InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "hahahaha NO"

Thomas Julian Kemp (asterismos) wrote in nevermore_past,
@ 2014-08-21 21:03:00

Current mood:	hungry
Entry tags:	jameson kemp, thomas kemp

WHO: Thomas and Jamie
WHAT: I'm a terrible person. There's no food in the house and it's cold. MUAHAHHAA
WHEN: Late December, whatever year means Jamie is five and a half
WHERE: Their tiny apartment
WARNINGS: Poverty, hunger, swearing

The sound of his sister's phone ringing and ringing and ringing was mocking him. She wouldn't pick up (he would find out later she and her boyfriend had skipped town for a spur of the moment Christmas together) and his parents were out of town.

Everyone was out of town or busy.

"Dammit!" Thomas yelled, throwing the phone onto his bed with force because it was an outlet for his aggression that wouldn't actually harm the phone. He needed that, dammit. He needed his sister to pick up.

He needed someone to help.

There in the middle of his room, Thomas bent his face down into his hands and he rubbed at his forehead. There was no money and hardly any food and he had no idea what to do. Jamie would eventually realise it was several hours past lunch time and Thomas was going to have to figure out something to tell his son.

Oh god, what was he going to tell his son?

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flare_star
2014-08-21 09:43 am UTC (link)

The thing about being a really creative five year old, was that Jamie was pretty good at entertaining himself for long stretches of time. Not indefinitely, obviously, but for a solid couple hours.

Eventually, though, he'd started to notice the growling in his stomach. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and his father hadn't called him for lunch yet. So he put down his crayons and padded out to his father's room, poking his head around the doorframe. "Dad?" he called.

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	asterismos 2014-08-21 09:50 am UTC (link)
	Thomas had been pacing around his bedroom when Jamie finally came to find him. He turned, doing his best to smile, though he didn't know if he succeeded. "Hey, kiddo. Want to watch something?" Maybe if he kept Jamie distracted he wouldn't notice it was edging near dinner time and all they had eaten today was toast. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-21 09:59 am UTC (link)
	"Sure," Jamie said, shrugging. "Can we watch it while we have lunch?" He had no idea about their situation, he just knew he was hungry, and peanut butter and jelly was sounding really good right about now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-21 10:06 am UTC (link)

At that, Thomas broke out into a cold sweat. The cutely hopeful look in his son's eyes was enough to make Thomas' insides twist with guilt, and it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Goddammit, why did his school have to take holiday breaks?! If school was in session, Jamie would be in class with a full belly right now.

"Jamie, uhm-" Thomas fidgeted, running his hands through his hair, "I don't- I think we should wait until dinner, okay, mate?" Not that there was much for dinner, a few crackers and a stray slice of cheese, but Thomas was going to give Jamie all of it.

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	flare_star 2014-08-21 10:16 am UTC (link)
	"Oh," Jamie said. "OK, I guess." He wanted to say something else, but his dad looked upset, and his dad knew best, so he kept his mouth shut. "Can we watch Nightmare Before Christmas again?" he asked instead. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-21 10:23 am UTC (link)

He chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding. Oh god, he was the worst parent in the entire world. "Sure, kiddo. I need to make a few phone calls while we watch it though, okay?" Mostly he needed to keep calling his sister every fifteen minutes until she picked up the goddamn phone. He knew she would loan him some money so he could feed Jamie if she would just answer.

