catch their breath. A bee decoration hung above the door swayed a little from the impact, but didn't fall off. Thank God. Ruben turned to look at his cousin. "I'm - I'm gonna go get grandpa. Llet him know about the wasp." "Good idea. I uh," she crossed her arms, shaking a bit. "I'm gonna stay here." "Alright." Ruben sighed a bit and stood up now, heading for the living room. He could feel his mother staring directly at him, but he didn't want to tell her. She was too good at sniffing out lies, and he didn't feel like getting himself and Addylin in trouble today. He slowly made his way over to the guest bedroom, where he could overhear his father and grandfather talking. He paused just before reaching it though, his stomach twisting a bit.

in." "You just can't do this kind of shit, Dalton. Imagine the danger you could've put your family

"Dad, I-I already told you I th-

" "Don't talk back to me." his grandfather had an uncharacteristic hiss to his voice. Ruben couldn't help but bite his cheeks a little. I'd hardly call that talking back… "I leave you alone for a bit, and this is the kind of thing you do? Do you not care about them? Do you not listen to what I've said? Do you not care about me?" His father was dead silent. It made Ruben feel even more sick. "You may not realize it, but you need me. Look at what happened to your brother when he tried to leave me. Tried to cut the rest of us out like we didn't matter. He couldn't handle the pressure without my help. And now he's lost to us forever, abandoning his wife and child to escape. You don't want that to happen to you too, do you?" "That happened because you kept calling and harassing" "Dalton. " "... no dad. I - I don't… want that to happen again." "Exactly. You're still a stupid young boy and all of this proves it! You need me to guide you through these things and keep your family safe! When you guys get home, you have to kick Nick to the curb if you don't want that leech hurting " "H-he's not a leech! He's my - my friend, my son, I can't just " "Well you have to or" "He will be doing no such thing!" Ruben jumped a bit, turning around to see his mother had followed him up. And she looked pissed. With her chin held up and arms crossed, she walked into the bedroom. "My husband took in a boy in need for no reason other than to help. You somehow managed to raise a fine man, but he doesn't need you anymore." At this point Ruben stepped around thecorner to see what was happening. His father looked like he'd start crying any moment now, and Ambrus looked pissed as well. "Lauren, this doesn't concern you" "Of course it fucking does! You're kicking my husband around like he's a stray!" She took hold of her husband's hand then, staring Ambrus down. "Do me a favor and stay the HELL away from my family!" "Or what, you'll call the cops?!" An almost evil smirk made its way across his mother's face. "Oh honey, you wish." Ambrus seemed genuinely intimidated then, taking a step back from her. "... c'mon, Ruben, we're leaving." She put her other hand on his shoulder, leading them both down the stairs. As she did, she whispered softly to her husband, "Hun, I'm sorry. You've never liked coming here, I-I should've suspected something was up." "... you're alright, dear." As they reached the bottom of the staircase, she explained "I'm gonna call your sister in law. I'm not exactly comfortable with Addie staying with him anymore. Then we'll leave, hopefully

with her. Okay?" "Okay…c-can you drive us home tonight?" "Oh course, dear." She offered him a kind, if worried smile. They both watched her step to the side and pull out her phone. Nick just watched on in confused concern. Ruben just stood there, unsure what to do as he tried to process everything. He looked up at his father, who was now shaking a bit. "D-Dad?" He looked at him quickly, fear and guilt spread across his face. "Y-yes buddy?" Ruben didn't say anything more. He just held an arm out for his father, letting out a slight yelp as he was pulled into a spine snapping hug. With a sigh, he nestled into his father as all of the bees in the house stared down at them.