⌜ chapter eight ⌟

"Hey, thanks for coming in before school today, Scarlett." Mr. Matthews says as she works on what she's straightening up in the back of the store.

"Yeah, of course." The brunette says as she turns to him. "I don't have a first period anyway, so it really isn't a big deal."

"And you're sure that you and Eric can handle working at the same time?" He asks, and she nods.

"I'm only here for an hour, then Alec's picking me up to take me to school. Eric shouldn't be here much longer after I get back, and even if he is — I'm good at keepin' busy." She tells him, and he nods. "Besides, with him dating, he should move on soon enough."

"Right." He hesitates for a second and then turns around to walk away.

Letty's working behind the cash register half an hour later when a woman walks over. "Do you have any recommendations for someone like me?" Mrs. Hunter asks.

"Mhm." Letty nods, not looking up from her current task. "Snow suit — Winter's coming, it gets cold on the road."

"Scarlett, please. Your other boss won't tell me when you're working at the bookstore, Shawn won't give me your new address, and you never come to the trailer park anymore."

"Yeah, it makes avoiding your oldest son that much easier. How is Eddie, anyway? Was he happy to see you?" She shakes her head as she looks at Mrs. Hunter. "No, I bet he had a similar reaction to this. He and I were always similar when it came to our expectations of our parents."

"Will you just let me explain?" She begs as the teenager walks around the counter.

"You wanna explain?" The brunette nods. "Okay, explain this. You were gone more than twelve months, and in that time, Shawn got letters from you saying how much you love him, how you hope that someday he'll understand. Me? I didn't get any letter, I got your responsibilities. You took our tin roof, and I found Shawn a place to sleep that wasn't some dingy motel room in the worst part of town. I gave Turner money to go toward groceries while Shawn was living there, I kept up on his grades, I gave him lunch money. And that's only what I did for Shawn."

"I'm sorry, Scarlett." Mrs. Hunter says, and she nods.

"Yeah, me too. But being sorry doesn't make up for anything. I've already got one deadbeat mother, I don't need two." Letty says. "You got two sons, be their mother. And leave me the hell alone." She turns around, and goes to where Mr. Matthews asked her to check the prices on some of the items that are going out of season.

Letty's at school later, and she sees Chet in the janitor uniform. He smiles when he sees her. "Hey there, Scarlett." He greets.

"Mr. Hunter." She waves, "You're working here now?"

"Mhm. My Virna wants me to have a real job so that I can help pay the bills." He tells her as she stops next to the short wall at the top of the steps by the bench that she usually sits on. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk that housemate of yours into giving me a job?"

"Tyler can barely afford to employ me, and no way in hell is Reggie hiring you at the bar."

"Ah, come on, Scarlett. I—"

"Mr. Hunter." She rests her hands on the wall so that she can lean forward, moving closer as she looks at him. "I will tell Reggie to ban you from even walking in the front door of the bar. You are not working anywhere near alcohol." The brunette tells him.

"You know more about us grown ups than you should."

"It's a blessing and a curse." She says as she stands up straight. "I am glad that you're working a decent nine-to-five though. Glad to see Shawn has you depend on again."

"Thank you." He says, and she nods before walking away from him.

During lunch, Letty's doing homework from an earlier class in the cafeteria, and a boy walks over to her. "Hey, trailer trash."

"There's one I haven't heard every day since I started middle school." The brunette says, continuing with the work for her English class.

"Must suck having to do your homework at school so that you can head down to your job after the dismissal bell." He says as he shuts her book, much to her annoyance. "You know, 'cause nobody likes you enough to keep you around, so you have to work to make your own way."

Letty smiles as she looks up at him. "Must suck being so stupid that you can't see the three teachers that are sitting at the table just five feet to your left." She says, and he looks over to find Feeny, Turner, and Williams all looking at him.

"How lucky for you. Your group of those who give you special treatment."

"No, I just know how my eyes work." She says, and he nods before walking away from her. She shakes her head, and then reopens her textbook.

