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Precocious	By : XxSwaggerMcJaggerxX Category: +M through R > Recess Views: 3538 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Recess and do not make a profit from this work.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
It was so early in the morning that the both of them were sure the birds weren’t even up yet. Best thing about being on the road this early was that the road was clear, making the drive to the lake pretty straight forward.
Sitting in the front passenger’s seat, TJ struggled to stay awake during the drive. Was he excited? Yes! Fishing sounded kind of boring, but it was one of those things that dads did with their sons, at least on TV. His dad fished, but never took him with the excuse that he would find it boring. And that was mostly true, but he didn’t give him the chance to try it out. Now he was going, not with his dad, but the next best thing!
“You can take a nap. The lake is still a while away,” said Prickly. The boy was clearly struggling to stay awake. He might as well sleep now instead of nodding off on the boat.
“Nah, I’m fine, sir,” TJ said, yawning. “I just need to wake up. . .and I’ll be fine. . .”
Five seconds later, he was out like a light.
“So much for the endless energy of the youth,” Prickly scoffed.
It’s been a while since he’s gone finishing, mostly because he didn’t want to get up before sunrise on the weekends just to do it. During summer break? Sure, it was easier when he wasn’t trying to recover from the school week. But the kid seemed excited to take part in a somewhat boring hobby, and he couldn’t help but indulge him on it. At least, until he saw how much of fishing was sitting and waiting.
When they arrived, any other who were looking to fish hadn’t arrived, giving them the pick of the best boats to rent. With the boat packed up, they rowed out to the best spot on the lake.
“Did I put it on right?” TJ held up the end of the fishing line, where a worm was hooked on.
“Yep. Now you have to learn how to cast it,” said Prickly.
“Don’t I just swing my arm?”
“That’s part of it, but there’s more steps involved. Besides, if you just do that, you’re going to get the line tangled and waste a lot of it,” he said. “Here, are you left or right handed?”
“Left.”
“Okay, turn the bale so that the line is closest to the top. That’s the barrel shaped part that the line is coming out of.” It took a moment, but TJ eventually caught on to what he was talking about, and rotated the bale like he said. “Use your left hand the hold the top of the rod and use your index finger to pull on the line, then open the bale.” Again, TJ did what he said. “Good. Now all you have to do is flick it. You don’t have to throw it like a ball. It’s more like a underhand toss.”
TJ nodded. While Prickly got his own fishing rod ready, he watched the boy cast the line,
“Did I do it right?” TJ asked.
“Yep. Now you just sit and wait for something to bite,” he said, soon casting his own line. “Try not to fall asleep again.”
“I won’t,” said TJ. He settled down in his seat, holding on and waiting. “If we catch something, are we gonna cook it? Are you gonna show me how?”
“Sure, Detweiler,” Prickly sighed. “But the chances of reeling something big enough worth cooking is small.”
“Then what’s the point of fishing, then?”
“It’s good for clearing your mind. And when you do catch something, it’s rewarding.”
The two of them settled into silence for a while. A few other boats joined them on the lake, but stayed far from them as they each focused on fishing.
“Hey, Pete?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for taking me fishing today. I know you didn’t have to, but you did anyways,” TJ said. “My dad would never take me fishing. I dunno why, but he doesn’t like spending time with me. So, you know, thank you.”
Though they sat with their back to each other, the crack in the fourth graders voice was enough to tell Prickly that what he said was genuine. He didn’t give much thought to taking Detweiler out fishing, but clearly it meant a lot to him. Even after learning that they might leave empty handed, he didn’t complain and ask to leave, he was simply satisfied just being here with him.
“You’re welcome,” said Prickly. “Are you usually out this early on weekends?”
“Sometimes. It depends. Usually me and my friends have something we really want to do if I’m up this early,” said TJ. “The cartoons I like don’t start until 7.”
“We won’t make it back in time to watch any of them, probably.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “I figured that’s what would happen. How long do you usually stay out here?”
“Until noon at the latest. But it’s going to be hot today, so we’ll leave before then.”
“When we do, and go back to your place, can, uh, we do the thing again?” TJ asked.
“What thing?”
“You know, what we did in your office at school?” He probed. “With the paddle? And me bent over your desk? Can we do something like that?”
