Conner Reece (reece_con) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-11-27 01:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | day nine, rebekah, rebekah and reece, reece |
The Girl Scout and the Bad Influence
Characters: Reece and Becka
Setting: Courtyard, morning
Reece was staring at the patch of scorched earth, cigarette between his teeth despite the fact that he was getting wet. That was something else. Kicking the remnants of a book he frowned more, managing to get a pull off his damn cigarette. He wasn’t much of a reader, but he was pretty sure setting books on fire was a bad idea. And now he was curious who the resident arsonists were.
It felt like a bad sign. Like this plus the rain meant something bad was coming. What he wanted was a cup of coffee, but pacing around this was important for the moment at least.
After Leandro had left, Becka took her time getting ready for the day, showering and getting dressed before checking the computer. She’d done the assignment, and then just hadn’t been able to stay in her room for much longer. Kyle’s messages were good, she was very happy for him and glad that he and Leandro were going to try to work things out, but it made her feel edgy in a way she didn’t really want to look closer at right now.
And then there was this, she thought as she pulled the hood of her jacket over her hair as she reached the courtyard, stopping near the man to look at the scorched and soggy earth and remnants of what had been burned. Glancing at him, pretty sure that it was Reece if she was piecing together what she’d noticed of him over their time here, she said, “You look about as thrilled about this as I feel.”
He glanced at her grinning around the cigarette and nodding. He had on his jacket as well, but it lacked a hood like hers. “It’s a little fucked up pixie.” He knew who she was, he hadn’t been lying about being able to pick her out of a crowd. “Good to know we can’t have nice things.” Which upset him. He liked it here. This was going to get it taken away.
Becka grinned a bit at the nickname, pleased for some reason that he knew who she was and that she’d been right that he was Reece. “Apparently we’re just a bunch of animals. Wonder if it’s the same person who flooded the laundry room yesterday,” she added speculatively. She’d heard about it, though she hadn’t actually seen it herself. “And just what they think they’re going to achieve with stupid stuff like this.” It wasn’t Leandro, she knew that much. He’d already promised her that his pranks were going to be essentially harmless.
Reece smirked around his cigarette as she grinned. “If I had to guess...maybe. Or anyone who likes to set things on fire.” He’d heard about the arsonists, how some of them were compulsive. “Probably wasn’t to achieve anything. To make a statement. Or a mess.”
Tilting her chin up, Becka wrinkled her nose at that. “Making a statement would fall under trying to achieve something, I think,” she countered, though not argumentatively. “As for arsonists? It’s possible. I don’t know if anyone’s in here for arson. Probably. I mean, even the list that ended up on Dom’s journal the second day was pretty varied,” she observed.
“I don’t think of statements as achieving much. Mostly just extra bullshit.” He made a face, not the type to care about stuff of that nature. “No one? I thought you knew more people than me.” Reece looked up, rain falling on his face for a moment before he started towards the kitchen nodding for her to follow.
Though her expression turned thoughtful, she didn’t actually say anything until they were walking toward the kitchen. “I might know more people than you, but....” She shrugged. “I haven’t really questioned people about what they’re in for. Maybe I should, but I don’t know - kinda figured that the whole point of this place was to get to a life without the stigma of our convictions following us, right?” she posed, wondering how much if at all he would agree with that thought.
Reece gave her a bit of a look. “Me not asking, that makes sense. But you pixie? You should ask. That’s not the smartest idea. Trust people all you want, but make sure you know if they were in for stepping on pixies or not.” He could hold his own, but not her.
Becka narrowed her eyes at him, though she didn’t seem truly upset. “Is that some kind of sexist thing, or maybe sizest?” she asked him, pausing just long enough to put her hands on her hips. “But yeah, I get what you’re saying,” she added, continuing on. She just thought that there was only so much hearing about those things she could take, though if she and Leandro were going to keep having sleepovers, she figured she should probably find out what he was in for.
“Yes. And it’s on purpose. I? I can handle most of the people in here. There’s a few I won’t fuck with, but I can hold my own. You? Are a target.” He gave her a stern look, just to get his point across. “Keep it in mind.”
Huffing a short laugh at that, Becka figured she had to give him credit at least for owning up to it being a sexist and sizest thing. She pulled a face at being called a target, not really liking that thought at all, even if she knew logically that he was right. “Yeah, I’ll keep it in mind,” she told him. “So, who won’t you mess with?” she asked curiously. If there were people that even Mr. I Can Hold My Own wouldn’t mess with, then it would give her some idea of who he thought she should be careful around.
