When You Know

11 - When you know, you know.

After Mum and I returned home, and after she had finally convinced me that Jet would be perfectly okay so long he was with Ruben and I therefore didn't need her to drive me over there to check with my own eyes, I got into the shower to scrub off the dirt I had accumulated in the garden this afternoon with Nanny Mary while Mum started getting dinner ready.

When I walked out of the bathroom I heard low voices talking in the kitchen and peeked my head in there wearing only my towel to see who they belonged to, assuming that Mum must have been speaking to Ruben on speakerphone or something as she cooked.

But Ruben was there, helping Mum make dinner, as was Jet, sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter watching them. I was shocked because I thought we weren't seeing them tonight, and I had just walked into the room completely naked except for a flimsy towel.

"Bit of an overshare, don't you think?" said Jet when he looked up and saw me, hair still dripping on the floor and towel around my waist. While I knew he was trying to make a joke, it really didn't sound like one. His voice was quiet and lifeless instead of its usual playfulness, and his smile was practically non-existent.

He really must have had a bad night at his old house.

It was probably weird considering I wasn't wearing any clothes, but I walked over and gave him a hug. I couldn't help myself when I saw how sad and un-Jet-like he was, especially after what Mum said about his family treating him like crap. "Cheers, little dude."

Mum sent me away to get dressed when Jet let me go, making me hurry back because dinner was almost ready. When I came back, Ruben was setting the table on his own, and I could just see Mum and Jet outside through the window in the remaining light from the sunset. She was holding him in a hug and talking to him, and he looked like he might have been crying as she rubbed his arm affectionately, just like she does when I cry or when I'm sick.

"Sorry we crashed your dinner tonight, buddy," said Ruben, who looked sad like Jet, too. "Jetty just really wanted to see you guys tonight and I couldn't say no to him. He didn't have a very good weekend."

"I know. Mum told me that his asshole family weren't nice to him. I do not like them at all," I said, not really caring about getting in trouble for my swearing.

"Neither do I, mate."

"Why does he still see them if they treat him so bad?"

"They're still his family, Madden, and even though they're terrible, Jet still loves them. I can't stop him from seeing them, even though I secretly wish he would just leave them behind and not go."

What he said reminded me of what Mum had said, about a part of you still being able to love someone, even if they didn't treat you well. I still didn't fully understand it, but it seems like it might actually be a fairly common thing, if both Mum and Jet knew what it felt like. Maybe that's what they're talking about now? Maybe that's why Jet wanted to come over tonight, because he must somehow know that she understands what it's like?

I was glad Jet trusted Mum that way already. She was the best person I knew and I loved that Jet could recognise that in her, too. "Jet is smart like Mum is, Ruben. He'll figure it out like she did." I didn't really know what 'it' was yet that he would figure out, but I knew that with her help he would be just fine, and find a way to be happy again like she had done.

Ruben smiled at me. "I'm sure you're right, Madden," he said, pausing for a few seconds before he asked, "Can I ask you a question while we have a minute alone?"

"Sure, but I can't guarantee I'll know the answer. I'm not as smart as those two," I said, pointing back at Mum and Jet still talking outside.

Ruben looked in their direction and chuckled, then back to me. "Something tells me you'll be just as smart, if not smarter, than those two one day. You already give us all a run for our money as it is," he said.