Being Wrong | ✓

Part 27

Early Saturday morning, Charlie received a text from Travis. Want to go to markets tomorrow morning?

What kind of markets? Charlie sent back.

Lotsa stuff to buy markets. Robby will drive.

Charlie had never been to any kind of market before and the mystery of it all made him nervous, but he liked the idea of going somewhere where he could spend some of his allowance. Did this count as a date even if Travis' brother was there too?

Charlie still wasn't sure how he felt about Robby. He had an aggressive nature, but Charlie got the feeling he'd been trying to be nice last night.

I'll ask my grandparents, Charlie texted back before wandering out into the living room to find them.

He felt oddly nervous as his grandma glanced up from the book she was reading and his grandpa from his newspaper. He didn't like to ask for things. His dad had told him no too many times and much too harshly. Now every request felt weighted and risky.

"Can I go to the markets with Travis and his brother tomorrow morning?" Charlie asked as he dug his toes into the carpet.

Charlie's grandpa lowered his newspaper down onto his lap and frowned. "His brother? I don't know about that. He's a bit older, looks kind of shabby. Is he responsible?"

"Travis would know, and he wouldn't ask me to go with them if he didn't trust him," Charlie said.

Charlie's grandpa shrugged. "Well, I can't really argue with that. I'm pretty sure that kid would take a bullet for you."

"You take your phone, though," Charlie's grandma added. "You're only to go to the markets and then come straight back home."

Charlie nodded quickly. "Okay."

Charlie's grandpa had already gone back to his newspaper and as his grandma picked her book back up Charlie let out a sigh of relief and headed back to his room. That hadn't been so bad. Still, he felt too hot and his heart was racing. There was something about them that made every little interaction feel like some great ordeal. He was very glad he'd met Travis, very glad he had someone to show him that things could be different.

Yet there had also been tension between Travis and his brother, the stewing potential for tempers boiling over. Was that just how families were? Things had never been that way between him and his mum. Sure, she had occasionally been impatient with him, but most of the time her greatest concern had been with de-escalating him and keeping him calm.

So maybe this wasn't normal. Maybe this was just what it looked like when things went wrong. Only, Charlie wasn't sure he knew what things going right in a family looked like. No matter how high he tried to put his mum on a pedestal, he couldn't ignore the way she'd left him, all the dangerous things she'd brought into their lives.

Perhaps he and Travis, sitting close to one another late at night with Artemis sprawled across both their laps, was closer to how family was supposed to be. Perhaps one day that could be their lives, but for now they both had to work with what they'd been given.

#

Charlie was up way earlier than he needed to be on Sunday morning, but that was okay. It gave him time to make absolutely sure he was ready. He had a shower and dressed in a T-shirt, the kitty hoodie Travis had bought him, and his favourite pair of jeans. He put his phone and his wallet in his pockets and then stood in the middle of the room. He was ready, but it wasn't time to leave.

He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and texted Travis his dilemma.

You can come and wait over here while we get ready if you want, Travis texted back.