2.11: The Great Dragon Lady

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

The clock had only been moved just a tiny-innie bit to the right, but my mind was restless. I had been on edge for the last fifteen minutes and twenty seconds, which exceeded what my body usually endured. Seven minutes was my all-time record, and that was because Ryder was kind enough to let go of me when I started to lose consciousness whenever our makeout session got too heavy.

But I should know that Bella wouldn't give me the same treatment of mercy.

"Start all over again!" Bella demanded. "How did the two of you meet?! What were you wearing?! What were Ryder wearing?! What kind of conversations did you two have?!"

I was a blubbering mess. Oh, I got it all inside my head. I remembered exactly how the two of us met; it was how I calmed myself down whenever things got hard.

But then, my brain disconnected itself from my mouth the moment Bella tried to pry that information out of my in such a forceful fashion.

"D-Do I need to tell you what I was wearing?" I said, fully aware that the first time Ryder had paid attention to me was when I was wearing my pajamas, and not the sexy kind.

Bella's voice suddenly reverted back to her normal state; sultry and calm. "I'm just trying to think the kind of questions Nai Nai would shoot you."

"Shoot is a really strong word," I commented. "When you use the word 'shoot', it gives the illusion that she's going to try to kill me with her barrack of questions."

Both Bella and Ryder went silent.

"No confirmation?" I asked. "Nor denial?"

"Silence in this case usually means confirmation," Ryder said. "We're just too soft-hearted to really tell you that 'yes', my grandma will probably try to do exactly that."

"Listen, April, you might see me and see a monster ready to take away your boyfriend," she scooted closer to me and whispered, "And maybe I will, just so you see."

I gulped because the way her breath tickled my ear made me really uncomfortable. "You could have just said that without whispering."

"I'm trying to make you afraid."

"Just you in your natural state will do a good job of that."

Bella threw her hands in the air. "I'm trying to come up with a cool monologue and you just ruined it for me!"

Ryder nodded towards me. "She does that a lot. And what did she whisper to you, Kitten?"

I could see Bella fake-retch at Ryder's terms of endearment to me. "Well, she said 'Maybe I-"

Bella's hand suddenly clamped onto my mouth. "Na-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. No! No more ruining my monologues. Listen, so maybe you see me as a girl who will try to steal your boyfriend, buttherealthreathereishisgrandmother!"

She said it all in such a short amount of time that I had trouble deciphering her words.

"Come again?"

"The real threat here-"

"Is his grandmother," for another reason, the voice that followed was raspy and papery.

"That's a really cool voice-acting, Bella!" I blinked in excitement, suddenly filled with ideas on how to incorporate her voice-changing magic to my future films, if I ever have the chance to make one. "You're really getting into the heart and nature of an old woman!"

But Bella looked different than before.

Sure, I hadn't known her for long. But for the last one hour since meeting me, she had established herself as a no-nonsense hard-butt female-dog, to put it mildly. And one no-nonsense hard-butt female dog wouldn't make that kind of expression.

The kind of expression that indicated primal fear.

"N-N-N," Bella tried to open her mouth but whatever came out rolling her tongue was incorrigible.

"Oh well," that raspy voice again. But this time, Bella didn't even move her mouth at all.

Either she was a master ventriloquist at hiding, or-

"I'm glad that's what you think of me, Bella," that raspy voice boomed in again. "By the way, pink is definitely not your color. Change it back to black."

Or... worse.

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The situation that unfolded all round me was definitely worse than I was ever prepared for.

I had been in situations where I would be surrounded by intimidating people, in this case: Ryder, his father, and his mother.

The last time it happened, I puked and then ran away.

Right now, I was in Dire Situation #2, which consisted of Ryder, His Childhood Friend, and his grandmother.

Aka the Dragon Lady.

Aka the woman who bore a name worthy of 3 to 4 different women.

Who was it again? Alyssa something? Chew me Chewbacca, for I had forgotten the name of a woman whom I was supposed to impress.

"Mrs... Mrs..." I tried to look for a name that sounded as close as I had been told before.

"You can say Ryder's grandmother," Bella hissed to me.

"Or Mrs. Black," Ryder hushed in to help.

"Mrs. Black Grandmother!" I somehow managed to join their words and then blurted them together.

