The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Chapter 18 - It's Not For Me To Say

"Aren't you Stevie's little brother?"

Hearing his brother's name for the first time in years, caught Marty off guard, and he stumbled as he stopped. Turning around, he saw the elderly man who owned the drugstore approaching him. He immediately tensed, knowing this couldn't be good.

"You're Stevie Cappellini's little brother, aren't you?" the man asked again as he reached Marty. He was too close, close enough to grab onto Marty, and Marty leapt back to stay out of reach, balling his hands into fists.

"If he stole something from you, I don't know where he is!" he snarled. "I ain't seen him in years!" The drugstore owner looked taken aback before his face smoothed out and his expression became neutral.

"He didn't steal anything from me," he said evenly, and Marty scoffed. It would be a miracle if Stevie hadn't stolen something from him.

"Well, I don't know where he's at," he muttered, already turning to walk away.

"Wait, son! That's not what I was going to talk to you about!" Marty quickened his pace. "I was going to talk to you about a job!"

A shock spread through Marty's body, hearing those words, and his feet stopped moving on their own. He knew he should keep going, get away as fast as he could, but somehow his body wouldn't behave.

"You see, son," the man said, and Marty could tell he'd come close again. Spinning around, he walked backwards to keep the man from getting any closer and the man stopped, raising his hands slightly before he dropped them. "You see, Stevie used to work for me and -."

Marty barked out a laugh. "No, he didn't!" he said belligerently. It was obvious he was lying. Stevie had never had a job. He didn't need to when he could steal anything that wasn't nailed down.

"Yes, he did, son," the man insisted, gazing at him steadily with his intense blue eyes. "Stevie was my delivery boy for almost two years."

Marty opened his mouth to deny it, and then closed it as memories came to him. Stevie was always taking off on his bike, refusing to say where he was going. When he'd come back, he'd have the things he'd stolen, telling Marty not to tell their old man.

He hadn't always been a thief, but when their older brother, Ray enlisted and left home at eighteen, life got a lot harder for the two remaining brothers. Ray had worked alongside their old man to help bring in extra money. What little of his earnings that wasn't spent on drink, put food on the table. With that money no longer coming in, Stevie began stealing out of necessity to feed the two of them. Or he had until the night he ran off after a fist fight with their old man. He'd sworn he'd never return and he'd been good on his word. Marty hadn't seen him since, but he didn't care. He didn't want to see either of his brothers again. Both of them knew what their old man was like once he started drinking, but they'd left anyway, abandoning him to deal with it alone.

Looking into the intense blue eyes of the drug store owner, Marty wondered if he could be telling the truth. Had Stevie been lying about the stealing to cover up the fact he had a job? But the more he considered it, the more he realized that's exactly what Stevie had done. If their old man had gotten wind of it, he would've taken most of his money like he'd done with Ray. Even Marty knew enough to keep any money he'd managed to earn well hidden.

"What's your name, son?" the man asked, breaking the silence and Marty looked away. He should leave now before he got sucked into this any deeper. But - a job.

"It's Marty," he muttered, refusing to meet his eyes.

"I'm Mr. Dwyer," the man replied, holding his hand out. Marty looked at it for a long moment, then reluctantly shook it. "Well, Marty, I'm in a bind," he continued when he let go. "My delivery boy quit on me and I need to find another one right away. That's why I wanted to talk to you - to see if you wanted it."