Chapter Ten:

Willy sighed. "Okay... well, when I was a kid, she was really the only one who ever paid attention to me or loved me. She would take me to all sorts of places, like the zoo or to the shops, you know, that sort of thing. But... the store that I liked to go to the most... was the candy shop. Mother wouldn't let me have candy, except once, only 'cause my dad didn't want me to and she wanted to follow his wishes, but she would let me go and watch them make candy. Sometimes, we would just sit there all day and watch them making all of the confections..."

He hesitated, but Jenni nodded for him to continue. "Well... since she spent more time with me, obviously, I loved her more. And that's why..." He bit his lip. "That's why it hurt so much... when she left..." Willy seemed on the verge of tears, but he continued again. "She was really weak, it was a family thing or something. The way each of her parents and grandparents, and even their parents, had died was because of old age, or more often, getting sick and never getting better. And that's... that's how she ended up..."

Jenni felt terribly sorry for Willy. He had even more emotional scars than she had thought. "She got sick after she gave birth to me, but even though she got better, I heard that she wasn't really the same as before. She still wanted to take me places, and she did. But a little while after my fifth birthday, she got really sick. She stopped leaving the house, and had to stay in bed all the time. We had a sort of family nurse named Mandi, and she volunteered to stay at our house to take care of my mom. I visited her every day... I kept wishing that she would get better. One night, though, I heard her and my father talking, and she told him that my mom probably wasn't going to live very much longer... And then... a few days later... she... she died..." Tears were streaming down his face once more, and he buried his face in his hands.

"Willy..." said Jenni softly. Just how much does he usually cry?

"I'm sorry," he said, wiping his eyes. "I always get emotional when I tell that story... But things weren't really so bad..."

Pieces of the puzzle fell into place in Jenni's mind. "So... you love candy because it makes you think of your mother?"

Willy nodded, sniffing. "Anytime my mom or our nurse took me there, I felt so at peace."

"Your nurse took you there, too? What was her name again?"

"Mandi. She was really nice to me, and she always took me places when my mom couldn't." He gazed intently at Jenni now. "I haven't seen her since I was little, but... you remind me a lot of her."

Jenni raised an eyebrow. "Mandi... that's my sister's name. How do you spell it?"

"M-a-n-d-i. Why?"

Surprise filled her eyes. "Because... my sister Mandi was a nurse, too. She's a bit older than me, I was a little girl when she became a nurse, but we're really not that far apart. I haven't seen her in a while either, I really need to visit... and she never told me the name of the family that she worked for."

"My father... he didn't really want people to know about it, so he made her promise not to tell anyone. I don't know why, though..."

"That's it!" said Jenni excitedly. "My sister must've been your family nurse. She went away for a while, my mom said to live with a cousin of ours or something, but that must be where she went all those times. It all fits, anyway..."

Willy smiled a little. "Yes... when I first met you when you applied for a job at my shop, I thought you looked a little like her. The resemblance is actually pretty uncanny..."

Jenni grinned at him. "Did you like her? Was she a good nurse at all?"

"Oh, of course!" replied Willy. "She was great. She didn't care for just my mother, she cared for me, too. I must have inherited a lot more of my mother's traits than I thought, I would get sick all the time. And she would always be there for me, at my side, and everything. Even after my mother... passed away... she came back whenever I needed her. And she would still take me places." He closed his eyes, as if trying to remember something.

It was a normal, busy day in London, and it was time for Willy and Mandi's trip into the main part of the city.

"Willy! Willy!" Mandi called.

Willy ran up to her, panting slightly. "Hello, Miss Mandi," he said politely, smiling.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, yes. Are we really going, are we really going?" he asked excitedly.

Mandi grinned at him. "Of course we are Willy. I promised you, after all."

"Then... then are we going to the zoo?"

"Yes, Willy," she replied, laughing. "Why do you keep asking?"

"Just.. .just curious," he said.

"Okay, time to cross the street," she said, and Willy obediently held out his small hand. Mandi closed her hand gently around his, and the

two crossed the street.

"Can we go to the candy shop first?"

"We have to eat lunch first," she reminded him.

"But... I... I want to go there first."

"Sorry, Willy," she said, squeezing his hand softly. "Lunch first. You don't want to spoil your appetite." Seeing the slightly sad look on his face, she added, "But if you're good, I promise I'll buy you something."

His face lit up. "Really? Yay!"

She laughed, and the two set off into the city.

"Willy?"

"Huh?" he said, snapping back to reality.

"I kept calling your name, and you didn't answer me. You alright?" Jenni looked at him, concerned.

"Oh! Yeah... Um, I'm fine. I'm sorry. I was just having a flashback, that's all..."

Jenni laughed, and the memory of Mandi echoed in Willy's mind. Their laughs sounded so much alike... "You probably drifted off cause your sick. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Willy had almost forgotten that he was sick. He had been so caught up in his memories that he had begun to ignore his slightly dazed feeling, but now it was returning. He sneezed, and Jenni handed him a tissue.

"I'll wake you up in a little while, okay? Then we can eat or something," she said, pulling his blanket over him.

He frowned slightly. "Aw... I wanted to give you the grand tour..."

She grinned. "Don't worry, you can give me one later." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and exited the room, leaving him even more in a daze than ever.

After a few minutes, she peeked back into his room and saw that he had fallen asleep again, and she went downstairs to find a phone. She dialed a number, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" a voice finally answered.

Good, she's home... Jenni smiled, satisfied. "Hey, sis... how are you?"

"Jenni? Hey! I'm fine, how are you?"

"Good, good... hey, I have a favor to ask you."

"Really? Go ahead."

"Mandi... do you remember Willy Wonka?"