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Unsurprisingly, the camera was found by the group of delinquents now living in their manor.
Really, Dallas should not have expected much more from them than to look through the little possession the Genoard hadn’t sold out. Maybe they were in search of something of value. Even if Eve insisted time and time again that the group hadn’t touched or stolen anything since they lived with her, Dallas wasn’t so ready to trust them.
They were mostly teenagers and even younger children and yet, there was the strong Mexican dude hanging with the group, seemingly out of place. The group had apparently come with the Chinese chef they had hired and the… What even was the utility of a private bartender, Dallas couldn’t guess. But the two man seemed shady. And he didn’t even want approaching the subject of their tattooed leader. Tattooed leader that was currently examining with attention one of the Genoard family album.
The camera the group had found was originally carefully put away in a box, next to the pictures albums gathering dust in the Genoard entrance hall. Those albums were placed in the hall and not the library for a fairly good reason. Their mother always insisted that if the manor would ever be prey to fire, the only thing that she needed to save, apart from her children, were those albums. Even when she had been alive, Dallas had difficulty imagining the delicate woman carrying all of those heavy books by herself. But because of nostalgia or maybe sentimentality, they never putted them away, even after her death. Dallas never understood why she was attached to all those books, especially given that almost all of them were the old Genoard family books, pictures of their ancestor with some old journal articles in between. His own mother never had pictures of her own parents and barely no memories of them, since she was very young when she moved to America. Maybe that was why she treasured the pictures they had taken together as a family so dearly.
Those albums were now open by people other than Eve for the first time in maybe years. Dallas could only stand and watch as the group of children and teenagers looked at the pictures in front of them and commented or showed to each other images they found funny. But most important of all, was the shiny black camera they had found. A group of them were currently trying to figure out how it worked. The camera was a fairly recent model, probably purchased by his father. Its metal body seemed sturdy, but as it was passed from one pair of hand to another, Dallas could barely repress a shriek. Actually, it was a miracle that he hadn’t started yelling at them yet:
- What do you think you are doing ?!?
Automatically, a few of the children jumped to their feet, abandoning the pictures they were observing behind to run away. A few of the younger members of the delinquent gangs seemed to avoid Dallas presence as much as possible. Not that a lot of the rest of the group wanted much to do with him either. Not that he was actively trying to spend time in their company also. Actually, most those days, he preferred to just avoid coming to the manor (he was unsure if he could really qualify it as home) and hanging out in the street with a bunch of less than recommendable people.
The whole thing kind of reminded him of his adolescence, where he was doing the exact same thing to avoid his father and older brother. The only reason the manor could count as a home back then was because he knew that’s where he could find Eve. Well, sometimes, things never really seemed to change, he guessed.
- We-We’re so so sorry!! Uh, we never meant to... I mean, we didn’t want to cause trouble, oh, we probably should have asked before touching any of the albums, but l-lots of the children haven’t actually seen pictures outside of the newspaper before, so ah... But take your anger on me and not on them!
- Uh?!
It was the leader of the gang, the tattooed one that had answer him. He had stood up, still clutching the picture album he was observing in his hands. He seemed to be shaking a bit on his feet, reminding Dallas a bit of an unsteady lamb. And yet the confidence in his eyes could rival with the most ferocious wolf.
Coming apparently from Chicago, there was little to know about the man named Jacuzzi Splot. He was just a little older than Eve, even if the young man himself seemed unsure about his own date of birth. One thing Dallas knew is that Jacuzzi didn’t like him much and the sentiment was reciprocated. And that, most of all, Jacuzzi, as unconfident as he seemed, was still the one in charge of the group of delinquent, a fact that his eyes showed clearly, even if his attitude sometime didn't.
- The hell, it’s not like I care about those old photography anyway!! But why did you think you had any right to go through our stuff?!
- Eeeeek, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!!
Dallas didn’t care much for the apologies the leader was sputtering in front of him. No, his eyes were focused on the camera, still clutched between the hand of a young blond girl with pigtails and several wrist watch on both her arms. He gritted his teeth a little more and focused his vision back on Jacuzzi that was still apologize. And yet, the young man seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Dallas couldn’t stop the glance down to the photo album that was still resting in Jacuzzi hands. It seemed to be one of the most recent one, one from when Eve was still very little, as he could see faintly a young girl with long brown hair in a blue dress posing for the camera. However, as he looked more carefully, he noticed the expression on the young girl face, a scowl evident on her young lips. And on the next page, she was posing next to a woman with long dark hair holding a baby in her arms and…
- Give me that!!
Jacuzzi could barely do anything as Dallas practically ripped out the album out of his hands. And yet, once the book was in his hand, he carefully examined the pictures in front of him. Seeing image of his mom always made him a little breathless. Even if she looked healthier in pictures than she had been when she was still alive, carefully arranged to seem that way in front of the camera, the picture never seemed to be able to capture the particular shine she had. The smile frozen on her lips was a pure honest one, so much that Dallas could almost hear her clear laughter ring like bells in his mind and he was just captured in the moment, looking at the picture.