Thomas moved over to their fairly crappy television and he put the tape into the VCR. When the movie started, he plopped himself down onto the sofa so he could wrap one arm around Jamie while the other was free to call Anna repeatedly. "Okay?" he asked Jamie as the opening song played.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-21 10:30 am UTC (link)
	"OK," Jamie answered, climbing up onto the sofa and pulling a blanket over himself. "Are you OK, Dad?" he asked, turning to look up at his father. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	asterismos 2014-08-21 10:33 am UTC (link)
	Thomas turned to Jamie and he made sure to smile genuinely so his son wouldn't panic. "I'm okay except that I'm feeling a little funny." He made a strange face and leaned towards Jamie, "like an attack of something is coming on. I-Oh...oh yes, it's a kiss attack!" Thomas cried, and then he leaned in to plant kisses all over Jamie's tiny face. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-22 05:49 am UTC (link)
	Jamie's eyes widened slightly, because that didn't sound good. Not even a second later, though, they were scrunched closed as he laughed and squirmed under his dad's kiss attack. "Da-ad!" he shrieked, giggling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	asterismos 2014-08-22 06:19 am UTC (link)
	"Can't stop!" Thomas cried out, "must keep kissing!" He kept it up for a moment longer and then pulled back, ruffling Jamie's hair. "You're just too wonderful, I can't help it. Want me to sing the songs?" While they watched movies, sometimes Thomas sang along using funny voices. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-22 06:37 am UTC (link)
	"You have to sing the Oogie Boogie Song!" Jamie demanded, bouncing slightly in place. "Please? You do the voices the best." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-22 06:41 am UTC (link)

"As you wish," Thomas said with a grin, and because he couldn't help it, he leaned in to kiss Jamie's cheek again. He was going to try to keep things upbeat here as long as he could.

They watched the movie, Thomas singing all the songs, including the Oogie Boogie song as requested. Between songs, he dialled his sister's phone number over and over again to no avail.

When the movie ended, Thomas glanced at the clock on the wall which read 5:15. Their breakfast had been at around 7 which felt like forever ago to Thomas. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to tiny Jamie.

After pushing rewind on the VCR, Thomas turned to his son and did his best to seem like everything was fine. "Want to watch another one?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-22 07:14 am UTC (link)
	The distraction of Nightmare had worked for a while, but now that he wasn't focused on the citizens of Halloweentown trying to make Christmas, Jamie remembered he was still really hungry. He'd been raised that whining accomplished nothing, but the growling was getting pretty hard to ignore. "Can we put it on after dinner?" he asked. "I'm kinda hungry." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-22 07:21 am UTC (link)

Thomas breathed out shakily before forcing himself to smile again. "Uhm...okay, Jamie." He turned to face his son, reaching out to ruffle his hair again. "I have to tell you something though. I'm sorry, but dinner isn't going to be very big. Do you remember how the car broke down this week and I had to take it to the car doctor? That cost a lot of money and- And uhm, we can't go shopping again until I get paid next week. I'm sorry. I can make you some cheese and crackers though, okay?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-23 05:19 am UTC (link)
	Jamie couldn't help it, his face scrunched up slightly. Cheese and crackers didn't really sound like dinner, but he was so hungry, he probably would've eaten toast again and been happy. "I remember," he said. "But yeah, that'd be OK. My stomach feels all weird." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-23 06:02 am UTC (link)

Oh, Jesus.

Thomas leaned in to kiss Jamie's forehead slowly, and he rested his head there for a moment before pulling back. "Come on, Kiddo," he said, pulling Jamie gently off of the sofa and towards the kitchen.

Once there, Thomas pulled out the crackers and the lone slice of cheese from the fridge. He set the kettle boiling so he could make himself tea, and then he pulled out three of the saltines so he could put half of the cheese on two of them. On the other one, he found a stray bit of peanut butter in a jar and spread some of that over it. There were more crackers, but if Anna didn't pick up her damn phone, they would need them later. Thomas didn't get paid for several days, but he didn't want to scare Jamie.

"Here, Kiddo," he said, handing a the plate with the crackers on it to his son. He doubted it would even slightly fill Jamie up, but it was better than nothing, right? Finally, he made himself some mint tea and headed over to the table. "I'm so sorry..."

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flare_star
2014-08-23 06:37 am UTC (link)

Jamie climbed up onto one of the stools, watching his father putter around the kitchen. He knew, even though he was still pretty young, that the plate in front of him was hardly full, but if he got upset, his dad would just get upset in turn, and the vicious cycle just continued.