“Wu,” Reece said without hesitating. Now that he had a better idea of what the old man had done he knew to respect him. “He’s not a bad guy, but I wouldn’t fuck with him. If I were you, I’d steer clear of Ryan, though I’m not afraid of him.”
Becka nodded slowly as Reece talked about Wu, though when he mentioned Ryan, she frowned. “Yeah, I figured that about Wu. But Ryan? Not really sure what to make of him,” she admitted, still rather confused by his behavior of late. People being nice didn’t usually confuse her, but after the stocks, it just didn’t line up for her.
“Take that as a bad sign,” Reece said, seriousness in his tone. “I’m not sure he likes the word ‘no’, or that’s what I’m hearing. Steer clear.” It wasn’t really a legitimate complaint, but if Susanna was bringing it up? Reece was pointing it out.
The implication was clear, and it made her eyebrows raise as she processed it. “Seriously?” If he’d done something like that, then why wouldn’t the Administration warn them about it or something? It didn’t make sense to her at all. She hurried a little bit to get out of the courtyard and under the protective cover of the balcony. “He’s been really nice and helpful,” she commented, tone only slightly doubtful, not really sure what to think now.
Reece stopped, looking at her. “Just going on what I’ve heard pixie. It might not be accurate, but would you rather be safe or sorry?” he asked before shaking the water off his head. “You already haven’t asked me, even though I told you to.”
Becka glanced back at him silently for a moment before nodding. “Safe, of course,” she finally answered, pulling her hood down. “What you’re in for?” she questioned, and then without waiting for a response, she continued, “Robbery, assault, negligent homicide, right? Just because I don’t ask, doesn’t mean I didn’t pay attention to what was posted. So what happened?” He apparently wanted her to ask, so she was asking.
Reece nodded. “Well done pixie.” He almost smiled, stubbing out his used, wet, cigarette then finding another one. He lit it and shrugged. “My friends and I decided to rob a bar for some scratch cash I guess. It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Now, looking back and after what had been said at his trial, he wasn’t at all sure why it had seemed like a good idea. “Turns out the bar was run by a pair of gun nuts. Turned into a shoot out and my partners died. I was the only one left and I got the blame.”
Tucking her hands in her jacket pocket, Becka tilted her head slightly as she listened to his story, thinking that it sounded like maybe he’d realized it wasn’t such a bright idea after all. “That sucks, but it makes sense it all would’ve fallen on you if your friends had died.” It did to her, anyway, though she hoped he wouldn’t be upset by her saying as much. “Was it your guys’ first time doing something like that? Just got an itch for trouble or something?” she asked curiously.
“I didn’t shoot them,” Reece pointed out. “I was just the only one who wasn’t dead.” He was closed off, stuffing down the guilt rising in him. He wasn’t going to deal with that. “I am no stranger to prison,” he added. “First time something went that badly. First time I wound up with hard time.”
“Well, negligent homicide doesn’t mean you actually killed them, does it? It means that your actions facilitated their deaths or something. Like I said, it sucks, cause I’d imagine it wasn’t easy to lose your friends, but it still makes sense.” And she should probably shut her mouth because apparently this weird mood the morning had put her in had affected her filter.
He watched her, surprised at what she was saying, but not looking offended, just surprised. “That was close to what they said in my trial. Though deciding that I’m justly tried for my crimes makes you giving others the benefit of the doubt a little suspect yes?”
Becka frowned slightly at the question. “Just because I think it makes sense that you got landed with the charge doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that you’re undeserving of a second chance without the stigma of it,” she pointed out, wondering why he thought she wasn’t giving him the benefit of the doubt. “Besides, you pretty much asked me to ask you about it. No one else has.”
“Because I didn’t hurt a girl. I have two sisters. Wouldn’t hurt them even when they were righteous bitches.” Reece meant it, rubbing at the little bit of stubble on his chin. “I wasn’t looking for a second chance. Still not sure I’m getting one, but I like the idea of not being in prison. To me though, the second chance for the be for the ones who want to change their ways.”
Not really understanding what that had to do with anything, Becka’s brows furrowed as she considered it. “So, you’re saying you were okay with me asking because you wanted it known that you didn’t hurt a girl?” she asked, wanting to clarify that. “Okay, so if you weren’t lookin for a second chance, does that mean you don’t want to change your ways?” That didn’t really jibe with what she’d learned of him so far. “Or was it just something that didn’t seem like a possibility so you hadn’t considered it?”