At this point, I would have Sherlock, Han Solo, and Jeff Winger all come at me and then smack me on the head, for I had disappointed them all.

"Interesting choice of words," the old woman smiled at me, although her smile somehow made my stomach churn.

She looked a lot like the late Gregory Black. Only female. And she had long, white hair that was pulled into a low bun. She dressed in her car-repair uniform, a red unibody jacket that sported a few grease stains. Despite all that, whenever she spoke, she held authority.

"You could have just pretended that I only said either word," I said, and then I saw Ryder shaking his head once again while covering his face with his palm.

"I don't know why I'm saying things like this. I'm just making things worse," I said again. "Stop me someone please."

"Now I get what Gregory liked about you," Mrs. Black said. And there it was. That smile.

"I should mention that the way you smile is very... unusual," I said. "Most people would do this," I stretched my mouth. "But then what you're doing is this," I stretched my mouth even wider, and then widened my eyes. "It's unsettling."

"I know. It's how I operate. This is also how I protect my children and grandchildren," she shot a look at Ryder. "You wouldn't believe it because my grandson is so ordinary, but he's somehow managed to get the attention of... quite a few female characters."

"Grandma!" Ryder tried to hide his embarrassment but to no avail. "Can you not?"

"I definitely can, Ryder. Ugh. I hate saying your name. I still don't understand why my thick-headed son of mine decided to give you that name. Ryder. It's like setting you up to have mediocre life with jobs that require brawls not brains," she sighed dramatically. "Arthur or Albert would be a much more dignified name."

"Oh my God," Ryder shook his head again. At this rate, he would be dizzy with all the head-shaking movement he'd been doing.

"I think the name sounds cool," I said, reminiscing how wistful and appreciative the girls in high school were whenever they talk about Ryder on the restroom. "I went to the same high school at Ryder and part of his bad boy charm is his name."

Mrs. Black suddenly shot dagger glares at me so sharp, I felt burning pain on my eyes. "What's your name again? March?"

"I-It's April."

"Here's the thing, June,"

"April, Ma'am."

"Whatever, May," she went on. At this point I had already given up and adopted a 'come-what-may' attitude towards how she addressed me. Mrs. Black then gave both Ryder and Bella a knowing look, and within five seconds, the two of them left the room.

It was like she was Ryder the advanced version.

"At this rate, Ryder's only chance of a normal life is winning a lottery. And I know he won't win any lottery because he never buys one."

I was baffled with the options that I had to respond to this. "Well..."

Mrs. Black didn't waste any time. "He doesn't go to college. He only does mediocre job on repairing cars, and even less motivation to follow through it once I'm on my grave. He might be smart in high school, but what can high-school education can get you? A little tip at Mc. Donald's maybe, but not a life he's worthy of."

"Well..." I tried again.

"I swear, ever since my son died, Ryder just..." Mrs. Black sighed even more extravagantly now. "He just derailed off the roads. He doesn't know what he wants, and most days he comes home with new bruises or bleeding."

"Mrs. Black,"

"And I'm already 76!" she exclaimed. "If there were any Gods up there, and if they listened to me, they would have taken me at 77! Either that, or 177."

"While I'm glad that you truly stand by your favorite number, Mrs. Black, I think that-" I saw that Mrs. Black opened her mouth again, and then I used the technique that my etiquette teacher taught me and raised my hand. The sign of 'no interruption please'.

"I think that Ryder is just trying to find his way. And he's great. And his name is also great. And I think he's great. And you should think he's great too, because you're his grandmother. And even though he will have no degree it will all be great because he can do other things with his great, smart, brain."

There was a really long pause as Mrs. Black walked in circles around me. She really was an old man, and she walked so slowly and so frailly that I feared that she would trip on something and then die.

My imagination of her tripping got sidestepped as her authoritative voice exclaimed. "Why are you with him?"

"Um..."

"He's got no money," she said. "He's a little broken, and you know he's capable of really bad things. Sure, girls like pretty faces when they're young. But you're in university now. I'm sure girls like you would know that a deep pocket means more than a good face to look at."

For some reasons, my mind wandered to Alex and how suave he was at keeping friends and how good he was at making money.

But then what good everything was when I was always at edge whenever he was around? What good his big house was when I couldn't talk and laugh with him?

