Re: Carriage House: Atticus & Billy
Atticus had the decency to blush. He thought Billy would list one of the visible tattoos as his first. He wasn't trying to pry, but the damage was done, and he figured he deserved it after tormenting Carver so endlessly about his Virgin Mary statue. "Figured it was one of those." Might as well own up to it. He motioned to Billy's arms, and he remembered what Cris said about driving home the fact that this wasn't a seduction. Atticus wasn't sure how anyone who knew him could think he was seducing anyone, but he was regularly surprised by what people thought. Not enough socialization, he decided. He'd always been the sick and awkward fat kid that no one liked. Didn't bother him like it did when he was young, but he still looked in the mirror and saw that kid. "Allowed to ask what it is? Or is that too personal?" It would serve him right if it was something lewd. Atticus didn't know when to fold.
He busied himself pulling out the clarified butter for the lobster, and he glanced over to see Billy plant the wine in the bucket. He smiled when Billy hopped on the counter. "Wasn't ever agile enough to do that, even twenty years ago." Wasn't a lie. Atticus had never been the active type. Cris asking him to play ball was like the opening to a horror movie, but Billy was skinny and agile. Maybe too skinny. Atticus hadn't decided yet.
Atticus knew what Billy did for a living, but he knew there were different places to do that. Corners past the tracks. Hookerville. Near the base. Strip club. Carnival. He wasn't sure where Billy lived. A trailer, but could be the regular trailer park. One thing was for sure, this town lived on sex and booze. Funny, considering how many sinners bowed their heads piously at the town's multiple churches. "Meant here." Which probably showcased his naivete somewhat. Atticus wasn't experienced with hookers, no matter where they lived.
"Upper West Side. Nice. Bronx myself. Hunts Point. My parents thought they should live where they taught. Lived in Manhattan before I was born, but they moved by the time I came along. Lived with the people." Atticus' opinion of that was shrouded in deadpan, but he'd gone back to the Bronx himself, once he turned 18 and was tossed out of the system. Obviously didn't hate it.
Absently, he pointed at the Reese's. "Appetizers."