Chapter Text
Jack lifted his tired gaze to the sign with bright little letters that was above the door.
Sweet tooth.
He felt a shiver run through his body, feeling the cold wind and the snowflakes against his face.
The name of the shop seemed familiar to him, he was sure he had heard Jaime say something similar or even exactly the same among the thousands of conversations they had on the swing. That was before the boy moved to another city, leaving Jack alone again…
But that doesn’t matter now.
Jack has an objective here. He has to focus on the present.
He took his eyes off the sign, guiding them to what was in front of him, which at that moment was the display window of the candy shop, the sugary paradise. Jack often heard the children who stayed in the park after school talking about that place, until one day he finally decided to take a look.
It wasn’t a joke when they said the place was beautiful. Jack thinks he doesn’t even have enough words in his vocabulary to describe how cozy it seemed to be. He felt something comforting settling in his chest.
After so much time walking around outside the shop and watching from afar, with the only desire to try them. He watched the display windows, always full of jars and colorful packages. Through the glass, he could see rows of candies of all colors and shapes. While the snow accumulated on an awning above the window, the glass jars displayed the desired sweets.
But Jack knew he would never have money for that, just as he knew that a candy would not satisfy the hunger that was present in his life. Either way, it wasn’t like he had been lucky with food. It would be the candy or wandering through the streets looking for some leftovers in the trash, only to end up finding nothing.
He could feel his stomach tightening, like a reminder of the two days he had gone without eating.
Jack didn’t want to steal. He wasn’t proud of it, but it was what he knew how to do, even if not every time worked perfectly as he expected. And it wasn’t like he was going to take all the sweets from the shop, it was just a few, and he was sure it wouldn’t be missed. He just wants some candy.
And he was going to have that candy.
He hadn’t spent so much time looking just to give up in the end for lack of money.
‘Go in, grab what I can, run out and pray that they never find me. Easy.’
Easy. Yes, it was easy, for sure. He had done this before. What’s one more for the list?
The only problem is that he could be easily found. A dying child with a worn dark-blue hoodie, with white hair so messy that it looked like Jack had gotten into a fight. Being completely naked and throwing himself into the snow was an idea that passed recurrently through Jack’s mind, maybe they would pity him and take him somewhere better, or they would think he was crazy, probably the last option. His appearance was terrible, even the rats seemed healthier.
‘Focus. You’re getting distracted.’
He stopped in front of the door, directed his bare foot to the first step, feeling the rough friction against his skin, quickly climbed the two that were left. He pushed the door and heard the bell ring, and at the same moment he froze. He had no idea about that stupid bell.
He stood still for a few seconds, and apparently everything was fine, because no one came to say anything. He was safe.
Analyzing the shop, he noticed that there were five rows of shelves full of jars of candy. Among the colorful jars, there were holiday decorations, like Easter and Christmas, spread among the shelves. He didn’t recognize all of them, but he spotted one with the classic pumpkin head and was sure it was Halloween, his favorite day — since he could steal any pumpkin mask and run around with the other children younger than him, since the ones his age thought he was weird and disgusting.
Attracted by the decoration, he went straight there, but not before taking a look at the counter, where he managed to see the pretty clerk that he always saw through the window, talking with a child very similar to her. Maybe they were mother and daughter. The girl said something that he couldn’t identify, so she and the mother went into a door, leaving Jack alone. It wasn’t very smart what she just did, but he’s not going to complain.
‘Great, better for me.’
He tucked himself into a little corner of the aisle trying not to draw attention, even though the shop was empty, people must have preferred to stay home.
For the first time Jack feels that the universe was on his side.
Focusing completely on the candy, he grabbed the first jar he saw — gummy sharks — and took only one, in case he didn’t like it (but he was sure he would eat any crap). He put it in his mouth and took a generous bite, and the instant it touched his tongue, it was much better than he expected.
Maybe he was exaggerating for having eaten candy only once in his entire life (it was sugar), but everything about that gummy was incredible. The taste was sweet and perfect, the texture was soft and spread slowly over his tongue.
Coming out of his moment of appreciation, he swallowed the rest. Not wanting to waste time, he plunged his hand into the jar, capturing more of those so incredible gummy sharks. He swallowed all of them like the starving person he was, putting some in his pocket and spilling others in the process.
But Jack didn’t want to stay with only one candy, he wanted more. He started taking all the ones he could, each candy more different than the last. There were the sour ones, which he first thought were bad, but became his favorites, making the gummy sharks lose their podium.
The sourness masked the excessive acidity, encouraging more bites. There was a familiar touch that reminded him of alcohol. He thought he would never experience it again, but there it was again.
He kept eating more.
The hunger didn’t decrease. Each candy made him want more. His hand returned to the jar almost automatically.
He kept eating.
Then another.
And another.
“What the hell is this”
Jack felt his heart stop, all the air escaping from his lungs (the candies in his mouth were not helping with that). He was so focused on filling his pocket like a squirrel that he didn’t notice the man who had just entered the shop, who stared in terror at the child who shouldn’t have that undernourished appearance.
A child shouldn’t have that thin face, big and alert eyes with very visible dark circles.
At that moment Jack knew he was in a very humiliating situation, with his cheeks and pockets full of candy. The floor looked like a drawing made by a small child, it was so full of color and chaotic, covered by the sweets.
He felt sorry for whoever would have to clean that.
His eyes ran over the figure of the man, dark skin with long dreads falling over his shoulders. He wore punk-style clothes, with small details and a bold, almost eccentric air. There was something vibrant in his presence, or maybe Jack was in such an embarrassing situation that everything seemed more intense than it really was. The extremely cute bunny pin on the man’s jacket managed to bring a quick comfort to Jack’s heart.
But Jack looked at the man’s face and the fear came back with full force to his body.
‘Run.’ His mind said.
And Jack listened.