Re: Carriage House: Atticus & Billy
Normally, Atticus wore sleeves and high collars. He'd spent his entire life hiding scars. Even after the court trial and all the pictures of his body taken as a child, he'd covered up. As if things unseen didn't exist. He'd kept covering up for most of his adult life, but it was hot in the kitchen, and there was a first time for everything. Atticus didn't think Billy was going to tell, and Atticus wasn't going to talk about the scars. They could just pretend they weren't there. Atticus liked pretending. In fact, he was so good at it that he believed his own fantasies.
Atticus considered Billy's answer about the words written on him in Romanian. "Telling me isn't the same as strangers seeing. Is it?" He was genuinely curious. There wasn't any opinion laced in the question. Atticus didn't much care for stranger's questions, and he probably put his own spin on the non-English use. "Ever meet your dad? Or just your bunica?" He tried to mimic the pronunciation, but he wasn't very careful with it. It wasn't in Atticus' nature to be careful. "Why that proverb? Too nosy?"
He would back off if it was too nosy. Atticus didn't push. It went hand-in-hand with his apathy. He would ask, because he was slightly curious by nature, in that way that readers everywhere were. Curious, but not required to do anything about situations but read about them. And asking wasn't the same as insisting, and he set to work separating the lobsters from their claws and tails as he waited for a response. He scooped out some roe and set it to steam, and he looked over to catch Billy's smile. Was a nice smile. The kid should smile more often.
"She older? Your sister." He figured she has to be, because Billy was young, and Atticus didn't much want to think of a younger girl working as a hooker. Not that he was naive enough to think it didn't happen, but he didn't want to think about it. Which was how Atticus dealt with most of life's unpleasant things. The roe was steamed red, and Atticus set it aside. He didn't think Billy was a roe kind of kid, but he might be. The lobsters were cleaned and set on a big serving plate, and the jasmine rice was in its own bowl, alongside the clarified butter.
There was no table in the kitchen, so Atticus nodded toward the cabinet that contained the plates. "Sitting area ok? Coffee table works as a dining table." Yes, Atticus was the ultimate bachelor. "Don't feel sorry for you. Wish you were doing something different, but don't feel sorry," he added.