Rand Blackhawk (restless_native) wrote in supernextdoor, @ 2011-12-14 23:50:00 |
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Entry tags: | #scene lotto, 09.22.11, lucas, lucas and randall, randall |
Just Dropping Off Something
Who: Lucas and Rand
What: Lotto scene!
When: Early Thursday Evening
Where: Lucas’ House
Warning: None
Rand had headed back to the Six Nations on his days off to let his parents know he’d found Izumi and show them pictures of her and Noah. He’d have to ask for a weekend off soon and take his daughter and grandson for a visit so Izumi could finally meet his parents. And they could see their great-grandson. While he’d been visiting, he’d been conned into an errand he was pretty certain was a thinly veiled matchmaking attempt. Ruby Hunter might be pushing eighty, but she was a crafty old bird (literally) and had apparently decided he’d be good for her single granddaughter, Justice. Who lived in Toronto as well. She’d given him a shawl she said was her granddaughter’s and she’d left it behind visiting that week and wouldn’t he be a dear and return it to her? He’d agreed and left a message at the number Ruby had given him saying he’d be by late Thursday afternoon to drop it off. They could have a laugh at the matchmaking attempt. And who knew, maybe they’d hit it off and go out sometime. Rand wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, but he sure as hell wasn’t looking.
Shawl in hand, Rand rang the doorbell. Hopefully he wasn’t interrupting her dinner, but he’d gotten going just a little later than he’d intended. Justice lived in the bad part of town, not actually too far from the motel he’d been renting a room at. Ruby had said she was a single mother and her white boyfriend had run out on her before her son had been born. Which had been an incredibly uncomfortable topic and he’d been all too glad to let Ruby show him pictures of her granddaughter and great-grandson instead of linger on that subject.
Lucas's mother, like she nearly always was, had gone to work at her evening job. She liked to get their early and the only real talk Lucas had with her was in between her coming in the door and leaving the house after her shower. She said something about someone dropping something off, but he really hadn't paid a lot of attention to her, having been in the midst of his homework when she kissed his head and left. Not long after, he heard the doorbell sound and got up from his book to go answer it. He'd been expecting someone well, not giant and native american. The guy was massive and intimidating and he'd not even spoken yet.
"Um... hi?" he said, trying not to sound like a meek little mouse or something. "Can I help you, Sir?" he questioned. Might as well be polite to the giant.
Yeah, that kind of reaction he was used to. Part of the reason he was good at his job. The heavy, premature lining of his face only make his features more rugged and sharp. This would be Justice’s son, who’s name was escaping him because Ruby hadn’t said it every other word like his mother’s, as if she was trying to print it into his psyche. “Hi,” he greeted in as light as tone as he could manage. “Your great-grandmother said your mother left this at her house last time she visited.” He extended the shawl in question. “Since I was coming back to the city, she asked if I’d bring it by. I called to let her know I was coming.” God and all the spirits this was awkward. “I’m Rand. Randall Blackhawk. My parents have a house about a mile away from Mrs. Hunter’s.”
Lucas felt a little less intimidated when the man explained. "Grandmother Ruby is nosy. Guess you're the next guy she's trying to set my mother up with." he told Randall. "I'm Lucas. My mother isn't here though, she had to work." He was sure Gradmother Ruby told Randall that all his mother did was slave away and make a life for her son despite her poor circumstances. She'd done it at least once or twice before, though those men weren't anywhere near right for his mother. They were wimpy. Justice was strong and stern and they couldn't have handled her if they'd tried. This guy though, well he was strong and stern looking himself. "She won't be back til late so I could give it to her if you want. Let you write a note saying you came by since I'm sure Grandmother will be expecting a full report with all the details."
Nosy was one way of putting it. Knowing the old were owl wasn’t shy about sinking her talons into anybody who crossed her hadn’t helped any. Rand had felt kind of like what he was sure people felt like when he snapped that raptor glare on them the whole time. He felt like a field mouse being watched and about to be devoured. Which said a lot about Ruby, considering intimidating other people was his lifetime career. “Yeah, it was a pretty obvious set up,” he said as he surrendered the shawl. “She spent a good hour and a half showing me pictures and telling me the whole story.” God, that had been harrowing. Especially the whole ‘he just up and left her with a baby’ and going on and on about how Justice had to toil at two jobs to make ends meet and raise her son. “That’s fine. I don’t have to work until later tonight and I don’t live far from here. And I didn’t want to see her whip her talons out the next time I visited because I didn’t pay lip service to her trap. I’m bringing my daughter and grandson and they don’t need to see that on their first visit to the Six Nations.” He gave Lucas a wry smile, to show he was mostly joking.
Lucas chuckled a little and stepped aside to let Randall in. "Come in." he told the man. "I'll find some paper so you can leave your number and I'll make sure my mom calls you." he promised. Lucas didn't mind the idea of his mother seeing someone because honestly she needed some happiness in her life. Of course that might have been a different thought had he known exactly how much like his own father this guy really was. "Grandmother Ruby would definitely whip out her talons." he agreed. "I think I had nightmares about her for my whole elementary school career." he chuckled. She was a frightening old woman, that was for sure. He'd dreaded trips to the reservation because of her for a long time. Sifting through a stack of magazines and papers on the counter, he finally found some notebook paper and grabbed a pen from his bag by the table and offered it to the man. "At least my mom's worth the trouble." he smiled.
