Mr. Babydoll and the journals of his inner blizzard [peterick]

XX

The sun was beaming weakly trough the windows of the neighbourhood, its warmth still shy and untouched. The days were getting longer again and started sooner. Hayley was already at the shop, struggling to find the right key with her hands covered by the morning cold.

"Good morning, Pete." she greeted me, looking tired. I unlocked the door for her, a gesture she replied to with a grateful nod as she entered the shop. We didn't talk for long, instead we started with our work right away until the first few customers started wandering in. The warm seasons wouldn't be very busy, causing the amount of income to increase, but I was hyped for summer nonetheless. It would be warm again, so I didn't need to lock myself in my apartment and get high on self doubt. I will be able to do that outside.

Summer was the best time for melancholic poetry that was bad enough to be worth reading. I had been trying to improve my poetic writing for the past few months and I'm not saying that I'm making any progress, but it's acceptable enough, I guess.

"Joe isn't showing up." I mentioned more to myself than to Hayley as if I had to remind myself that he still exists. "He's not coming. He's sick, but Gabe should be here in half an hour." Hayley said. I wasn't satisfied with that answer at all. I could see in her face that their was more to say, but she kept quiet.

Joe was never sick. Absolutely never.

There's something wrong.

Apparently I always needed more than one thing to worry about in my life. As I was filling up a cup, a well known red haired individual walked into the shop. Looking a bit lost, but well aware of his surroundings. He dragged himself to the counter as if it was a buoy in an ocean he was about to drown in. The whole process was so painfully slow that I just had to stare in astonishment while everyone else in the shop just giving awkward looks from the corner of their eyes.

By the time Gerard arrives at the counter, I had already filled three cups with coffee. "Hey man." he said, holding on to a bar stool for dear life as he sat down on it. The smell of booze reached me. "Dude, what made you think it's okay to crawl into a public place being heavily drunk?" I whispered without looking at him.
He just looked at me as if he had to process my words first. "Sorry man, I just need someone to talk to."

Mikey's words rang trough my head: "When he calls you, don't call back. Don't meet up. He drags people into his misery without really wanting it. You're not his anchor to hold on to."
But how on earth could I just ignore him walking into my workplace like that.
"You're drunk." I stated.
"I know"
"I'm not allowed to talk to you."
"I know."
"Do you want something to eat?"
"Mmh."

I took a white plate, placed a slice of plum pie on it and slid it over the counter. Gerard reached clumsily into his pockets before I told him that it's fine and that he didn't need to pay. He poked the plastic fork into the pie abd started eating and it seemed as if he hadn't eaten anything in a long time.

"You're a lifesaver." he mumbled trough a full mouth. There's no way I could ignore this guy.
"You need to consider rehab, that's the only advice I can give you." I blurted out without thinking. But he just nodded, letting me know that I wasn't the first person to say that. There wasn't really anything else I could say. "Tell me if you're done or in need of something." I muttered, making my way into the kitchen.

Gabe arrived just in time, asking me if I'm aware of the child sitting all by himself in the shop and at first I thought he was talking about Gerard for some reason. I completely forgot that Gabe wasn't involved in any of this. "It's fine, he's a friend of mine." I said.
"I'm not talking about the junkie at the counter, I'm talking about an actual child sitting at a table all by himself." Gabe replied nonchalantly. I looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"

He waved me over to take a look at the tables and I almost fell into a coma right then and there.

Tyler was sitting alone at a table, his short legs swinging back and forth because the chair was too tall for his feet to reach the floor.

God almighty, what did I do to deserve this.

"It's fine, I'll take care of this." I said, sighing. I made my way towards Tyler and desperately tried to remember how to talk to a child. He saw me before I was ready for anything.
"Pete!" he exclaimed and jumped off the chair. To be honest, I've never seen someone having such a positive reaction to seeing me. He hugged my waist since that was all he could reach and I have to admit, it was adorable.

"Hey champ, what are you doing here all alone?" I asked softly, trying my hardest to not fall over from that hug. Tyler looked up at me with big, dark eyes. "Mum told me to wait here until she comes back."
"Where is she?"

"At the dentist."

"And she couldn't have left you at home?"

"No. Dad is at work." I could sense disappointment in his voice.
"Alright then." I grabbed his hand. "You can sit down at the counter until your mum comes back, okay?"
"Okay." he said with sparkling eyes.

At first I was worried that Gerard and his current appearance would scare Tyler off, but the kid just pointed at him saying: "Your hair is red!" his voice full of astonishment. Gerard looked up and gasped exaggeratedly as if he hadn't been aware of his hair colour until now. "You're right! What am I supposed to do now?"
"Nothing, it looks really cool." Tyler insisted causing Gerard to smile. "Thank you, you're the first one to say that."

Gabe poked his head out off the kitchen. "Everything okay here?" he asked and I let him know that everything was fine. I handed Tyler a plate with a blueberry muffin. I still had to think about how to pay for all that crap.

"Are you already in school?" Gerard asked. Just the kind of stuff everyone asked a child. Tyler shook his head. "I'm going to school this fall."
"Are you looking forward to it?"
"Yes! I wanna learn how to read."

I lost track of the conversation and in more than one or two hours, Tyler's mother walked into the shop. He jumped off the chair and ran into her arms. "Mum! Look at his hair! Can I have hair like that too?"
The woman just glanced at Gerard with visible disapproval in her eyes and told her son that he would have to wait until he's a little older. Before they left, she put a 5 dollar note on the counter. "Thank you for taking care of my son." she said and I almost didn't have the heart to tell her that that wasn't my job and that I wouldn't be responsible if anything had happened to him. She still thanked me anyway with a smile on her face, but something in her eyes told me that she knew I was right.

Tyler waved after me as they were leaving.

"You knew that kid?" Gerard asked me which reminded me that I have another responsibility on my hands.
"Briefly." I replied. "Is Mikey home?"
"No, why-"
"I'm going to drive you home. You can't stay here."

I tried to call Joe that evening, but he didn't pick up the phone. Maybe I just have to accept that I don't need to know about everything. Although there was this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach I couldn't get rid off, I went to bed. I would have to wait.

—————————————————
Mr. Babydoll couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He woke up, turned on the lamp on the nightstand and crossed out a name in his notebook. After that, he'd never been able to find that pen again.