He remembered the blue dress. He had given it to Eve for maybe her fifth birthday, the blue fabric having been worn only once before and then forgotten at the end of a closet for many years. His little sister had been delighted and never wondered where Dallas had found the beautiful dress or how he could have afforded it. For her, it was just her older brother treating her like a princess as usual.
- … Is that yours and Eve mother?
The question was of course asked by Jacuzzi, his voice soft while Dallas glared at him. The leader of the delinquent had made sure to use a mellow voice, if not still a bit shaky, but the confidence in his eyes didn’t tumble in the least. It annoyed Dallas to no end, it was as if Jacuzzi knew already the answer of the question and was hiding asking something else. But he still answered to the question… Sort off.
- That’s none of your business.
And turning to the blonde girl still holding the camera, he snarled:
- And you, give me that before any of you break anything!!
- Honestly, I’m more worried about you breaking something on accident…
- What was that?!
- N-Nothing!
Still glaring anytime he met the eyes of any members of the delinquent group, Dallas makes way toward the blond girl and easily tore the camera out of her hands. He was ready to put it back in its box where it belonged and clean up the album at the same time, but once again, Jacuzzi Splot seemed to disagree with him on the simple fact this was his manor, his family name and not anyone should tell him what to do, damn it.
- We actually wanted to take pictures together, with Eve too.
- … What?!
Dallas certainly didn’t expect for things to turn this way.
So, he could only sigh in desperation as he watched the group of delinquents try to fit everyone into the frame to take a picture.
Eve, of course, had been delighted to hear some of the younger member of the gang talk about the camera and had encouraged them strongly to use what little pellicule left in the machine to take pictures outside. Dallas tried to protest, but if he had one big weakness, it was that he had difficulty to say no to his sister. He seemed rough with her by moment, but it was mostly to protect her from his own stupidity and mistakes in life. So, when Eve had made puppy eyes to him, he could only let himself be dragged outside. Just to monitor everything of course. While actively glaring at the group.
It was already decided early on that the huge Mexican man would be the one taking the pictures, since otherwise, it would be hard to include him in a group shot. Dallas didn’t like much to see the camera between his enormous (and probably very strong) hands, but at least he was being careful with it. He actually seemed a little nervous to mess up. And if anything happened to the camera, big burly man or not, Dallas would actually fight him. This was a serious affair after all.
The same seriousness was however not shared by the rest of the group.
The bunch of teenagers and young adults were all pushing together to get a chance to get into the frame. There was active conversation and discourse, trying to determine who would get to be in front and who were going to be in the back of the picture. Basically a lot of the gang were pushing each other around and so, a number of the older member settled to just watch the drama from the sideline or had mysteriously disappeared.
Dallas could only glance at his side where the bespectacled eye patched girl with the burn scars all over her body was looking at the group with a slight smile on her lips. Dallas knew that she was sort of the boss of the gang too, keeping an eye on the group (literally). He wasn’t actually sure what her relationship was with Jacuzzi, they seemed very closed, but weren’t overly affectionate in public. But Dallas knew that there was a lot of history between them. He had thought before about asking, but then, he remember that he wasn’t supposed to care for this random group of squatter. So who cared about their stupid history or what they were to each other.
Jacuzzi was of course in the middle of the melee, pulled and pushed by everyone as he tried (and failed) to have a minimum of authority over them. In the middle of it all was also Eve, giggling quietly to herself in the eye of the storm that was this chaos of people, seemingly untouched and unharmed by all of it. Once again, good, because if not, Dallas would physically fight someone.
And yes, immortality or not, receiving or throwing a punch still hurt more than you would expect. Even if Dallas was somehow used to it after years of stupidity.
Thinking about that, memories came back to him. It was when he began to enter teenage years that Dallas started a weird tradition on their yearly picture day: Always getting into fights.
At first, it was not on purpose or anything! Of course not! But already, Dallas would get into fight with older kids a lot. It was a sad result of preferring spending time into small alleys and miserable streets instead of at the manor, where he didn't feel welcome. At first, he would get the absolute shit beaten out of him and it was the worst. But then, he started winning his fight more and it wasn't so bad. It was satisfying to see the blood of his opponent on his fist, even if he was bruised and bleeding too. Better the bruises come from strangers than from his own father and brother.
