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Still do not own Four Brothers, nor do I profit in anyway from this fiction...
Chapter 11: Jack's Request
Craig was surprised to find Angel had actually made hamburgers. Not just regular hamburgers, but the kind that Evelyn used to make, with onions and peppers chopped up and mixed in with the meat, and tomatoes and lettuce to pile on top of them. He ate one, and seemed to surprise Bobby when he asked if he could have another one off of the plate in the center of the table.
Bobby shrugged his shoulders and lifted the plate so the teen could reach it and grab his next patty. "You're that hungry?" He asked. "You eat as much as you fucking want." He set the plate back in the center of the table once Craig had his burger.
Bobby looked at Jack, who was already on his second sandwich, and then he looked back to Craig. "So, what the hell did you two do while you in the living room that would give you such an appetite?" He asked quietly.
Craig looked at Bobby, and then glanced over at Jack before reaching for a bun for his burger. He hadn't thought about Jack sharing their conversation with any of his other brothers, but now that Bobby had asked, the worry was sparked.
Jack looked up at Craig and then looked at Bobby. "You seen what we were doing, he was cheating at checkers." He spoke with a mumble and then took a bite of his sandwich.
Craig let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and reached for the ketchup and mustard.
"Bullshit, but if you don't want to share then just say you don't want to share." Bobby shook his head and looked at Craig, then back to Jack. "Jerry called while Angel was cooking." He commented. "He wants to come over tonight. You guys got any important plans?" His tone was sarcastic.
"Ha ha," Jack muttered. "You're very funny Bobby, only plans we have are for you to nurse our 'owies'."
Craig snickered at the remark.
"You watch it kid, your 'owies' have all healed up, and I can smack the crap out of you." Bobby reached out and gave Craig a light smack to the back of his head, and then looked at Jack, "And don't be thinking I'm not keeping track of how many you're gonna get little brother. I got it all wrote down. I'm beginning to think you're a bad influence on him." He pointed to Craig.
Jack looked at Craig and grinned.
Craig ate his burger while his brothers threw snide remarks back and forth across the table at each other. Once lunch was over Bobby looked at Craig and told him he could get the table cleaned off and wash the dishes. "I'll be right here watching every move you make little boy, so no wandering off." He warned him with a serious tone.
"I won't." Craig muttered and helped Angel carry the dishes into the kitchen. Even if he had wanted to wander off, it wouldn't have been able to happen; Angel stayed in the kitchen and helped him with the dishes while Bobby helped Jack get into his bed so that he could rest. Craig glanced in at the two men a few times. Bobby was helping Jack change the bag on the drainage tube, and then cleaned the incision. After that he sat in a chair next to the bed and the two of them were talking quietly.
For the second time Craig felt worried that Jack would tell Bobby what they had been talking about. It wasn't as if Bobby didn't know most of it, but it was still a personal conversation he'd had with Jack, and while they had talked about similar things that he'd talked to Bobby about, it had been in a different light, with a different understanding. Besides, he'd talked in more detail with Jack and about some things he'd never mentioned to Bobby. The responses from Jack had been different than they would have been with Bobby. Jack's opinions and his understanding were far more informed than Bobby's were. Jack knew firsthand what Craig felt, while Bobby could only try to imagine it. There was a big difference in how that influenced the conversation.
Bobby came into the kitchen just as Craig and Angel were putting the last of the dishes away. He looked at Craig for a long moment. The boy looked back at him questioningly, not sure what was going on, but fearing Jack had said something about their talk.
Bobby nodded his head slowly. "Jack's taking a nap, he's pretty tired." He drew in a deep breath.
"Okay." Craig muttered, not sure why his brother would make such a big deal about Jack resting.
"Angel, you remember where that Christmas tree lot is?" Bobby looked over at Angel.
"Yeah, but you said we was gonna skip the tree this year." Angel looked just as confused as Craig felt at that moment.
"Yeah, I did, but Jack just told me he wanted a tree." Bobby shook his head. "He said he missed having one."
Craig felt his heart jump into his throat, and hoped his surprised expression didn't show.
"I mean, when I told him that we weren't gonna get the tree, he seemed okay with it, didn't he?" Bobby looked at Angel questioningly.
"Yeah, he said he didn't think he wanted to be around anything that remotely reminded him of Christmas this year, in fact. He said he didn't think he could handle it." Angel looked just as confused as Bobby did. "To be honest, I feel the same way; I don't think I can handle the whole celebration bullshit."
Bobby shrugged his shoulders, "I don't either, but, he just asked if we could get a tree." He looked at Craig. "Did he say anything to you while you two were in there playing your checkers?"
Craig shook his head, "No." He kept the answer short and sweet, hoping Bobby didn't pick up on the tension in his voice. He knew what Jack had done. He knew Jack was trying to make him feel better, and now he was going to end up feeling worse. None of his brothers wanted a tree because they weren't ready to celebrate another holiday without their mother. Christmas would be a thousand times harder than Thanksgiving. He'd told Jack it didn't feel like Christmas, and he'd told him how he had never had a Christmas before he came to live with Evelyn Mercer. Jack was trying to make him feel better.
"I wonder what brought this on. I mean, we can get a tree, but the look on his face, it seemed awfully important to him, and he wouldn't tell me why." Bobby looked at Angel. "I think we gotta get a tree."
"Well, hell, I'll go get the fucking tree, you get the shit out of the attic and drag it down." Angel tossed the dish towel onto the counter and walked past Bobby to the foyer to grab his coat. "I'll call Sofi and tell her to get her ass back home and help." He smiled at his brother.
"Yeah, you do that. Make sure she brings some decent food for dinner tonight too. The only reason I let her stay is because she can cook." Bobby laughed.
