Chapter 8
For the first time in a year, Jack didn’t have to wake Lilly up to go on his paper route with him.
After accepting Mr. Zarin’s offer to stay the weekend, Jack and Lilly had stayed in their guest room.
Mrs. Zarin had been equally as surprised as Lilly by Mr. Zarin’s generous proposal.
Jack could see the love between the two adults like a tangible string connecting them. He hoped Jenna and he had that one day.
Though Mrs. Zarin had offered to clean off the couch in the other spare room, which she used as an office space, Jack had assured her that he and Lilly were good to stay in the same room.
In fact, he preferred it. Despite the assurances that Mr. Zarin made stating otherwise, Jack wasn’t so quick to trust. Until he was absolutely certain that there were no strings attached to the offer to live with the Zarins, he and Lilly would continue to share a room.
However, Jack felt comfortable enough to leave Lilly at the house to sleep while he did his paper route because Mr. Zarin was coming with him. The man was up with a travel mug of coffee and keys in hand before Jack had made it bleary-eyed down the stairs.
“Rise and shine, youngster,” he said with a far too cheerful demeanor.
They took Mr. Zarin’s old truck, the first vehicle he said he’d ever owned, and headed out.
The fact that the truck had a heater made this the best morning Jack had ever experienced.
Once they got the papers into the bed of the truck, Jack rode in the cab as they headed towards his route.
Once there, Jack hopped in the bed and threw the papers into the driveways as Mr. Zarin drove slowly down the road.
He’d never finished a paper route so fast before! Then Mr. Zarin took him to the diner for some breakfast.
It had been a very long time since Jack had eaten breakfast. The rare times he had, it had been leftovers in a can from the night before that either he or Lilly hadn’t finished.
“You’re going to spoil me,” Jack told Mr. Zarin as a large platter of eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit was placed in front of him. He tried to laugh off the truth of that statement, but Mr. Zarin did not find it amusing.
“Kids are meant to be spoiled,” he replied. “I’ve always dreamed of having a son or daughter to dote on. I’m not saying you have to start calling me ‘Dad’,” he added quickly, “but I hope you’ll forgive an old man for his need to take care of those in his household.”
Jack paused in picking up his fork. He didn’t see Mr. Zarin as ‘old’. But come to think of it, he didn’t know how old he was. “Can I ask you some questions?”
“Of course.” Mr. Zarin had gotten an egg sandwich that was the size of a large cheeseburger. He had to lift it with both hands as he took his first bite.
“What do you do for a living?”
Mr. Zarin chewed and swallowed before replying. “I work at the hardware store, but I was a Marine before I retired three years ago.”
Jack blinked, shocked. “Really?” Mr. Zarin nodded in answer. “That must have been so exciting! You were deployed?”
“Multiple times, but the excitement you think of is dramatized by the media and movies. It wasn’t all fun and games,” he said with a stern look in his eyes. “It was good, honest work.”
“Did you ever kill anyone?”
Mr. Zarin raised an eyebrow. “Do you think that’s glorious? To kill?”
Feeling embarrassed by his question, Jack shook his head. “No, sir. Not really.”
“Why’s that?”
Jack moved the eggs around on his plate with his fork.
“Well, I imagine not all the people killed in a war are the enemy. There’s probably a lot of civilians killed too.
We’re taught about the Holocaust, Korean and Vietnam Wars…
They talk about how many soldiers die, but rarely about how many civilians.
It’s always made me wonder if war is worth the cost.”
“It’s usually not,” Mr. Zarin said before biting into his sandwich.
“Then why fight?” Jack asked. “Why become a Marine?”
Mr. Zarin put his sandwich down to wipe his mouth with a napkin. “As I said, it was a good paycheck and honest work. I’m not a smart man, Jack. Not like my wife. College wasn’t for me, but I knew I needed to provide for my family. Joining up seemed like the best way to do that.”
“Do you regret it?”
“No,” Mr. Zarin said with a shake of his head. “I wish I hadn’t left my wife alone so often, but I don’t regret it. I was able to support her through college, to buy us a house we can grow old in.”
“And to take in two down-on-their-luck kids?” Jack added before he could stop himself.
Mr. Zarin chuckled. “That too.”
“How old are you, Mr. Zarin?”
“How old are you, Jack?”
“Fifteen,” he answered, though he had a feeling Mr. Zarin already knew that. “Lilly just turned seven.”
Mr. Zarin nodded. “I’m forty-two.” He picked his sandwich back up.
