"You know you could have gone out of the kitchen door."
☆
To say the rest of the morning chores were awkward was a bit of an understatement. Since the events in the woods, things between Jasper and Thomas had been more than tense. However, they seemed to get the allotted work done, mainly due to choosing not to speak to each other, unless they deemed it absolutely necessary.
Jasper was at least rather glad to see Molly back at the farm house, he needed a different face to look at and was also low key hoping for a hearty slice of cake to have alongside his lunch.
As they enter the kitchen through the side door, kicking off their shoes on the way, Jasper sees his uncle Jim had returned from his cow errand. All of yesterday's events rush back to his mind and Jasper is a little apprehensive as to whether his uncle will raise the issue.
They make eye contact and Jasper cannot tell his expression but is more than relieved when he says "Molly's made toasties, wash up and take a seat." maybe Molly had really worked her magic on him for real!
They eventually sit at the wooden table, as Molly places a large tray in the centre, filled with cheese and ham toasties. "Molly you are a star." Jim says with a smile, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Tuck in lads." He adds as he helps himself to one of each.
Jasper takes a ham toastie from the plate and begins to eat with satisfaction. Hard work did make him hungry.
"So Tom." Jim turns his attention to Thomas who is pulling the corner off his cheese toastie and putting it in his mouth, licking his lips in enjoyment. "What do you think of our new hand?"
Jasper can feel his body suddenly tense up. A feeling of wanting to act casual, but the swirling fear in the pit of his stomach is causing him to feel suddenly nauseous. Would Thomas dare to divulge his antics in the woods?
Thomas side eyes Jasper, with the slightest of smirks pulling at the corner of his mouth. He looks back to Jim who is waiting for an answer. "Yeah, he's a...very good with his hands."
Before his uncle even has time to find a response, Jasper has pushed himself up from the table, causing the shared bench to push back slightly. "I've had enough of this shit."
He leaves the table to head for the stairs to his room. "Jasper Jones!" His uncle now stands up, with Thomas and Molly looking at each other a little shocked by the overreaction on display. "Jimmy. I'll talk to him." Molly replies, hurrying her pace in order to get to the bedroom before he has a chance to make an escape again.
She isn't too far behind when she hears the slamming of the door followed by a few groans of annoyance. Molly opens the door, choosing not to knock this time, to see the sash window being pulled up. "You know, you could have just gone out of the kitchen door." She says in a calming voice, laced with a little amusement.
Jasper stops wrestling with the near rotting window frame and turns to face her. "What do you want?"
Molly quietly closes the door behind her before leaning her weight on it. "Talk to me sweetie. What happened down stairs?"
Jasper begins to pace. His hands getting restless, wanting to hit or bang on something but instead having to make do with punching his other open palm. There were reasons as to why Jasper felt the way he did. Reasons he didn't have answers to. Why did he keep wanting to jack off thinking about her brother? Being the most pressing one. These deep issues about himself he wasn't prepared to face. And he certainly wasn't going to share them with Molly.
"Tom...Thomas. He winds me up, he just winds me up ok! And…" Jasper now starts to kick the far bottom leg of the bed. "This bed, It fucking squeaks every time I move. I can't fucking sleep in it!" Jasper's breathing eventually calms as he seems to rid his body of the pent up frustration bubbling inside. He ends up just standing still, arms limp either side of him, just catching the last of his breath.
Molly looks at Jasper tight-lipped, giving a slow nod. He had without realising insulted her home and her brother in a few short words. "Well…" she says, now waiting until Jasper remains still, giving her his full attention. She did not want to carry on until she had all ears on her. "This is how I see it... You need to make some choices."
Jasper wasn't really expecting such an answer. Up until this point, he felt like he had no say in anything happening to him or around him. "You either have my brother help you and get done in half the time, or you do it alone for as long as it takes you. And you either sleep on the bed or on the floor."
Jasper pulls an unimpressed face. She had somehow backed him into a corner. "Look sweetie I get you don't like it here and you've probably never worked like this before but you are here for a reason." She now takes a step towards Jasper, placing a hand on his arm. "You are here to find yourself sweetie. Only when you know who you are will you stop feeling the way you do. Please...just let us help." Molly looks up to Jasper. Her eyes pleading and caring and he hated her for making him feel vulnerable.
"Mmm." is all he can muster as his head hangs low, looking down at his dirty off white socks.
She removes her hand. "Look it's you first working day, just rest for today and please don't escape. Ok?"
Jasper nods, head still hanging low. Only lifting it to see the door click closed. Jasper flops on the annoyingly loud bed and before he even realises it, he falls asleep.