I like ! I like! *nt*

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: : This was actually on of my favorites, and I'm happy it scored this well. It was written by none other than Pixies Chick : : Just bout Bob : : : : Silent Bob pulled the screendoor again, trying to latch it, then felt the hinge : : pull away as the door fell off. Home sweet home. He sighed and set down the bag : : of groceries he had carried in, and walked over to the phone to see if he had : : any calls. No, none. : : Bob pulled the casserole out of the freezer and set it on the counter before : : seeing the mail that Jay had put there. Condensation soaked the paper and the : : ink smeared when he tried to pull it off. As if he didn’t have enough of that at : : his printing job. He pushed the bag of groceries aside, set the cassarole in the : : sink, and sorted through the mail, trying to see if anything had value. : : “What happened with the door, dad?” Jay asked. : : Bob shrugged and smiled. Jay set his books on the counter and turned on the : : oven. Jay was about thirteen and skinny as a rail. Must have been something : : about that age that made it seem impossible to contain the energy he possessed : : in such a narrow space. Sometimes it seemed to leak right out of him, as if he : : actually could be in two places at once. To Bob’s mind, he often was – one part : : of him seated with his books, the other floating above the world. Bob often : : felt in awe of this young man. : : “Your friend called again,” Jay said, “The one you were with when you met mom. : : He says he’s in town for this convention and he wants us to go. Have you talked : : to him?” : : Bob shook his head, shrugged, and turned back to the sink. He really couldn’t : : explain why he hadn’t talked with Jay, or why he hadn’t given him the address : : right away when they had moved this last time. Jay, the other Jay, had been his : : best friend, “hetero-lifemate,” until this change in their circumstances. It had : : been a dozen years since he had seen him. Maybe a dozen years is enough. : : : : Bob pulled the folder close in under his jacket and focused on the bobbing head : : of the young teen walking ahead of him into the crowd. The tables were thick : : with comics and it seemed the jostling crowd didn’t care about the cargo Bob was : : guarding. : : “So that guy with the beard, he knew you a long time ago?” Jay asked. : : Bob smiled and nodded. : : “What?” Jay asked. “He knew you before?” : : “Yes,” Bob coughed. He cleared his throat, “Banky knew me and Jay from before I : : met your mom.” : : Jay smiled wryly, “So that’s the Jay I’m named after? He’s kinda… uh… Dad, is he : : kinda different than when you knew him?” : : Bob suppressed a laugh. “No, not at all.” : : “And you went across country with him and mom? Didn’t he make you crazy? He’s so : : loud,” Jay said. : : Bob did laugh this time. “I used to like that a lot. Uh, Jay did a lot of the : : talking for me. Jay… had ideas. I followed him around a lot.” : : “YOU followed HIM?” Jay’s jaw dropped. “Dad, that guy couldn’t find his way : : around this arena, and this place is ROUND. How did you manage to keep from…. I : : mean, how did you get stuff done?” : : “There just wasn’t that much to do,” Bob replied. “You think a lot. Bethany read : : to you a lot. Maybe that’s why. We just didn’t. Jay and I just didn’t.” : : Bob saw the shadows in the young man’s eye and regretted mentioning Bethany. : : Four weeks this time, and they hadn’t heard a word yet. : : “Dad, that Daredevil you got signed – what did you have him write? You didn’t : : want me to hear what you said to him. What’s up?” : : They’d reached the outside of the arena, and Bob pulled the book from his coat. : : He paused and leaned against the car. : : “I don’t get everything you read. I don’t get a lot of the heavy stuff you talk : : about. Since that …” : : Bob paused and looked up, composing himself. Why was it always so hard to talk : : about this? About anything? : : He started again, “Since that group targeted your mom for working in that : : clinic, I know you got a bum deal. Your life is just too different from what it : : was. I don’t know what to say about it. Maybe your mom can talk with you : : sometime about all that. : : “I wanted to tell you one thing, though. When she asked me if I could watch you : : for a while, I didn’t get it at first. I didn’t know what all that would mean. : : Uh, what, what I mean... : : “I got this book though. The guy in this book, he can’t see. He has problems, : : too.” : : Bob cleared his throat. “Uh, but he gets this thing that happens to him. He gets : : a kid. He’s a superhero and he gets to raise this kid that somebody leaves him. : : That’s the story. : : “I guess, uh… I guess I feel like that. I guess I feel like I got lucky like : : that, too.”

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