Aj Blackbird's Arc

Chapter 4 of 7

A week passed since Aj shut the door on Barbara. She kept the flat, but the debt kept her up at night. Will had sold his father's last keepsakes to save her. He never spoke of it. He came by, fixed her cracked window, fed her cats, and left with the same still face. Aj could not tell if the sacrifice was eating him. She had to know. So she took him somewhere quiet. Beside a small pond stood a wooden gazebo, its roof carved and painted, its rail curling like lace. Aj brought bread for the ducks and a jar of tea. She wanted Will away from the store, away from the counting, away from every reminder of what he'd given up. They sat on the bench inside. Will watched the water. His eyes shifted from blue to a low green, but his face stayed flat as a plate. "You gave up your father's things for me," Aj said. Her voice came small. "I need to know if you're angry. If I broke something in you." Will said nothing. The tiny striped cat had followed them in a carrier; it pawed the wire. Aj opened the door and the cat climbed into Will's lap and settled. His hand moved over its back, slow. "Say something," Aj said. "Please. I can't lean on a wall that won't talk." Will kept stroking the cat. Then he spoke, low. "My father counted coins every night. He never looked up when I came in." He paused. "When I sold them, my hands shook. Not because I wanted them back. Because I finally had a use for them he never found." Aj stared at him. "So you don't regret it." "No." His eyes held on the pond. "But I've been afraid you'd feel like one of his debts. Something I hold over you." His jaw moved. "I don't. I never will." Aj felt the knot in her chest come loose. She reached over and took his hand off the cat, held it in both of hers. It was warm, and it did not pull away. "You don't have to carry it alone," she said. "Neither do I. That's the point." Will turned to her. His face barely changed, but his eyes went full green, and his thumb pressed once against her knuckles. It was the most he had ever shown her. It was enough. They stayed until the tea went cold. The debt was still there. Friday's rent still loomed. But Aj knew now the sacrifice had not cracked him, and it had not made her his burden. They were in it together, clear and even. Walking back, Will stopped at the store window and looked in at the empty cash drawer. "We'll need to fill that," he said. "Soon." And Aj understood the next fight was not hers alone anymore. It was theirs.