Color's Light

Chapter 6

Song: Fire and the Flood by Vance Joy 

Picture edited.

Yay! Chapter 6! I'm particularly proud of the way this chapter played out. IDK why. 

I don't have much to say, so...

Go on, go read.

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"Come on, Roan," I say impatiently. He's taking forever to pick a snack. I've had my two dollars ready for ages.

He giggles, and I can almost see the gears turning in his head. He's planning on taking even longer, I can feel it. "Don't you dare," I say warningly.

He laughs harder and points to D5, a chocolate-chip cookie. "Good choice," I tell him, inserting the bill. "Do you want to press the button?"

His eyes brighten even more. "Yeah!" He says enthusiastically. I lift Roan up so he can smack the button with his chubby hand.

I tear open the packet for him and he digs in. Leaning over, I hand Miko the remaining dollar so he can help Pia decide and grab Roan's hand. I pull him over to Mal and Will, who are watching with amusement. Art is pacing grumpily outside. I figure he can wait.

Mal tips her head at me. "Wow, they get so excited about simple things. I remember when Will was like that." She ruffles her son's hair, and he hugs her waist.

"We don't get treats very much." Roan pipes up through his cookie-filled mouth. "Not enough money." Dang it!

Mal's eyes widen. I think she's putting the pieces together. Oh no. "Lana, if your father has... er, passed, and your mother is sick, then who's...?"

I look down and muss Roan's green-black locks. He opens his mouth, but I don't try to stop him. If we're taking the Reids home, then pretty much everything is out the window anyway.

"Lala takes care of us!" Roan blurts. "Lala makes money and buys breakfast and dinner and teaches us our letters and pays the bill!" I wince. That sounds kinda bad.

Mal's hand flies to her mouth. "But... your father died four years ago!"

I wince again and nod.

"And you're sixteen!"

I nod again.

"But that means you did those things when you were twelve!"

Once again, I nod. "Yeah."

"Wha... I don't... why didn't you... huh?" Mal stammers.

Sighing, I say, "Listen, it wasn't easy, but we're doing fine now. I make enough for breakfast and dinner—"

Will interrupts. "What about lunch?"

Roan's eyes widen. "Lunch?" He says it like it's a foreign word, and honestly, it is in our house.

"We don't eat lunch," I explain, "to save money." I see the beginnings of an exclamation start to form on Mal's lips, but I say quickly, "It's actually not that bad. After a couple days, you get used to it."

Her eyes just keep getting sadder and sadder. I hate it. I really don't like it when people feel sorry for me, especially since I try so hard not to need sympathy.

Miko walks over. "Okay, Pia picked out the gummi bears. We can go now." He hands me the 25 cents in change. I shove the coin in my pocket and lift Roan onto my hip. Miko swings Pia onto his shoulders, and we walk out of the store, collecting Art on the way.