“Good. That should be good for him.”
“Uh-huh,” Jack said. He was hardly listening.
When he had scraped the last of the egg from the plate to his mouth, Jack jumped up and carried his dishes to the sink. With one hand, he started to clean his plate.
“Never mind that, I'll take care of it,” his mom said as she shooed him away.
When Ben arrived, Jack was methodically taking inventory of the camping gear in the garage. He set down the camping chair and walked over to the car.
“Hey,” said Jack.
“Hey yourself” replied Ben. “Pretty sling you got.” Ben nodded to Jack's purple soft-cast.
“Three weeks — does that suck?”
Leaning in Ben said softly: “You're the expert, you tell me.”
“Very funny,” said Jack.
“Was the hospital awful? I hate the hospital,” said Ben.
“Jeez, get over it,” said Jack. “You were there like five years ago.”
The boys paused their conversation as Jack’s mom came out of the house to greet the visitors: “Sheri, hi!” she said to Ben's mom, just getting out of the car.
“C'mon, let's go around back,” Jack said to Ben.
In the back yard they started to plan their first day.
“Let's go over to the store. Get supplies,” suggested Jack.
“Man, we got all day to do that. Let's go check out the local talent first,” replied Ben.
“What do you mean?”
“You live in the neighborhood of hotties, and you don't even know it. Open your eyes my friend, don't you get out?” said Ben.
“You're obsessed!” exclaimed Jack.
“So what? Who isn't?”
“I don't even think anyone around here is home. Don't those rich kids all go away to fancy camps and stuff?”
“Clearly not all of us do.”
Jack's neighborhood had plenty of kids his age, but they all went to private school, as Ben did. Jack knew very few of his neighbors, but Ben knew most of them.
“Well what are we going to do, just knock on doors?” asked Jack.
“No, we just hang and see who's looking.”
“Just hang? Where?” asked Jack.
“Chill, my man, chill. Let's go hit the street.”
“Can we at least bring some money? In case we end up in the vicinity of a store?”
“Roger that,” said Ben, and led Jack back around to the front of the house.
Out front, the boys found their mothers saying goodbye. Ben’s mom was younger and shorter than Jack’s mom. They stood close to each other. Jack and Ben couldn’t hear what they were saying. Sheri returned to a normal tone of voice as she broke away and moved towards her car.
“I'll talk to you soon, let me know if you need a break,” Ben's mom said as she climbed back into her car.
“Don't worry, they take care of themselves,” said Kate, Jack's mom.
“You're wonderful — thanks again!” said Sheri. “Come give me a kiss, Ben,” his mom beckoned him.
Ben kissed his mom on the cheek. “Bye! See you soon,” he called over his shoulder. Sheri shrugged at Kate and backed out of the driveway. Jack and Ben started down the street towards the more densely-packed houses.
“Be back soon, Mom. Going to the store,” said Jack.
“Are you two outdoorsmen going to eat a civilized dinner tonight?” Jack’s mom asked.
“No, we’re going to cook outside.”
“There’ll be extra, just in case,” said Jack’s mom as she turned to go inside.
Jack caught up with Ben who had started to wander down the street, with his hands thrust deep into his pockets. When Ben’s mom had driven away, and Kate had closed the front door, Ben stopped and turned to Jack.
“You gotta stop walking like a townie and get a little strut going, Jacky,” said Ben.
“Do you even hear what you sound like anymore?” asked Jack very seriously. “It’s like one of those teen reality shows with you around.”
Ben shot back a quick hurt look and then saw that Jack was close to cracking up.
“You’re such a dork,” said Ben. “No wonder you don’t know anything about the ladies.”
“Shortcut!” yelled Jack as he took off running through an empty lot between two houses. Ben quickly caught him as Jack cradled his sore arm. They continued along a narrow path through a strip of woods that made a lush barrier between the back yards of the neighborhood. They were just deep enough in the woods so that they could barely see the houses they passed. Ben and Jack crept noiselessly and spied on the neighbors.
The path followed a creek for a few hundred yards and the boys spent nearly an hour looking for frogs and fish in the shallow water. When the path passed into a dark area they sat in the underbrush looking through the trees at a very large house.
The house was an odd combination of styles — brick and clapboards, balconies and dormers. It was tan, with off-white shutters. The yard between them and the house was perfect. Neither boy could have described why the house looked out of place and ostentatious, but they both sensed that it was.
“That place is a mansion,” said Jack.
“I don’t know, it’s not that big,” replied Ben.
“Who do you think lives there?”
“Hmm, well, probably Heather Brecker and her family, I’m guessing,” said Ben.
“Heather Breck-what?” asked Jack. “Where exactly are you getting your information?”
“Mostly from her.” Ben pointed at a girl their age who was reclining on wicker chair near the house.
“Oh. Duh.”
“C’mon,” said Ben as he started towards the house.
“Wait, what?”
“Hey Heather,” called Ben. Heather sat up, shaded her eyes, and squinted.
“Ben Palmer? What are you doing here?” asked Heather.
“Me? I’m just hanging out with Jack.” Ben cocked his thumb over his shoulder. “You know Jack Randolph? He lives down the street.
Heather glanced past Ben to Jack who was just struggling out of the woods and starting across the yard. Jack had a vine stuck in his hair and was trying to untangle himself.
“Never met him,” said Heather and turned back to Ben. “You guys shouldn’t be sneaking around through those woods. My dad gets pretty mad when he sees boys trespassing back there.”
“Hey, who’s trespassing? We’re just going to the store,” said Ben. “Besides, Jack’s dad owns all of these woods behind here.”
“I seriously doubt that,” said Heather. “I have to go in now. I have gymnastics in an hour.”
Heather turned away and strode back to the patio doors on the back of her house. Ben turned and intercepted Jack just as he was catching up. When they had taken a few steps back towards the woods Ben leaned in and whispered to Jack: “Isn’t she hot?”
“Who? The mean one?” asked Jack.
Ben punched Jack lightly on this shoulder.
“Ow — watch that shit!”
They looked at each other, laughed, and trotted off back into the woods.
After spending most of the afternoon meandering through the neighborhood, Ben and Jack finally reached Christy’s, a convenience store about a mile away from Jack’s house. Jack hadn't been there on his own in a while, since before Gabe had disappeared. Back then, Christy's marked the limit of how far Jack could travel alone.
Back before Jack and Ben were toddlers, Christy's was also a gas station. It still had an island, but no longer had pumps. The boys arrived from the back and hopped the low fence. Inside, they found the typical convenience store offerings: chips, soda, beer, small boxes and cans of this and that. Everything was more expensive than the IGA down in Thomkinsville, but not as bad as the chain stores that specialized in lottery tickets and cigarettes. A string of Christmas bells announced their arrival.