Hush

Chapter 10: Gold

You know what's unfair? To send the underweight kid without a car to buy groceries. Aka ME. This is what I get for eating all of Thomas' Lucky Charm marshmallows (the guy has a sugar addiction problem, I swear) I suppose, but it doesn't mean I can't bitch about it. And it's not only the fact that I have to buy groceries, but that my family has the single weirdest petitions. For example, Neddy wants pickles for some reason. Nobody in the house even eats pickles and yet I'm carrying a jar of those disgusting green things. Why? I don't know! And don't even let me get started on Burr's questionable ice cream flavor choices.

I'm probably just annoyed because John hasn't answered my texts since yesterday.

Okay, it's most likely both things.

As I waddle down a street of slightly expensive houses, I really wish I was an octopus (preferably a Giant Pacific Octopus, which John told me are the biggest species alive). That way I'd have more arms (Fun Fact: Octopuses have arms, not tentacles. John is my source for that) and I wouldn't have to carry a bazillion bags with my skinny noodle arms, which are unfortunately only two.

How different would society be if we had more arms?

Before I can spiral down the lane of random thought, I hear giggling not so far away from where I stand and unconsciously my eyes wander toward the direction of the noise.
There, in the neighborhood's park, is John. He's sitting down on one of the benches, his back facing toward me, but I could recognize that mess of curls and that white denim jacket the bought last week with the excuse that it would be easy to keep clean anywhere. Around him, there are three mini Johns. There's tiny John, even tinier girl John, and less John-like but still pretty John-ish medium John.

I didn't know Laurens had that many siblings. Damn.

They're giggling and jumping around and overall being a low key hazard to anyone that might approach but John doesn't seem to mind, he sits there with his shoulders lose and his head resting on one of them. He sort of looks like a lumpy sack of potatoes, like a rag doll. It's like seeing a dried out version of the John I like to think I know.

"Jack, Jack!" Tinnier girl John shrieks as she jumps up and down. She looks like she has a trampoline on each shoe. "Is it true that mom had golden eyes?"

I can't see John's (as if, the actual John) face. But he waits a few sluggish seconds before he says in the softest voice: "Mom's eyes... they were like a Prism. They could seem like so many colors at once, it's— it's hard to tell, but, sometimes when she looked upwards on a sunny day, it was like they became gold itself,"

•••

"I have arrived!" I gasp dramatically as I push the door open. Immediately I let the bags drop to the ground and fall right beside them just to make a show of it. No one in my family looks amused.

"Thank you," Thomas says offhandedly as he grabs the bag with the Lucky Charms and leaves for the kitchen. He's probably going to put it right beside all the other sugar-filled things.

"Do you have my pickles!?" Neddy screams from upstairs. I teasingly roll my eyes from my place on the floor (even if he can't see it).

"Yes, I do have your weird ass pickles, Neddy!" I screech.

Maria and Burr come and pick up their stuff too as I mutter theatrically about betrayal and death. But the little brunette at least said "Thanks" as she passed by. Finally, Lafayette approaches and grabs the France socks he asked for. Which is weird, because most of the flag-themed things he buys are usually related to America.