Upset Youth - 3

Chapter Three:

As soon as all the introductions were done Winona ushered all of them into an ancient, bright red, pick up truck that was parked a little way off from the space dock's main parking lot. The giant monster of a vehicle intimidated Spock to no end. It was huge and still had wheels. In a time frame when nearly everything had a hover base this was a shock.           

           "You still have this thing?" Amanda commented as she threw their luggage into the bed of the truck. Winona laughed from somewhere near the front of the car. Spock didn't know where she had disappeared to, he had stayed extremely close to his mother's knees.        

                       "Of course I do. It's more reliable than any of the hover cars I could have gotten," Winona responded.        

                       "You ever seen a pick up?" Jim's voice sounded in Spock's ear making him jump ever so slightly.        

                       "No," he responded instantly and efficiently. Jim smiled widely.        

                       "Then you're in for one hell of a ride," he whispered conspiratorially. That was when his mother called for him to be a good gentleman and open the door for their guests. He bowed sarcastically and opened the door for them. "For you," he said, winking at Spock.    

This Jim Kirk was extremely weird. None the of the Vulcan children ever acted like he did. It put Spock on an edge he wasn't used to. Before he could dwell to long on it Amanda tapped his shoulder and pointed inside. Spock turned his head to look at the inside of the cab. His eyes widened a fraction and for only one reason. This monster of a car was so much bigger than he was that his eyes barely came of the curve of the seat just standing next to it.       

                      "Spock, go ahead," Amanda pushed. Spock tilted his head to look at her. She frowned softly then looked between the truck and her son. "Oh." She said quietly. Without another word she reached down, grasped Spock under his arms and easily lifted him into the cab. For a woman who looked like she couldn't way more than one hundred pounds, she was certainly very strong.        

                       "There. Now, buckle up," Amanda said and stepped back so Jim could slide in.    

As Spock slid across the seat to make room, his hip bumped someone else's. His eyes widened and he looked over. It was Winona. She was smiling down at him widely. "Hey there, buddy. Need some help buckling up?" She asked and before he could answer she reached across and pulled the buckle across his lap snapping it into it's clip.        

                       "Hey, Spock, scooch," Jim said, nudging him slightly. Spock shifted only because Jim nudged him. It honestly didn't do much. The human boy smiled again, sat down and easily buckled himself in. It annoyed Spock slightly that this boy could easily get in and settled down into this monster. But, he ignored it. It was just a truck after all.    

Then the 'one hell of a ride' started. And it most certainly was hell. The truck started with a bang and  bumped down the road with such force that Spock was deadly certain that the thin strap of fabric holding his waist wasn't going to keep him in place. The entire time they drove, Jim chattered on and on about the lands around them, who owned them, whose places should be avoided and who gave the best
lemonade.   

Honestly none of it made any sense to Spock but he was learning, if not focusing on it so to keep his mind off of certain death.

After nearly an hour of a bone jarring car ride, Winona slowed the car down to a halt. Taking a chance, Spock looked out of the front window for the first time. His eyes landed on a two story farm house with a huge wrap around porch. It was a cheerfully light blue house with white trim. Not too far off from the house was a large barn that, in comparison to the house, looked like it was kept together by only the smallest threads. Spock made a mental note to avoid the barn. But the house looked okay.        

                          "Since when?" Amanda spoke, drawing everyone's eyes to her. She was looking at Winona with a wide smirk.      
   
                          "What?" Winona asked, her eyes sparkled innocently. Amanda tilted her head toward the house.        

                          "Since when?" She repeated. "Don't tell me you fixed up the house just for little ol' me," she said, crossing her arms.       
  
                           "Alright, I won't," Winona said simply then hopped out of the car.

Amanda sighed with a shake of her head.        

                            "Jim. Did you fix up your house recently?" Amanda asked, looking down at the sandy haired youth. Jim looked up at her just as innocently as his mother had.        
         
                            "Maybe," he said with an ambiguous smile. Amanda laughed and ruffled his hair, to which he pouted and stuck out his tongue. "Hey, none the that! Your messing up my good looks," he said. Amanda laughed again and hopped out of the truck as well.    

Spock watched the two with a small flash of envy. His mother never ruffled his hair. Then again it wasn't exactly considered appropriate. Pushing it away he focused on figuring out the infernal buckle on his waist. When it didn't just pop off at his attentions, he looked over at Jim. The other boy was still in the car and staring at him with intense interest.        

                             "Yes?" Spock asked, annoyance clear in his voice.    

Jim just smiled and shook his head. "Nothing," he said cheerfully as he unbuckled and almost jumped out of the car. He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Can you unbuckle?" He asked. Spock frowned and looked away. "You can't, can you?" Jim pressed leaned back, his face uncomfortably close to Spock's.        

                              "No," Spock said finally.        

                               "Here," Jim reached across and pressed onto a little red button. "Just push and," the buckle clicked and fell open, "it opens." Spock stared for a moment. Jim watched him and then frowned. "It's really not than interesting. Come on, let's go," he said, tugging lightly on Spock's sleeve.    

Spock frowned and pulled back slightly but he followed Jim out of the car nonetheless.        

In the time it took for Spock to finally get unbuckled his mother and Jim's had managed to get all the luggage and up to the front door. Winona was currently unlocking the door and carrying Spock's bag and her purse. Shoving the front door open with her foot they stepped inside.    

The entire building shrieked comfort and human. The walls were covered with photographs of distant family members and friends but a majority of them contained Jim and another boy (who must be his brother, since they looked so much a like). Right across from the door were stairs leading up and off to the right was a wide open arch leading into the living room which had large comfortable, well used, looking furniture. To their right was a slightly obscured door that led to a kitchen that displayed a strange chicken theme (something that to this day would disturb Spock).        