Randall stepped inside and almost immediately regretted it. “She doesn’t have to do that,” he assured Lucas. “Sounds like she has a pretty hectic schedule. My hours are lousy. I’m a bouncer at Mercy, so I don’t get off work until 4am and always work weekends.” Okay, so the guilt from what he’d done all of those years ago was rushing back, especially as nice as this kid was being to him. He chuckled as he said Ruby had given him nightmares. “You’re not the only one,” Rand muttered absently. It had pretty much explained the numerous nightmares people in the Six Nations had about owls attacking them. The scars he’d gotten from wandering into one such nightmare had taken years to fade. That had not been a nice lesson in dreamwalking. When Lucas said his mother was worth the trouble, Rand might have gone a little pale. What the hell could say? ‘Sorry, I don’t want to date your mother because I’m just as much of a bastard as your father and she deserves better.’? “Okay,” he relented, writing down his cell number and name. “But really, she doesn’t have to call me. I’m sure she’s tired of the matchmaking, too. I just figured we’d have a good laugh at it.”
"I think that my mom'll find a way to make a moment to call you, even if it's just to leave a voicemail. She doesn't exactly have time to make her own matches." he shrugged as he took the paper back from the man and used a magnet to stick it to the fridge. "Besides, she'll catch it from Ruby if she doesn't at least make an effort." he explained, a little smile playing on his lips. "Even if it's just to laugh at how meddling the old woman can be." And maybe they'd hit it off and have drinks or dinner and his mother could stop worrying about the money that was or wasn't paying the bills. That'd be nice.
Great, now the kid was at it. “Your mother can do better than me,” he told Lucas honestly. “Really.” Although he felt guilty because everything he’d heard about Justice made her sound like a great gal and the pictures Ruby had inundated him with had shown she was beautiful as well. It was tempting, but he knew as soon as she heard how much like her ex he was, it’d end in all kinds of ugly ways. There was just no escaping a mistake like that. “But thanks for the vote of confidence. Everything I’ve heard, she sounds like quite a lady.”
"She is quite a lady. And you're welcome. I'll make sure she at least gives you a call." He knew that his own girlfriend could do a lot better than him, but that didn't make him want her any less so he didn't think too much on that part of what the man had to say. "And I'll give her this." he added, holding up the shawl. "I appreciate you coming by and at least entertaining Ruby for a minute or two. I think she lives for this sort of stuff."
Rand almost let out a breath of relief when the kid let him off the hook. Thank God and all of the spirits. Maybe he should have just admitted he was a deadbeat dad and an ex-junkie, which would have turned off about anybody who cared about their female relatives in any way, but those were not things he admitted to strangers. He’d had a hard enough time telling his own daughter about it. “It’s not a problem,” he said. “At least winter is coming, that means less trips to Six Nations. We can probably duck Ruby until the spring thaw if we play our cards right.”
"Good luck." he told him. "She might be getting up in years, but she's pretty crafty." And she was certainly that. "She has eyes just about everywhere. I don't know how she does it."
He chuckled. “Everyone in Six Nations is terrified of her,” Rand pointed out. “They’ll happily be her spies so long as it distracts her away from them. When we were kids, her house was the one we gave a wide berth to. She was the scary old lady.” And still was, if they were being honest. “Really, as much as she knows about everyone there, I’m surprised she set her sights on me.” Which was as close as he was coming to admitting why Justice could do better. “Apparently, she’s hoping your mother can redeem me or something crazy like that. Romantic notions, something like that.”
"She has her reasons I guess. I doubt you're as bad as those last two. One guy was about as meek as a mouse." he told him. "My mother is related to Ruby and she's gotten her... sternness. He didn't last ten seconds. I think he thought my mother might peck him to death so he turned tail and ran pretty fast." Randall might last a little while. "Can I get you something to drink or something?" he offered the guy.
Rand laughed at that. “Yeah, she made me feel that way,” he admitted. “Like a field mouse who was on the menu. I have never felt like that before and I never want to again. I am used to the one making people feel that way, now I almost feel bad for every drunk I’ve stared down.” He shook his head. “No thanks, I should get out of your hair. Let you get back to your homework or whatever. It was nice meeting you, Lucas.” He held out his hand to the boy.
Lucas shook the man's hand and gave him a smile in return. "Nice meeting you too. I'll put in a good word for you with my mom. Probably should get back to the homework or she's going to be staring me down." he laughed as he headed towards the door to show the man out.
He nodded. “Sounds like a good idea,” he said. “I’ll see you around.” Although honestly, probably not. He was hoping to deter Justice, even if he had to be absolutely upfront with her about his past to do it. She had too much going on to deal with someone like him and all of his baggage.