Legal stuff still stands, still not making money, still don't own them!
Chapter 2: Its Thanksgiving
Bobby set the bags on the counter and then walked to the bottom of the stairway. "Hey you pussies get your asses out of bed and get down here!" He yelled the words loud. "We have a Thanksgiving meal to prepare!" He turned and walked back to the kitchen. "Well, Jack and Craig have a meal to prepare anyway." He laughed as he looked at Jerry.
"Did he eat last night?" Jerry asked.
"Did who eat?" Bobby looked at Jerry, not sure what his brother was talking about.
"Craig. You remember him?" Jerry asked, holding one arm out to his side at shoulder's length. "White boy, about so high, he has brown hair and some funny colored eyes that are supposed to be hazel."
"Yeah, he ate. He stood right there at the counter and ate a bowl of spaghetti before he went to bed." He spoke seriously. "I was watching, trust me."
"You're sure he didn't take the bowl and stir the shit around a bit and then dump it?" Jerry asked.
Bobby gave Jeremiah a sarcastic look. "What are you talking about?"
"He's been dumping food Bobby. He's not eating. He's barely eaten since the shooting. He hasn't been sleeping either." Jerry shook his head. He didn't hesitate to walk over to the trash can, pick it up and look inside. "Yep, spaghetti," He held the can so that Bobby could look inside. "I told you to keep an eye on him."
"How did you know?" Bobby asked while Jerry put the trash can back down.
"You remember how he was when Ma first brought him home. He wouldn't eat, couldn't sleep without nightmares. We all had to watch him. I noticed it when he was at the house this week, but with everything going on I never had a chance to talk to him, or push it with him. I figured you would take care of that since you were home. He is gonna be your responsibility now."
Bobby shook his head. "I guess none of us were really thinking last night." He went back to pulling groceries out of the bag in front of him. "So, he hasn't told you what happened that night?"
Jerry shook his head. "I didn't ask. He wouldn't tell the police anything." He sighed. "Bobby, you need to keep an eye on him, I'm telling you. You give him a hard time about everything, don't do that right now. He needs to know he's gonna be okay."
Bobby nodded his head. "I got the message Jerr'." He spoke quietly. "Why don't we get his ass down here now and explain to him how he's gonna eat his holiday turkey, and we are gonna make sure of it." He smiled.
"You do what you think is best. I'm just advising here. Mom named you as the one to take him if anything happened to her. She did that for a reason." Jerry picked up the last paper bag on the counter. "These are his clothes, a couple of shirts and a pair of jeans. Camille washed and ironed them." He held the bag out to Bobby.
Bobby took the bag and headed up the stairs. He stopped at Jack's room. "You up?" He leaned on the door jam, looking at Jack who was sitting on the edge of the bed, putting on his socks and shoes.
"I'm up." Jack looked up at Bobby. "Not that I wanted to be up at this time of the morning." He shook his head.
"Toughen up little girl, we got a turkey for you to cook." Bobby grinned and walked on down the hall. He could hear Angel and Sofi in the rest room together, the shower running. He sighed and went onto the only closed door, Craig's small room. Bobby stared at the door for a long moment. The room had been a closet when Evelyn had first brought Craig home. He and Jerry had done some work on it, managing to add a couple of square feet of space and a small window. It was still a very tiny room, and he wondered why the boy had continued to use it after the oldest four brothers had moved out. He didn't bother to knock; he opened the door and walked on in, "Get your ass out of bed sleeping beauty." He spoke the words before he realized the room was empty. The bed hadn't been made, but other than that the room was in good shape. It was cleaner than any of the other brothers had ever kept their rooms. It took a moment for the man to absorb the meaning of the empty room. He dropped the bag on the bed, turned and walked back to Jack's room. Jack was on his feet now.
"Have you seen your little brother?" He spoke quickly.
Jack shook his head. "No, I thought he was still in bed." He walked out of his room following Bobby.
At that moment the restroom door opened and Angel walked out, mostly dressed, but he was pulling his shirt over his head.
"Angel, have you seen Craig this morning?" Bobby walked towards the stairs, not waiting for an answer.
"No." Angel looked at Jack with a questioning expression on his face.
"Guess he's gone?" Jack shrugged his shoulders before following Angel down the steps.
Jerry was getting pots and pans out of the cupboard. He looked at Bobby as the man walked in, with Angel and Jack on his heels. "Where is Craig?" He asked the question slowly.
"He's not here." Bobby reached for his car keys.
"Where are you going?" Jerry asked.
"I'm going to go find his ass and get him home." Bobby's voice was loud.
"You don't even know where to start looking." Angel pointed out. "You have no idea where he would go or where he hangs out."
"There are not a whole lot of places he could go this time of morning." Jack spoke up. "It's Thanksgiving after all."