Before her next class, the brunette's standing beside her locker, and she hears the same boy from before. "So, the toilet overflows, and Feeny asked the new janitor if he can handle it." He starts, and she looks over to see him standing right behind Shawn, leaning toward him. "Guy says, hey, when I was working with the C.I.A., I mopped up after the Sandinistas. I think I can mop up this. Janitors are so colorful." He says, doing an impression of Chet just to get on the younger boy's nerves.

The teenage girl's watching him, and he smirks when he turns around and sees her standing there as well. He then walks down the steps, leaving Shawn sitting there with Cory to stew in his anger. As the boy passes her, he slams her locker door shut, and she grinds her teeth as she maintains her composure so that she won't hit him.

Back at work later, Letty's restocking shelves when Eric walks over to her. "Hey." He gets her attention, and she looks up at him.

"Hi." She offers him a smile as she stands up straight. "I thought you got off work half an hour ago."

"I did." He nods. "But I overheard what happened this morning with Mrs. Hunter, and I wanted to talk to you — see how you're doing."

"I'm alright." She tells him. "Better than I was expecting to be, actually. I guess, I... I accepted how things are with my mom a long time ago, and it's really not hard to put Mrs. Hunter in the same boat. Old trauma — I guess my feelings about my mom are more resolved than I realized before. My mom left when I was five, you know. I knew her, like, a quarter of my life. And really, your mom has been more like a mother to me than Mrs. Hunter, so... I don't know. I guess as long as I don't lose your mom, I'm okay on that front."

"I'm glad." He smiles. "How are things going with your brother?"

"Oh, uh... There have been some...developments." She nods.

"If you don't wanna talk about—"

"No, I—" She shakes her head. "It's not that, it's just a little complicated, is all. Um... My initial reaction to Mrs. Hunter showing up again wasn't so...profound, at first. Actually, the shock of her suddenly showing up, and me confronting her for answers... I had a panic attack." She tells him, and his eyes widen.

"Oh my G— Are you okay?" He asks, and she nods.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine now. I'm hoping it was a one-off." She says, and he nods. "Look, uh... I would love to tell you all about the progress that I've made with my brother. 'Cause I really do feel like it's actual progress, you know, for-for me. But—"

"But we're not supposed to be friends anymore." He nods as he starts to turn.

"No, Eric." She quickly reaches for his hand, and his fingers curl around hers as soon as he feels her skin against his. He turns his attention back to her. "I was just gonna say that I'm supposed to be working right now...and maybe we can talk another time?" She asks, and he nods.

"Yeah." He smiles. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Okay." She nods. "Well, uh... You are, in part, responsible for my schedule, so... Let me know when we're both free." She tells him, and he nods.

—

"Can I talk to you?" Shawn asks as he rushes over to Letty, and she looks up from her sketchbook as he sits beside her on the bench.

The school hallway is empty, as the two are early for the day. She knew that he was going to need her, so the older girl made sure that she was there bright and early.

"It's what big sisters are for." The brunette says as she rests her pencil on the page and then closes the sketchbook.

"Are you embarrassed that my dad's a janitor here?"

"Not even a little." She shakes her head.

"Really?"

"Really, Shawn. I was actually happy when I came into school and saw him in the uniform for the first time."

"But he's a janitor." He argues, and she nods.

"Yeah, I know. And for a long time, he was nothing more than a storyteller." She says. "And as entertaining as his stories always were when we were little, they aren't real. This job is real...and it's the first that I've actually believed that he's gonna make good on his promise to you."

"You didn't believe him before when he said that he was gonna do better?"

"No, I didn't. And I know that that made you angry." She takes a deep breath, and he looks down at his hands in his lap. "But he has said a lot of things over the years that never actually happened. I know that he believes them when he says them, but that's not good enough. They were all nothing more than empty promises that never lead anywhere, but this isn't that. This is real. This is an actual nine-to-five job with a paycheck that he gets regularly. No, it's not glamorous work, but it's honest."

"And that's all that matters to you?" He asks, and she nods.

"Him taking care of you is the only thing that matters to me... I know that that guy's been giving you a hard time. He's been getting on me about it too." Letty says, and he nods. "But he doesn't matter, those are just empty words. He doesn't know you, and he doesn't know your dad."

"He cleans up after other people, Scar, and he..."