Prickly sighed. “Sure, Detweiler.”
“Great!” TJ said. As he started tapping his foot, the fishing line started to be pulled, and he was barely able to keep the pole from slipping out of his grip. “I think I got something!”
The boat shifted as he tightly gripped and pulled back on the fishing rod. It arched and creaked as the line was pulled.
“Well don’t just do nothing, reel it in!” Prickly dropped this own line to turn and help the fourth grader with his own. It was a good thing, too, as whatever was on the end was making it hard to hold on. It was a fight to hold on and reel in the line as what was hooked was determined to fight for it’s life. But as the end of the line got closer to the boat, the resistance lessened, and TJ was able to reel it in without and extra pair of hands to hold on.
“I wonder what I caught!”
“It must be something big,” said Prickly. “We might be able to cook something with it after all.”
In a much better mood, TJ was looking forward to seeing exactly what he caught. Sure, fishing might not be exactly how he pictured it, but it was turning out to be a pretty good first time out for him. Just as he was reaching the end of the line, whatever fish he had hooked decided to fight back and pull away again, catching him off guard and pulling him into the water.
“Detweiler!” Prickly called out to him, looking over the edge of the water. Luckily, the fourth grader came back up to surface, gasping for air.
“I lost the fishing rod. . . “ TJ said.
“Forget the fishing rod, just get back in the boat.”
Prickly helped him climb back into the boat, sans fishing rod or fish.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, sir,” TJ said, wringing out his hat. It did nothing towards getting dry. He coughed. “I know how to swim.”
“You should’ve let go before it pulled you into the lake!” Prickly scolded.
“It was too sudden! How was I supposed to know this lake had freak, super strong fish?” TJ asked, folding his arms. “It’s not like I drowned or anything!”
“That’s not the point, Detweiler! You could’ve gotten hurt!”
Normally, TJ was up to argue with anyone, including an adult when he had a point to make, and he had one to make right now. But in the middle of the lake with soaked clothes, being scolded by his principal, he found himself staying quiet and sitting down.
Prickly sighed. “I’m sorry for shouting, okay? It’s only the two of us out here, I’m supposed to be watching you. I didn’t know you could swim and it scared me,” he explained. “I guess this fishing trip is over.”
“No, we can stay, we still have your fishing rod,” TJ tried.
“We’re leaving, Detweiler. You need to get dry before you catch a cold,” said Prickly. He started rowing back to shore. “And you’ll need a bath, you’re going to smell after getting in the lake water.”
“You aren’t mad I lost your fishing rod?” TJ asked.
“It can be replaced, you cannot,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Now help me carry this stuff back to the car.”
They worked in silence, getting the boat back to the rental booth and getting everything into the trunk, with no caught fish to brag about. TJ itched in his seat as his clothes started to dry off. One towel was in his seat while he wrapped another around his shoulders. The trip was a bust, but did he regret it? No. Even now as he wiped his nose with a sniffle. Maybe next time it would be better.
Once they were on the road and headed back, Prickly glanced over at the fourth grader slumped in his seat after a disappointing fishing trip. And he had been so excited about it, too. It was hard not to feel bad for the kid.
It was only midmorning when they arrived back at Prickly’s house. They left everything in the trunk in favor of heading inside right away. TJ kicked off his shoes and got out of his now smelly clothes while Prickly started the shower.
“Why not the tub?” TJ asked.
“Because you’re dirty, and you’ll soak in it,” Prickly said. “Go ahead, get in.”
TJ grumbled but stepped in the walk in shower anyways. He watched as Pete gathered up his clothes to wash before grabbing the soap. So much for fishing. He didn’t even like eating fish that much, but if it meant spending more time with Pete, then he wanted to. It was fun when he taught him how to cook things. Oh well.
“This is a big shower,” he said. So big that his voice had an echo. He searched around for the soap and shampoo, and set on scrubbing off the smell of dried lake water. He heard the bathroom door open and shut again as he rinsed out some shampoo that got in his eyes.
He dried off with a fluffy towel set out of him, and briefly wondered if he could get away with snatching one of Pete’s shirts from his closet again. He didn’t have to wonder for too long. One of those pink button up shirts was already left for him. He quickly put it on, the garment acting more like and oversized robe than a shirt. The fabric was soft and comfortable. Besides, what else was he supposed to wear while his clothes were being cleaned?