“You should know that I didn’t hurt a girl. That I wouldn’t hurt you.” He had some principles left in him. “But there are others that you might be giving the benefit of the doubt because of this second chance that wouldn’t have the same rules.” There, that made more sense he thought. He definitely needed that coffee. And maybe another drink. “Never really thought of myself as a bad guy. More a ‘bad luck’ guy. Not that I don’t own up to my bad choices, I’m just really fucking good at making bad choices.” He tilted his his head back and forth weighing her question. “Never thought that I’d get one. I was staring down a long sentence. Even now, not so sure I’m leaving here. I’d like to change my ways if you will, but I’m not sure I’m any better at making those right choices.”
Becka considered him for a moment. She was inclined to believe him, but she’d been reminded many times since coming here that her judgement wasn’t exactly the best. “And why should I believe that about you but not others? Anyone can say they wouldn’t hurt a girl, so how should I decide who to believe?” Since he seemed to be inclined to give her advice. “Hmm, I think that sometimes people make bad choices because they don’t really think things through to what the outcome will actually be. They live in the moment and only realize the scope of their decisions after the fact. But that doesn’t mean it always has to be that way. And making bad choices doesn’t automatically make someone a bad person. Motivation counts for a lot, you know. So if you made those choices because you wanted to hurt people or something, then that would make you a bad person.” And Reece didn’t really strike her as a bad person at the core, though she knew that she could be wrong.
That made Reece laugh as he pushed the door to the kitchen open. “Don’t believe any of us,” he said. “Because you’re right, most of us are likely bullshitting you. Keep your guard up no matter who you’re talking to.” That was probably her safest bet. “But if you have trouble with someone, let me know. I’ll see to it that it’s taken care of.” He doubted she’d come to him, but he was feeling like a big brother and he felt the need to offer. Reaching for two mugs he set one out for her then pour his own coffee. “You mostly just described me. No much for...forethought? Did shit because it seemed like a good idea until the sirens were chasing after us.” Or his friends was bleeding out in his hands, but that wasn’t worth bringing up.
When Reece laughed, Becka grinned at him, shrugging slightly at the advice. She didn’t really think most of the people she’d met where lying, but she knew that she could be wrong. “I will make my best effort to do that,” she promised, fighting back a smile. There were just some people here that she wasn’t really worried about. “And I’ll keep that in mind, too.” Though she wasn’t sure she would do go to him if there was trouble; she just didn’t know him well enough yet, and there were several others that she thought she would go to if anything happened.
She waited until he’d poured his own coffee to pour some in the mug he’d set out for her, adding creamer and sugar as she listened to him. “Well see, the fact that you can recognize that tells me that you probably won’t go doing things like that in the future. That’s what a second chance is about, right? Learn from your mistakes, make changes. God knows I wouldn’t go helping anyone kill themselves again, even if in those circumstances it had felt completely like the right thing to do.” She didn’t think of it as a mistake, not entirely, but the fact that she’d wound up in prison essentially made it a mistake.
“Do that,” Reece said about her keeping him in mind if she ran into trouble, if only to push the point across more. “No more helping people kill themselves?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. That was well beyond ‘robbing a bar’.
Becka stared blankly at him for a moment. “Yeah. Didn’t you read the things on that post? I helped a terminal patient commit suicide. What did you think I was in for?”
“Cheating on your girl scout cookie sales,” Reece said with a grin, mostly teasing because while he’d read it? He’d promptly forgotten most of it.
Laughing shortly, she shook her head. “Cute, real cute. But my point’s still the same. If you can learn from your mistakes and go on to lead a productive and responsible life, what good is rotting away in prison going to do?”
“I guess not much, but not everyone learns from their mistakes. I believe the idea is to keep us locked up until they’ve determined whether or not we can.”
“Not really,” Becka disagreed lightly. “Most prisons don’t actually have a focus on rehabilitation. Sure some of them have some programs in place, but a lot of prisons, I think, actually facilitate a violent lifestyle. That’s what it seems like on TV anyway. Unless you’re talking about this place? In which case, who knows, because I haven’t actually seen anything that makes me think they’re doing anything to help people rehabilitate or learn the things they need to become productive, functioning members of society.”
“Most prisons also try and keep people locked up long enough so they’re useless after the fact. Or at least that was my case. I doubt I’d be up for much once I served out my sentence.” Reece took a sip of his coffee and watched her. “How well do you think this place is doing in that?”
