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Chapter 14: Groceries
Craig followed Angel and Sofi up and down the food aisles of the supermarket. Evelyn hadn't gone to the large market too often, maybe once a month to replenish the mainstays of the house. She liked to buy from the smaller, local markets in the neighborhood, she said it kept the money in the neighborhood and kept the businesses open. Sofi and Angel talked about the meal that she was planning. The two of them did a lot of kissing as they roamed the rows of food. Craig stayed just far enough behind that he wouldn't get yelled at by Angel, but was a safe distance from the display of affection the two of them seemed to be unable to keep from demonstrating in public.
The boy was purposely keeping his mind from thinking about anything. If he started thinking the day's events would replay in his mind, and he greatly preferred not dwelling on his day. He looked at the canned goods as they walked through the aisles, and then at the flour and spices as they passed those. He wasn't paying much attention to what Angel and Sofi were doing or saying most of the time, and he didn't really know what items the woman was throwing into the cart Angel was pushing up and down the rows. He didn't really care.
The store was playing Christmas music and there were decorations in all of the food aisles, forcing the boy to struggle harder at holding down his emotions. His right palm started to itch and he stuffed his hands into his coat pocket so that he could scratch at the itch under cover. It was awkward reaching it, but his fingers curled inward and managed, though his palms turned hot and sweaty in the pockets.
Craig's pace was slower than Angels, and Angel didn't seem to be taking much notice of how far behind he was falling. Craig wasn't surprised. His brother was preoccupied with Sofi's backside most of the time, slapping at it periodically and both of them laughing about it. When they came to the large deli, Sofi starting rattling off to the young woman behind the counter all of the different cheeses that she wanted, and as she read off her list in her hand she realized she had forgotten onions. Craig managed to catch up to them before Angel could notice he'd been so far behind.
"Angel, go back and get my onions?" She looked up at the man as Craig reached the couple.
"Baby, I'm not gonna go back and hunt down the onions, I don't know what kind you want, and I don't know where the hell you'll be when I get back over this way." Angel shook his head.
"I need the ones with the red skins, and I will be right here." Sofi shook her head. "I have more to get at the deli." She pointed at the meats, cheeses and salads.
Angel sighed and looked back at Craig. "You can go get the onions for her, can't you?"
Craig nodded his head, "A whole bag?" He turned and asked Sofi.
"Yes, a whole bag, and maybe a clove of garlic." She nodded her head as she looked at him with a thoughtful gaze. "I don't think I forgot anything else."
Craig turned to walk away.
"I need two lemons!" Sofi called out just as the boy started walking.
Craig looked back at her. "Two lemons," He repeated so that she would know he had heard.
Craig walked through the store to the far side, closer to the entrance, where the produce was set up. He didn't rush, but he didn't want to get back to the deli and find Angel and Sofi had moved on either, so he was purposely trying to be too slow. He found the garlic and the onions with no problem, they were prepackaged. The lemons were sitting out in boxes, and had to be bagged up. He was struggling with the thin plastic produce bag hanging from the roller above the display when he felt a presence behind him. He didn't bother to turn and look; he assumed it was someone else looking through the fruits. He finally managed to get the bag, and then stared at the lemons for a long moment. He had helped his mother pick out melons before, and apples, but he couldn't remember a time when she had purchases lemons. He had no idea how to tell if one was good. He shrugged his shoulders and grabbed two of the yellow fruit and dropped them into the bag as he turned to head back towards the deli, only to find his self standing face to face with Anthony Miller.
The fourteen year old was startled and he knew Anthony could tell.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you Craig." Anthony smiled at him and shifted his stance from one leg to another.
"It's okay; I just didn't know you were there." Craig muttered. Anthony had a strange look on his face that Craig couldn't quite figure out, but it made him feel uncomfortable. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't know, I almost just walked away, but I wanted to say 'hey'." Anthony looked tense.
Craig drew in a deep breath and nodded his head. He knew that Anthony had to know his brothers killed Stanley, and he had to know by the way Stanley died what the man had tried to do to him that night when his mother was killed.
"So, how are you doing?" Anthony asked. "You look good."
"I'm okay." Craig shrugged his shoulders. "How are you?" He knew that the older boy had been living with Stanley before, and he wondered where he was living now, who was taking care of him. Part of him hoped that being free of Stanley would give Anthony the chance to turn his life around.
