He fucking hated their father. Their mother, too. One a mean drunk, the other useless as hell. He always hated them – but it was evenings like these, when Jacob truly let his mind run wild with various fantasies. Because on evenings like these, he sat his little brother down on one of the dry grassy hills at the edge of their neighbourhood, overlooking this rundown place.
John’s cheeks still were wet and he sniffled every now and then. But he had tried to get himself together after Jacob had taken him from their home.
Old Mad Seed had surely left some new bruises on the little boy’s back. Jacob hadn’t looked yet. He had just gotten inbetween the beating, grabbed his brother and carried him here. Cursing their father on his way out, then silently down the road, then he was joking. Trying to get his brother to forget and smile again.
Joseph was smart enough to flee the scene when it got to this point. But John was still too small, too obedient, too soft. He would be lost on the streets of Rome, even if he dared leaving their house. So he was the easiest target for one of the old bastard's 'sermons'.
Sitting down beside John, Jacob rummaged through his bag for a bit, before pulling out the pilfered cans he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the little shops. He’d bring the cans back surely – just without the soda inside.
“Here. Not as cold as in the ads, I’ll give you that. But you’ll like it.”, he said, giving John a wink as he opened the first can to give to his little brother. God. He could barely take the look of his big blue red-rimmed eyes.
“...hey, Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up, huh? I mean, I need to know, so I can look for a house for Joe, you and me in the right place, right?”
jacob's arms always felt safe - safe, and warm and his jacket was always nice to hide his face in. and that was what john had done when his big brother had pushed their papa back and scooped him up into his arms. eyes screwed shut and little fists balled in his brother's jacket, the little boy only knew they were outside because of the sound of a door slamming and humid breeze that offered no respite from rome's heat.
the best thing about jacob's jacket though? it was a dark colour, and it was harder to see the tears that seeped into it from the little boy's cheeks.
what had he done this time? okay think back ... he'd been playing with a small matchbox car jacob had pulled out of his pocket for him - it was bright red and had black stripes down the side, like one of those real race-cars pa sometimes watched on the television.
back and forth, just rolling it across the floor ... maybe he'd made a few sound effects too, but that had been it. but it had been enough to make pa angry again, and ma must've not heard because she just kept washing the dishes, and joseph had just left ... did that mean he had done something wrong though?
wiping his cheeks dry with the back of his hands when jacob set him down at last, john sat down and craned his head around, taking in their new surroundings — the hill that overlooked the town. and even from up here, john could still see their house ... it was the one with the overgrown garden that looked more yellow than green with the heat lately, and the fence with the chain-link broken and hanging off.
another sniffle and john tugged his head back around when he heard his brother call him - blinking his big blue eyes dumbly, it took the little boy a few seconds to realise that the soda can was for him. awww, so cool! they never had soda in the house!
waiting for jacob to pop the can open, john shuffled in closer to his big brother, a grin from ear to ear as he held the too-big-soda-can between his two hands, lolling his head to the side so that the breeze ruffled his black hair as he thought about his brother's question.
' uhm ... a lawyer. ' leaning forward, he took a big gulp of the soda, crinkling his nose when the fizz tickled enough to nearly make him sneeze,
' that way i can make a lotta money and i can buy the house for me, you and joseph — an' i can help put bad people in jail and help people who need help. '