“Well, that’s kinda my point. What’s the return rate for cons? Even if someone did learn the errors of their ways, there wouldn’t be much of a life waiting for them on the other side, so they end up making more mistakes and back in prison. It’s a bad cycle.” And it was why the welcome message that first day had made this place seem like a really good idea to her. Now? She just didn’t have much faith in the people running this place. “Oh, I think they’re doing a crap job in it,” she answered honestly.
Reece leaned against the counter with his mug, giving her a curious look. “A crap job? How so?”
Leveling a look at him, Becka frowned slightly. “There’s a whole list of reasons. But do you really think they’re doing a good job of it?” she countered.
“I don’t think they can do a good job. I went in with low expectations. As of now, they’re living up to it. What do you think is so wrong?” Reece wanted to know what the girl scout thought was so off and if it was similar to what he thought was off or if he was in his own court.
“Ahh,” she nodded slightly, thinking it made sense if he came in with low expectations. “Well, for starters, they threw us in here with the barest of explanations and zero direction and told us to behave and figure things out for ourselves, essentially. That’s not rehabilitation. Also, there are no professionals here. Prison can wreak havoc on people’s psyche, and that’s not even taking into consideration what some people might have gone through before to get to whatever put them away. They’ve left us to rely solely on other convicts, a situation that doesn’t really encourage trust and all that,” she explained some of her thoughts on it all.
Reece listened, nodding a little. “So you want more rules for people to break, because they will, and more doctors for people not to listen to?” he asked, turning her statements around on her. “Honestly, ain’t no different from the real world as they call it. Or prison. No one gave me a handbook on how to be an adult, and I met a lot of people who had even less information than I did. Mostly it’s the same, figuring it out for yourself, only here, looks like none of us are going to starve to death.” He took a sip of his coffee before shaking his head. “You really think everyone outside these wall is all that better to rely on? That they’re so much better than a bunch of convicts?”
Sighing, Becka shook her head. “Maybe not better, but I think it’s easier for people to trust and rely on people who aren’t cons. And the whole point is that the Admins were advertising this place as something different, as a way to try to change things, revolutionize the system if you will. The question was whether or not they’re doing a good job at what they said they were going to do, not whether or not it’s what goes on in prison or the real world. There will always be people who will break rules and test the limits of the system, but there are also people who actually want to take the whole rehabilitation concept seriously. And it is different from the real world. In the real world there are laws with clear and known consequences if those laws are broken. Here, we don’t even know what they’re actually punishing people for, what the limits are, and that’s a problem.” Not for her, really, because she didn’t plan to do anything that could get her in trouble, but how could she be completely certain when they weren’t communicating much to them?
Reece sipped at his coffee again, listening to her. He’d been serious about his low expectations, and that things were muddled wasn’t really a surprise. It was bound to happen. “Well I think the only people who are going to trust cons is other cons, so we’re all sort of in the same boat. It’s not as if any of us are innocent.” Or at least had been found innocent. “Do you think Ryan and Caroline were innocent?”
Becka’s brows furrowed, and she tilted her head slightly as she considered that. She didn’t really think he’d understood her point on that, but it didn’t seem important enough to push her point. “No, I don’t,” she answered, focusing on his question rather than the previous comments. “But whether they were or not, the Admins didn’t actually tell us what they were punished for. Ryan admitted to snooping where he shouldn’t have been, and if that results in being in stocks from sundown to sunset? Then what kind of punishment would something really horrible get? Unless he was being punished for something else or more than that, in which case, we still don’t know,” she said with a softly frustrated sigh, shaking her head and lifting her mug to take a drink of her coffee.
Reece could make guesses as to what Ryan did, especially now that he was armed with Susanna’s information. “I don’t know if you’d had that information in most cases. Personally, I think he did something he didn’t own up to. Caroline...well I guess I wish I knew there, but hindsight and all that.” Now that she was dead at least. “What would knowing fix? For you.”
When Reece focused on Caroline for that moment, Becka glanced down, willing her eyes to stay open because she knew that if she closed them in that moment, she would see her falling again, and she was doing better with not dwelling on what she’d seen. At the question, though, she glanced back up at him. “What would it fix for me? Nothing, I guess. I don’t know. But think about it - in the real world, if someone is caught doing something wrong, unless they take a plea bargain or something, they face a trial in which their peers decide whether they’re guilty or not. And even if they do take a deal, what they are arrested for is still public knowledge. For them to make us carry out the punishment without telling us the crimes is just shady on so many levels. If they’d punished Ryan and Caroline themselves and not told us what was done, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much.”