"I'm cool. Got me a place to live, and got some work, so I'm making some money." Anthony nodded his head.
"Anthony, I'm sorry about Stanley." Craig muttered, though for the most part he was glad the sick ass hole was dead.
"Don't be." Anthony shook his head. "I'm not." He drew in a deep breath. "If Stanley were still alive, I'd still be a worthless teenage gang banger. You'd be surprised what kind of changes can take place in just a couple of weeks." He let a sly smile slip across his face. "It's okay Craig, trust me. I'm doing better now than when he was alive."
Craig drew in a shaky breath. "Okay." He wanted to believe his old friend, but there was something about the tone of Anthony's voice that was sending warning flashes into his brain.
"You are too, aren't you?" Anthony asked with a knowing look on his face. "Your brothers are taking real good care of you, aren't they? Watching out for you and keeping you safe?"
Craig wasn't sure how to answer that question. "Yeah, they're watching out for me." He spoke quietly, not wanting to know the meaning behind the older boy's words. "They're my brothers."
"You haven't been to school, so when you thinking on coming back?" Anthony asked; his expression was one of someone keeping a secret at least that was how it felt to Craig.
"After the holidays," The younger teen muttered. "You're back in school?" He asked, referring to the fact that Anthony hadn't been around school much for a very long time. The first time he'd seen and talked to him in over a year was at the ice rink the day Bobby had dragged him out onto the ice to find reasons to yell at him and tell him he wasn't any good. That thought brought back the aching in his chest.
"I've been givin' the readin', writtin', 'rithmatic thing a chance a few times a week. Gotta stay in school for the most part or I'll end up back in Juvi'." Anthony grinned. "Since I have a job I only go half a day, so it's not been so bad."
Craig felt his heart fill with a little hope, "You out of the gang?" He asked, knowing the tone of his voice gave away his hope that the man would say yes, he had separated his ties with the hoods that were dragging him down.
Anthony shook his head. "It's harder to get out of a fucking gang than it is to get into one kid." He sighed and his grin faded. "Don't worry though; I'm working on some things. The gang ain't so bad; we've cleaned up our act a little, got a little class so to speak." He spoke slowly, as if he were hiding something, and the sound of his voice sent chills up the boy's spine, something that had never happened with Anthony before.
"I gotta go, Angel's waiting for me." Craig spoke quietly, suddenly wanting to get as far away from his former friend as he could, and be closer to Angel where he would be safe.
Anthony nodded his head and smiled. "You can't keep your brother waiting, can you?" He sighed. "I know how older brothers get when you piss them off." He turned and started walking towards the exit of the store.
Craig watched the older teen walk through the double wide glass door, and he couldn't help but feel as if he'd just been 'cased', the way crooks 'case' a potential target to rob. He kept his eyes fixed on Anthony through the glass, and watched him walking across the parking lot, to a rusted out Dodge Neon and get in on the passenger side. He couldn't make out the features of the driver, and he didn't really want to. He had a bad feeling hit his gut and he couldn't really explain why.
The boy watched the Neon drive away before heading back to the deli counter at the back of the store. He wasn't surprised to find that Angel and Sofi had already finished there and were nowhere in sight. He walked down the main row, looking down each aisle, until he found them. He walked up to the cart and placed the items he'd been sent to retrieve inside with the rest of the food. He noticed oysters in the cart, and wondered why they would get those, but he wasn't about to ask when he looked up the two to find them kissing. He looked around the items on the shelves, and realized they were in the health and beauty section. He cleared his throat loudly.
Angel startled and pulled away from Sofi. "Damn kid; don't be sneaking up on us like that!" Angel reached out with his hand and dropped a box he had been holding into the cart.
Craig looked at it, and noticed KY on the front of the box. He didn't bother to read any further, not caring to know what his brother might have planned for that particular item. "Are we done yet?" The boy asked a louder than he needed to, but he wanted to get out of there and get back to the house, where he could shake the uneasy feeling running into Anthony had brought on him.
"You just keep quiet, and stay patient. We're almost finished." Angel gripped the handle of the cart and started pushing it towards the dairy wall of the store.
Craig followed, letting some distance develop between him and the sex addicts in front of him. He wished that Bobby had let him stay home, though at the time, he'd thought it was a good idea to get away from his oldest brother. He was angry at him and didn't want to be around him. He felt his mind try to bring back his thoughts about his brothers, and Mr. Jordan, and managed to force it back down, though the itch returned to his right hand again. He shoved both hands into his pockets and resumed the scratching in private.
