In the Absence of Light

30

Isaac

"Uncle Zac!" Billy runs towards me, throwing his arms around my legs. I crouch down to him, gently patting him on the back.

"Hey, buddy, happy birthday."

"Thank you! I'm six now."

"Six?" I let out an exaggerated gasp. "That's so old! You're going to get grey soon!"

"No!" He laughs. "I'm not that old."

"Are you sure about that? You're getting pretty big."

"You're way bigger than me and you're not grey!"

"Not yet, but in a couple of days..."

"Uh-oh," he slaps his palm on his forehead. "Will you be as grey as Grandma?"

"Hmm..." I hesitate for a second, partially to mess with him, but mostly because he's caught me off guard. I knew my sister was in contact with our mum, and I knew she saw the boys sometimes. But to hear him mention her so casually—like they're best friends or something... it's fucking weird.

"Tell me!" Billy pulls at my shirt.

"I'll be even worse than Grandma," I tell him. "I might even go bald."

"Bald?" His mouth drops. "You would not look good bald!"

"No? You don't think I could pull it off?"

"No! It's ugly!"

"Ugly?" I scowl. "That's mean."

"Sorry!" He giggles. He's not interested in this conversation anymore. He runs away from me, holding his Superman cape out behind him.

It's strangely quiet here. It's always quiet, but it's not what I expected today. I thought Angie would throw a small party for him. It's a Tuesday, but school's already out.

I follow the smell of food into the kitchen. Angie's there, stirring something in a large pot. The place is a mess. There are plates of food everywhere and empty containers scattered around the place.

"Hey," I say. She looks over at me from the stove.

"Hey, Isaac! Did you just get here? I didn't hear you come in."

"Billy let me in," I respond. "Which, by the way... that's kind of a risky move."

"It's fine," she shrugs. "You're just paranoid."

Nah, I'm realistic. You can't know who's on the other end of that door. It could be anyone, including our father.

"What's going on here, anyway?" I motion to the mess on the counter.

"Don't even get me started," she groans. "We've having, like... 20 kids and their parents over tonight, and our damn oven broke this morning, so I'm trying to figure out what to feed everyone."

"What happened to the oven?" I glance down at the machine. It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it, but I wouldn't know. I'm not a damn handyman.

"I have no idea. It just won't turn on. And yes..." she rolls her eyes. "I already checked if everything was plugged in properly."

"Well, is there anything I can do to help?"

"You can take these cinnamon buns home with you," she points to a container beside the sink. "They don't taste good unless they're heated up first."

"No worries," I nod.

"Thanks for coming over, though. Benji's taking a nap but Billy's buzzing around waiting for his friends to show up."