Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.
One Flew East Part 3
Phillip, bless him, was trying very hard to be interested too. But apertures and shutter speeds meant as little to him as jab steps and crossover dribbles meant to his brother, and he was obviously getting bored.
It would do Phillip good to be bored for a while, while Jamie got a chance to shine for a change. Cameras were right up his alley, and this camera was clearly the coolest one he had ever seen. It was an outdated agency camera, which meant that it was still better than anything on the civilian market, and Leatherneck had refurbished it and polished it until it was a thing of beauty.
"Do you like it?" Lee asked him, and Jamie absolutely beamed. "You can have it, if you want. I got a new one for location scouting."
The boy took it in his hands almost reverently, and immediately started fiddling with it. Lee pulled out a bag of attachments and lenses that had come with the camera, and they headed off to the park about five minutes from the house.
They spent the better part of two hours experimenting with the camera together, while Phillip played basketball alone. It was only when they all suddenly realized they were hungry that they started back towards the house.
It was like pulling teeth to get Jamie home, and it took half an hour. He stopped every few feet to get a closeup picture of a leaf or a frog or a worm. He changed settings and tried again, experimenting on his own while Phillip dribbled the ball back and forth, huffing and sighing and almost swearing through his teeth.
When at last they got Jamie back to the backyard, Phillip immediately headed straight for the kitchen. Lee could have predicted that. He could also have predicted that Jamie would want to try out a couple more lenses before going in for lunch.
He felt Amanda watching them before he saw her, leaning up against the doorframe with a soft, indulgent expression on her face.
Jamie didn't notice a thing. He was still obsessed with the viewfinder. "Wow! Everything looks so much closer."
What had he gotten himself into? "Well, that's because the lens is in the telephoto position. Here, pull this back and see what happens."
He adjusted the lens — something that Jamie, with all his fiddling, hadn't even gotten to yet.
"Now I can see the whole back of the house!" he exclaimed, and Lee couldn't help smiling down at the boy.
"They call that the wide-angle view."
He finally looked up at Lee, and asked a question that he was not prepared to answer. "That's neat, but how does the picture get onto the film?"
He looked at his wife for help, since she was so good with Jamie, but she only returned his look.
Not a super man. Just a special one.
"Uh, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure."
"Would it be in the encyclopedia?"
"Yeah, there's a good chance of that. Why don't you go on in and get started and I'll be right in."
"All right."
Amazing that he could promise him an encyclopedia and he would go in, but offer him a meal and he'd stay outside with a camera forever.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said, as Jamie approached her.
"Hi, mom," he said, and brushed past her into the house.
He followed his stepson over to her, stepping up into the doorway and looking down into her pleased face.
"Well," she said, sounding delighted.
"I think I am finally on the right track," he said, relieved.
"Yeah!"
He kissed her, delighted that he could do that now, on his way into her house to spend time with their family.
"Get in," she said, fondly.
