Winter's Wonderful Summer's Special

Brick by Brick

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Angelo placed another sliced, cleaned, and battered piece of fish into the skillet and watched as it began to fry like the other three pieces. He wiped his corn meal stained fingers on the front of his brown buttoned-up handy down and glanced at Mila at of the corner of his eye.

The girl sat on the counter next to him, legs dangling, chain beating against the worn cabinets in a slow beat. She sipped on a glass of ice water and stared off into the living room unseeingly.

"How is it?" He asked, finally finding the courage. The girl didn't respond right away but eventually brought her green eyes on to him. She raised an eyebrow. Angelo looked back down at the cooking fish. "Where you lived before, I mean. How was it compared to here? What are your mommy and daddy like?"

She stared at him for a moment before taking a sip of her water. "How is it where I live? First of all, its more populated." She sighed, eyes darting towards the ceiling. "Someone would have noticed what was going on here back home, simply because there would have been more people around." She set the glass down beside her and rubbed her arm. Angelo eyed the dark bruise there in the shape of large fingers. "Its louder and busier even though I live in a little town. I go to school, you've never been to school, huh?" Angelo shook his head. He had never been to school or anything like it. "I thought so. That wouldn't fly with my dad. He's real big on education, it really important to him, almost as important as his job." She stopped talking as if lost in thought.

"Is he mean, like daddy, I mean?" Angelo asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. She blinked at him.

"God no," she said and a second later Angelo's father laughed loudly at something on tv. "My dad isn't anything like him. My dad would never hit me or treat me like he treats you." She lowered her voice. "What he does is wrong, you know that right, Angelo?" Angelo merely frowned and Mila sighed. "As for my mom, well, I don't see her much. Sort of like your mom, she left me. But I have my Grams, she's the best mother anyone could ask for." She frowned looking really sad.

"Grams?" Angelo asked in confusion.

Mila nodded. "My grandmother, my mom's mom." She explained.

Angelo had never met either of his grandparents. His dad used to rage about them though in the earlier years after his mom left, something about them helping her get away. He wished they would have come for him.

"Do you have friends?" He asked and felt stupid a second later, of course she had friends. He had seen pictures of them and of course someone like Mila would have friends. "I mean, what are they like?"

Mila shrugged. "I have two best friends, Ty and Nia, I've known them both since we were all really little. Ty, well, she's really pretty and cares about people, she can be a little self-centered though, but she's great. And Nia, well, she's the dramatic one out of us three and she loves boys and clothes." She ran her fingers underneath her lip as she lost herself in thought again.

Angelo flipped the fish over with a fork.

"Mila," his dad's voice calling out from his bed room made them both flinch. "Come in here and give me a massage." The girl stiffened, her hands trembling before she used them to push herself off the counter. Angelo watched her out of the corner of his eye, he watched her seeming to silently coach and calm herself.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Angelo."

He was surprised she had addressed him but managed to nod stiffly. She walked towards the bedroom, stepping inside and closing the door behind her.