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Maybe trying to take Josh out for ice cream was a mistake. That’s what Dani’s beginning to think as she chases him out of the ice cream parlor, her birthday cake batter and cotton candy double-scoop cone held precariously in her left hand. “Josh!” she hollers, stomping after him. “Josh, slow down.”
“I don’t need a lecture,” he spits back over his shoulder, tossing his own ice cream cone in the trash. Dani winces— the damn thing cost seven dollars— but she keeps going. It’s never been easy, taking care of Elixir, but these past few months it’s gotten harder and harder to keep track of him.
She can tell that he feels out of place in the apartment, watching Xi’an pack the twins’ lunches, watching Dani vacuum and rotate laundry, like they’re some kind of fifties-sitcom family. Like they haven’t all fought tooth and nail to get to this shaky, weird sort of peace.
“Josh—”
“And I definitely don’t need your pity,” Josh says, bristling. He gets to the end of the sidewalk and the crosswalk signals for him to stop. It’s obvious he’s planning to cross anyway, but traffic is busy enough to stop him from doing that.
Dani catches up to her adoptive son. “You think I pity you? I don’t.” She pauses to lick at the meltiest part of her ice cream, preventing it from dribbling down the cone to her hand. “I care about you. I worry about you. But I don’t pity you. You’ve actually got a pretty sweet life, you know? You’ve got a family. You’ve got friends… I hope. I assume you haven’t actually pissed off all of them?”
Josh makes a face. “Actually… kind of, yeah.”
“Eh,” Dani shrugs. “They’ll come around.” He doesn’t look like he believes her. “I’ve done shitty things to my friends. They’ve done shitty things to me. But we all still love each other, Josh. I know your friends will still be there for you, if you just let them.” The crosswalk sign changes and she keeps pace with Josh as they cross the street.
“Why… why are you so… I dunno, stubborn?” Josh sighs. “Feels like anyone else would give up. I’m a mess. I’ve been through hell— literally.”
“We’ve all got stuff. I spent the majority of my teen years being hunted by an enormous demon bear. That doesn’t mean you should isolate yourself.”
Josh rolls his eyes. “Dani… look, I’m 18, okay? Your job’s done. You’re off the hook.”
“You really don’t have a firm grasp on this parenting thing, do you?” she sighs. “When I was 18, I called my parents up at least once a week. I needed them for advice. I needed them for reassurance. I just needed to hear their voices… especially after going so long thinking they were dead.” Josh is still walking resolutely forward, apparently going nowhere, but at least he isn’t interrupting her. “I still need my parents now. I talk to them all the time. I visit them. Family doesn’t stop being family because you… because you outgrow them or something.”
“I…” All the anger in Josh’s voice and in his face is finally starting to crack and show what’s behind it— the doubt, the anxiety. “Look… you and Xi’an, you have this… really cool thing, alright? I’ve seen you with Nga and Leong. You’re good. The four of you… you’re a good thing.”
“You’re part of that,” Dani insists. Their family isn’t exactly nuclear— it’s Dani, her fiancée, her fiancée’s younger siblings and the wayward teenager she adopted. No, it’s not nuclear, but it’s damn-near perfect— with Josh in the picture. When he’s not running off or risking his life for no good reason. “I want you to be part of that.”
“I’ll wreck it.” Josh has stopped walking. He’s staring at some point just above her shoulder instead of looking at her— probably to stop himself from crying. Dani’s familiar with the tactic. “I wreck stuff. I can… I can literally kill people just by touching them.”
“You can save them by touching them, too,” Dani reminds him, trying to be gentle. “Gentle” has never really come easily to her, but she is trying. “Josh… my mutation is— was — showing somebody the thing they were most afraid of. But it was also showing somebody what they wanted more than anything. Everything is good and bad, you know? You have to let yourself find the balance.”
“Your ice cream’s melting.”
“What? Shit!” Dani scrambles to keep the cone from dripping all over her. Ultimately, she ends up dropping the whole thing in the trash (there goes another seven dollars), and she tries to lick off the mess on her hand in the most dignified way possible.
“Look… I know you’ve got this whole hero complex thing,” Josh says. Dani scowls at him, disagreeing, but she lets him talk. “You don’t need to help me anymore. You don’t need to ‘save’ me.”
“Yeahhh, not happening,” Dani says. She puts her non-sticky hand on his shoulder and shakes. “You’re my kid. No matter what. That means you can yell and stomp your feet and be kind of a little shit… and I’ll still be here. I’ll be mad , but I’ll be here . Get it?”
Josh looks at her, really looks at her. Evening sun bounces off his face and neck, making the gold glint.
He’s gold all over. If he had the capability to stand still for more than two seconds at a time, passersby might mistake him for one of those human statue street performers. As he is, he just looks like another mutant kid in turmoil.
“... Got it,” Josh huffs.
“Okay.” Dani hugs him, squeezing tight. Josh is always running off someplace or another. He’s headstrong and skittish and this definitely won’t be the last time he tries to cut himself out of their family. But she’ll handle that when it happens. For now, she’s just happy to have her boy safe in her arms. “C’mon,” she says to Josh. “Let’s go home.”