"Bobby, admit that you like her." Angel called from the front of the house.
"La Vida Loca?" Bobby's face scrunched up into a hard frown, "Hell no, I can't stand that crazy girl. She's liable to bring chili peppers to hang on the tree."
"She has some; I'll make sure she knows you asked for them." Angel walked out of the house, closing the door loud enough that they would know he'd left.
Bobby looked at Craig and grinned. "Well come on, let's get the boxes out of the attic before he gets back or we'll never hear the end of it."
Craig followed his brother through the house, up the stairs and to the attic door in the ceiling. He waited for Bobby to pull down the door and ladder. "You don't want a Christmas tree?" He asked the question quietly just as Bobby was about to go up the ladder.
Bobby turned and looked at the boy. He stepped back down to the floor and crossed his arms at his chest. "No, not really, do you?"
Craig shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care." He lied. "But why don't you want one? Why doesn't Angel want one?"
Bobby drew in a deep breath. "Well, without Ma around, it just doesn't feel right to go around acting all happy and celebrating. That's all." Bobby seemed hesitant in talking about it, and Craig had the feeling that he wasn't being honest with him. "Besides, it's gonna be fucking crowded down there with a tree sitting in the living room."
"But Mom loved Christmas." Craig muttered.
"Yeah, and that's one reason why it feels wrong." Bobby's voice held some tension, and Craig knew it would be better to let it go.
But he had to ask another question. "Then why are you getting a tree?"
"Because Jack wants one all of a sudden, and I'll do anything for him." Bobby sounded as if the answer should have been obvious to the boy. "You got a problem with having a tree? Because if you do, I don't think I can handle telling Jack we ain't getting one. I'm sorry, but he seems to really want one."
Craig shook his head slowly. "No, I don't have a problem with it." For some reason he felt a pang of hurt from Bobby's words. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd asked about getting a tree himself, if Bobby would have done it, or if he would have said no. He hadn't asked him before if he was okay with it, he'd just told him how it was going to be. Apparently his brother's had asked each other, and discussed it amongst themselves before making the decision.
"We'll call Jerry and warn him about the decorating party that we seem to be planning. Maybe he can bring Camille and the girls with him." Bobby turned and headed up the ladder as he spoke the words in an irritated voice. "Little kids always like shit like that." He reached the top and looked down at Craig, who was still lost in his own thoughts. "Well come on, I ain't carrying this shit down by myself." He called impatiently.
Craig climbed up after Bobby and waited until the man had the light turned on before stepping all the way into the attic. He looked around at the boxes and objects around him. He hadn't been in the attic for a long time. The old coat rack was setting in the corner, with some shirts hanging off of it. There were boxes stacked up along one wall, with names written on them to identify who they had belonged to. Most of them were Bobby's. There were several with Jerry, Angel and Jack's names. There were a couple on the wall opposite that he recognized as holding some of his sketchpads, and he made a mental note as to their location, just in case he decided to get them.
Bobby found the Christmas decorations easy enough. He started handing some of the boxes to Craig, apparently making sure they weren't too heavy for the boy.
Craig helped to carry everything they needed down to the living room, It took trips from both of them, with Bobby carrying most of the boxes. Once the decorations were down, Bobby had Craig help him move the couch down the wall until it was right up against the desk, and move the end table and its contents from the corner and out to the foyer.
It seemed the longer they worked the more irritated Bobby was getting, and Craig didn't understand it. Bobby lost his patience with him a couple of times, because he didn't move fast enough, or he didn't put something in the right place.
Craig felt his own feelings starting to churn around. He didn't like Bobby yelling at him, and getting upset with him. It was starting to feel too much like before, when he was certain none of his brothers liked him. He still had that doubt, no matter what Jack had told him, or what Bobby had said to him over and over. If they liked him, why did they get so angry with him so easy? Why did it seem h e couldn't do anything right as far as they were concerned, as far as Bobby was concerned at least. He didn't understand why his brothers were going to get the tree if it was bothering them that much. He was sure Jack had asked Bobby about one because of their talk, and he thought Craig wanted one. Of course Craig had wanted one, but he would have been okay without the Christmas tree. He did understand the reasoning behind skipping Christmas that year. He understood how going on with the holiday would be hard for his brothers, without their mother, it would be hard for him too, but he'd also yearned for the feeling of being close to her by embracing her favorite time of year. He could have gone without the tree; it wasn't something that he had to have to make it through that week. In fact, if his brothers were going to get pissed off and start snapping his head off, he would prefer not to have the tree at all, and he was regretting having talked to Jack about Christmas at all.
Bobby started opening boxes until he found the lights. He instructed Craig to get the checkers picked up and put away. Once that was done, he told the boy to start pulling the strings out and plugging them in to check them. Craig carried the box over to the chair in front of the record player and started going through the tangle of wires and multi colored bulbs. Bobby set the rest of the boxes on the coffee table and started going through them. The man was being quiet and had a faraway look in his eyes as he went through the ornaments.
Craig couldn't help but wish now that they weren't doing the whole Christmas thing. His favorite part had been watching his mother pulling the ornaments out of their boxes and the light that would fill her as she looked at each other. Bobby stood abruptly and walked across the living room to the dining room, disappearing from view.
Craig drew in a shaky breath and continued working on the lights, though his heart was not in it. His feelings were quickly falling into a black hole. He considered going to Jack and asking him to talk to Bobby and take back his request for a tree. He knew that Bobby would not bring a tree into the house if Jack asked him not to. The man had told him just thirty minutes earlier that he would do anything for Jack. Craig could feel a wall going up between him and Bobby and he wasn't sure if he was the one putting it up or if Bobby was, but he knew he didn't like it. He would have preferred not having Christmas to having Bobby getting upset with him.