"Don't think I'm going to be like thankful to you for taking me in," he said to the new lady. If he didn't feel it, it wouldn't hurt when it ended.
When she went on about raising her kids, he reached into his bag. He felt something he hadn't placed in there. He closed his hand around it. Foil? He pulled it out and looked at it. A Ding Dong?
It was like the ones the kids at school had-when he went to school. He'd never had one. Growing up, he was lucky on days he ate three squares. He'd been careful not to look too longingly as the boys opened their foil wrappers and dug into the chocolate cakes. If he looked too long, the kids would notice, and being noticed was never good.
If he kept his head down, ate his food and read his chess book, they'd leave him alone, and no one would have to know he was poor, or that his mother couldn't buy him Ding Dongs. Then there'd be no fights.
When he struck out on his own, (His mother hadn't left him; she was missing, but she'd be back as long as Brenda, or this new lady could find her. And it wasn't the boyfriend. Carl. Rusty stood his ground, and then he ended up at the zoo.) he didn't have much opportunity for Ding Dongs.
For the first time, Rusty was free, but he also learned what it truly meant to starve. He turned to thievery, something he'd never thought he'd do. Even as his mother and Carl stole for their next fix, Rusty shook his head. Even with the shiners, there was a voice somewhere in his head saying he was better than that. But when he had no idea where his next meal would be coming from, he had no choice.
The larger grocery stores were easier. He could blend in there. He took foods that were accessible and ready made. Lots of fruit, bread, vegetables. It wasn't the best diet, but it was all he could manage. Ding Dongs were the furthest thing from his mind.
When he discovered he could make money, he needed the cash for clothes and the occasional place to stay. Food. Avoiding the cops, or at least he tried, until Stroh ruined that.
"Just when you get good at being a mother, you're fired," she said.
"Or you quit." He put the Ding Dong on the coffee table. He didn't want it. Didn't need it. And it wouldn't last anyway.