History Class: Ms. Kaufman

Hearing Eyree speak a different language absolutely amazed Lupe. Her eyes widened in awe. Eyree could have been telling her "Go screw yourself" in Russian, and Lupe would have no idea. But it sure did sound cool, even if she was telling Lupe to go screw herself. "Iunno wha ju said, but it was really cool..." she spoke softly.

Kaufman had to say, she was impressed with this group of kids. They were so out there. In a good way. "Alrighty then. Well then Pinky, you're up!" Katrina grinned. "You seem like you've got a lot to say, so let's hear it!"

Fred grinned at the new arrival to the class as she came in and sat down, but opted to talk to her when it was her turn. When Mimi mentioned that her big sister was into fashion designing, something clicked in his memory. He remembered that John had recently been leaving the house more often than usual, despite his schedule as an underground combatant remaining normal. John had also been in an amused mood and had been earning more money as well. The older sibling had also worn a few outfits, Fred hadn't seen before.

"Mimi, does your older sister know my brother John?" Fred asked her with an honest interest.

Watching the dark-complected girl stroll into class, Kaufman’s eyes narrowed. Was this kid walking in to her class without saying good morning? Why she ought a-! “Yo, even later kid!” She cried. “You come in here and you don’t even say ‘morning’? Or ‘hi’? Or ‘yo homey g, sup’? Sheesh! Kids these days.” She sighed shaking her head. The cogs in her brain took a moment to start working again before she realized what she just said. “Not that I’m old or anything! I’m young. I’m like… twenty… somethin’… But anyway! I have a question for you, kiddo! Well, it’s not a question, but, I want you to be my teacher’s assistant!” Kaufman grinned. Mimi was super active and very optimistic. She’d be the best fit for when Katrina was flooded with work. “Whadda ya say?”

“Pfff, dey call your brother a guard dog?” Lupe snickered. Lupe has seen all of the Wilders before, especially John. He didn’t really seem like any type of dog, but the way Mimi described him, she couldn’t help but picture a Chihuahua, even though John was probably more of Rottweiler. This Mimi certainly was funny.

"Guard dog?" All pretenses dropped and Fred couldn't stop the look of shock that came across his features at the term. Most of the islanders either had heard about John or had seen him with their own eyes, and they would all unanimously agree that he wasn't the type to guard anything or anyone outside his own family. And he was at Mimi's house this morning? That jackass! No wonder none of them had seen him this morning! And here their mother was worried sick that someone might have actually killed him after last night's fight at the arena. Boy, was he in for a royal ass-chewing when he got home.

"Um... I'll have to ask you more about that later. Meet me after class, okay?" Fred asked Mimi, intent on getting answers, but preferably not in front of the whole class. Then he turned to Lupe, shaking his head a little, still in disbelief. "No, he's not usually known as a guard dog." He admitted, dragging a hand through his short hair, "Most people know him by his stage name, Rodeo."

"Rodeo, eh?" the Hispanic thought aloud. She was just about to ask "How come?" When something in her head connected him to cowboys. Suddenly a dirty grin made its way to her face. "Hehe, cowboy... He kinda sounds like a stripper."

"Woah! We shall have no talk of strippers in here, young lady!" Kaufman warned, waving a finger. It didn't look like she was serious, though.

"I'm just sayin, it sounds like he's a stripper. Wait, Fred, is he?" Lupe inquired.

"John's too mean to be a stripper." Fred answered bluntly, shaking his head, "He'd probably scare the daylights out of anyone who came close enough to him. No, he fights in the arena. There are a lot of people that cheer him on, but usually nobody outside our family has enough guts to approach him. Not unless they're picking a fight, anyway."

Fred quirked an eyebrow at Mimi's question.

"You mean you didn't know about his reputation?" He asked in a lowered voice, "John's known for being the most hot-headed one in the family. He tends to win most all of his fights at the arena and that lures wannabe tough guys to him. They have the attitude that if they can beat him, they'll be the big shot. Too bad for them, he loves a good fight, fair or not. If he was there at your house this morning, you shouldn't have anything to worry about though. John's not the kind of guy that shows up for no reason."

From what Mimi had just said about her sister, the girl was either incredibly brave or downright insane. So John had come home, couldn't sleep and called Mimi's sister to alleviate his boredom? That was a new one. Well, unless they were sleeping together. In that case, Fred wouldn't be the least bit surprised. It wasn't unheard of for his older brother to do that, but he didn't usually stay the whole night.

Fred's attention was now on Eyree as she asked her question. "Well there's our parents, and I have eight siblings, so there's technically eleven of us on the island. It'll be twelve sometime next year though, because my oldest brother is getting married."