TJ gave the bathroom a quick look over to not leave it a total mess before leaving. He found his principal in the kitchen of all places, pulling out items from the cabinet.
“What are you doing?” TJ asked, poking around at what was on the table.
“I know how much you were looking forward to cooking. We might not have a fish to cook, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make anything,” said Prickly. “Besides, I’m not that good at cooking fish, it would’ve been a waste.”
“So what are we making?” He asked.
“A cake. I thought it would cheer you up,” Prickly said. “How about it?”
“Sure!”
They got into the rhythm of measuring, pouring, and mixing ingredients. A homemade cake took a lot more work than the box mix stuff.
“Why do we have to do this?” TJ asked. Prickly tasked him with sifting the flour and sugar.
“It helps everything mix together better,” said Prickly. “And separate any clumps.”
“What kind of cake are we making anyways?”
“Vanilla. I’m trying to keep it simple,” he said. “Now pour all of that into the stand mixer so we can get the baking pans ready.”
“Do you bake a lot?” TJ asked as he helped oil a cake pan. The two of them sat at the kitchen table.
“Only occasionally. I don’t have the same sweet tooth as I did when I was younger,” Prickly explained. “And there isn’t anyone else to eat it, so a lot of it goes to waste.”
“That’s okay. I’ll eat it if you don’t want to. But I hope I don’t grow up and lose my sweet tooth,” TJ said. “I like sweets.”
“You will. One day you won’t be able to stomach the same sugary or greasy foods as you used to,” he said. “It’s just part of getting older, so there’s no use worrying about it.”
“It won’t happen any time soon, will it?”
“Not until your thirties. Maybe your twenties if you’re unlucky,” Prickly joked. “Either way, you shouldn’t eat a lot of sweets, young or old. It’s not good for you.”
TJ rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue.
Once the stand mixer stopped, Prickly removed the bowl and poured half of the batter into the pans.
“Can I lick the bowl?” TJ asked as the pans were placed into the oven.
“After what I just told you?” TJ put on his best puppy dog eyes. Prickly sighed, but handed him the bowl anyways. It was better to have Detweiler preoccupied with that while he worked on making the frosting.
It was hard to admit how comfortable things were like this, without any outside distractions, working on nothing but a simple cake. The boy sitting at the table, half naked, licking up cake batter while the TV in the living room provide background white noise. One might say it felt rather domestic, all things considered.
“Are you always this messy of an eater?” Prickly asked. TJ joined him at the counter after placing the metal bowl in the sink. Splatters of cake batter was on his cheeks and around his mouth.
“It was really good,” TJ defended. “What now?”
“We’re waiting for the cake to finish baking. Then we can decorate it.”
Decorating it went as well as it could have with the two of them working on it. It didn’t have to be anything fancy, and it most certainly wasn’t going to end up that way, as Prickly didn’t care to make it that way, and TJ was doing his best to make those little frosting flowers he saw on other cakes, and failing
“I still like it,” TJ said, as they looked at their work. A hodgepodge of half decent and ‘an attempt was made’. “We made it.”
“It looks like a mess, but it’s going to taste the same no matter how it looks.” Prickly rung out a paper towel. He sat back down at the table and started wiping off the dried batter off of the fourth graders chubby freckled cheeks. “You need to learn how to eat properly.”
“Is there a proper way to lick the bowl?”
“There’s a way to not end up with half of it on your face.”
The batter had itched as it dried on his skin, but TJ had ignored it, being more focused on helping out with the cake than wiping it off. Now that it was finished, he stretched as his face, unable to ignore it anymore, until Pete started wiping it off. Of course, he was able to do it himself without a problem, and if his mother had tried doing this, he’d be proclaiming that as soon as the paper towel touched his skin. Instead, he sat still as his face was gently wiped clean, enjoying the care and attention being given to him.
“Don’t make a mess of yourself next time,” Prickly said as he finished. “Alright?”
“Okay,” TJ turned his attention back to the cake. “Can we have a piece, now?”
The two of them enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, eating cake on the coach.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Precocious