“Who really cares though? At least to look up, who cares. And has anyone asked? Beyond ranting in the courtyard? I know I haven’t.” Reece had a guess that no one else had put in a contact form to find out what those guilty had done. “And that’s a lie. That would scare you more than having to do it yourself. Boogey men grabbing people in the night? That’s the last thing you’d want. It’s the last thing I want.”
Her eyebrows raised as she considered that. “Umm, I don’t know. I’d be surprised if people hadn’t made it clear that they want to know what people do wrong. I know I did.” She frowned at his disagreement, her first instinct being to deny it. She took a drink to give herself a moment to consider it rather than just jumping in with her instinctual denial. “Okay, maybe it would, but I still don’t think they way they handled things was responsible or appropriate. Anyway, what do you think should or will happen?” she asked, genuinely curious to see where his mind was at on things now that he’d picked her brain.
“How did you make it clear? Just for my own knowledge.” Reece doubted it was something direct. “What do I think? I think I don’t care. I think it doesn’t matter. They’ll decide how they want to do things and they’ll do it. I guess the only part that I’m not bothered with is not letting a group of violent convicts decide what kind of punishments to hand out. Because for a lot of us...a beating’s acceptable.” He wasn’t a leader, but he knew that was how he’d settled more than one issue before.
“Uhh, I seem to remember saying something along the lines of ‘if we’re enacting the punishments, we have a right to know what the crimes were’ and also that there should be proof of those crimes,” she answered, thinking back on a couple different entries she’d written up. She wrinkled her nose at his assessment, nodding slightly. “I actually agree with you, there. I don’t really think we should be involved in the punishment process.” Which was why her entry this morning had basically given pros and cons to the whole situation and wasn’t actually clear on what she thought should happen now, because she just wasn’t sure.
“So you said it, but did you ask?” Reece ventured, wanting to be specific. He had a feeling that no one had asked. Which was fine, that was their decision. “Fill out a form, see if they answer. They might. They gave us a bar.” He grinned a little, if only to lighten things for an instant. “So you’re back to boogey men. That’s you. Not me. I like knowing people are getting punished and was in prison long enough to not expect to get the full story.” He shrugged one shoulder then went back to focusing on his coffee mug. “But we’ve already established, I expect very, very little.”
“I didn’t say I asked,” Becka pointed out with a little grin. “I said I’d be surprised if people hadn’t made it clear that they want to know what people do wrong - that’s not the same as asking what people have already done.” And she didn’t really expect them to answer if she did ask. She wrinkled her nose at the mention of the bar. “Right, the bar. Like that was a great idea. Though it doesn’t seem like it’s caused too much trouble yet. Not as much as I thought it would, anyway.” Huffing a soft sigh, she shook her head. “Not necessarily. Knowing people are getting punishing and having to do the punishing ourselves are two different things. But I’m starting to realize that it would be better for my own sanity to stop expecting anything, really.”
“It’s not the same, but it might be the only way to get an answer,” Reece said shrugging his shoulders. It would figure the girl scout pixie wouldn’t like the bar either. “What do you have against the bar?” he asked, wanting to know specifically, even if he had ideas already. “The way I see it? There’s not a ‘win’ situation. Not really. And yes it might be good for your fretting to let go of your expectations, but you don’t seem the type. You want things to work.” And Reece was pretty sure they weren’t going to. All of it was too good to be true, but every day he wasn’t put back in shackles and hauled back to the prison in Lexington was a good day in his book. That was all he had to work with at the moment.
“I just don’t think it was a great idea,” Becka answered, shrugging slightly, and she didn’t feel any strong urge to explain why that was. “Of course I want things to work,” she replied, looking surprised. “You don’t want them to? Or are you just too pessimistic to believe that things can work out, so why bother hoping for it?”
Reece gave her an expectant look, waiting on her to elaborate as to why she thought it was a bad idea. If she wasn’t saying, he had a guess that she wasn’t sure, or she didn’t quite believe her own reasonings, but that was as she said, him being a pessimist. “Realistic. And I know me. This whole thing is too good to be true.”
