Peaches

The Theater

"What movies do you like?" He asked earnestly, his teeth overstepping and biting into his lip as he smiled. The theater was nothing special. Maybe Jean had gotten used to fine things too fast, but she couldn't help but wince at the peeling paint and the busted light bulbs. Somehow, she was completely sure the neglect wasn't a necessity and actually derived from laziness.

"Do they have any love stories?" She asked, tilting her head to look at the marquee. 'ROMEO AND JULIET' read in great big black letters. She pointed to it. "Is that one?"

The boy scoffed. "You're joking." He looked down at her, expecting to find a grin, but instead found her brow furrowed. "You do know what Romeo and Juliet is, right?"

Jean paused, wondering if she could get away with a lie. "I've heard of it a little bit, enough to know it's sad and old."

"It's more than that. It's about love, sure, but it's also about how reckless and violent it can make people. Shakespeare wrote it, do you know him at least?" She shook her head. He sighed."It's a good story, I'm sure you'll like it." He stuck his hand in his pocket and rocked on his heels. "Worse comes to worse, you'll fall asleep on my shoulder and I'll have to carry you home or something."

"We wouldn't want that." She said, forcing herself to fall out of her momentary trance of confusion. The quip was released rapid fire, barely registering in her brain before she released it. Anything to not look stupid. As he opened the door for her, she wondered momentarily, if he could tell that she wasn't some wealthy innocent.

Inside the theater was a tiny little man, sitting behind the candy counter. His feet were propped up, revealing the hairy tops of his toes. The bulbous tip of his nose darted out from the top of the newspaper he was reading, and his eyes were concentrated. Upon his head was no hair, and only a thick layer of shiny sweat. The boy coughed lightly, to get his attention, and he shot up on his feet, immediately smiling a practiced smile.

"Theo! You coming to see something today, kid?" The man said, exiting from his little booth. Jean assumed he was his uncle by the familiarity, and breathed a sigh a relief, as she never worked up the nerve to ask the boy, ahem, Theo, his name. His uncle shuffled over, adjusting his suspenders. He took one glance at his nephew, before cementing his gaze on Jean. "Who's this?"

Jean stuck out her hand, smiling her best smile. "Jean Montgomery, sir. Pleased to meet you." He shook her hand earnestly, his eyes flickering from her eyes, her toes, her neck, and then for a second, her chest, before finally settling back on her face. The one thing that surprised her though, was that his palms were completely dry. Bone dry, in fact.

"Hrmph, Montgomery? Ain't that somebody you work for, boy?" He said, speaking over her shoulder. His friendly aura was gone. "She's money, I can smell it on her. What do you think you're doing?"

He was rude, she decided then. She hated it when people spoke like she wasn't there. She tossed his hand away in the most polite way possible, and backed away from him.

"Don't be such an egg." Theo said, turning to Jean. Teasingly, he took her chin between his thumb and finger and tilted her head towards him. Maybe she hadn't gotten close to him before, or maybe she hadn't being paying attention, but he had the most shiny eyes she'd ever seen. The light reflected off them differently, almost as if they were freshly cleaned glass. It made him look mischievous. "We're having a good time, aren't we, Jean?"

She nodded, and flicked her eyes to the uncle. He was rolling his eyes.

"Fine. I wouldn't even breathe on this one, but hey, I don't know nothin." He mumbled, walking back behind his counter. "Y'all want peanuts or licorice?"

They decided on both, and quickly made their way to the back of the theater. Jean didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't for the uncle to follow them. Surely he wasn't going to watch them the whole time? Theo led her to a sliding red curtain, which he yanked open with one fluid motion, revealing the cinema.