                            "Well, welcome to the Kirk home," Winona said, breaking Spock's observational thoughts. He looked up at her and detected nervousness. Why? It was a nice place. But, then, she must be nervous because the house certainly wasn't Vulcan. He looked over at his mother. Amanda had a rather strange expression on her face. It was soft and reflective with a hint of longing. All in all a rather strange expression to display when simply seeing a friends house.        

                            "It hasn't changed," Amanda said softly, looking at Winona, who scratched her neck. "It's so nice to see your house again."    

For reasons unknown to Spock, Amanda dropped her bag and launched herself into another hug with Winona, who gladly accepted.    

Jim elbowed him, making Spock jerk back. "They're going to be like this for awhile. Come on, I'll show you to your room, then I'll show you around. Okay?" He said. Spock nodded slightly, not really understanding just what was happening. Jim leaned down and grabbed Spock's bag when the other attempted to grab it himself.        

                            "Nope, you're the guest. I get to take care of you," he said, grinning widely. Spock let it go, since he knew there was no point, not with the rather determined look in Jim's eye. "Come on," Jim said, stepped around their mother's who were still hugging like it was their only life support. Spock followed the other boy up the stairs.    

Turning left at the top Jim led him down the hall that had even more pictures on the walls than the rest of the house.         

                          "That's my room," Jim said, gesturing to a particularly messy room. "That's Sam's," he continued passing a room with the door firmly closed. "He's out with my uncle Frank right now. You'll meet them later," he said. Spock was surprised to note that Jim's face darkened at any mention of this 'Frank' fellow. "My mom's is the room at the far end of the hall. Yours is right here," he said, stopping at a door.    

Pushing it opened he revealed a clean guest room with two beds, a dresser and a wide open window. There was also another door leading who knows where.        

                             "You and your mom are gonna be sharing, kay?" Jim said, throwing the bag onto the smaller of the two beds, which was most likely going to be Spock's.        

                             "Affirmative," Spock responded, looking around the room. Jim shot a strange look but he missed it. "Where does this door lead?" He asked, pointing at the other door that was next to the chest of drawers.        

                              "Oh, the bathroom. See?" Jim pulled open the door with a flourish. The bathroom on the other side was painted bluish-green and covered with ducks. "You're going to share it with Sam, myself and your mom, kay?" He said, tilting his head slightly.        

                               "Affirmative," Spock repeated. This time he didn't miss the look.    

Jim put his hands on his hips. "'Affirmative'?" He repeated. Spock frowned and nodded. Jim simply laughed. "Alright, whatever," he said, stepping up to him.        

                           "Jim!" Winona called from downstairs. Jim jumped and looked guilty.        

                          "Yea, mom?" He called back making Spock wince at the loud noise.        

                           "What did you do to the kitchen?!" His mother called. Jim shot Spock a huge grin.        

                           "Coming mom!" He reached over and patted Spock's shoulder. "Be right back. I'm going into a war zone."     

Spock jerked slightly. "A war zone? Why?" He asked, his eyes wide. Since when was Iowa a part of war. Was there something he was missing. Besides, wasn't Jim a little young to be going to war.    

Jim laughed. "Gotta go do the dishes."        

                           "In the middle of a battle?" Spock asked, not understanding any more than he did before.        
                          "What?" Jim asked. He blinked at the Vulcan and the Vulcan blinked back. Neither of them understood and it was going to take awhile before comprehension was going to pass between them.        

                          "Jim!" Winona called again.        

                          "Coming!" Jim called back, sounding annoyed that she had to call him again. "Be back, Spock," he said and left the room in a flash.    

Watching Jim leave for little less than a minute, Spock turned and looked around the room. His eyes landed on the bed and he was suddenly hit with how tired he was. His shoulders ached and his eyes felt heavy. Well, it was late at night on Vulcan. Suppressing a small yawn, he stepped across the room, pulled the bag off the bed and proceeded to fall onto said bed.     Not a minute later, Spock was fast asleep and oddly content.    

Downstairs, Jim bounded into the kitchen. There he found Amanda seated at the table with a cup of tea and his mother was standing at the sink with her arms cross. She looked furious. Glancing once at Amanda, who was smirking softly, he looked over at his mother.        

                         "Yes mom?" He asked in his most winning voice. Winona arched her eyebrows and pointed at the sink. Hesitantly he stepped forward and looked into the sink.    

It really was a war zone. Jelly and peanut butter had apparently exploded all over the once clean white surface of the sink, followed by a plate that seemed to have seen the worst of the battle. Jim laughed awkwardly.        

                        "About that," he started.    

Winona shook her head. "The next time you have a PB&J try and actually eat more than you drop into the sink, okay?" She said, her face softening. Jim nodded. "I mean it looks like Normandy in there," she said with a small laugh.     

                       "Sorry," he said.        

                        "Yea, yea. Get to work, then you can drag Spock around the old place," Winona said.        

                       "After his nap," Amanda spoke. Both Kirk's looked over at her. She blinked for a moment then laughed. "On Vulcan it's almost ten o'clock. By now he would be in bed. So, he'll need a quick nap before you 'drag' him anywhere," she said, taking a sip of her tea.    

Jim nodded. "Alright. I can't wait to show him Joseph's dog," he said. Amanda and Winona exchanged glances. "He's Great Dane."    

Amanda visibly blanched. Maybe a tour wasn't such a good idea.