Jack took another bite of his eggs. “Thank you,” he said softly.
“With everything from last night, I’m not sure I said that.
I know you’re giving me the weekend to make a decision and I think we both know what it’s going to be, at least in Lilly’s case, but I still need to make sure you know how grateful I am for your offer.
You’re opening your home to two virtual strangers, regardless that I was once a student of Mrs. Zarin’s and Lilly’s currently one.
So…yeah. Just, thank you. And I’ll help around the house with anything you need,” he added hastily. “I’m pretty handy.”
“I noticed. Did you build that hitch for your bike on your own?”
Jack nodded, his shoulders feeling light at the praise from the older man.
Looking up at the large clock above the milkshake bar, Mr. Zarin asked, “What time does your dad go to work?”
And, just like that, the heaviness was back. “I’m not sure. Lilly and I are usually out of the trailer early and I keep us out as late as I can. I don’t know his schedule anymore.”
“That’s fine.” Mr. Zarin’s voice was gentle, but also held a hint of something that made Jack think of anger. “Finish up,” he instructed. “We’ll head over to your house next to pick up anything you and Lilly need.”
Jack glanced down at his half eaten plate, not sure he could stomach eating more if he had to face his father this morning. As strong as he wanted to be, he wasn’t compared to John Duncan. His father still had a lot of weight and height on him. “What if he’s there?”
“Then we’ll deal with it.” Mr. Zarin’s voice didn’t waver in the slightest. “I won’t let him lay a finger on you, Jack.”
Looking up, Jack had no choice but to believe him. The confidence and steel behind Mr. Zarin’s gaze left no room for doubt.
I want that to be like that, Jack thought as he took another bite of eggs. Someday, I want to be just as strong so I know I’ll always be able to protect those I love.
John Duncan’s beater was in their driveway when Mr. Zarin pulled his truck up to the trailer.
Jack’s stomach sank. As assured as Mr. Zarin was, he still didn’t want an altercation to occur.
It was much better if he could slip inside, grab what they needed, and then slip outside without his dad even knowing he was there.
“Wait here,” Jack told Mr. Zarin.
“I can come with you,” the man insisted.
Jack shook his head. “I keep the window in our bedroom unlocked for an easy escape. I should be able to get in and out without him knowing we’re here.”
“And if he does?”
Jack’s stomach sank, his breakfast a log in his gut. “Fifteen minutes,” he pleaded without answering Mr. Zarin’s question. “If he doesn’t see you then he won’t know where we are.”
Though Mr. Zarin didn’t look happy about it, he nodded. “Ten,” he countered. “Then I’m coming in whether your dad’s aware of you or not.”
Jack believed him. He got out of the truck and moved around the side of the trailer as quickly as he could.
He didn’t need to grab much because they didn’t have much.
He needed to get everything they kept behind the loose board, including the books Jenna had given Lilly and his stash of money.
No way he was risking leaving that behind.
Their cardboard box of clothing should fit everything.
Anything else could easily be replaced. It wasn’t like he had pictures or knickknacks that he wanted to take with them.
As he told Mr. Zarin in the diner, he was fairly certain he knew what his decision was going to be. The offer was too good to be true. And even if it took some time before he trusted the Zarins fully, they were a safer bet than remaining in this trailer with his father.
Jack’s hesitation had nothing to do with Lilly and everything to do with him. He was almost sixteen, just over two years away from being legal. He’d been on his own for so long that he wasn’t sure how he would handle having an authority figure over him.
Jack slid the window of his bedroom up. It was nearly frozen, but thankfully the thin sheen of ice over the hinges broke with some pressure.
He should keep his jobs. Or maybe look for a different, better paying one.
He didn’t want to be a freeloader. Even if the Zarins didn’t ask for rent, he needed to give back to them somehow.
If Lilly was able to be looked after by Mr. and Mrs. Zarin, Jack could find a different job. No more four in the morning paper runs.
He could take Jenna on a proper date.
Slipping inside his and Lilly’s room, he navigated the dark space carefully. All the while keeping an ear out for his old man.
How much time did he have left? When was Mr. Zarin going to come barging inside?
Jack worked as quickly and quietly as he could. Would his dad even notice they were missing? Would he even care? As much as Jack didn’t want him to, a part of him also did. How twisted was that?
A noise outside his room made him pause. His heart hammered like a thief caught in the night. Was his dad awake? Moving around? He needed to hurry.