The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 19

"So the Janecki's have put their house up for sale," Zoe said, the fork she held hovering over the Tupperware that had her lunch in it. The cafeteria was its usual sea of sound as most of the student body crammed itself into the one room.

"You mean old Mrs. Janecki's going to move? She used to give out full chocolate bars at Halloween," Cora replied. She liked the little old lady who had, on more than one occasion, given her and Zoe fresh baked cookies. And that even before they'd started helping her and her husband rake the leaves.

"Yeah. Looks like they're going to move to something smaller and closer to their daughter. I'm going to miss them. They're so much nicer than the Reemans on the other side. Do you know I actually saw their youngest trying to run chipmunks down with his trike? The little psychopath actually managed to get one and laughed about it. That kid's going to be a serial killer when he grows up, no lie."

"And his parents didn't do anything about it?"

Zoe snorted. "When do those two ever discipline their children? I liked it better when Mrs. Yoxen lived there, even if she was kind of nuts and her poodles were nasty. At least she could keep them in line."

"It's like all the old people in the area are leaving and a whole bunch of kids are moving in. Too bad this wasn't happening when we were kids. We'd have had more fun growing up if there'd been more girls our age."

"Only if they'd been cool. I wouldn't have been friends with the Reeman kids even if I was their age. The oldest one still bites, one of the many reasons I refuse to babysit for them. That and their pay is shit and not worth the hassle. I should have added a danger fee when babysitting the awful children. It might have made it less frustrating."

Cora chuckled "Zoe, face it, you don't like kids. Even if extra money was there you wouldn't want to be around them."

"I don't dislike all of them. As long as the kid's not sticky, not a little shit, does what I say, and doesn't have awful taste in movies, I'm good with them."

"The kid you're describing doesn't exist. All kids have some sort of issues. Just like regular people. They're just not as good at hiding it most of the time."

"Yeah, well, regular people suck too some days."

Cora raised her eyebrows. "Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?"

Zoe grimaced. "It's nothing major, just another prejudiced asshole. Got to overhear a lovely conversation when I went out to get milk last night. One woman was talking about her daughter playing rugby then assured her friend that 'don't worry, she's not a dyke.' I contemplated telling her not to worry, if her daughter looked like her, none of us would touch her. But then again, this is a small town, shit gets around and... Besides, just because your mom's an ignorant bitch doesn't mean you are one too."

"There are stupid people everywhere. It's best just to ignore them. Most of them just aren't capable of changing and trying to get them to do it is like banging your head against a brick wall. It's not going to do anything to the wall and all you're going to end up with is a headache."

Zoe had to laugh at that. "True. I guess I'm being a bit sensitive about it sometimes, I just don't like that kind of ingrained bigotry. Which is shocking to you, I know."

Cora grinned. "You? Against people being assholes? Since when?"

They both tried to keep straight faces but failed after only seconds of looking at one another, their laughter joining the mix of chatter happening all around them.