Old Black Train

Part 7

They all looked at Peter as he brought his knees to his chest.

"I-I knew Tommy looked familiar..." he muttered sadly. "Th-then the letter..."

"Hey," Micky said softly. "It's okay."

Peter sniffled and let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't remember any of it...I don't remember much of anything..."

"Peter, it's okay–" Mike started to say before Peter cut him off, glaring angrily at him.

"How is it okay, Mike? You just got here, you don't know anything!"

Mike stayed silent as Peter let out a sob.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean that..."

Mike smiled slightly and wrapped an arm around the crying man.

"It's okay. You're upset. I understand."

Peter sniffled and nodded, looking back at each of the faces.

"I'm sorry," he repeated again and Micky smiled. "It's okay," he said. "You have nothing to be sorry for..."

Peter sniffled and rested his head on Mike's shoulder, closing his eyes. He fell asleep not too long after that. Micky smiled.

"Here," he said, lifting Peter's head off of Mike's shoulder. Mike carefully pulled away as Micky lifted Peter into his arms.

"I bet he's exhausted," he sighed. "He's probably got the least rest out of all of us, poor guy."

Mike nodded and watched as Micky laid Peter down on one of the seats, wrapping his coat around him like a blanket.

He turned around and noticed Mike was looking at him. He smiled at him.

"Peter's okay, he misses his family."

Mike nods.

"I know that feeling."

Davy looks down.

"I wish I did..."

Mike frowns and stares at him, confused. Davy sighs and looks back up, tears filling in his eyes.

"I-I wish I could miss my family...I wish I did...wh-which is probably why I s-sound so bad when I say I don't..."

Micky offers him a slight smile.

"It's okay, Davy," he said quietly.

"Why don't you miss your folks?" Mike asked and all eyes went to him.

"Mike..." Micky started, giving him a warning look. Davy glared at Mike.

"Why should I?" He asked harshly. "It's not like they miss me."

"They're your family," Mike frowned, taking a few steps toward him.

"So?" Davy snapped, his voice breaking as he became more emotional of the memories.

"So..." Mike said, looking down at him. "They still care about you, whether or not you know that. Your family cares about you, even if they aren't great at showing it."

Davy groaned and stomped on the ground.

"Y-you don't know them, s-so you can't say anything..."

Before Mike could say anything to him, Davy let out a sob as he ran to the car door, swinging it open.

"Davy—!" Micky jumped up and went to him. Davy ran out and disappeared. The two of them stood, stunned.

"We-we could just leave?" Micky stammered, eyes widening. "This whole time...all we had to do was get up and leave?"

Suddenly the back door opened and Davy stepped back in the car, his head hung down low in shame.

"Davy?" Mike asked, causing Micky to turn and look at him. His face softened the second he saw Davy standing there and he went over to him, embracing him into a hug as he began to cry.

"It's okay," Micky whispered. "It's okay, you're okay."

"Where'd you go?" Mike frowned, his arms crossing over his chest. "And how did you get back?"

Micky shot him a look. Now probably wasn't the time for questions, but Mike couldn't help himself. Davy sighed and nodded.

"N-nowhere," he said with a sniffle.

Micky pulled away and looked at him, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"I-I don't know..." he said, shaking his head. "I-I left a-and I e-ended up b-back here..."

"It's okay, Davy," Micky said, pulling him back into the hug. Davy, even if he didn't like pity, gladly accepted the hug.

"Hey, Davy," Mike called out, sitting back down in his seat.

Davy sniffled and wiped his face, looking up at him, a curious expression on his face.

"Just think of it like this," Mike said with a slight smile. "As long as you're here, you won't have to go back to your folks any time soon."

Mike could feel his heart break slightly when he saw the smile grow on Davy's face.

"Th-thanks," he whispered and Mike nodded, a new feeling growing inside of him. Anger.

"Of course," he said, looking out the window. He had only known Davy for a short period of time and he was already planning what he'd say if he ever came face to face with whoever hurt him. He turned and watched as Micky led Davy back to his seat.

Micky flashed him a small smile before going back to his own. Mike let out a sigh and pressed his head against the window, watching the darkness and occasional flashes of light.

Living on the train was beginning to get tolerable for Mike. Mostly because he knew there was no getting off anytime soon, and no point in being miserable about that fact anymore.