"INFERNAL SUN! Why have you forsaken me?" John beckoned the sky.
It was Monday. He refused to move from the bed so he brought his knees up to his chest and hugged himself awhile. He had made the brilliant decision to stay up late rebuilding a carburetor on the kitchen table. He felt old and rickety from the resulting lack of sleep. He was only 26 but felt at least 50. He looked at the clock and it read 7:15 AM.
Shit on a shingle, I don't want to. You can't make me!
He unfurled his body and dragged it out of bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He was singing the blues all the way to the bathroom, to Lily's door, and then finally to the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes at the finished project on the table.
You. This all your fault.
He decided it was staying right where it was. The newspaper underneath the carb was coated in grease. It also ripped about a hundred times while he was working on top of it so, the table was no doubt speckled in grease as well. They would be eating breakfast on the couch today.
Bender made his way over to the the Crockpot and turned it off. The thing was practically an heirloom piece at this point. It was small, bright 70's orange and yellow with thick, psychedelic black lettering and a tribe of vegetables on the front. It had two settings: Low and Charred. He had been using it took cook steel cut oats since the beginning of time. He reached over the antique, pulled out two bowls, a jar of peanut butter, and a bottle of maple syrup from their respective cabinets. He scooped the chewy gruel into the bowls, plopped a mess of peanut butter into each, and drizzled the syrup over his only.
"THUMPER! Come get it!" John hollered from the kitchen.
"Be right there!" Lily hollered back as she smoothed out her clothes while taking one last look in the mirror.
Lily emerged from her room and grabbed her bowl, thanking her brother. She then retrieved a bag of chocolate chips from the pantry and dumped some of its contents into her oats. They melted a bit on contact but not all the way. Just the way she liked it. She fished two spoons out of the silverware drawer and hopped over the back of the couch to sit by her brother, who was lifting his bowl to avoid being covered in oatmeal. He had learned this the hard way a few years back. She stabbed one of the spoons into his oatmeal and flipped on the TV. They sat and watched cartoons, like they always did while they ate breakfast.
With the breakfast ritual complete, Lily took the bowls and washed them in the sink before the remnants could be converted into glue. She dried her hands and grabbed her book-bag, thumbing through its innards to make sure she had everything she needed.
"Okay, all ready," she announced. "Are you?"
"Yup, yup! Be right there."
John was preoccupied with the coffee pot. He flicked on the switch and headed to the door. He snatched Lily's bag and threw it on his shoulder as he grabbed hers and pushed her out the door. They walked down the creaky stairs to the shop below.
"Hey Joe!" Lily hollered.
"Hey, little girl! Alice is coming by with those cupcakes you need. That's today, right?"
"Yup, it's Jennifer's birthday this time. They're orange and black right, for Halloween? We're celebrating it today but her real birthday's on the 30th."
"Yes, indeed. Saw them myself this morning. Uh, you're gonna be one...or two short though." Joe said as he shrugged guiltily.
"It's okay, she always makes extra because s-o-o-o-me-body keeps stealing them." Lily quipped, showcasing the sarcasm she had earned from years of living with her brother.
"I see. I see. Oh hey-Bender? You got that carburetor rebuilt yet?"
"Yeah, Joe. Stayed up all night like an idiot."
"Right on man. See you later."
Lily and John got to the bus stop just in time.
"I should be bringing the cupcakes by before 9:30. Love you, Ninja. Be good!"
Lily had earned this nickname at age 5 when John found her on top of the fridge, rummaging through the junk food hoard he had stashed in the cabinets.
"Love you too. Oh and, if you must, eat one. Not three like last time. She can only make so many!" Lily warned as she disappeared into the mammoth, yellow beast.
Bender waited until he saw her pop up at the window. He shoveled invisible cupcakes in to his mouth and slapped his stomach, pretending to be satisfied. She scrunched up her face and pumped a tiny fist at him. He was pretending to be scared when the bus drove off.
Back at the apartment, Good Old Johnny had a little time to kill. He celebrated this promptly, by dumping coffee all over himself. Luckily, it was cold leftovers from his travel mug, just wanting to say hello before they whirled down the drain into oblivion. He peeled off his shirt and headed to the bathroom after grabbing a fresh one. He set the clean shirt aside and as far away as possible from the dirty one because it was surely going to be that kind of day.
He plugged the sink and ran the faucet while pouring some soap under the tap. He cleaned the sticky coffee off of himself with a washcloth and started to work on the shirt. He was scrubbing away, remembering back to a time when the water would have been turning crimson, not brown.
Meanwhile, in the parking lot...
Alice was performing a balancing act with two foil trays filled with orange and black cupcakes with little candy skulls on top. She made her way passed her husband, purposefully waiting until he was distracted. Her math told her his help was not worth the risk.