It was due that one day, Dallas would come home with a black eye and blood on his fist, only to find out that it was picture day for his family. His dusty over-sized dusty clothes were quickly removed for the fancy pants and dress jacket purchased for him (His father had quickly understood that Dallas would be very uncooperative if he was forced into any other clothes or if he forced his son to grow out his hair. That later fact he had discovered as early as Dallas seventh birthday where the kid chopped it all off). The fancy clothes could only be worn on special occasion, other day Dallas just dressed himself in his brother's old clothes, always just a little too big on him. It was very frustrating since it was the only clothes that belonged to Dallas properly and yet, he was prohibited to wear them any other day. But picture day was when the Genoard family stopped denying the existence of the middle child and made sure that he was presentable in front of the camera. It was just to preserve the picture of a perfect family. It was all a lie. Dallas realized that truly when rough hands were applying make-up clumsily to cover his black eye and he was instructed to face the camera indirectly to make the cover up less noticeable.
It was all just an image, so Dallas tried to break from it more and more. He would purposely get into fight the day of picture day, trying to prove that this image of their family was less idealized than it seemed. It was rather silly, thinking back about it, but he was a stupid teenager. He didn't know what the pain, the bruises and the blood on his fist were supposed to prove, but it proved something . The only thing that made Dallas sort of sad about it was Eve reaction. She hated seeing Dallas caught up in fights and get hurt. No matter how many time he told her he would stop, she knew it was a lie. At least, it was a guarantee that he would always protect her if she needed someone to throw punches. Someone like Eve should never get caught in stupid fights like him, she didn't need to know how much the world was violent.
Sometime, Dallas envied her innocence. Sometime, he thought it was just naivety and that Eve should grow up a little. And other time, mostly lately, he wasn't so sure she was as innocent as she seemed. Who knew what happened to her in the 3 years he was drowning at the bottom of the Hutson river.
All that he knew was that now a group of delinquent were their goddamn roommate.
Group of delinquent that had finally settled a little and were ready to take a first picture. The girl with glass quickly went to join the group, placing herself right next to Jacuzzi and Eve, the three of them in the middle of the frame. Dallas could only roll his eyes as they all smiled for the flash of the picture. Ridiculous.
It was sort of cute.
But mostly ridiculous.
After the first pictures taken, the group once again emerged into chaos. They had seemed to talk between them how the second pose would go, but still, as certain people moved and other stayed in place, it was still a ruckus. The only ones that didn't change place where his sister, Jacuzzi and the burned girl with the glasses and eye patch (Dallas had a brief thought that at least if he didn't ask what her relationship was with the chief of the gang, he could at least try to learn her name ), that stayed at the front and in the middle, no matter the chaos around them.
It was as if they were truly what kept all those people together. Jacuzzi giving order, glass/eye patch combo providing stability and Eve sheltering them and opening her (their) house for the group.
Well, that was a cheesy thought. Dallas almost gagged when he finished it. Just shut up brain.
A couple pictures went like this, in this organized sort of chaos, where people shifted and changed place, while always keeping the trio at the front. After a moment, the big Mexican man monitoring the camera called for the finale picture of the day. Quickly the group settled in an order similar to the first picture taken. Just before the shutter went off, both Eve and glass girl pressed a gentle kiss on each of Jacuzzi cheeks, making the young man give a rather surprise expression for the camera and blush adorably as well.
Tch.
Dallas turned his head, looking at anything other than the group and its trio at the front. It was just a bunch of kids being stupid. He crossed his arms as he tried to convince himself of that fact and keep his anger in check. If Eve wanted to kiss a boy on the cheek in a friendly way, it was none of his business. She kissed him good night in the same way after all. There was nothing romantic about it. As long as no one touched his darling sister in the same way, he wouldn't say anything. But if someone dared to even think of Eve that way…
You better watch yourself Jacuzzi Splot.
As the final picture was finally taken, the group finally scattered, only a few member remaining in their courtyard. A couple kids were hanging out around the big Mexican man, trying to see if they could see the picture (they, of course, would not be able to until they developed them) and quickly, the girl with glasses went to help him chase them off. Eve was talking to a few teenager around her age and younger and seemed to laugh a lot, having fun. Dallas eyes, looking at the group, accidentally captured Jacuzzi ones and the leader started to make his way toward him.
Pretending that he wasn't watching him, Dallas rolled his eyes. Jacuzzi just went to stand on his side and they both stayed silent for a moment. It was peaceful, but no, of course Jacuzzi had to break to moment with mindless small conversation. God, Dallas hated small conversation.
- S-So this was rather nice, I think… Uh... We should do this, I mean, uh, have special occasion like this more often!
- Uhmf.
Despite Dallas unresponsive behaviour, Jacuzzi continued fidgeting, looking nervously between Dallas and the Mexican man just a little farther away, still holding the camera. He opened his mouth a couple time, as if to say something, only to close it after an instant. It was as if he didn't know how to approach Dallas or what he wanted to say to him. Anyway, it annoyed him, so after the moment, the older man just snapped:
- If you have something to say to me, just say it now, you damn coward!!