He watched as Sofi gathered sour cream, butter, cottage cheese and buttermilk. He made a face at the thought of the buttermilk. Sofi then announced they needed to go to the frozen foods.
"We were in the frozen foods fifteen minutes ago. What did you forget now?" Angel sounded irritated.
"Oh, trust me baby, this is going to be worth the trip back." Sofi cooed at the man.
Craig rolled his eyes and looked away as Angel gave her a smile and the two of them whispered quietly to each other, their faces almost touching. He glanced off to one side to see another teenage standing next to the milk, glancing over at them from time to time. He seemed more interested in the couple than the milk, and at first it embarrassed the boy, until he thought he recognized the face one of the times it turned towards them. The boy's eyes flickered over towards Craig, and that was when the youngest Mercer was able to place him. He didn't know a name, but he knew he'd seen him on the streets around the school, where the same gang colors as Anthony.
The fear in the boy's gut overpowered the anger he'd been feeling towards his brother, Angel included, and he walked up to the man. "Angel." He spoke quietly as he grabbed Angel's coat sleeve and pulled on it.
"What the fuck?"Angel looked down at the boy.
Craig glanced back towards the milk, but the gang member was gone. "Angel, I…" He looked back up at his brother, ready to tell him he'd seen Anthony, but the man didn't give him the opportunity.
"Kid, you need to settle down. I know you want to go, I do to, but we got a few more things to get first." Angel sounded irritated with him, which wasn't surprising.
"But I…" Craig stopped himself that time. His brother wasn't going to listen to him; no one ever listened to him. Things were going back to normal pretty quick, and he felt his heart ache slightly at that thought, until his resolve returned and he managed to push that ache back down to that place where he couldn't feel it. "Sorry." He muttered and pulled back from the man.
"Come on, there is just one more thing." Sofi started walking towards the frozen foods section.
"Baby, you said that five 'things' ago." Angel called behind her and looked at Craig, sighing heavily. "Come on." He started pushing the cart in the same direction Sofi was walking.
Craig followed silently, but he kept his eyes searching for anyone else that he might recognize from Anthony's gang. He was thankful that he didn't see anyone else. The kid from the milk didn't show up again either.
Finally Sofi was heading to the check out. Of course Angel was mumbling under his breath when he had to pull out his own wallet to pay for the cart of food.
Craig told himself he would feel better once they got to the car, and he did. By the time the groceries were loaded in and they were pulling out of their parking space, he was thankful he hadn't mentioned his fears to Angel. He told himself he was being paranoid, just as he had been with Mr. Jordan. After all it was Anthony, and Anthony had always watched out for him. He would have looked like an idiot, and Angel and Sofi would have both been pissed at him if he'd spoken up and it ended up being his imagination. Then Angel would have told Bobby, and Bobby would have been even more pissed.
Adam Macks looked over at Anthony as the Mercer car drove past the lot of the drugstore. Moments later the back door of the car opened up and the other kid, Dwayne, climbed into the seat. Nothing was said right away. Adam pulled held up a roll of large bills and held them out towards Anthony. "You keep an eye on him for me Tony. I know you're having it hard right now, this should help." He smiled.
Anthony took the bills and glanced back at Dwayne before looking at Macks. "You're sure they're the ones who killed Stanley?" He asked weakly.
"I know they did." Macks laughed. "You ain't really cryin' for your big brother though, are you?" He asked, his raspy voice cracking with the last few words of his question. "Stanley didn't do right by you, I know that. Now I'll do right by you. But you gotta keep doin' right by me." His mouth formed a wicked grin and looked down the street at the retreating car.
Anthony reached out and took the money from the man.
"That's right. They may have freed you from that hell you knew as your brother, but no one else has bothered to take care of you the way I have, now isn't that right?" Macks gave Anthony a sideways glance. "You keep your boys working hard, and we'll all make a pretty profit from it, and that includes you."
Anthony allowed his own stare to turn in the direction the Mercer car had just gone. "Yes sir." He spoke quietly and stuffed the cash into his shirt pocket.
"You can get close to him, he trusts you." Macks nodded his head; he didn't have to say more, the plan had already been discussed a hundred times with his new 'employees'.
Anthony showed no signs of emotion. He didn't respond to the man's words, he just stared straight ahead.