Chapter Text
“But you could have Superman ice cream right here in Lakeview whenever you please. Can you imagine?” Mr. Wood chuckled, but Awsten was looking at Mr. Wood like he had just slapped him across the face.
“Uh-oh,” Otto muttered.
“Fuck you!” Awsten spat.
“Awsten,” Otto and Geoff said sharply at the same time.
Mr. Wood’s smile was wiped clean off. “Excuse me?”
“Is that all this is to you?” Awsten demanded. “Some stupid joke?”
“You better watch your mouth, boy,” Mr. Wood said dangerously.
“Dad,” Otto placated while Geoff put a hand out in front of Awsten, whose face had twisted like he was smelling something rotten.
“You better watch yours, sir.”
Duffy’s Restaurant
Geoff frowned down at his half-eaten bran muffin. “You are certain?”
Mary reached out and set her hand on top of Geoff’s. “Yes, baby.”
“They’re trying to contract me and my guys to help build it,” David added, “so I know it’s the real deal. I’ll be honest; they’re offering good money. And they’re good people to give us work, not just make us pay. The benefit's not limited to the construction, either, cause they’ll hire from in town. I heard they’re guessing it’ll be something like twenty or thirty long-term jobs they’re creating.”
“And what of Carson’s?” Geoff asked softly.
“That’s where the dilemma comes in,” David sighed. “If the papers get approved and they build this Piggly Wiggly, they’re basically putting Bill out of business. Him and the general store both, cause no matter how much we love ‘em, they can’t compete with that kind of business. They just can't. But other than that…”
“Not only Bill.”
“What?”
“It is not only Bill who will be affected; it will be Bill and his entire family,” Geoff murmured.
David grimaced. “The town’ll take care of him. We take care of our own.”
Like they cared for Awsten? Geoff wanted to snap, but he bit his tongue. It was the right move; exactly when he would have spoken, a waitress appeared beside the small table to refill Mary and David’s coffee mugs. Mary thanked her by name.
“Bill’s kept this place running for years,” David continued once she’d walked back out of earshot, “so nobody’s gonna let anything bad happen to him.”
“Well, it is certainly quite a way to pay him back for all of his hard work,” Geoff replied drily, and Mary nodded in agreement.
“Geoff, honey…” she said gently. “Please tell Awsten. Before he finds out from someone else.”
Geoff pursed his lips. He didn’t suppose that he had much of a choice.
Sweet Apple Primary School
Miss you. As usual.
I hope you're doing good and eating a lot of chicken nuggets. I know I’m supposed to hope you’re eating a lot of vegetables but honestly I hope it’s chicken nuggets.
T misses you. He still goes by your room sometimes.
So do I.
Awsten’s watch beeped, and he glanced down at it in surprise. “Well,” he said, laying his pencil down and looking over at the last little girl in the room, “looks like it’s just you and me again, Piper. Let’s go call your parents, yeah? See if somebody answers this time.”
Piper slowly got to her feet and followed Awsten to the music room, her full-size backpack looking gigantic on her tiny, four-year old body. She clutched her worn stuffed rabbit to her chest and stared at the floor, not saying anything.
Together, with several feet in between them, they walked down the hallway of the school until they got to the music room. “Play with whatever you want, okay?” Awsten encouraged, and he went to his desk and sat down in his chair. He woke his clunky computer up, typed in a password, and opened the file that contained all of the parent phone numbers. He scrolled down until he found Piper’s name, and then he picked up the receiver of his desk phone and dialed 9 followed by Piper’s mom’s number. While it rang, he looked at Piper, who was standing in the middle of the room with her backpack on, petting her rabbit. “You can sit if you want,” he told her softly, but she didn’t move.
When the call went to voicemail, Awsten said cheerfully, “Hi, this is Awsten Wigington from Sweet Apple. It’s after four o’clock, and I still have Piper here. I was calling to see if everything’s okay and what time you think you might get here. Please call me back. Thanks.”
He left a similar message for Piper’s father and then went over to his small bookshelf (which Mr. Wood had built, Mom had painted, and Dad had stocked) to retrieve a little black and white book. He sat down on the floor, cleared his throat, and began to read.