- Aaah!... Ok, ok, I uh… Understood… Uh… Just…
- Fucking hell! This isn't hard, come on, just say it!
-… Thank you for allowing us to do that today.
The thanks was said in such a soft tone that Dallas could look somewhere with a slight “Tch.” He couldn't reject such an heartfelt thanks. He wasn't a monster. Jacuzzi, after thanking him, looked a lot more happy and most importantly, a lot less stressed than how he's seemed before. Dallas didn't want to break this peaceful moment so he agreed to just stay in silence and try to ignore the young boy literally beaming beside him.
How could the leader of a group of delinquent look so innocent, he had no idea.
- … You know, I made sure to ask Donny to keep one last picture in the pellicule.
- … What?
- Donny. The one that took the photography. I asked him to keep one last picture to take.
- No, no, I understood that part, I'm not an idiot!! I mean… Why would you do that?
Jacuzzi only smiled and turned his head to look toward where Eve and a couple member of his gang were still talking and laughing together.
- You haven't been in a single picture today and I feel sort of bad since this is your camera… N-not that you have to be in a picture or anything! Just… I think it would make your sister really happy if you two posed together.
Dallas also looked at his younger sister for a moment. He buried his hands in his pockets and threw one last mean glare toward Jacuzzi before walking toward her:
- I’m not doing this because of you or anything, understood!?
A small laugh erupted of Jacuzzi and Dallas thought of the clear ringing of a bell and the warm brown eyes of his mom. Jacuzzi eyes were also brown. They were almost closed as he continued laughing quietly. Finally, his eyes opened completely and met Dallas ones. There was something about Jacuzzi eyes that Dallas couldn't quite place. They were both gentle and courageous, piercing through him as if he could read everything he was thinking. Dallas of course knew that this sort of things was impossible (immortality was maybe real, but you had to draw the line somewhere. Reading thoughts was like saying vampire existed. The next ridiculous thing would be to imagine a vampire able to read thoughts... Completely silly) But as Jacuzzi opened his mouth once again, he could not help but literally freeze in place.
- … You should smile for the picture. I've noticed you don't seem to smile a lot in the albums.
A shiver ran through all of Dallas body. He felt like he couldn't breath, couldn't move, couldn't do anything but stand in place and think about what Jacuzzi just said. It took him a middle to properly understand it. Oh. So he knew.
Jacuzzi was still gazing at him with the same soft expression on his face. Dallas gritted his teeth, wondering if it was just pity. Well, he didn't have to prove anything in front of the delinquent leader!... And yet, Dallas somehow knew that Jacuzzi was not mocking him. No, the young man wouldn't do something like that. There was no judgement in his eyes.
It still annoyed Dallas to no end.
- You can’t tell me what to do.
- I mean, I, uh, I-I’m sure you have a cute smile! Can’t say the same thing about your face.
- Go eat shit!!!
Jacuzzi laughed again, but Dallas just walked away to go toward his sister. A short aggressive walk to let go of some of his pent-up anger.
Not thinking on bit about warm brown eyes or bell tinkling in the wind.
- It’s nice that they’ve let you take a picture too big brother!
- Whatever…
Eve was gently gripping his arm, practically bouncing in place, while they waited for the picture to be taken. She was so excited and happy, Dallas didn't want to ruin her good mood by bitching. When she had learned that they could take one last picture together, Eve had hugged him so hard, it was difficult to breath for a moment. He knew that it meant a lot for her. So he just let himself be dragged inside of the frame to take the pose with his sister.
Eve was holding into his left arm with all of her strength, as if he would try to run away if she didn't. Dallas just sighed and adjusted his posture slightly, to stand a little taller and remove his hands from his pockets. May as well take this seriously and get over it right away.
He caught Eve eyes, that were resting on his hands. At his questioning look, she gave a sheepish smile:
- Sorry! It’s a little weird not to see any blood on them!
Dallas didn't answer and just continued to pout. As if he would get into any fight today, he knew that this was important for her…
And it was a rather unconventional picture day. No fancy clothes or make up, Dallas was just wearing his classic dark red shirt that sometime still smelt of the river. There was no instruction to get placed, just a nervous gigantic Mexican man holding the camera, while Jacuzzi and Nice were monitoring everything. And most of all, no blood on his hands, even if Dallas would still fight anyone coming at him with a reason to.
- Ok, are you two ready?
- Just take the damn picture already!!
Eve giggled quietly, but still prepared herself for the picture, not letting go of Dallas arm. Dallas did the same thing as well, masking the anger on his face with a neutral expression, until he heard Eve whispering:
- This make me very happy. Thanks for everything Dallas!
- Tch…
He tried to pretend his lips didn't stretch into a little smile, just in time for the camera to capture it.
He also tried to ignore Jacuzzi beeming expression.
Well… Those things were a lie.
Not that Dallas would ever say so to himself.