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I got on the floor, and he brought me one of the teddy bears. “They go in the truck. They work hard.”
“Okay,” I said and laughed a little. I placed the teddy in the back of the dump truck and started driving it.
“I’ll go get Chan,” Kendrick said to me.
As Colby and I played trucks, the child’s eyes shined like his father’s, and I found myself laughing at myself. I’d thought Kendrick’s shined in my presence but seeing Colby…it seemed the two had eyes that were always bright, open, and taking in the world in a sweet, positive way.
While playing, I got a better look at the home. The deep brown furniture was top-of-the-line, but he wasn’t picky about it. There was a crayon-drawn house on the side of the couch and a grape juice stain on the Persian rug.
Expensive art hung on the walls and there was a vase in a glass case on the mantle above the huge fireplace that I recognized as ancient Roman pottery. I’d been to Rome twice with my parents, as it was a favorite vacation spot. It was nearly priceless, but there it was, in the same room as a three-year-old that didn’t tiptoe around expensive things.
When Kendrick came back with Chandler, I got my first look at my “student”.
He was as beautiful as his father, though his hair was dyed black, and he wore thick eyeliner under his eyes.
He had heavily gauged earrings and all-black, precisely torn clothes, with Doc Martin boots on his feet. Chandler’s eyes didn’t meet mine when he said, “Hey.”
His eyes were dark blue with the gold specks, and I saw that plainly when he turned them on me briefly. “Hi, Chandler.”
“That’s my broder,” Colby informed me.
“Yes, Colby, that’s your brother,” his father agreed. “Let’s leave these two alone for a minute so they can talk, okay?”
“’kay,” Colby said and got up, but before he went with Kendrick, he ordered, “Don’t drive ‘til I get back, okay?”
“Okay,” I said quickly.
That appeased him and once he and Kendrick were gone, I rose and held out my hand to Chandler, who promptly ignored it, falling back on the couch in a lump.
I lowered my hand and sat on the other couch to give him space. Chandler stared off toward the fireplace and folded his hands over his thin chest. “My dad wants you to teach me about the world.”
The voice surprised me with how deep it was, being he was just a thin, rather small man. “Yes, he does.”
“What if I already know? It’s a terrible place, but it’s better than here.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that. I thought much of the same about anywhere I was. “No one place is ever going to be the right place, or the best place. There are good and bad points about everywhere. What you might want to do is…look for the good before you judge the bad.”
“What good?”
“Here, for instance. You have a family that loves you. Colby and your dad, they love you.”
He grunted, “Hmmph.”
“Don’t ever discount that, Chandler. I know…you get in a place that feels like a dark pool and you can’t swim. You feel like you’re sinking and drowning in all that darkness, but there are things to grab onto. Your family is one.”
“You don’t know my family. My dad said you just moved here.”
He had me there, but I didn’t give up that easily. “So, tell me about them.”
I got a flash of anger in his eyes as they set on me for a brief moment, but his words were few. “Not much to tell.”
“Your dad works a lot, I’m guessing. Colby’s a little boy, so it’s hard to see him as much more than a chore.”
The anger gave way to curiosity, but he didn’t change his body language. Only in those eyes did I see a flicker of wonder.
“I lost my parents when I was really young. It sucked, and I went through a rough time.”
“Yes, and let me guess, you saw the light and literally changed yourself, right?”
