He followed this up with a handful of jelly beans.
Maybe it wasn’t easy to talk about your mother, Sonny thought. He tried not to think about his, but that was easy.
“D’you know how to use that gun Angel gave you?” Aaron asked.
Sonny sat up straighter. “He wouldn’t have given it to me if I didn’t. I grew up around guns. Makes sense to make sure I can look after us, especially now—unless we want Angel glued to us 24/7.”
“Will you teach me?”
They were from different planets. Sonny crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “Angel’s the one to do that. We’ll ask him.”
“Then my mom will find out.”
Different solar systems. Sonny drew up his shoulders. “I dunno, then. I guess…”
“Drop it. But, thanks. Maybe I’ll talk to Mom about it, just feel her out.”
“She has a gun.”
“Yeah,” Aaron said.
Sonny figured it really was time to drop the subject. “Didn’t Eileen ever date before?”
It was a long time before Aaron said, “She was married to my dad.”
“Like how many years ago?” Sonny said.
“A couple of years.” Aaron tipped back his head and poured more jelly beans into his mouth, lifting his hand higher and higher but never dropping a bean. He coughed. “She went out with Matt Boudreaux last year, but they were just friends.”
Sonny felt guilty—just a little guilty. He’d known about Matt from something Angel had said. Angel didn’t like Matt Boudreaux.
“Off topic,” he said. “How close are you and Sally? She’s hot.” He needed to change the subject again and girls were close to his heart—and other things.
Aaron treated him to a slit-eyed stare. “None of your business.”
“Okay, but those eyes aren’t all she’s got that’s big. She’s got—”
“Cut it out.”
Sonny sighed loudly. “I think I’m getting through to Miranda. It’s about time she figured out I’m the best thing likely to happen to her in this hick town.”
“Yeah?”
He liked Aaron a lot, but talking to him took a lot of effort. “I’m thinking about a double date.”
“Keep on thinkin’,” Aaron said. “Those two aren’t panting to go out with us.”
“Well, I’m panting. I’m in pain…you’re, well, we’ll work it out.”
Aaron looked like his mind had moved on. Time to get back to the Angel-Eileen question. Sonny thought it would be good for Angel to have someone else to fill up a lot of his time. The guy was decent, but he cramped Sonny’s style.
Sonny slid down flat and watched the muted television flicker colors on the ceiling. “My mom dated.”
“Yeah?” Aaron stopped chewing for a second, then carried on. “How long after your dad was dead?”
“He wasn’t.”
Aaron choked on his jelly beans. “Sorry.”
“S’okay. They’re both dead now.” Now what had made him spill his guts to Aaron? True, he’d never had a good friend before, but he knew better than to get loose lips. Angel would kill him if he found out. “Aaron?”
“Yeah?”
“In my family we don’t talk about personal stuff. I’d get in trouble for that. You understand?”
Aaron landed a floppy punch on Sonny’s chest. “What you tell me stops here.”
“Same for me,” Sonny said.
They both fell silent.
It would be good to be able to talk about stuff, Sonny thought. What was going on was hard. Angel was the best but he had his own crap to deal with.
He’d waited long enough to ask the big question. “Hey, I don’t want to pry, but you were majorly bleeding when Chuzah picked you up out of that swamp.” He twisted up his face. Swamps would never be big with him.
“Was I?” Aaron turned his head away, looking for another subject to distract Sonny. “I got to get rid of all the kids’ books in those shelves. Mom won’t let me toss ’em, but I can box ’em up.”
Later he’d go back to what happened out there. He wasn’t ready to talk about it.
“I’ll help you with the books,” Sonny said.
“Thanks.”
“I just about live over here. Your mom must get sick of it.”
Aaron looked back at him. “My mom likes you, even if you are an asshole around her most of the time. She doesn’t give up on people.”
“She will,” Sonny said and felt mad because he sounded like he felt sorry for himself. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t loosen up with Eileen—except she was a woman. “Was your mom always on her own, before Angel came along? Except for when she was seeing the cop, I mean.”
“She worked at the shop. Same as always. And she had me and some girlfriends. She and Matt still get along.”
“No other men?”
“No.” Aaron sat up straighter. “You keep pushing about that. She’s never been the kind to look for men.”
“She’s pretty.”
“Yeah.”
“I can tell Angel thinks so, too. You’ve seen the way he looks at her?” Sonny was really warming up to the idea of Angel and Eileen being more than just friends because their boys hung out together.
“My mom’s quiet,” Aaron said. “I don’t think…Angel’s big and tough.”
“He’s not tough with her. I think he wants to be real soft and gentle with her.”
“What are you sayin’?”
He shouldn’t have mentioned this, Sonny thought. He cleared his throat and thought about the way his dad had taught him to say things carefully. “I just think Angel and Eileen would be a nice, er, couple. They don’t do much except work and look out for us. They ought to go out for dinner, maybe a drive.”
“Where would they drive?”
“Oh,” Sonny shrugged. “Around. You know. To some nice places. They could even go to Mississippi. New York’s great but it’s a long drive.”
“Okay,” Aaron said. “Quit pussyfooting around. You’re talking about them having sex. Go on, say it. You think your uncle’s horny and my mom’s convenient.”
Holy crap. “Watch your mouth. Don’t talk about your mother that way. I meant just what I said. They’re nice people and they could do worse than be real good friends. You ought to be thinkin’ what’s gonna happen to Eileen when you move on. Or are you sticking around Pointe Judah for the rest of your life? Maybe going to work selling hedgehog boot-scrapers at Poke Around?”
Aaron sighed. “When I get caught up with school I’m going to college. Okay, I’m sorry I got pissed at you. I just don’t like thinking about my mom having sex, okay?”
“Sure.” Sonny smiled to himself and wondered what Aaron would have done if he’d walked in on his mother having sex—with two men—and neither of them was his father.
“Angel’s okay.”
Sonny’s stomach flipped. “He’s the best guy I ever knew. Cares more about me than anyone else ever