Cracker Jack

Apparently, Evelyn had trusted Jack to find his own way home after school. I walked with him, since he seemed a bit unsure of his own sense of direction. He muttered something about how he shouldn't even go back.

"If you tried that, the cops would have you in the back of a squad car in about twelve seconds," I told him confidently.

"What makes you say that?"

"If Evelyn reported one of her sons missing, it would be their top priority to get you back. They would assume that you're dangerous when you're on the streets."

He rolled his eyes. "Why do people care? What's the difference? I've been here for less than two weeks, and I've seen all kinds of people living on the streets. Why would it be such a big deal if I was one of them?"

"Because you shouldn't have to be one of them."

He stopped talking again, and I let the subject drop. I felt like he was trying to avoid fighting with me, and I wanted to avoid that too. We didn't speak again until Bobby broke the silence when we reached Jack's new home.

"Hey, Grove! Quit corrupting my little brother!"

I ignored him. "Want to walk with me tomorrow morning? I'll let you bum a smoke," I bribed Jack.

"Yeah, sure."

Bobby leaped off the front step and strutted down the sidewalk, hands shoved deep into his pockets. When he reached us, he smiled at me and leaned against Jack.

"So what's going on here? Are you hitting on Cracker Jack?"

Jack scowled down at Bobby, and I stifled a laugh.

"Cracker Jack?" I looked from Bobby to Jack, then back again. "I guess I can see it."

Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well I can't. I don't think it suits me at all."

"Well your little girlfriend agrees with me," Bobby smirked triumphantly. "So Cracker Jack it is."

"I'm not his girlfriend, Bobby."

He snorted. "Yeah, and Angel wasn't Sofi's boyfriend."

"Don't you compare me to-"

"Jack! How was your first day?" Evelyn appeared in the doorway, hurrying out into the yard. She had a heavy parka thrown over her dress.

"It was alright," Jack shrugged, not meeting her eyes.

"I see you've met Hayley. How are you, dear? I haven't seen you in ages! What do you think of Jack?"

"I'm great, Evelyn." I supposed I was telling her the truth. For me, I was doing pretty good lately. "I met Jack on Friday night when I was out for a walk, so I helped him out a bit today. He seems like a really good kid so far. Not like Bobby, over there."

Evelyn smiled. It made her look ten years younger when her smile lit up her face like that. There was no doubt that she was still young at heart, no matter how she appeared on the outside. She was shorter than both of the boys she stood next to, and her hair was as white as the snow that was now falling into it.

"Bobby's a good boy, too," she corrected me. "He just tends not to think."

"See you around, Little Grove," Bobby said to me. "I'm cold. I'm going inside. You coming, Cracker Jack?"

Jack didn't answer, he just gave Bobby a brooding stare. Bobby shrugged his muscular shoulders and retraced his steps back up the sidewalk.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Hayley?" Evelyn offered.

"I'll have to take a rain check. Thanks, though," I politely declined.

"Come inside, Jackie," she said gently. "It's starting to snow. I don't want you to catch a cold. The offer still stands, Hayley. You come over anytime you want. Oh, and tell your mother to come by for coffee sometime. I haven't had a good chat with her in months."

I smiled warmly at her. "I will. See you tomorrow, Jack."

"Bye, Hayley." He seemed to resent going inside.

I still didn't really understand it; most kids around here would kill to live in that house. A few children went there once a week for a hot meal, and she would often give them old clothes that her sons had outgrown. Those adopted boys lived better than those of us who still had our real parents.

I walked away from the Mercer house in the direction of my own, though I kept stealing glances back at Jack as I went. If the girls here weren't so afraid of him, they would all be swooning over him. In my opinion, at least, he was a lot to look at.

I threw open my front door and kicked off my shoes, heading straight upstairs to my bedroom. I didn't hear a single sound in the rest of the house. Now that my brother was gone, I was the only kid left. My room wasn't much, but it was mine. I had plastered the walls with posters of my favorite bands, and by now there was barely an inch of the original off-white paint to be seen. For furniture, I had only my bed and a dresser. I had constructed a makeshift nightstand out of a wooden box that I'd made in school once. It did the trick, and that was all I cared about.

