Meet the Soranens*

[Croco†]

((Continued from: A Matter of Convenience))

After the little get-together at the convenience store, Vesa Turunen was finally able to get home to his waiting family in the blissful Carrington Pointe.  Of course, he drew a couple stares from neighbors who silently objected to his choice of music as he passed them by, though he didn't mind a bit.  But then again, the disc he had put in was Nightwish's "Century Child" as he was a big fan of the opera-metal band from his native land, so it wasn't as bad as they had thought.  He came across the house of the family that he was staying with...3646 Fox Lookout Drive...an ordinary two-story home that looked very similar to the others in appearance.  A smile came over Vesa's face as he saw that his adoptive "brother" had a few of his friends playing a game of driveway hockey as he pulled up and honked the horn a couple times.  The kids stopped just as a taller boy was about to fire on the young netminder guarding the goal, which was a typical street hockey goal made out of black PVC piping.

"Hey Otter!" Vesa called out as he shut down his red Toyota, "Got room for one more?"  The goalie, which was the resident boy named Olli Soranen, took off his mask and raced over to the car, still parked on the street as he got out to open the back door.  Meanwhile, the other kids looked over Vesa with a curious awe; they hardly ever saw him and didn't know what to think.

"Hey Travis, is that Olli's brother?" one asked.

"I think so...in a way," the kid next to him answered, "He said that he was living with them for the year and then moving to Toronto...must be an exchange student or something."

The boy on the other side of the one that initiated the conversation stood there, eyes wide with disbelief.  "Call me crazy, Justin...but if I didn't know any better, I'd say that kid was..."  But then, Olli brought Vesa over to where they were standing with a wide grin on his face.

"Guys, this is Vesa...he's the kid that staying with us from Finland," said Olli, "Vesa...this is Kevin, on the left...in the middle is Justin and on the right is Travis...they're my best friends."  Vesa smiled and waggled his fingers sheepishly as a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair came outside with a disgusted look on her face.  This was Carola Soranen, the female head of the house...and while her husband, Tommi(or just "Tom" to everyone else), was more leniant with most matters, Carola was the epitome of a whipcracker and someone who pushed everyone she knew to their limits.  And while this was a good thing in some instances, as in the case that both Vesa and Olli had their homework done, often before 6 o'clock...it got on peoples' nerves on others.

This turned out to be one of those times as Carola stormed over to where Vesa was.

"Vesa!  Where have you been?" she asked, her blue eyes piercing into those of the boy she was staring up at.

"I thought I told you I was stopping at Benson's to meet up with a couple friends," protested the long-haired boy.  "I didn't think they would show up, and then something happened that..."

"Something happened?  What happened?"

"There was a fight between Jodeen's older brother and another kid!" chirped Olli, which drew a scowl from Vesa and a gasp from Carola.

"Olli!" snapped Vesa, but Carola was quick to retort.

"A fight, hmm?  Were you in it?"

"No, but I stopped to talk to a couple other kids I recognized from the diner...I'm sorry I was late."  Though she was often pushy, Carola was also sympathetic as well.

"That's good...perhaps we can come inside and discuss a few pressing matters."  Vesa nodded and folled Carola into the house while the boys continued on with their game.