"But he could have been gone last night, and there are a lot of places he could be right now." Angel countered.
"You guys don't know if he's been gone all night or not?" Jerry cried out.
"Well, we were a little preoccupied with the Angel/La Vida Loca thing last night." Jack commented.
Bobby looked at Jeremiah, "You have any idea where he might me?"
Jerry shook his head. "No, man, he never goes anywhere; Ma never let him out of her sight especially after that graffiti thing."
Bobby, Angel and Jack looked confused by the statement.
"He was caught painting graffiti at the school. You can still see it if you drive by." Jerry laughed.
"What did he paint?" Bobby asked the question sarcastically, "Bugs Bunny?"
"Ma wished." Jerry laughed. "A naked lady lying on her side, looking sexy," He shook his head. "I thought Ma was gonna kill him. It's actually pretty good too."
Bobby grinned. "Sounds like we might have rubbed off on him a little after all," He walked back towards the front door and grabbed his jacket off the hook. "Where ever he is he didn't take his coat." He called back. "If he comes home before I find him, you guys keep him here." He pulled his coat on, and then grabbed Craig's to take with him.
Craig walked several blocks before turning a corner and finding himself at the school. He looked up at his fading artwork on the second story of the building. Evelyn had been furious with him about that. Not because of the graffiti, but because he'd climbed out on the ledge to do it. Okay, she'd been mad about the graffiti too, and she'd told him that he couldn't do things like that, but she lectured him more about putting himself in danger, and how it would have tore her up if he'd fallen and been hurt in any way. She'd grounded him until hell froze over. He'd been considered grounded for six months, right up until her murder. That was the reason he'd been with her that night. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone. He walked over to the playground and positioned himself on a swing. He sat there staring at the naked woman. The school was supposed to paint over it, but they never had. Evelyn had paid the fine, and the cost of removing the painting, but they still hadn't done anything about it.
He let his head rest on the chain of the swing and closed his burning eyes. He was starting to feel shakier and the cold was starting to bother him. He was wearing long johns, a sweatshirt, and a flannel shirt over that, but it didn't seem to be quite enough. He gave himself a few more minutes before standing and walking again. He still didn't want to go back to the house, but he had to get warm. He headed towards the strip of small retail shops a few blocks over. He had a couple of dollars in his pocket, and he was sure the gas station was open, it was always open. He could get a cup of coffee and hang out there for a few minutes to warm up.
He didn't notice the car that followed him from the school and up the street at a slow pace. He didn't pay any attention to the car as it pulled up at the gas station as he walked through the door and straight over to the counter that held the coffee pot. He was happy to be indoors where it was warm. He started pouring sugar and creamer into a cup. He wasn't really a coffee drinker, but it would be hot and he could use the caffeine. He was on his third creamer when he heard the voice behind him.
"A little more cream than I like." Bobby's voice was flat, with no emotion.
Craig froze for a moment. He swallowed back the fear and drew in a deep breath. "I guess it's a good thing it's not for you then." He muttered and poured the cream into the cup.
"It's not for you. You don't drink coffee, you're only a kid." Bobby's hand came around from behind and took the cup. "You can get some hot chocolate." He poured the cream and sugar down the drain of the soda machine, and then filled it with coffee. "Hurry up, hot chocolate." He put the lid on the cup.
Craig grabbed another cup. "I don't have enough money for hot chocolate, it cost more than coffee." He muttered.
"I have the money." Bobby leaned back on the counter and looked at the boy. "You look like shit." He his voice was loud. "You are not drinking coffee so that you can stay awake. You get the hot chocolate and meet me in the car." He walked away, towards the counter.
Craig heard Bobby tell the clerk he was paying for his coffee and one hot chocolate. He filled the cup half full with hot chocolate from the machine, and as soon as Bobby was out of the store he topped it off with some coffee so he could get that caffeine fix. He walked out of the store to find the car idling right there in front of him, Bobby at the wheel. He got in on the passenger's side and didn't say anything.
Bobby put the car in drive and pulled onto the street. "What the hell are you doing roaming the streets this time of the morning, with no coat?" Bobby asked the question loud.
Craig didn't answer. He took a sip of his chocolate coffee mix. He hoped Bobby didn't see his hand shaking as he raised the cup to his lips. He figured if Bobby did notice he'd just chalk it up to being cold, though the car was pretty warm.
"I asked you a question." Bobby glanced over at him.
Craig didn't look at Bobby. "I felt like taking a walk." He muttered.
"You felt like taking a walk? How long have you been out here freezing your ass off? You didn't think it would be a good idea to tell someone you were taking a fucking walk?" Bobby's voice was rising to a yell. "You stupid little shit!" He shook his head. "You scared the hell out of us!"