Way down in the green woods
Where all the animals play,
They do things and they say things
In a different sort of way
Piper was still standing in the middle of the room and staring down as she messed with her stuffed rabbit, but Awsten could tell that she was paying attention. She listened as Awsten tripped over the made-up words and laughed at himself, and she even looked up to peek at some of the pictures when she heard him rotate the book to face her.
“You want to come see the bunny on the clothesline?” Awsten asked knowingly when he turned the page and saw the familiar illustration. “I know you like this one. And your favorite one is next…”
Piper started toward him but quickly stopped herself.
Awsten, still determined to coax her over, set the open book on the ground and began to read off of the page. Although Piper stayed several feet away, she walked around to the side of it, where she could see the art more clearly.
“Do you want to hear it again?” Awsten asked when he reached the end.
Instead of answering, Piper snatched the book from the floor and darted away to the corner, where she sat down and pressed her shoulders against the walls. She flipped through the pages for several seconds before stopping. Awsten would have bet his life savings that she’d paused on the illustration of the baby bunny in the high chair.
Thirty silent minutes crawled by before the doorbell to the school rang. Piper frowned at the sound but walked out the door of the classroom without a word to Awsten.
On the road
Hello. Are you still planning to join me for dinner?
Awsten glanced down at the words and sighed, picking up his phone. Omw, he texted back. Left a voicemail. Sry. 10 minutes? Then he set it back down in the cupholder.
Within five minutes, Awsten crossed into Lakeview and began the drive to the very edge of town where the handful of mansions sat. “Won’t you give yourself a try?” he sang under his breath, tapping absently on his steering wheel as he eased the brake on at a stop sign.
He’d barely started driving again when flashing blue lights in his rearview mirror caught his attention. “Shit.” Had he rolled through the stop sign? He was pretty sure he hadn’t… Maybe someone had seen him text Dad earlier and passed the word on?
Awsten fumbled in the glove compartment for his registration. This wasn’t exactly the first time he’d been pulled over, although no one needed to know about that. Two speeding tickets weren’t a big deal. Besides, they were from a while ago.
Right as Awsten located the paper, there was a loud rap on the window. Awsten looked up anxiously at the officer before relief washed over him. “Fuck you!” he yelled through the glass, laughing.
Otto grinned at him and took a step back.
Awsten flung the door open, launching through it to tackle his best friend in a hug. “You are such an asshole! I thought I was gonna get another ticket, and I didn’t even know what I did!” he complained.
“Hi to you, too.”
“Hi.” Awsten pulled back and shook his head. He squinted into Otto’s body cam and then up at Otto’s face. “Do you like to just randomly pull people over? What if it wasn’t me?!”
“You’re the only person who drives an old Lexus for, like, thirty miles.”
Awsten rolled his eyes.
“And you’ve got your school parking passes on the back, too.”
True.
“What are you doing here on a weeknight?” Otto asked.
“My dad wants to have dinner. I’m only here to see Tuna, though,” Awsten joked.
Otto smiled. “Does Mom know you’re back?”
“No, I didn’t say anything this time. I’m not staying long.”
Otto wandered back to his patrol car, saying, “Well, give me a call when you're done with your dad. I’ll be off soon, and if you’re still hungry, I’ll buy you some frozen yogurt.”
“You got it. And hey - stop pulling innocent people over! It's not funny.”
“Just you, dude, I swear.”
Awsten playfully rolled his eyes, got back behind the wheel, and resumed the drive to his father’s house.
The Wigington Mansion
Everything had been peaceful and quiet in Geoff’s kitchen, and then very suddenly, several things happened all at once. Geoff’s pasta timer began beeping, the garage door opened, and a goldfinch slammed into the stained glass window.
Geoff gasped, ignoring both the garage door and the timer, and hurried to the window to stretch onto his tiptoes to see through the clear part of the window, which now had a smudge on it. The bird was hopping around confusedly below, and Geoff breathed a sigh of relief. He turned back to the pasta and willed his slight lightheadedness away.