She made her way through the hallway and up to the apartment door. It was ajar so she walked in. She laid the cupcakes on the counter and took a moment to admire her old home. It looked ten times better than it ever did. John continued to make improvements to it every year so it just got better and better. Lily held a strike over the stark white walls by age 7 so John allowed her to pick out some new colors. It was bright and cheery in there now. Her gaze drifted to a 3 year old grease stain on the sage green wall by the kitchen table and she laughed, recalling the infamous birthday party.
They were celebrating Lily's 9th birthday. John had made his first cake from scratch. Chocolate with vanilla icing. Lily happily dug into her first bite of cake and went quiet. John took his first bite next. He immediately stood up, stuck out his tongue and picked up the slice with his fingers. He walked over to his sister and smooshed the cake into the wall next to her. Lily broke out laughing and they all went to the diner down the street for birthday pie.
She was still smiling when she heard John in the bathroom. The door was wide open so she called his name. He didn't hear her. She moved in closer and saw John in the mirror. She was about to knock to spook him when she noticed a circle, about the size of a cigar, etched into his chest staring back at her. She slowly realized his back had more scarring. The worst of which being thin, diagonal lines located in the center. He was still looking down and seemed to be somewhere else. She didn't know what to do so, she grabbed the cupcakes and booked it back to the hallway as quietly as possible.
She stood there a moment, in total shock. Joe had never told her the full truth, just as John suspected. All she knew was that, "things were bad at home." She fully understood why her husband withheld information because she was about to be sick to her stomach. She loved John like a son. It occurred to her that she never thought to ask how bad it was. Maybe she didn't want to know or maybe, it was just familiar enough to fade into the foreground of her mind. She was turning pale now, thinking about what he must have gone through when she heard him in the living room. She panicked and knocked on the door before she could stop herself.
"Hey, Al Gal. Just the girl I wanted to see!" John said happily. He took the trays from her and set them down. "Do you want to come in a minute?"
She was frozen and clearly looked like she was in trouble because John already had his arm around her and was leading her to the couch.
"Are you okay, Alice? What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you need me to get you some water or something?" John said with panic in his voice.
"Oh, I'm fine. I just had-I was just-I just..."
She was looking down frantically, hoping to find an excuse when she was greeted by another circular scar she'd never seen before, on his forearm. There was no stopping them. She burst into tears.
John wasted no time and wrapped his long arms around her, pulling her to his chest. He had his chin hooked over her shoulder and was rubbing her back, telling her it was okay.
She calmed down a bit and pulled away but squeezed his hands in hers, tightly.
"I'll be okay, John. I'm just...I'm just so glad to have you and Lily in my life."
"Well, we're not going anywhere Allie, you can bet on that. The rent's too cheap!" John said, as he brushed a tear away from her face.
Alice smiled and looked at him for the first time. When did he become a man? She couldn't help but wonder, if it happened before they even met.
"What?" John asked as he tilted his head.
"You're a good kid, Johnny."
"What can I say? I'm a people pleaser."
After some time had passed, he walked her to the door and thanked her for the cupcakes. She was now able to pretend she was indeed okay, so John let her go with ease.
As soon as John was out of sight, the tears came again. She walked down the stairs towards the shop and ended up in Joe's arms, half way there. He had seen her coming.
"What's going on, Alice? Is John okay?"
"No, I mean yes. I mean I saw him, Joe. I didn't know. He doesn't know I know. Did you know?"
"Baby, slow down, I don't understand what you're saying."
"Scars, Joe! He's covered in them! My poor baby! I'll kill that man! I'll kill him!"
"Slow down, Mamma Bear. There's nothing anyone can do for him. He has to do this on his own. Trust me, he's still angry and hurt, but he thinks he's healed and that's a start."
"But it was different with you, Joe. We left town and never looked back. John is still in the same town, with the same people. He didn't get the chance to leave it all behind."
"Yes but he has us, he has Lily, and whether he sees it right now or not, he has his mother. You can't outrun your problems, Al. You can gain enough distance to see them for what they are but, there's no outrunning them. You know that best of all. You've put up with my moody ass all these years! I love you for it and he loves you too. You've been a mother to that boy and, if you ask me, you showed up just in the nick of time. The only thing you can do right now is try and let this go, baby. For John's sake and yours. You've already given him your whole heart, without even knowing how much he needed it.
"We both have, Joe. I just hope it's enough."
"Didn't anyone tell you? Love is all you need! Do you want me to sing it?"
"No NO! That will do."
Joe ignored his wife's pleading completely and broke out into song. He was the world's worst singer.
"All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)
Love is all you need (Love is all you need)..."
"Hey, where are you going? I wasn't done!" Joe cried out to Alice as she fled for her life out the door.
Back up stairs...
John was about ready to go drop the cupcakes off when the phone rang. He reluctantly put his mug down and answered the phone.
"Yeeeello?"
"Hi Johnny, do you have a minute?"
"Oh, uh. Hey, Mom."