"Sorry." Craig muttered, showing no emotion. "I didn't figure you'd care if I went for a fucking walk." He tried not to sound as angry as he was feeling. Any other time Bobby wouldn't care what he was doing and it was irritating that the man had interupted his time alone.
"You watch your mouth!" Bobby yelled. "You know better than to leave the house by yourself at this time of the morning in this neighborhood." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ten, nine, eight," He continued to count down until he reached one, and then took another deep breath. "Ma was wrong, that does not help." He glanced over at the boy. "What the hell were you thinking? Tell me what you were thinking?" He didn't yell that time.
Craig didn't look back at Bobby. He didn't answer the question, he just leaned his head against the window next to him to look out. He realized they weren't heading home, they were heading back up the same street he'd just walked down; they were heading towards the school. "Where are you going? The house is the other way." He muttered.
"I want to look at something." Bobby spoke gruffly.
A few minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of the school, facing the painting that Craig had done.
Craig looked up at it, wondering who had told Bobby about the painting. It had to have been Jerry.
"Not bad." Bobby nodded his head. "You paint on anything else?" He looked over at the boy, who was back to looking out the passenger window, his head still leaning against the glass.
Craig ignored the question.
Bobby was quiet for a long moment. "This is what we are going to do. We are going home, you are going to get a hot shower, then lay down on the fucking couch where I can keep an eye on you. You are going to take a nice little nap until dinner is ready, and then you are going to sit your ass down with your brothers and you are going to eat everything I put on your plate. You try dumping food again, and I'm gonna beat your ass. Got that?"
Craig didn't answer, he felt his eyes tearing up on him, and fought it down.
"One more thing, you damn well better answer when someone talks to your ass. I'll cuff you good if you ignore me again. Got it?"
"Yeah," Craig muttered. "I got it."
"Good." Bobby pulled out of the parking lot. "Sit up right. You're not a damn baby; you sit up in your seat." He ordered.
Craig sat up in his seat and stared straight ahead.
Bobby was quiet the rest of the ride to the house. He pulled his car up to the curb at the front of the house and looked at the boy. "How much coffee did you put in that hot chocolate?" He asked.
Craig swallowed hard, not sure how Bobby knew he'd doctored the chocolate with coffee. "Not much." He muttered.
Bobby took the cup away from him and maneuvered into his other hand, with his own cup of coffee. "Get inside, get a shower. You put on your pajamas, or whatever the hell you sleep in, and you come downstairs."
Craig opened the door and moved to get out.
Bobby grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Take your fucking coat with you. I was worried you were freezing to death out there." He spoke loud, again.
Craig reached into the back seat and grabbed his coat. He closed his door as Bobby got out of the car, and wasn't surprised that Bobby stayed right on his ass as he walked in the house. He hung his coat on the hook while Bobby slammed the door after him. He could see Angel and Jeremiah in the living room, both looking up at him. Jack came to the doorway from the kitchen.
Bobby was still holding his cup of coffee and Craig's cup of chocolate. "I want to hear that shower running within the next three minutes. If I don't hear it I'm coming up to throw your ass in myself." He threatened.
Craig headed upstairs without looking at any one.
Bobby looked at Jerry. "He's grounded." He walked on to the kitchen to dump the hot chocolate down the sink. Jeremiah and Angel both followed him.
"Where did you find him?" Jeremiah asked.
"I found him at the school, staring at his own work of art. I followed him to the gas station and picked him up there." Bobby tossed the empty cup into the trash can but took a long drink of the coffee in his own cup. "He said he felt like taking a walk." He shook his head. "Did you see him? He looks like shit."
"I told you." Jeremiah nodded his head.
"He's gonna take a nap." Bobby remarked.
"You gonna trust him to nap in his room?" Angel asked.
"Hell no, he's gonna come down here and sleep on that couch where I can watch him and knock the shit out of him if he tries to get up." Bobby took another drink of his coffee and made a face. "This shit has got to go." He proceeded to dump his coffee down the sink and throw the cup in the trash. "Any of the good stuff left?" He got out a regular coffee mug and checked the coffee pot.
"Bobby, I told you, you need to go easy on him man, he's messed up right now." Jeremiah commented.
"I've been easy on him. I haven't pushed anything, you haven't pushed him to do anything since Ma died, and it hasn't done any good. The hell with going easy on him, that stops. He's just going through the motions and hiding shit from us. From now on, he talks when someone talks to him, he eats when food is put in front of him and he sleeps when he's told to sleep. He's not to be left alone for anything. He's attached to one of us at all times." Bobby looked at Jack. "Except for you, I don't want to turn him into a fucking fairy."
"Lay off." Jack cried out.
The good natured argument was fizzled before it started by the banging and clanking of the water pipes, signaling the shower upstairs has been started. All four looked up at the ceiling. "Well, he's paying attention at least." Bobby muttered.