Moments later, Awsten banged through the kitchen door. “Tuna!” he yelled. “I’m home!”
“Hello,” Geoff greeted quietly, still willing his heartbeat to slow.
Awsten grinned at him before dropping his keys loudly on the counter. He ducked over for a hug and then headed to the bottom of the stairs. “TUUUUUUNAAAAA!” he yelled, hanging off the side of the banister.
Mrow!
“Yeah! I’m back!”
MROW!
Geoff poured the large helping of homemade pasta into the strainer. Steam billowed up, and Geoff closed his eyes briefly, taking in the feeling humidity on his face.
“There she is!” Awsten said happily as the cat padded down the steps. He slipped into the baby talk that Geoff knew so well. “There’s my baby girl. Come here! Come here, Tuna! Did you miss me? Cause I missed you. Yes, I did. I missed you.” There was a series of dramatic kissing noises, and Geoff couldn’t suppress his smile.
“Do you need me to help with anything?” Awsten asked after a few seconds, and Geoff looked over to see Awsten with his arms full of gray cat.
“No, everything is all set. Homemade pasta, homemade sauce, and your favorite garlic bread.”
Awsten bounced over to Geoff and laid his head against his shoulder. “Thanks.” He knocked his temple against Geoff’s arm twice.
“Awsten, stop, please.”
Geoff could hear the frown in his voice as Awsten told him, “You’re too skinny.” Then, without missing a beat - “Tuna, do you want some noodles?!”
“No,” Geoff said evenly, and Awsten laughed.
---
“Tomorrow you will be at the primary school or the elementary school?” Dad asked.
“Tomorrow’s elementary,” Awsten responded. “We’re having rehearsals for the spring musical.” He eyed Dad’s food. “Can I have your bread?”
“Yes,” Dad replied, sliding his plate over.
“Thanks. I told you the theme is bugs, right? I wanted to do spiders and termites and stuff, cause I know the kids would get a big kick out of that. I even had costume ideas. But the school wanted caterpillars and ladybugs and bumblebees and butterflies.”
“I would truly like to have some bumblebees,” Dad sighed.
“I remember.”
“In the backyard, near the trees,” he continued wistfully. “I could have a colony.”
“You’d be a good bee guy,” Awsten offered. And it was true. He took a bite of his garlic bread. “But yeah, I was supposed to find some bug songs online, but I wound up just writing them myself cause all the ones out there sucked. I wanted them to be funny, but they were serious and boring. Nobody wants to hear bug facts for half an hour, so we’re singing lots of bee puns. I put a Hilary Duff reference in there for the butterfly stuff, but I don’t think anybody will get it except maybe the one other teacher my age, Miss Grant."
Dad hummed in recognition of her name.
“I had some parents mad about the queen bee casting, but I honestly don’t think the kids cared that much. Except maybe Mia, she wasn’t too happy. But Ella has the best voice, so she gets the part. There’s like…” Awsten looked up at the ceiling in concentration. “I think it’s only two solo lines, anyway.”
“Well, I cannot wait to see it.”
Awsten beamed. Mom was planning to come, too. He still hadn’t grown out of his joy over having parents who came to support him at graduations and work. It was the best. “Yeah, I’m excited for you to see it, too.”
There was a beat of quiet.
Dad sat forward a bit. “Awsten… While you are here, I should like to tell you something.”
“Yeah?”
“It is of great importance.”
“Okay…” Awsten suddenly felt a little nervous. Did this have to do with why Dad had dark circles under his eyes?
“As I understand it,” Dad began slowly, “there is… discussion of making some… alterations. In Lakeview.”
“God knows we need some fucking change around here,” Awsten muttered, munching on his bread some more.
“Well, you will likely not be pleased with this change.”
Awsten looked up at his father.
“It sounds as though there are plans to construct a Piggly Wiggly.”
“A Piggly Wiggly?!” Awsten shouted, a delighted expression on his face. “Why wouldn’t I be pleased with that? That’s fucking great! Damn, you guys will be able to buy anything.”
Dad was silent.
