The next day was a fair deal warmer than the last two days, the sun peering in through the windows of the sitting room. The sitting room was by far the warmest place in their apartment and it became the area where the brothers spent most of their time. It was roughly 11 am and Joey was out with Coraline and Wybie. William was invited but he declined to go, thankful to get some peace and quiet to himself. However, he was bored, as the two had no electronics, no board games, nothing to entertain themselves with. He did not want to leave their flat in case Joey came home. He did not want Joey to be stuck outside. The snow had covered the ground, leaving a soft white blanket upon the earth. No wonder the neighbors had yet to be seen, considering how cold it was. However, his thoughts were interrupted by Joey coming upon the porch, ridding his shoes of the snow and coming inside. He looked happy, and spoke. "Bro! Come play snow forts with us!" William simply shook his head, smiling softly. "You three have fun. I am currently deep in thought." Joey hung his head but smiled and said, "Okay! I'll be outside if you need me!" As Joey hurried off to play with his new friends, William sighed and smiled, happy to see the younger boy feeling joyful and full of energy. William did not particularly like or trust Coraline or Wybie, but if Joey wanted to spend time with them, William was not cruel enough to try to stop it. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Confusion settled upon his mind as Joey knew that he didn't have to knock. The young man went to the door, and was surprised to see a man so tall that his head was above the door threshold. William answered the door and the tall man kneeled, speaking in what must have been Russian, "Zdravstvuyte newcomer! I, The Amazing Bobinsky, welcome you to your new home! I ask you, how are you liking it so far?" William looked up at the tall man, head tilted, before speaking, "The answer to your question is uncertain. However, I must say I am surprised to see you. Are you a neighbor of mine?" The tall man smiled and pointed up. "I live in top flat, in attic. My full name is Sergei Alexander Bobinsky, at your service. And you are?" "My name is William Sledgeforth." The tall man looked impressed at the unique last name and spoke, "Mr. Sledgeforth, it is a pleasure to meet you. I have come to give you gifts! Please, take these fruits and vegetables. Plenty of good nutrition!" The young man took a large basket full of various foods, placing it inside the door and raising a brow. "What is the catch for this?" "No catch! Merely friendly neighborly behavior. Is that alien to you?" William scratched his cheek, "I suppose I do not know how to answer that question." Bobinsky laughed heartily, "Well I hope you enjoy the food! I must get back to my attic! I have much work to do!" The tall man proceeded to do rather impressive gymnastics, scaling the side of the house up to the top of the building, counting in Russian along the way. William could see the younger teens playing in the snow, Joey laughing as his head got slapped by a snowball. The teens apparently did not notice the large man that had just stopped by. Coraline cheered and whooped as she got tackled by Wybie to the snow. William did not say anything and returned inside. He sat by the fireplace, the flame alive and crackling with energy. So much had to be done and they had little time to do it. Since he agreed to the legal binding of emancipation, he had sworn to take care of Joey, but sometimes it felt like too much.
Not wanting to go down that dark path of thoughts, William got his turncoat on and admired the silver white stripes before sliding it over his shoulders. Placing the stew from the previous day out on the stove on a warm temperature, he decided that now was the opportune time to do his grocery and supply run. It would be much easier with Wybie's wagon and the closer store no more than 15 minutes away.
William was completely lost in thought, exiting their flat until he was pelted by a snowball. His temper flared immediately and he looked over at the guilty party. It was Joey, who thought it would have been funny. William clenched his teeth together and breathed deeply for several seconds, before calming down. Joey looked intimidated, but nothing came of it as William gripped the wagon and began to stroll down the stone path. Wybie spoke, "Hey William! Where are you going?" William responded, "To the store to buy some supplies for us. We are short." Wybie looked at the wagon and spoke, "Please be careful with my grandfather's wagon. It is very old and precious to me." William nodded quietly and began making more headway, but Coraline stopped him. "Hold it there Mr. Universe. Why are you going alone?" William merely shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "I will ask my mom to give you a ride! She is going to the store also later today. Besides, were you planning on leaving Joey here?" William didn't like the idea and shook his head. "Joey knows that he is to come with me when doing these things. Are you trying to imply my younger brother doesn't have common sense?" Coraline gave him a leer, but instead spoke, "No, I didn't mean that at all. But I'm still asking my mom." Joey immediately rose a finger to object. However, Coraline was quite the feisty one, having already vanished inside what must have been her flat by going around the house. William tried to protest, but Wybie spoke, "It's too late. When she wants to do something she will." The blue-haired adventurer returned with a smile. "She will take you!" William's jaw clenched again but he sighed, unable to get a word in.
However, William was rather surprised by how knowledgeable Mrs. Jones was on certain topics, and their trip together wasn't exactly all that bad. Mr. Jones was asked to stay and watch Joey, Coraline and Wybie. The man had gone outside and was sipping on hot coffee as the three younger ones played. Mrs. Jones' name was Melanie, and her husband's name was Charlie. They too had moved to the apartment building from out of state. Apparently, Coraline had a tough time adapting to the fact that the only friend she had locally was Wybie. The two had also started "dating", if you could call it that. Melanie was quite pleasant at the store, not really rushing William to do his shopping. They hadn't been gone that long, returning to the apartments, when something was obviously wrong. Charlie had waved Melanie down, and spoke in a worried tone, "It's happening again!" Melanie wasted no time, apologizing to William and hurrying out of the car. Charlie and Melanie rushed into their apartment, closing the door behind them as William got his and Joey's food into their own place. William had become very worried, wondering if something happened to Joey, but no, his younger brother was sitting in front of the fireplace, seemingly nothing wrong. Wybie was nowhere to be found.
"Joey, you are to tell me exactly what happened." Joey looked happy to see William. "Bro! You're back! You got the food!" William glared, eyes wide, and Joey responded, "Apparently Coraline wasn't feeling too well and Wybie went with Mr. Jones to go sit with her. I don't know what happened, but I could see their expression was wide and worried. They would not allow me to go into their apartment. Wybie tried to get them to let me in, but I think they let him in because he's her boyfriend." William was livid, giving Joey a menacing look, "Were they rude or mean to you?" "No, they were just super secretive. All I remember is playing a prank on Coraline with my hands shaped like a spider. I made her jump and she started to breath really hard." William was confused. Joey could handle the two acting like hooligans, but the tough Coraline couldn't handle a hand prank of a spider? That was bizarre.
However, Joey spoke, "I didn't mean to scare her that badly. I guess I got her pretty good." William smirked a bit before becoming serious. "Come on, we have chores to do."