The Candy Man. (Part two)
Bobby's listening to ten minutes of Jack coming in and out of the house, opening the fridge, closing the fridge, and rustling around in the kitchen before he gets up from his cozy spot on the couch, watching Saturday morning re-runs of Happy Days, to see what he's up to.
"Whatcha doin you little rat?" He says this before getting up and sighs when he doesn't hear a response. He pushes the refrigerator door shut after seeing that Jack has left it slightly ajar and readies his mouth to tell Angel and him to quit opening the door when he realizes Jack isn't with Angel.
They're out there madly swapping candy. There's a pile of wrappers between them and Bobby realizes that this is the very reason that his brother has turned their freezer into a chocolate shop. The very reason why Jack would snap anytime Bobby even looked like he were about to steal one.
"Whatcha looking at?" Evelyn asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes, "you guys want breakfast?" she's re-tying the string on her robe before sweeping her fingers through her hair.
"Naw. I made them something to eat,"
She moved in beside him to stare out the front door window and expelled a light chuckle, "oh her,"
"You mean you know her?"
Jack was laughing heartedly at something that had happened. From Bobby's vantage point it almost looked as if they were having a contest down there on the porch steps. The pile of wrappers had grown to an unexpected size. It consisted of different variations of mostly chocolate.
"Jack's been going down the street to play with her for the last week. You know Mr.Curly? The candy shop owner? That's his daughter,"
Bobby doesn't expect this to last for too much longer. Just a week ago Evelyn had received her last call about "Jack failing to acknowledge his class mates and avoiding contact with them,"
Plus, he refused to accept that Jack would talk to her. He would stand in Bobby's doorway for a hour or so and not say a thing. "Don't dwell on it Bobby. Jack just needs to talk to someone that treats him like everyone else. We can't because-" she pulls the coffee maker out from under the sink, "we know that horrible things've happened to him. He just needs someone that he doesn't have to explain himself to," she pats him on the shoulder while on her way to grab the Foldgers out of the cabinet, "and it's good for him to have friends his own age dontcha think?"
He contemplates what this means for a moment. No more of Jack's hovering. No more of having to read Jack's mind. No more of trying his hardest not to get frustrated because Jack never says what he means even when he asks him too. No more of Jack just appearing out of nowhere and watching tv with him for hours without saying a word, disappearing to grab snacks but always reappearing. No more of forfeiting his Friday's to watch Jack when Evelyn works late even if he could be doing way better things with way better looking people. He tried smiling and came up with the first joke he could find, "looks like it's time for someone to talk about the birds and the bees huh?"
"Bobby he's only nine,"
"Hmph give him another year and he'll be beating my record,"
Evelyn crunched her face in disgust, "Bobby Mercer!"
"What?" Bobby innocently asks.
"I hope you aren't filling your brother's with that disgusting knowledge," she wags her index finger at him knowing that he already has.
And he kind of frowns, kind of attempts-a-smile because he gets the feeling that he won't have the ability to fill Jack's mind with any disgusting knowledge anymore. And that terrifies him more then anything. The fact that maybe he would want to watch tv with someone else. That maybe he would be grabbing snacks in between commercial breaks and always coming back to someone else. Evelyn watches his face intently as his eyes glaze over somewhat, "you know he loves you Bobby?" she poses it as a statement but he takes it as a question. Because he really doesn't know.
"Yeah," he's looking over at him now, the image of his mother taking the place of his potential brother, "I know,"