“I guess that kinda sucks for Mr. Carson, though,” Awsten said, and he instantly deflated a little. He mustered the smile back up. “But nobody would let him go out of business. This is good,” he decided. “I think it’s good.”
“Awsten, you have not yet heard the bad news.”
“What bad news?”
“The place where they are planning to put it…”
“It’s not going in on top of the Starbucks, is it?”
“No, not Starbucks.”
“Here?” Awsten asked in alarm. “They’re not kicking you out of the house, are they?”
“No, Awsten, although it is near the house. Quite near.”
Awsten looked puzzled.
“The plan... I am deeply sorry, Awsten. The plan, as it stands now, is to drain in the lake-”
“No,” Awsten whispered.
“-level the land, and cut down some of the surrounding trees.”
“No.”
Dad nodded. “They are looking to do it soon.”
“No!” Awsten cried. “That’s my lake! They can’t!” He was fully aware that he sounded like a little kid, but he didn’t care. It was his lake. And everyone knew it.
Dad looked at him sadly.
“Fuck that,” Awsten spat, crossing his arms over his chest. “They’re not doing that. What happens when some other kid needs a place to go?” What happens when I need a place to go? Awsten didn't live in Lakeview anymore, but the lake would always be a part of who he was and what he thought of as home.
“You may discuss it with Mr. Wood if you would like. He has more information than I do, I believe. But please do not go spreading it; this is supposed to remain quiet until they have moved further in the process.”
“This is Lakeview,” Awsten pointed out flatly. “Whether I spill or not, everybody’ll know in two days.”
Baker Elementary
The door to Awsten’s classroom opened, and the sound of happy, slightly out of sync singing flooded out into the hallway. He didn’t turn around, but he felt his stomach twist happily.
“And Sophia, go!” Awsten cheered.
A little girl in a motorized wheelchair zoomed across the room.
“Yes! Noah!”
A boy with Down Syndrome danced the opposite way across the floor.
“Pizazz, I love it. You guys have got this down; I don’t know why I’m even talking,” Awsten laughed. The kids kept criss-crossing through the space while they sang, and at the end of the number, there were some arm movements, and then the song ended.
Enthusiastic clapping sounded from the doorway, and Awsten turned around just in time to see the pretty Special Education teacher exclaim to her class, “That was amazing! You were great!”
“Miss Graaaant!” one of the boys yelled, and a little crowd of the kids ran to hug her. Sophia followed close behind in her chair.
“Do you guys want stamps?” Awsten asked, already heading to his desk for his sunshine stamp and a dark orange stamp pad.
There was a chorus of “YEAAAAHHHH!”
“Line up, please!” Miss Grant directed, and about half of the kids obeyed. She wrangled the rest over to the line while Awsten asked each child what their favorite part of music class had been that day and rewarded them with little suns on their hands. When he finished, he went to sit down at his desk.
“Tell Mr. Awsten thank you,” Miss Grant prompted.
There was a jumbled chorus of, “Thank youuuuu!” and then Miss Grant sent the kids with her assistant back to her classroom. Instead of leaving with them, though, she paused in the doorway and cleared her throat. "Mr. Awsten?"
He looked up.
“I got back from lunch, and there was a huge vase filled with pink roses on my desk. Do you happen to know where they came from?”
Awsten smiled right at her and shrugged.
A relieved look crossed her face. “Oh, good, I was hoping they were from you.”
His mouth broke into a genuine grin, and she blushed. That only made him smile more.
“I just mean - I was worried they were from Greg, and-”
He waved his hand. “Nah, I sent them,” he told her casually. She beamed at him, and his stomach felt like it was doing flips.
“Okay, well, thank you. They’re beautiful.”
He had to stop himself before he blurted out something dumb like, Beautiful flowers for the beautiful girl. “You’re welcome,” he said instead.
“Okay,” she repeated, still smiling at him. “Well… Thank you again - they're lovely. Bye, Mr. Awsten.”
“Bye, Miss Grant.”
She slipped out the door, closing it behind herself, and after a few seconds, he covered his face with his hands and allowed himself a happy squeak.