[This man that he hasn't met is rubbing him the wrong way. Again. Trying to tell him. What the fuck does he know? Larry is picking his teeth with his thumbnail though there's nothing in them. Cereal doesn't catch that way.]
I didn't mention a lot of things, Larry. You don't either. I dunno it's not stuff you can just talk about real easy I guess.
[Come on, for a little while they went by codenames and well there was that cop thing. But Freddy was obviously able to talk about this particular issue of faith with that other guy. Shit.]
[On one hand that almost makes it seem patronizing. On the other it was never really about God in the first place and more about introducing an aspect of himself into their home that happens to deal with faith in God.]
What are you getting at?
[The picking doesn't escape the kid's notice at all.]
[That doesn't make any sense though. How can he be more understanding? Maybe it could be that he's more open to rack job things. That kind of a thing.]
I'm fighting not to do something stupid okay. [Like fall off the wagon looking for a fix. Which is a fucking stupid reason to do so when your man needs you to be clean. This isn't that bad of a conversation...is it?]
All the fucking tension. [Hands away from his mouth.]
You talk about what you believe with a guy you don't know as well as me.
[Yeah. Well. Believe it. Larry's not backing down or turning to apology, not now and not just yet.]
I didn't say that. Sounds like you damn close to him. [Shrug. Could be some old coot with no friends, no body at all and a kid who likes to talk and old ears that like to listen and play Master Yoda.]
[The first thing he wants to shoot back is that he's not close to him so it shouldn't fucking matter, but the fact that Larry thinks he could be and that this is apparently a problem grinds his nerves. Don't let the old guy have all the answers so easily.]
So what if I was?
[There are a couple of people Freddy's close to...like family members and an ex-girlfriend, and stuff.]
If you were then [the old man stands up and moves away from the kitchen barstool seating, he's going to the coffee table for a cigarette] I'd think it'd be something we could talk about.
[Or is that something that's not quite done neither? Larry realizes he's starting to sound like a pissy, possessive girlfriend. At this moment he doesn't give a fuck.]
You're getting ideas you don't need to be getting. I'm gonna be upstairs.
[The kid takes his beer and turns away from the kitchen. It is something they could talk about, honestly, but the implications thus far and the burn fresh again just makes Freddy not want to talk about it. For now.]
[He did apologize didn't he? Well, that was for before. And right now he needs to do it again? Already? Brown eyes watch him as he moves to the stairs.]
I can't even fucking ask questions to figure out how or why? I can't get answers? That what you're trying to tell me? If I don't ask, how the fuck am I supposed to know?
[He spreads his hands and actually is expecting an answer to at least one of those questions.]
[All that waiting. For nothing. Larry sucks down another drag from his cigarette. The old man himself is now getting angry. He's not even being given the chance to fix whatever the fuck he messed up.
Yes, he does think that the shrink is suspicious. And aside from that, all this time Freddy never said he knew anyone. Why not?]
That is what you should tell me if you're not going to answer my questions.
[The kid bites his tongue before he can say anymore because anything he has to say only feeds into what the old man wants and Freddy here doesn't want to give it. Instead of saying anything at all he just gestures his open hands at Larry, as if to say cool, you answered your own question.
[Oh he's still walking, walking, walking, up and up. Then he's into his room with the door slamming behind him. Even though the kid wishes he wasn't doing this to them both.]
[As he turns the page past the crossword in the paper the old man tries to think about what the last conversation--the one without any sniping or arguing--was about. Coffee feels like more company right now.]
[Enter one Freddy Newendyke dressed in some kind of long hooded jacket--great for going out or staying home--and his red, white, and blue skivvies bearing a shield and star. As if on cue, not only does Freddy enter the downstairs area, loud Motley Crue does too. He switches the music on, full blast, like it was already prepared for his entrance. Freddy doesn't really acknowledge Larry as he goes for a box of cereal.]
[What for? He's got his cereal in the box and goes to the couch, TV on but hah it may as well be on mute cause Dr. Feelgood's drowning that shit out. Sounds like someone else is trying to talk to Freddy too but he's not reacting.]
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