Page 8 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

“They needed their booster shots, and they gave me some pink shit to kill the ear infection, plus I owed them twenty for last time I had to take ’em in. Shit adds up fast.”

“Did you have… I mean, is it gonna… are you…?”

“Jesus, I didn’t know you stutter.” Tommy eyed him for a minute, knowing what Bobby was getting at. “Look, I appreciate last night and you bein’ cool about shit all the time and bein’ nice to the kids and… all that shit. I do, honest to God, but… why?”

Bobby stopped when Tommy did, and he glanced down at the twins as if he’d find the answer in their faces. “Why not?” he countered, looking back up into Tommy’s eyes.

“You can’t answer a question with a question,” Tommy huffed, fidgeting with the hood of the stroller when he felt a few warm raindrops start to fall.

“I just did.” The smirk was back on Bobby’s face and Tommy wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss it or smack it off. “Seriously, why can’t someone just be… nice?”

“Because no one is ever nice for no reason. Everyone’s got an angle, everyone’s got a reason for doin’ shit.”

Bobby made a quick buzzing sound, signaling a wrong answer. “Bullshit. Why do you do what you do? You’re twenty-two years old. You could pick up and leave, make a way for yourself, go out and have fun or go to college or… something, just for you. Instead, you act like a forty-year-old single father. You could dump it all in Colleen’s lap, but you don’t. You don’t even tell Cheryl to go fuck herself and take care of her own kids, because you and I both know the odds of those two being Cal’s are slim.” He paused for a breath, then asked, “So what’s your angle?”

Tommy looked at him for a long minute, not really having an answer. On his worst days, the days he hated himself for, he did think about just taking off, telling them all good luck and see ya! But he’d never do it, never even give it honest consideration. “It’s different with family.” Tommy was sure about that one thing if nothing else. He put his hand on the top of Max’s head under the hood of the stroller. “The family you’re given and the one you choose. It’s different.”

They started walking again, only because Tommy was still trying to escape. He cursed the fact they had one car for all eight of them.

“I still say bullshit,” Bobby told him, continuing on the same line. “It’s dark out, late at night, you see an old woman at a bus stop, face down in the mud. Her purse is open, money spilled out, she’s down for the count. Do you take the money and run or call 911?”

Tommy stopped and looked at him then, feeling a flash of anger that Bobby would even have to ask. “Call 911, asshole.”

“So what’s there to gain for you? Doing something nice like that and all.”

“That ain’t nice, that’s just… Christ, you don’t leave someone to die.”

“Okay, your neighbor, what’s her name? Farah or whatever? Her power gets cut off, you have some cash and she doesn’t, do you let her sit in the dark, or do you cover it for her till she can pay you back?”

“I cover it. She keeps an eye on the house if Colleen and I can’t get opposite shifts.”

“That’s the only reason? Really?”

“Fuck you.”

“Wow, you would have rocked debate team.”

“You still didn’t answer my question, Bobby.”

“I did, you just don’t realize it yet.”

Tommy stopped again and glared at Bobby. “Did you just call me stupid? Jesus fucking Christ, the balls!”

“I’d say more like purposely obtuse.”

“I… that’s a dressed-up way of calling me stupid.”

Bobby laughed, his smile as bright as the sun. “Not stupid, just not hearing me because you don’t want to.”

“Ya got that right.” Tommy started to walk again.

Still at Tommy’s side, Bobby said, “I just… I became a cop for a reason, ya know? I saw where I could make a difference, and I went for it.”

“So you think showing up and passing out doughnuts is gonna make a difference to us?”

“I think kindness always makes a difference. There’s not much of it around here, and it does help, yes.”

Tommy muttered under his breath, a colorful curse, then asked, “So, what, come Christmas you’re gonna be our secret Santa now? Jesus.”

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