A/N Own nothing that doesn't belong to me, Thanks for the reviews, enjoy
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Chapter 8: Dr. Wonka
I went into the bedroom and made myself comfortable on the couch. I tried flipping through some television stations but nothing really caught my eye. I was never a big fan of television anyway. I started looking around for something else to amuse myself with when Willy came in my door with a small tray full of different candies. He sat next to me and handed me the first one.
"The plan for tonight is you tell me everything about you. Start from the beginning. While you talk you try the sour candies and tell me what you think. Kay?"
I was genuinely touched that he was interested in me. I nodded, "But then afterwards, I want to hear all about you and the factory."
That night was probably the best night I had in my life thus far. I told Willy everything about myself. I told him about my childhood, my mother, my first job, my favorite color. He told me about his father, about his store on Cherry Street, finding the oompa-loompas, the golden ticket contest, and his new family. I told him things that I shouldn't have been able to tell my father. I told him things that he didn't approve of, but not once did he judge me. I had never felt better in all my life. I really misjudged this guy.
We both fell asleep on the couch. Before we did we came to a few decisions together. I knew I hated what I did for a living and he knew that. He also understood that I was too proud to accept anything from him. He decided to hire me at the factory. He would pay me to do some random tasks. We also decided that I was going to try to get clean. It was what I wanted anyway, but it was different when I was being told to do it. Willy was much more understanding.
Charlie joined us for breakfast in my room. Willy made us breakfast sandwiches which I very much enjoyed. I couldn't ever remember being in such a good mood. Willy had a list that he was going over with Charlie about what candies I liked and what I didn't like. I found a couple that weren't very sweet. They had an extremely sour taste that I did like.
When it was time to go visit Dr. Wonka, I found myself to be extremely nervous. Willy brought out an outfit for me to wear. It was a dark purple dress. I immediately began rejecting it. "Hell, no."
Willy looked back from the dress to me. "Why not?"
"I don't have the figure for a dress."
"Well you do look like a toothpick, but this dress is your size." We fought for awhile longer and eventually I put on the damn dress. I came out feeling not like me. My hair was down and curly. The dress was low cut with spaghetti straps and was fairly short. It made me look thinner than I was, so basically it was like I almost wasn't there.
I followed Willy and Charlie to the glass elevator. I figured we were taking it to the bottom floor, but the elevator began to move up. I began to get scared as it moved faster and faster. Charlie looked excited and Willy was laughing creepily. We broke through the top of building and I buried my face into Charlie. The kid was fairly tall himself, but I still had to hunch over so that I didn't see anything.
After a few minutes I noticed that we weren't dead. I looked around amazed. The elevator was flying. I knelt down on the ground and watched the world pass. Soon we came to a house that stood far apart from all of the rest. Willy landed the elevator near it and we headed up to it. I saw Willy hesitate in front of the door. He told me all about his father and I have to admit I was scared to meet him. I realized then that he never mentioned his mother in our long talk. It didn't matter right then, but I would need to remember that later.
I saw Charlie staring at my hands and I scowled at him. I couldn't help it, when I get nervous I fidget and fiddle with my hands. I saw him glance over at Willy and noticed then that he does the same thing. Immediately I put my hands down to my side as Charlie began to laugh and knock on the door. I kept my scowl on but lessened it a bit.
Dr. Wonka opened the door and stiffly greeted Willy and Charlie. From what I understand, Charlie was the reason for Willy and Dr. Wonka to see each other after almost 30 years of being mad at each other. Willy visited a couple times since then, maybe twice a year and they were still strange around each other. We walked in and were standing in the living room area.
"Hello Charlie. Hello Willy." The two men looked at each other for a few minutes. I guess that was as close to affectionate as they got. Neither of them touched each other, or anyone else I had started to notice. Dr. Wonka barely glanced at me and then when he really noticed me he did a double take.
I stood there feeling a little awkward. I have no experience in handling myself in these types of situations. I gave a small wave. "Hello Doctor Wonka, I'm Kali." Dr. Wonka came over to me and stared at me for a long time. He looked at me more intently than when Willy first saw me. I started to get a little annoyed, crossed my arms and glared at him. His eyes widened even more and he turned to Willy.
"Who is this young lady? Willy, she looks exactly like…" I sighed, he didn't finish his sentences either it seemed.
Willy laughed nervously and put his arm around my back. He didn't touch me, but it was a nice gesture. "Um, dad, this is my daughter."
Dr. Wonka looked at Willy with surprise. "I never knew that you had a daughter."
More nervous laughter. "Well, neither did I until a few days ago. I only met her mother once."
Dr. Wonka didn't seem interested in the details. He just kept looking at me. "I can't believe the resemblance." Dr. Wonka's eyes were starting to fill with water as he looked at me and he eventually turned away mumbling something about getting us something to drink.
When he was out of the room I began to relax. I turned to look at Willy. He looked happy and sad at the same time. "Willy, you never told me anything about your mother." Willy didn't have time to answer. Dr. Wonka was coming back into the room with a couple glasses of water. We all sat around looking at each other awkwardly. Correction, they looked at me. "What was she like?"
I was getting tired of being stared at and really hoping that one of them would get talking. Dr. Wonka answered but didn't stop staring for one second. "She was beautiful, just like you are. She was an intelligent woman with a quick temper." He almost smiled as he was remembering. "Her mood swings were so fast that she could go from perfectly happy to completely irate and back again in a matter of minutes. She was a good woman, a horrible cook though." He continued to think for awhile and soon his smile broke.
I glanced over at Willy to see that he wasn't all there. He was staring through the wall. I was ready to leave. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I don't know what I really expected, but this wasn't it. Charlie was looking at them sadly and asked the question I wanted to know. "What happened?"
Willy looked almost guilty or maybe even ashamed and Dr. Wonka put back on a professional expression. "She left after an argument one day." His tone was quite clear. He was not going to say anything more about that. Willy decided that it was time to leave and he hurried out the door. Charlie and I followed along. I took one look back at my grandfather. I couldn't tell if my existence was a good or bad thing to him. I got back into the elevator and watched the world.
"Willy, what was the argument about?" Charlie was doing a great job of asking questions that I wanted to know. I never used to have difficulty speaking my mind, but I started to realize that this was a different situation.
"I don't really remember. It was about me, but I can't remember what about me." Willy looked anywhere but at us. At least I know why he looked ashamed. He thought he was the reason that his mother left. Maybe it was, or maybe it was his father being unreasonable with him. No one would know now unless she randomly appeared back into his life. If she did, would he want her back? He took me in quite easily.
Words flew out of my mouth that I don't remember ever hearing and I sure as hell never seriously said them before. "I'm sorry." I was surprised at myself. "I guess I shouldn't have asked to meet him." I suddenly felt my icy heart melting. I cared for strange candy man. I shook myself and crossed my arms. I eventually composed myself back to normal. No one said anything for the rest of the trip home.