"He's a great person to me," I told her. "And I believe he will be great someday."

The pause that ensued lasted for another two minutes and eleven seconds before I broke it. "I can't handle another five minute pause Ma'am. It makes me nervous as Sith and it makes my bladder movement run."

"I'm still processing your words, however simple they were," she said. "I notice you really like the word 'great'."

"Your presence literally reduced my ability to think of another vocabulary."

There was a small laugh coming out of her mouth, before then she made me some tea and then asked the questions that I was prepared of.

"So what were you wearing when the two of you met?"

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About a sizeable minutes later, (I forgot to count because I was concentrating too hard to answer and recall memories to accommodate Mrs. Black. She asked the weirdest things: the clothes I wore (pajamas), the 'special words' that we shared ('blah blah' too), where Ryder's eyes were whenever he saw me (answer: around my chest area).

When I went out, there was only Ryder standing in front of the house.

"Where's Bella?" I asked.

"She went to buy a home-kit hair-dye," Ryder said.

"Black color?"

"Dark brown," Ryder corrected me. "But close."

"Okay."

We stood in front of his grandmother's house, staring down the ground and not saying anything.

Usually, I was fine with silences. Me and Ryder had a lot of those, firstly because I often found the urge to stream (sometimes illegally) tv-shows at random times, and secondly because Ryder easily dozed off whenever he was with me. He said that it was because he found my presence too comforting and he only got little sleep at home.

Or maybe I just had a better quality bed.

But this silence was deafening.

"So..." Ryder was the one who started talking, phew. "You met the Dragon Lady."

"Now I know why you were sometimes so intense."

"It runs in the family," he chuckled. And then, all of a sudden, I felt the warmth of his fingers interlocked unto mine. "It's how we all get away from being assholes most of the time. Our intensity."

"You're not a butthole," I said.

"Ah," his eyes softened as he stared towards me, and just like magic, I melted in his sea of chocolate. "What did I do to ever deserve this?"

"I believe," I breathed, "That the expression is often said whenever someone's facing a great misfortune."

"Or if someone's facing a great treasure."

Despite how hard I tried to control the beating of my heart, it still jumped out of my ribcage.

"I like it when your face is red," he said as he surprised me with a kiss on the cheek.

I pouted, and then kissed him back on the cheek. "You don't get red easily. It's not fair."

"But you get to converse with my grandmother for more than half an hour and can still smile," he smiled at me. "That means you're stronger than I would ever be."

"Promise me something," I tightened my fingers around his. "Promise me that you'll make better woodwork."

"I will."

"And you'll be great. Wait, no, that implicates that I don't believe that you'll be great," I looked at him in the eyes and took a breath before saying, "I know that you'll be great."

I pounded on my chest while I was at it. "And if you must know, Mrs. Black tried her best to intimidate me a la Black fashion, but I refrained myself from puking and running away like the last time."

Ryder chuckled. "Bravo, you."

"I feel so proud of myself-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Ryder's whole body was slammed into mine. His arms were circled around me and he buried his face on my hair. I instantly recalled when was the last time I shampooed my hair, or if he liked the flavor of my shampoo (but then Strawberry was pretty non-offending for anyone, right?). My face was on his shoulder blade and there was a nice, warm sensation as his whole upper body was pressed against mine.

"Ryder?" I asked.

"I'm going to be great," he whispered to my neck. "I'm going to be great and treat you all of the most beautiful things in the world."

He pressed closer against me, if it was possible. "I never want to lose you. I don't know what I'm going to be if I ever lose you. You're my rock, April."

I'd never seen him so vulnerable before.

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"Anyway, I forgot, what's your grandmother's name?"

"Seriously?"

"There were too many words! I thought you were joking the first time. I've been referring her to either Mrs. Black or Grannie all these time. Mostly ma'am, though."

"To be totally honest, April..."

"Yes?"

"I don't think she knows your name, either."

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Whoooaaaaa,,

I'm sorry that this one took so long. Haha. Truthfully, I hit a pretty bad writer's block and my personal life has been pretty hard. 

Anyway, I'm planning to do something different. I want to make chapters from Ryder's POV. What do you think about it? 

If you have time, please check out my new story, No Saving Needed. :) It's a little different than what I usually write, but I damn put my whole heart on it haha.