"He's trying, Shawnie. For the first time, in a long time, he's making an honest effort." Letty says, and he looks up at her. "This isn't one of his phony stories or his ridiculous schemes. He's really putting in the work."

"I'm sorry I got so mad at you before. I never did say that, did I?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"You apologize for ignoring me, I apologize for punching Alec in the face. We're all a work-in-progress around here." She says, and he smiles.

"But you didn't deserve the way I treated you. I know that you've had a hard time lately, and I know it's still been tough." He says, and she nods. "I know I don't say this enough, but I appreciate everything that you do for me...that you've always done for me. And I love you, Scar."

"I..." Letty takes a deep breath as tears fill her eyes, and he nods.

"I know you do." Shawn leans over and hugs his sister.

—

Letty's following Tyler into Chubbie's, her pinky linked with his as they make their way down the stairs. She stays close to him as they walk up to the counter to order their food, and he looks down at the teenager when she leans into his side. She's not looking at him as she grips his upper arm, so he follows her gaze.

The boy who's been giving her and Shawn a hard time lately is sitting with his friends at a table near the back. He caught her attention because of the movement he made to point her out to his friends.

Nothing he said about Chet bothered her for exactly all the reasons that she told Shawn, but some of the things he said about her got under her skin. She knows she's made progress, but she can't help it that it still bothers her when people call her trailer trash. And everything going on recently with Mrs. Hunter hasn't helped that either — the way she calls their home a tin roof, as though it's less than what everyone else has.

"That little punk is nobody." Tyler says as he leans down and whispers to her. "He doesn't know you or shit about you. Don't let him get to you."

"He does get to me." Letty says as she turns her head to meet his gaze. "I'm tired of being looked down on. He's not the only one. He's just the latest."

"I was where you are not that long ago." He reminds her. "What's going on now — it doesn't last forever. And you have us now. We'll get you through."

She nods, leaving her response at that.

After ordering their food, Tyler asks if she wants to play pool. The pair start walking in that direction, and he kicks the chair leg of the kid who's been harassing Letty. The kid looks up and sees that it was Letty's friend who did it as he was passing their table.

"What the hell is your problem?" He questions, getting to his feet, and Tyler turns to look at him.

"I ain't got a problem." The older boy tells him. "Do you?"

"Yeah, I got a problem. You just kicked my seat."

"Huh." He nods. "Yeah. I did. So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass." He says, and Tyler nods.

"Okay. So do it."

He scoffs. "You can't hit me, jackass. I'm a minor, and you're what? Thirty?"

"I never said I was gonna hit you." He shakes his head. "I never said I was gonna do anything, you did. So, are you gonna?"

"Is this a game to you or something?"

"Naw, no game." Tyler shrugs. "I just think it's real interesting that you can talk shit to a teenage girl and feel like a big man...but now you can't do shit. What's wrong? You lost your nerve all of a sudden 'cause I'm not a high school girl that you can belittle?"

"You want me to hit you?" He questions.

"I don't give a shit what you do."

He nods as he looks at Tyler, then he shoves on his chest. The older boy chuckles as he takes a step back, entirely unfazed by the physical touch. His indifference clearly gets on the teenager's nerves as he glares at him, but Tyler doesn't say or do anything in response.

Watching his movements, Tyler easily evades the next blow. He ducks as he steps to the side, and then the kid spins around to face him again after the momentum of his missed hit forces him to turn. The teenager tries to punch him again, but Tyler moves once more, and his fist collides with the wall that separates the dining area from the pool table.

"And now you're bleeding, and I didn't have to lift a finger. And the best part is, your friends saw the whole thing." Tyler says as he looks at the teenager. "Now, do me a favor, and stay the hell away from Scarlett. Don't talk to her, don't even look at her. You understand me? Yes. Great. It was nice meeting you. Let's go home, Scar."

"What about dinner?" The brunette asks as she follows him toward the stairs.

"We'll pick up some pizzas on the way." He tells her, and she laughs as she thinks about what just happened.

"You're my new favorite." She says, her hand reaching up to grab the back of his red t-shirt as they then leave their usual stop for dinner after they close up the bookstore.