Rudy works out his problems with his mom and Heather gets a boy toy. Things turn out good in the end. Except for Elon, he’s still a cement block

Looks like we go through to Rudy's mom as she opened up to us. Turns out that she was expecting her boyfriend to take care of her, only for him to get fed up with his life and leave. I can see how that messed her up, and this has led to a decade of ramifications for both of them. Well, I'm here to set things straight, so let's get to it.

"Well, Rudy's Mother, it seems that your problem is your dependency on your boyfriend. That wasn't the best idea considering how volatile such an arrangement was."

"But I don't know what to do by myself. I've never been taught any skills. I only had my boyfriend to depend on because our parents wouldn't help me."

"Well, you're going to have to learn how to be independent from here on. You can't keep living like this. First of all, you're going to have to move out to a better environment and that means finding a job. You can't depend on the the government to bail you out of this. Even an easy entry-level job can be attained. And your son can you help you out. Isn't that right, Rudy?"

"Yeah," he answers enthusiastically, "I'll help you out mom. Just get the hell out of here."

She looks at her son and says, "You'd do that for me? Even after all I've done to you?"

"Yeah. You're my mom, after all."

"Another thing you need to do is apologize to your son. He didn't deserve the treatment you gave him after all these years. He's going to have to go to therapy to deal with his fascination with human waste, and the first step is for you to apologize."

"Understood," she confirms. "Son, I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I'm a bad mother."

"No you weren't, mom. You still fed me, gave me clothes, and never kicked me out. You did all that for me even though you were suffering. Besides, I've met Nola's mom. Now there's a terrible parent."

"Nola?"

"It's that girl that I brought home earlier. She's my friend. I didn't knew you had the same name as hers. That... just makes things weird."

She sulks a bit, looking at the dirty floor, looking around her at the mess this place is. "No son. You deserve better than me. You're going to college, right?"

"I'm trying. I'm getting a sports scholarship."

"That's right, you love sports and working out."

"Yeah. My dad got me into it."

"Don't worry about me, Rudy. Just go, live on your life. I'll figure out what to do with my life by myself."

I then interject, "I'll give you a list of programs that can help you. I do insist that your son at least visits you to make sure you are doing well."

"I guess that's fine," she answers. "I just don't feel like I deserve his respect. I've been meaning to apologize to him, but I never could. That was back when he was little. Now he's a fully grown man. I missed out on his life."

Eventually, Rudy and her mom talked things out while I stepped out into the car. After an hour, Rudy steps out of the house and I drive him back to the school.

"Am I going to be okay?" He asks.

"Yes, but in the long term. This is going to take some time."

"I know that. I just wanted to know, that's all. Damn, her name is Nola, of all things."

"Best not to think about that, Rudy. Besides, I'm sure you'll soon realize what Nola actually means to you. Think about that, Rudy, because this is important. Nola is your friend, but what is your friendship built on. Really think about that, because we're now working to mitigate your desires for toilet matters."

"Yeah, I know. I'll think about it for sure."

When we arrive at school, Rudy gets in his car and drives home, hopefully to talk to his mother again. What a crazy bunch of kids. Nola, Elon, and Rudy. They still got a long way to go before finally normalizing, but at least we got to the root of their problems. Now it's on them.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think Rudy mentioned a fourth member. What was their name? Well, if they do have problems, I'm sure they'll let me know.

==Heather POV==

After waiting for a bit, Elon finally arrives.

"Yo, Heather," he says when he arrives.

"Elon, long time no see."

"Come on, it hasn't been that long."

"It feels like an eternity. I can't remember the last time we hung out together."

"Things have gone crazy in the last few weeks. I was trying to get them settled."

"Yeah, I know. Nola has been going through some stuff, but she's changing for the better. She's now practicing soccer with me and Rudy is going to help her exercise and eat right."

"Yeah, she told me. We actually talked a bit. She forgave me for the kiss. Man, a load of my back."

"Why did you kiss her, anyways? I never understood that."

"I don't even know myself. It was because she couldn't go at the time, but realistically, I felt like kissing her."

"Or maybe you're desperate for a girlfriend?"

"I'm not desperate. I'm quite patient."

"Maybe too patient. So, when's it going to happen?"

"When's what going to happen?"

"Come on, Elon. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Elon. You can't be this dense."

"Dense about what? What are you talking about?"

"Man, still? Even after therapy? Jeez." I just stood there, looking at the poor fool and his goofy face. The face that's been molded after years of being subservient to Nola. Can't be helped. Looks like I go to take a page out of Rudy and Nola's book. "You know, being this dense isn't so bad. I mean, you won't even know if another woman is trying to hit on you. But then again, you won't even know if a guy is trying to hit on me. That is a problem, but I can take care of that."

"Pardon?"

"Here's how it's going to go down. Get a haircut, shorten your hair from the front and the sides, but keep it long on the back. I like ponytails in guys. I guess your body's alright, but try to work out at least a half an hour a day, maybe more in the weekends. Your book smart, so that's a plus, but try to be street smart too so you won't be a walking brick for the rest of your life. I'm guessing this will all take the rest of this semester. By next year, you should be ready."

"What are you going on about? Ready for what?"

"To reach the top, of course. Keep climbing, Elon," and I just walk away, leaving him dumbfounded. Sometimes, you just got to tell people what to do. Molding him to fit my needs is just a little bonus, I guess.

== Elon POV ==

Climb to the top. There's that metaphor again. Someday she'll have to explain that to me.