Since she’d already admitted that it hadn’t caused as much trouble as she’d thought it would, Becka just didn’t see the need to elaborate, so she ignored the expectant look he was giving her. “Uh huh, right. I still say pessimistic,” she said, tone slightly teasing. “So, what, do you think we’ll never get our freedom?” she asked.
Reece noticed the way she just glossed right over her lack of an answer and shook his head. “No, I’m determined not to get my hopes up. Seems like a good way to break a guy, dangling that then taking it away.”
Becka had to admit that he had a point there, but she also thought that would be a really depressing way to think. “That would be pretty messed up,” she agreed. “But I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t have anything to hope for or look forward to.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Reece said with a nod. Maybe this whole helping someone die thing was the only really bad thing she’d ever done in her life. That would explain plenty. “Never said you couldn’t have hope, just said I didn’t.”
“And I never said you have to have hope,” she pointed out with a small smile. And feeling more than ready to move on from the topic, she asked, “So, did you really break some kid’s nose?” Sure, she’d said she was content speculating, but it seemed like a good enough change in topic.
Reece nodded, smiling a little. “I did. He deserved it. School didn’t think so, but getting in trouble wasn’t really a new thing.” Though he supposed he was lucky the kid’s parents didn’t completely flip their lids. Maybe they realized their son was a douchebag.
“Why’d he deserve it? What did he do?” Becka asked, guessing that there was a story there.
Reece laughed to himself then shrugged. “He messed with my brother then got in my face. I got him out of it.” That was how family worked. They could rag on one another all they wanted, but if someone else tried, then it was lights out.
Becka actually smiled at that. “That seems justifiable to me. My brothers would’ve done the same,” she replied. Andrew, definitely would have, even if the other two wouldn’t have jumped in with fists first thing.
“See? You and I can agree on some things.” He was teasing again, which was evident in his smirk, but at the same time he knew they weren’t on the same page about everything.
“Looks like we can!” she agreed with a little laugh. “But I don’t really expect to agree with everyone about everything. It’s all about perspective, right? So it would be kinda stupid to expect everyone to agree with me on everything.”
“It’s close-minded or something like that,” Reece said with a shrug. “Though you wouldn’t be the first to expect that.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m close-minded.” Maybe she didn’t always have the life experience to consider things in particular ways, but she tried to keep an open mind about things. “So you skipped your first communion? How’d that go over?” she asked, moving the topic along again.
“Didn’t think you were either,” Reece said. Not if she was giving people second chances and all that. “Not well. After they noticed of course.” They’d been well through the Mass when someone finally realized that Reece hadn’t been there.
Grinning, she asked, “Ahh, so you tried to skip your first communion. I’ve never been to a Catholic church. My parents weren’t really religious. I mean like, we’d all go to my grandparents’ church on the major holidays, but I don’t think any of us were that into it.” And once Mike had come out as being gay (not that it had surprised anyone in their immediate family), going to church had just become awkward.
“Oh no, I skipped it. Mass was over and done when they found me. Had to go back the next day for confession, promise not to disobey my parents again and do my own first communion.” Reece grinned a little as he nodded. “Never thought about being religious or not, just grew up going.”
“Something tells me you broke that promise,” Becka said, lips twitching in amusement as she fought back a smile. It wasn’t much of a stretch, considering he’d already owned up to having a habit of making bad choices.
“Might have had my fingers crossed,” Reece said with a smirk of his own.
“Of course you did!” Becka said with a little laugh, shaking her head at him.
“I couldn’t just straight up lie to the priest. That’d be really wrong. Can’t do that.” Reece had few misplaced guidelines, but they were still there.
Raising an eyebrow, Becka couldn’t help but wonder just how Reece’s logic worked. “So because you had your finger’s crossed, thus implying that you didn’t actually intend to keep your promise, that means you didn’t straight up lie to the priest? Cause it kinda sounds like you did,” she said, though her tone wasn’t judgmental at all.
“I was seven. It made sense at the time,” Reece said with a wink before going to refill his coffee cup. “Just like a lot of things in my life.” He gave her one more smile then pushed off from the counter and moved around her. “I think I’m gonna go have another smoke and then do my homework.”
Becka smiled softly at that, but didn’t say anything. She didn’t feel like anything needed to be said to that, not when clearly there were things in his life that hadn’t made much sense at all in hindsight. “Okay,” she said when he said he was going to go. “See you around.”
He got to the door, turning to look back at her. "Meant what I said pixie, if anyone gives you trouble…" He trailed off with that. "I'll see ya." Reece pushed the door open and left, back into the rain.