So he smiled at his dad instead, and picked up the cracker with peanut butter on it. "It's OK, Dad," he said, biting it in half. "Do we have any milk, or anything?"

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asterismos
2014-08-23 06:42 am UTC (link)

Thomas chewed on his lip for a moment and then he said, "I can make you some." They had evaporated milk and mixed with water it would be kind of close. He rose and mixed it together before adding some chocolate syrup to take the edge off the taste.

"Here you go, chocolate milk!" he said, handing it over and feeling kind of proud of himself. "Drink it down and when you're finished you can take a bath, okay? No stinky boys in this house!"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-23 06:57 am UTC (link)
	Jamie grinned, not even minding the slightly funny aftertaste. He ate his crackers slowly, sipping at his chocolate milk between bites to try and stretch it out. He stuck out his tongue at the mention of a bath, though. "I don't stink!" he said, all righteous indignation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-23 07:15 am UTC (link)

Thomas grinned as he sipped his tea. As long as Jamie was smiling, he could ignore the fact that he was incredibly hungry. His son was all that mattered. "You're the smelliest munchkin," Thomas said with a fake serious look on his face. "I can smell you from out in the hall." Then he laughed and shook his head, "which is a lie of course, you smell delightful but you're still taking a bath because Daddy says so!"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	flare_star 2014-08-24 04:32 am UTC (link)
	Jamie stuck out his tongue. "You know 'because I said so' isn't really a reason, right, Dad?" he asked, finishing the first cheese-covered cracker. "But fine, I'll take a bath. If you read some Brothers Grimm afterwards." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 04:40 am UTC (link)

Thomas snorted and he grinned over at his son, "I don't think you're supposed to figure that out for several more years, so pretend you don't know that." He winked at Jamie and then drank his tea down quickly. He wanted to make himself another cup while Jamie was in the bath. It wasn't really a substitute for eating dinner, but maybe it could keep the pangs at bay for a few hours. "Of course I'll read to you before bed."

One bath, one cup of tea and several Grimm's fairytales later, the pair of them were on Thomas' bed, curled against the pillows.

"Ready for bed, Kiddo?" It was only about eight, but maybe sleeping was for the best.

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	flare_star 2014-08-24 05:00 am UTC (link)
	"Ms. Watson says it's because I'm preco- prec-" Jamie pulled a face. "She says I'm something, and then laughs a little bit. But OK." Once he'd finished his bath and gotten his stories, Jamie's brain was firmly in the 'time for sleep' mode. He yawned and burrowed himself down into the blankets. "Uh-huh," he mumbled. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

asterismos
2014-08-24 05:07 am UTC (link)

Thomas gazed down at his sleepy son, his expressing adoring. God, Jamie was so cute. "Come on, Munchkin," he said, standing and scooping Jamie up into his arms. "Back to your Munchkin cave."

He carried Jamie to his little closet-room and deposited Jamie in the bed, tucking him in. "Sleep well, okay sweetheart?" he said, hiding how nervous he was that Jamie was going to be unable to sleep because he was hungry.

Once Jamie was tucked in, Thomas headed back to his own bed and he let himself sink into it, exhausted and ravenous. He rubbed his stomach absently with his left hand while he curled his right into his pillow. He was pretty sure he would be unable to sleep, but it was more because of his worry for Jamie. If Jamie made any sounds in the middle of the night, Thomas was going to hear it.

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flare_star
2014-08-24 05:20 am UTC (link)

"Love you, Dad," Jamie said, turning onto his side and quickly falling asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, it was still dark outside. It took him a minute to figure out that he'd woken up because his stomach was growling at him again. It was worse than it had been before dinner, and Jamie was pretty sure he could have eaten half a pizza by himself.

He crawled out of bed, but hesitated when he got to the door. His dad had even said there wasn't a lot of food in the house, and he wasn't trying to be selfish, really, but he was so hungry.

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