Behind Dirty Hands

Lewis (Present Day & Flashback)

BANG!

A shot just rang throughout the house. Chilling to some who have never come across such a sound, metallic and dull to others. A creaking of the wood outside and the moonlit glow of the room indicated that it was night time. It was dark....again. Great.

 Lewis groaned in annoyance, twisting and turning under the covers until the sheets became crinkled and undone. That's going to be so much fun to fix in the morning. Whatever. 

The floorboards creaked underneath her bare feet as they dragged towards the door. The floor was cold and dry. It gleamed with malice as it reflected the night sky. 

As she strode toward the imposing cut wood, a jacket was spotted. Small, cozy, covered in glitter and enclosed with a zipper. Also, a last minute decision. Lewis sighed as she threw it on like a cape that she would have made when playing Power Rangers. 

As she got older, homework got in the way of such things, which annoyed not only Lewis, but her father as well. He believed that every child's most important pieces of education came from their own experiences and play. Of course, Lewis's education did not turn out the way as he expected, as a child often needed to grow up and adapt to the ever changing world.

Lewis's father was a portly and stout older man. He was short, gentle, kind, had a way with words, and was an overall good person. Maybe too much of a good person. He had all of the cliche awards that all 'good' people had. Those academic and sport achievements. What were they again? Valedictorian, best team player, and others? These awards that her father had won a long time ago did not affect Lewis.  She just cared whether or not he could parent her. And parent he did. If all the awards did not tip you off to Mr. Reddy being good at practically everything, then the way he parented Lewis would.

Mr. Reddy was the poster parent of the generation. There was always attention for Lewis, as she was the only child, and he, a single parent. Mr. Reddy, or Red as he would soon be called by his daughter, owned his own vintage repair shop, which was only open to customers who placed orders or appointments. Though the work was easy, and often tedious as once remarked by Lewis, the money was enough. Yet as the years went on, repair jobs lessened to the point where even Mr. Reddy's most loyal customers had to stop going to his repair shop.

However, as suddenly as the repair drought came, the jobs came whirling in. Instantly Lewis and her father had enough steady income to support them and a possible apartment rent. Of course, they had taken up this opportunity and moved out of the place that they'd been living in for the past 12 years for a newer, more modern build. The build featured two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a spacious dining room. Upon surprising her father with the listing (while also attempting to convince her father that the move was worth it), Lewis had yelled, "Oh my पिता!(pita) LOOK! THERE'S TWO BEDROOMS AND IT INCLUDES 4 WINDOWS TO THE OUTSIDE."

After her outburst, her father replied, quite calmly I might add after unplugging his ears, "How much?"

"$1000 per month."

"Ah, that is too much. We do not have that much Lou." While his mouth was set in a grim line and the tone of his words indicated defeat, Lewis, a very observant youth, noticed that his eyes, and frankly the eye wrinkles, told a whole other story.

"YES THANK YOU! LOOK THERE'S A SWING SET TOO! HOW AM I GOING TO DECORATE THE BATHROOM? OH! DO YOU THINK THAT WE CAN GET A FLUFFY?" Lewis was getting more and more excited by the second, as her father was getting more and more agitated.

He sighed in annoyance, but still smiled internally at her excitement. "Do you mean a loofah?"

"Yeah! A loof- Wait, a loof what?"

"Loofah. One of those color puff ball things. Like a pom pom but it is with mesh?"

"OH YEAH! RIGHT! IT'S FOR THE SHOWER, CAN WE PLEASE GET ONE?"

"No. I do not see the use in a silly shower puff ball Lou."

"PLEASE."

"No."

"PLEEAASE."

"No."

"PLEEEAAASSE."

"No."

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEILLDOTHEDISHESFORAMONTHANDMAKEYOURFAVORITEDESSERT!"

"Fine. But Lou..." He beckoned her to come closer. He was sitting on a bright orange and yellow chair, decorated in ducks and silly happy faces. It was his favorite chair. A chair of magnificence, a chair of pride. It was also a chair that Lewis had found on the sidewalk one day when coming home from school, not that it was relevant to her father's love for the seat.

"Yeeeesssssssss." She wanted to get started on shopping for the apartment now. Dollar nation would still be open at this hour right? It's only 8.

"Please ask while breathing next time. I think that you spitting out words without breathing hurts reader eyes."

"What eyes?"

"I broke the fourth wall Lou."

"What wall?" She cocked her head like a pigeon, confused but still intrigued.

"Never mind." He shuffled back into the best part of the chair. The leaking stuffing part. It was, arguably, the most comfortable part of the chair and was the best place to read the morning paper. It was also the first place that Lewis had hidden her teeth in. Probably the only place judging from how Mr. Reddy often found old teeth.

"OUCH! Lou, I found another one...."

"Oh! Great! Thank you पिता. (pita)"

Daily Definitions/Translations (I literally use Google translate):

पिता (Pita): means Father or dad in Hindi

A/N:

Um. Chapter 1 is done-ish? Might tweak a few more things later, but how did you like it? What do you think? This is the first book that I'm trying to commit myself to, so wish me luck! Don't forget to click that star and save the story to your library or book list so you do not miss an update! Thanks for reading this lol

~ Bob D. Builder