But We Could Get By

Chapter 8

"Did I just hear Mr. Todd laugh?" Toby asked. "I'm surprised too." Anthony replied. Johanna laughed a little. "Oh, come on, guys. He's actually really nice. He's just gotta warm up to you first." She said. "Didn't you just meet him today?" Anthony asked. "Well..." Johanna's voice trailed off. "Promise me you won't tell anyone about this." "About what?" Toby asked. "I don't know if you know the story of my father, but years ago, he was sent away on false charges." Johanna explained. "Now he's back." "Mr. Todd is Benjamin Barker?" Anthony asked. "I mean, I thought he might be after learning that Mrs. Lovett knew him and remembering the fact I picked him up from Australia. He's a lot different than you described him." "Well, being in prison for fifteen years will do that to you." Johanna said. "He's still a nice person though." She added. "Wait, if he's the man the Judge sent away all those years ago, why would he want him in his shop?" Toby asked. "I was wondering that myself. I suppose it would be good for business, but after all he's done to our family, dad probably hates him." Johanna responded. "Maybe he's pretending to tolerate him so he doesn't find out who he is." Anthony suggested. "Maybe." Toby replied. "Whatever his reasoning is, I'm sure it's something that makes sense." Johanna said.
   In reality, she wasn't sure how much her father was hiding his hatred for the Judge. She had heard him talk about him before, and just like her, he despised Judge Turpin. Of course it could just be a business thing or a way to hide his true identity, but she remembered something she overheard him say to Nellie. She didn't hear everything, but she remembered him saying something about revenge. "I mean, he was shouting. Did he not expect anyone to hear him?" She thought to herself. Well, she didn't hear everything. She mostly heard shouting, but not necessarily what was being said. All she heard was something about revenge. Maybe he was trying to find out as much as he could about Turpin so he could publicly humiliate him. That seemed reasonable. After all, he had no problem publicly humiliating Pirelli. But what information could he possibly get that the public didn't already know? Everyone already knows about how corrupt Turpin is, they just don't care.
   She decided now wasn't the time to think about her father's revenge plans. She had a new friend and was finally reunited with an old friend, and she wanted to actually spend time with them. "So... Who's the girl you were talking about that made the Judge so mad?" She heard Toby ask, breaking the silence. Anthony's face turned red. "Oh, it's nobody." He mumbled. "I mean, she's somebody! She's definitely somebody! Somebody very important to me, but I will not be discussing that right now!" He quickly added. "Is Anthony in love?" Johanna asked, playfully nudging him. Anthony looked away, trying to hide his face. "I'll talk about it later." He said. Johanna laughed, and Toby began to laugh as well. Anthony shook his head, smiling. Johanna looked over at Anthony, and stopped laughing.
   She found herself staring at him. She couldn't stop thinking about how happy she was that he was finally back. For years, they had been sending letters to each other. It was nice to finally be able to speak to him in person. She thought about the most recent letter she had received from him. He had signed it "Love, Anthony". Of course, he most likely meant it in a friendly way. She and Anthony always said "I love you" to each other when they were little. He's her friend, and she loves her friends. But something about this letter felt different. The way he wrote about how he couldn't wait to see her again, and how he longed for her embrace. She found herself blushing thinking about it. In her own letter, the one she never got to send, she wrote about how much she wished he was there so she could hold him, and ended it with "Love, Johanna". She never thought anything of it until now. It was normal for friends to talk to each other that way, so why did it feel so different?
   "Um... Guys?" Toby asked. Johanna realized she had been staring, and quickly looked away. "What?" She asked. Toby laughed. She glanced at Anthony, who was still blushing. "I think I know who Anthony likes now." Toby said. "And you seem to like somebody too, Johanna." "I've got paintbrushes! Anyone wanna paint?" Johanna asked, quickly switching the subject. It somehow managed to work. Toby and Anthony seemed to completely forget about the whole thing, agreeing to paint.

***

"Dinner's ready!" She heard Nellie say. She, Toby, and Anthony left the room, and sat down at one of the tables. Nellie set three plates with a meat pie on it down in front of them. "I can't promise these will be any good." She said. "Don't worry, I'm used to it." Johanna responded. "You're not giving them the Italian special, are you?" Sweeney asked. "Of course not." Nellie responded. "You make Italian food?" Toby asked. Nellie and Sweeney glanced at each other, and tried their best to hold back laughter. Toby looked back at Anthony and Johanna with a confused look on his face.
   "Are they alright?" He asked. Johanna shrugged. "Maybe it's an inside joke." She said. "Maybe." Toby replied. He took a bite of his pie, and to everyone's surprise, he actually didn't seem grossed out by it. Anthony, on the other hand, had to force himself to finish it. Johanna tried not to laugh as she watched him. "I told you they're bad." Nellie said. "They have potential." Anthony said, not wanting to be rude. "Maybe if you had better ingredients..." His voice trailed off. "I'll be getting better ingredients soon." Nellie responded. Johanna thought she saw Nellie and Sweeney glance at each other again, as if that was some sort of inside joke as well. She had no idea what that could've been all about, but she supposed that was the point of it being an inside joke. It was something only they knew. Yet she still found herself wondering what they could possibly be talking about. Maybe it was all just some inside joke, but with that and what she had overheard earlier, it almost felt like her father was keeping secrets from her.