Re: Tandy/Alex: the comic book store
[Maybe he'd imagined it, then, maybe it was just the denial that he couldn't quite parse the meaning of, of which thing Tandy was denying. When it came down to it, nobody mistakenly bought you a whole stack of comics and maybe that was what Alex had a hard time reconciling, that Tandy would even question it, that he would be confused by the meaning of the actual words. Whatever it was, it seemed to be gone now. Maybe he was reading too much into everything right now, trying to feel his way out around new people and expecting them to react to things like Luke or Ben, or Jack, Annie, his parents. His dad who'd always gotten real quiet and still when drunk and angry (as one led inevitably to the other) or his moms who was always harping on shit that Alex couldn't do nothing about except when she hit the pills and got real, real still and even cool, on occasion. Whatever the case, both had been sufficient warning to young Alex to stay away from both drugs and alcohol to this point in his life.]
Sure, dude. I can hang onto them. [His hands gently collapsed the splayed comics into a single stack.] Come get 'em whenever, I'll make sure they stay on hold. I don't make commission, so- [Yet another shrug. It was really Trademark Alex White. "Do what you want when you want," it said. But maybe the look on his face kind of finished the sentence with something like "but it would be nice if you came in again while I'm here."] -whenever. [Alex set the small pile on the counter and leaned back against it, raising one foot enough to poke at the place on his shoe by the heel where the sole was separating away from the rest of the heel.] Might take a look, though. They look cool.