Fake You Out - Joshler

Chapter Ten

Josh continues cutting up slices of cucumber into little bite size pieces for Michael, thinking back to Tyler's admission the night before about Josh when he was a child, it had stirred something inside of Josh, created a little flicker of hope. He hadn't remembered the memory on his own, but now he has something. He knows something about himself and his life, and it makes it a little more bearable to be stuck at home with a child that doesn't pay him a speck of attention.

Josh feels like there is more hope now that he can remember, that he can find a memory floating around in his brain just waiting for him to realize it's there. He still doesn't like feeling like Tyler is taking advantage of him, but he's willing to help out around their house more if it means that Tyler will work harder with helping his memory or providing Josh clues about what kind of person he was.

He finishes putting the vegetables onto Michael's plate with everything else he's having for lunch, picking up the plate to carry it into the living room. He sees Michael retreat further behind the couch, peeking out slightly to see what Josh is doing. Josh turns off the television and sets the food down on the table.

"Michael, your lunch is finished," Josh says, knowing that Michael won't answer him.

It's become a routine that this is where Michael eats his lunch, because he doesn't want Josh to carry him to his room or for Josh to help him up the stairs so the easier solution has been to feed him at the table so he can immediately curl up on the couch and take his nap.

Josh immediately retreats back into the kitchen where he watches as Michael crawls out from behind the furniture, sitting down on the floor to begin eating the food that Josh made. Josh watches Michael eat and realizes that while his main goal should be to get his memory back, he thinks that maybe he'd like to get Michael happy with him again more.

~~~

"I need help," Gerard cries, dropping his face down onto the table, groaning into the wood. "I can't do my homework. It's too hard and I don't want to do it anymore. I've already done my math. Dad, can I be finished?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Tyler replies, barely looking up from the book he's reading.

"What's your homework?" Josh asks, scooting forward to get a better view at the work that Gerard has.

"We had to write a story, and I'm trying to write the story, but I wanted to put pictures with it, and I can't draw," Gerard says, turning his face over on the table to look at Josh. "I get extra points if I put pictures with it."

"I could help you," Josh says, kneeling down on the floor next to Gerard. "Do you want my help?"

"Yes, please," Gerard says, lifting his head off the coffee table. "Can you draw?"

Josh shrugs, picking up one of the colored pencils off the table. "Tell me something to draw and I'll see if I can do it."

"My story is about a dog, he has floppy ears and three spots," Gerard instructs.

Josh nods his head and begins moving the pencil along the paper, working out the shapes that he needs in order to make it look like a dog. He goes for a more cartoon over realistic look. He exaggerates the length of the floppy ears and creates a long, pointed tail that wraps around the dog and curls around the front of him.

"Is this good?" Josh asks, pushing the drawing towards Gerard, feeling surprised at how natural that drawing had felt, and how good the drawing came out.

"Wow," Gerard says, mouth dropping open as he stares at the little image that Josh just drew for him. "You're really good. Dad, look at how good Poppy is at drawing."