Chapter 14: Midnight
Nightfall had grasped the day, and it was at least midnight in the household. After the discussion of Jack possibly living with Ralph, instead of being sent to his relatives' home and then to an orphanage seemed to have caused some dispute, but Ralph was determined to keep Jack from returning to his relatives'.
The two boys were well awake, gazing up at the ceiling of Ralph's room. Ralph's parents decided to keep Jack at their house for the night. However, with the lack of a second bed, Jack offered to sleep on the floor-- or more so stubbornly decided to. And thus, a small makeshift bed of sheets and pillows in the middle of the room was set up.
"Jack?" Ralph called quietly.
"Hm?"
"Mind me asking a rather personal question?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but fire away."
"Did you love them?"
There was hesitation, but Jack eventually responded, "Clarify which who you mean, if you would."
"Your parents."
Once again, there was hesitation, but the response came.
"I'd guess so. Not overwhelmingly, though. I see it as, no matter how much we attempt to convince ourselves that we don't love our parents, we know that we do-- even if it is simply a little. My parents didn't do much for me. They raised me until I was old enough to go to the prep school. They put a roof over my head and raised me before that. On holidays, I returned home and they did pay enough attention to me, without completely neglecting me. They were my parents, and that's about it. I'd have to say that I loved them, but don't make me compare them to someone else-- besides my relatives, now they didn't like me much in the first place."
A soft chuckle came from Ralph, "So how'd they treat you-- your relatives, anyway?"
"Ah, well, we'd visit my aunt and uncle on my dad's side most often-- as my mum didn't have any brothers or sisters. They've got two children of their own- one a boy, just a year younger than me, whose name is Joel; then there's a girl, younger than Joel, she's perhaps six now, Richelle. Joel's the nicer of the two, quite talkative, while Richelle is the stuck-up one, who acts like she's got an itch that she can't reach."
Ralph chuckled softly, "And your aunt and uncle?"
"Oh, they're far worse than Richelle. My Aunt Caprice had a childhood grudge on my father, and my Uncle Quincy-- it's sad-- seemed to have fancied my mum. He never made any direct comments or the like, but I could tell. I was just their hated offspring. On the holidays, we'd visit them in the late afternoon, usually eat dinner there, and afterwards, I'd be sent off with Joel and Richelle, while the rest would sit and drink evening tea, either conversing or bickering with each other. But, when we'd enter, it'd be, the happy greetings to my mum and dad, then they'd fake a happy greeting to me, then give me a glare, as telling me to take a seat and shut up. They didn't like me because they had mixed grudges about my parents. It was as simple as that. What about your relatives?"
"My relatives are quite the eccentric ones. On my mum's side, there's Aunt Meredith; my family calls her Merry, actually. She's single, and personally, I believe I know why. She takes the positive outlook on life, but is over-excitable at the same time- however, she enjoys company of any time, and is somewhat young-- perhaps in her mid-twenties. But, I'm serious, she'd take in convicts of any kind for brunch on any given day, if she was given the chance."
There was a muffled chuckle from Jack, but he silenced himself, allowing Ralph to continue.
"Then there's Aunt Kailey and Uncle Terence on my dad's side, who are the usual caring aunt and uncle. Not much to say about them, really. We don't visit them much, because it's Aunt Merry who's always requesting us to visit."
Jack remained silent, and stared around the dark room for a moment.
"Oh, you're a lucky one in that area then," Jack said quietly. "You've got people who care about you."
"But so do you, Jack," Ralph smiled.
Jack opened his mouth to counter Ralph's statement, but he paused and let a grin break over his face. Jack understood what Ralph meant; he did have people who cared about him.
Nightfall had grasped the day, and it was at least midnight in the household. After the discussion of Jack possibly living with Ralph, instead of being sent to his relatives' home and then to an orphanage seemed to have caused some dispute, but Ralph was determined to keep Jack from returning to his relatives'.
The two boys were well awake, gazing up at the ceiling of Ralph's room. Ralph's parents decided to keep Jack at their house for the night. However, with the lack of a second bed, Jack offered to sleep on the floor-- or more so stubbornly decided to. And thus, a small makeshift bed of sheets and pillows in the middle of the room was set up.
"Jack?" Ralph called quietly.
"Hm?"
"Mind me asking a rather personal question?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but fire away."
"Did you love them?"
There was hesitation, but Jack eventually responded, "Clarify which who you mean, if you would."
"Your parents."
Once again, there was hesitation, but the response came.
"I'd guess so. Not overwhelmingly, though. I see it as, no matter how much we attempt to convince ourselves that we don't love our parents, we know that we do-- even if it is simply a little. My parents didn't do much for me. They raised me until I was old enough to go to the prep school. They put a roof over my head and raised me before that. On holidays, I returned home and they did pay enough attention to me, without completely neglecting me. They were my parents, and that's about it. I'd have to say that I loved them, but don't make me compare them to someone else-- besides my relatives, now they didn't like me much in the first place."
A soft chuckle came from Ralph, "So how'd they treat you-- your relatives, anyway?"
"Ah, well, we'd visit my aunt and uncle on my dad's side most often-- as my mum didn't have any brothers or sisters. They've got two children of their own- one a boy, just a year younger than me, whose name is Joel; then there's a girl, younger than Joel, she's perhaps six now, Richelle. Joel's the nicer of the two, quite talkative, while Richelle is the stuck-up one, who acts like she's got an itch that she can't reach."
Ralph chuckled softly, "And your aunt and uncle?"
"Oh, they're far worse than Richelle. My Aunt Caprice had a childhood grudge on my father, and my Uncle Quincy-- it's sad-- seemed to have fancied my mum. He never made any direct comments or the like, but I could tell. I was just their hated offspring. On the holidays, we'd visit them in the late afternoon, usually eat dinner there, and afterwards, I'd be sent off with Joel and Richelle, while the rest would sit and drink evening tea, either conversing or bickering with each other. But, when we'd enter, it'd be, the happy greetings to my mum and dad, then they'd fake a happy greeting to me, then give me a glare, as telling me to take a seat and shut up. They didn't like me because they had mixed grudges about my parents. It was as simple as that. What about your relatives?"
"My relatives are quite the eccentric ones. On my mum's side, there's Aunt Meredith; my family calls her Merry, actually. She's single, and personally, I believe I know why. She takes the positive outlook on life, but is over-excitable at the same time- however, she enjoys company of any time, and is somewhat young-- perhaps in her mid-twenties. But, I'm serious, she'd take in convicts of any kind for brunch on any given day, if she was given the chance."
There was a muffled chuckle from Jack, but he silenced himself, allowing Ralph to continue.
"Then there's Aunt Kailey and Uncle Terence on my dad's side, who are the usual caring aunt and uncle. Not much to say about them, really. We don't visit them much, because it's Aunt Merry who's always requesting us to visit."
Jack remained silent, and stared around the dark room for a moment.
"Oh, you're a lucky one in that area then," Jack said quietly. "You've got people who care about you."
"But so do you, Jack," Ralph smiled.
Jack opened his mouth to counter Ralph's statement, but he paused and let a grin break over his face. Jack understood what Ralph meant; he did have people who cared about him.