"Well, you stay out of trouble now, mister. Hmm-hmm." Nancy put on a mock-strict tone and then a lighthearted hummed chuckle.
The floor creaked as Chris shifted, turning towards her. The smile on her face waned under his serious and thus far less cheerful demeanor.
"I intend to, ma'am," he affirmed. "Nancy," he added, knowing he'd have to become familiar with them. Well... for a year, perhaps, anyways...
"I... meant nothing by it." She waved her hand to him apologetically. "Just a, uh... joke-"
"I know, that's fine.Iwasn't joking though... I'm done with that crap..." He spoke severely, meaning every syllable as he again looked to the front door.
"W-well... that's good-"
"Excuse me." He stated, and with hands balled into fists, marched out of the house.
"... W-wow..." It was the first thing Julie had uttered since his arrival, and it wasn't until he had just departed.
"Yeah... well, he's uh... he doesn'tseemall that bad."
"I think he's...scary," she admitted.
"Well he just got out of prison, dear. I'm sure he's had it rough in there... maybe with time, he'll... relax a bit. Ease up. Put on a smile and crack a joke."
"M-maybe..." She could see him through a window, briefly, marching along the side-walk.
"Let's not judge a book by its cover. He's your step-brother, so... don't be afraid to talk to him sometime, okay? Oh, I hope he likes the lasagna. And Rick..." She shook her head. "Never seen him talk to someone like that before. And his own son?"
"Yeah..."
"Even though he's... 'wow.'" To quote her daughter. "I guess he's kept busy in there. His photos from before..."
"He was a, I mean, compared to Rick, he was already a pretty... big guy. I-I think his arm is as big as my head." She chuckled.
"H'yeah," Nancy laughed as well, "No joke... well, uh. Let's not make him angry then. Heh..."
"Y-yeah..."
"After all that, I could use a break. Think I'll swing by the grocery store, stock up on a few things. Want to come?"
"Um... no thanks," she replied after a moment's consideration.
"Okay!" Nancy gave with a bubbly tone and a cheerful smile. She wanted to take her fine, new dress out for a spin, maybe Rick will take her out for a dinner date after work. Perhaps talk to him about... taking it a bit easy on Chris. He only just got out... so harsh...
Julie took her peck on the cheek before her mom left, and so she got up from the table to head back to her room. High school is over, graduation wasn't long ago, it was time to rest on her laurels a while and enjoy somefreedom! Hah, kind of like Chris, perhaps. Wonder where he's gone off to... looked pretty motivated when he left. Walked like he had a purpose... it'd be downright scary to see him walking that way towardsher.
2
After an episode and a half of the latest show that had triggered her binge-watching addiction, she vaguely heard a door close. Pausing the show, with a rather funny look on one of the actor's faces as they were frozen mid-sentence, she heard a chair skitter on the floor.
Curious, she pushed herself up from her bed and eased her door open quietly. She tip-toed down the hall in socked feet. Was it mom or... Chris?
She slowly peered around the entrance from the hallway to the kitchen, and froze as the broad man's eyes flicked from the money in his hands to her face.
Chris saw the fear flash on her as she was quickly caught in her spying.
"Hey," he gave, looking from his money to her and back. Well damn... he was hoping to keep his cash secret. Would have been smarter to wait until he got to his old bedroom to pull his money out of his pocket than to be so blatant as to count it there at the dinner table.
"H-hi... uh..." She could see that his knuckles were a bit scratched, and there was blood on his lip. "W-... were you... in a fight?" She dared to ask. Her mom told her she should try to be friendly with him after all, to try talking to him. She couldn't really think of anything else to mention when she saw the redness... it was rude to talk about money after all.
"Mmh?" Was there blood on his money? He turned his hand and saw the marks on his knuckles. Could still taste the iron in his mouth too. "A bit, yeah." He nodded, and carried on counting. May as well, not like she can 'unsee' the stack of bills in his hand and the ones on the table before him that he'd already counted.