Seventeenth Lovely

The next morning, I woke Couro up for school. Just as I always did. Usually, I left Gora to tend to himself, but this morning, I decided to knock on his door. He never came home and I eventually opened the door to see no one lying in his bed. I sighed, hoping he'd gone straight there. Couro showered, got dressed, brushed, packed her bags, and brought all her things downstairs. She set her bag and coat beside the stairs, ready for me to drive her after breakfast. As I set her food before her, the door opened.

"Gora." Nothing. No response, no movement. After a minute, he appeared from the other side of the doorframe.
Standing there, was a tall, dark figure. Black sweatshirt, black sweatpants. "Yeah?" He was nervous, but did a good job of covering it. Carrying a red box, he watched me as I left Couro to walk up to him.
"Care to explain?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again, and closed it again. Finally, he spat out, "I had to go somewhere." I narrowed my eyes at him, and I saw him take a step back. Quickly, he spewed, "I didn't think it'd take so long. My phone died and I couldn't find my portable, and the car broke down and I had to call someone to fix it but they bailed on me so I had to get someone else. They then tried to charge me so I agreed, but then I didn't have any money and that just wasted a whole hour of both of our time since I was in the middle of nowhere and--" He stopped, then looked over me. "Couro, I came back, I promise. I didn't forget you."
I put a hand to his chest and held him back. "Where were you last night? Not even gonna tell me?"
Gora sputtered. Then he pushed back and rushed into the kitchen. "I bought these," he dropped the box onto the table. "Thought you'd like them." With the feeblest smile imaginable, he looked back at me.
Upset, I ignored his stunt and pressed, "So where's the car now?"
"Repair shop," he sighed, his smile falling. "I couldn't fix it."
Pinchin my nose, I leaned onto the doorframe. "So how'd you get home?"
"A friend."
"Same person you stayed the night with?" Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he looked down. "Hm. You know this means you can't drive anymore, right?"
"Yeah."
"Any run-ins with the police?"
"No." Looking up, he gave me a face. As if he couldn't believe I'd ask such a thing.
"Just checking," I shrugged. Gora stared at me, probably waiting for me to send him to school. It was just after eight on a Monday morning, he was expecting it. But honestly, I didn't care if he went or not that specific day. Disappeared all day, trashed my car, and didn't have the decency to apologize. He was already an hour late and seeing how little he cared, pushing it would be only more efforts going to waste. Maybe tomorrow, but I couldn't be bothered today. I just nodded my head and watched him head upstairs.
He went up to his room, somewhat sulking. There was some genuine shame radiating off him. Odd, but appreciated. Maybe a bit of self-scolding would get my message across. I pushed myself off the doorframe and turned toward the kitchen table.
Sitting in the middle of it, was Couro's red box. Curious, Couro looked up from her breakfast and watched as I opened it. Christmas sweaters. One for me, for himself, for Couro, and even one for the puppy. I held it up and let Couro gawk at it. They were adorable--matching big Christmas Trees with colorful decorations all over it. White in the back for snow and velvet red lining on the arms, hems, and necks. Overhead, Miske was sewn in blue into the snow-white backdrop. Carefully, I folded them back up and sealed the box back up.
Tuning to Couro, I slapped on a smile, "Ready for school, sweetie?"