I wished that the winter was over, even though it had just barely begun. If I could stand to open my window, I would have crawled out onto the roof. It was my favorite place to be. But even I wasn't stupid enough to try it when there was this much ice built up on the shingles.

"Hayley," my mother's voice trailed up the stairs. "How was school?"

I hated this. I hated the way that she pretended like nothing was wrong; like we were the perfect little family. It only got worse when other people were around. Groaning, I heaved myself up off of my bed and barreled down the stairs.

"School was fine, Mom. Same as always." I mumbled, not really paying her any attention as I walked past her and opened the refrigerator.

"I heard that there was a new boy enrolled there in your grade."

"And how did you hear that?"

"I talked to your friend Jamie's mother."

I took out a juice box and stabbed the straw into it with unnecessary force. "Jamie's not my friend, Mom. I haven't talked to her willingly in over a year."

"I don't like these antisocial tendencies that you've picked up. You used to have so much fun with Jamie."

"People change. And I don't just mean myself. She changed, too."

"And what about this new kid? Have you met him?"

I nodded, sipping the juice. "More than once. I met him on the weekend. I showed him around today."

"That's my girl," she seemed so happy that I was actually speaking to someone at my school that it kind of sickened me. "What's his name?"

"Jack." I neglected to tell her that he was a Mercer. I was pretty sure that I could predict her reaction. Especially since she still blamed Bobby for the way my brother turned out.

"Is he cute?"

"He's alright," I said. I really didn't want to get into a discussion about the attractiveness of teen-aged boys with my mother.

"Is he nice?"

"Kind of shy, I think. But nice enough."

She seemed taken aback. "He's shy, yet he talks to you? Aren't the quiet kids usually scared of you?"

"Everyone is usually scared of me. Sometimes, I think even you are."

She ignored me. "So you've managed to make friends with him before the other kids get to him? That's smart, Hayley." She made it sound like she was giving me a compliment.

I drained the last of the juice box and tossed the empty carton into the garbage. "No, it was just a coincidence. It was all a fluke how I met him the first time."

"You can recycle that."

"What time is dinner?" I asked, pretending that I hadn't heard her irritated tone.

"I haven't made anything. Eat whatever you can find in the fridge."

"I just did," I muttered, walking past her and back up the stairs. "I'm starting to see why Kevin was in such a hurry to get out of here."

I knew that she'd heard me, but I didn't care. It was the truth. When I reached my room, I ignored the subzero temperature and wrenched open the window. Instead of crawling all the way onto the roof, I sat on the windowsill and lit a cigarette. Out of curiosity, I glanced down the block toward Jack's house. There was a light on upstairs, but there was no way to tell whose room it was. I made a split-second decision to take up Evelyn on her offer for dinner. I tossed my half-finished smoke off of the roof and crawled back inside. Pulling on my jacket, I tore down the stairs.

"Where are you going now?" Mom didn't really sound like she cared.

"Out."

"Don't be late."

"Like you would notice."

I slammed the front door shut behind me and took my time walking down the street. I'd never actually been inside the Mercer house. Well, no farther than the doorway. Kevin had taken me with him a few times to pick up Bobby. On the outside, it looked no different than any other house on this street.

I knocked tentatively. I could hear the shuffling of feet inside, and then Evelyn appeared behind the screen door.

"Hayley? Come inside, dear. It's too cold to stand on the step. What brings you by again so soon?"

"I was..." I suddenly felt like an intruder. "I was hoping that you would still have me for dinner this evening."

"Of course!" She ushered me into the house. "Jack will be happy that you've stopped by. As a matter of fact, why don't you go right up and surprise him? Dinner won't be ready for about another half an hour," Evelyn pointed an arm up the stairs. "Jack's room is the first door on the left when you reach the landing."

"Thank you so much," I told her, feeling nothing but gratitude for the woman.

I headed up the stairs, hoping that Jack wouldn't mind that I was coming over. While I was here, maybe I could finally understand why he seemed to hate this place so much.