Wonderstruck

Tommy and Billy run around the house. Billy is chasing his screaming brother with a ball he’s threatening to throw at him. It was a baseball that Tommy had thrown at Billy in anger. Billy was upset but he was used to his twin's outbursts and he wasn't going to do anything about it until Tommy started laughing at him for complaining that it hurt. And claimed he was a cry baby and that it wouldn't hurt if it hit him. That their dad wouldn't have started another family if he was better at catching a ball. So, Billy picked up the ball and demanded, “Apologize!” 

Tommy was screaming that his brother couldn't take a joke and Billy asked him to apologize. To take back the claim about their father. “Gosh you're so sensitive!” Tommy screams as he stops in front of a wall. Seeing red, Billy lunges the ball at his brother. He dodges it and the ball flies through the wall behind him. 

Wanda hears the loud noise from her home office. It snaps her out of her work daze. She was in the middle of measuring the model pieces to the blueprint she had drawn up. She drops everything and runs to find out what is happening in her house. She walks in to find her two boys yelling and blaming each other. She sees the gaping hole and a broken picture frame on the ground. It was a family portrait. 

The last one before everything in her family had fallen apart. It was taken two years ago. She was a naive woman in that image. Her husband was three years deep in an affair. Shortly after this photo, he revealed that he got his teaching assistant pregnant. That he was leaving to be there for his new family. He claimed that Wanda had been cold and distant with him since their daughter was stillborn. He said that he was a man and had needs that she couldn't meet anymore. 

Wanda sighs and the boys stand still, terrified of what she's going to do and how she's going to punish them. Instead, she walks away into the garage and returns with a sledge hammer. She swings it against the wall, creating a bigger problem. She remembers when he painted the wall the color she didn't like and made her feel guilty that she didn't like it. “You never appreciate when I do nice things for you,” he complained. “You should be grateful I did it at all.”

As she whacks the wall, she hears every complaint and condescending comment her ex-husband ever made. When she's exhausted, she drops the head of the hammer on the picture. Destroying the frame further. She turns to her flabbergasted boys and offers them the hammer. “What? You don't want a turn?” The boys remain silent and Wanda shrugs and drops the tool on the ground. “Go get cleaned up, we're getting take out for dinner tonight.” She walks through the living room, leaving her kids behind to grab her things. 

A few days later, Pietro is visiting his sister as well as giving his daughter time to bond with her cousins. He sips his beer and stares at the destroyed wall. He looks at his twin and asks what that is. Wanda pops open a bottle for herself. “I’m renovating,” she says and after, she takes a long drink. 

“You know that's not up to code, right?” He says, eyeing his sister with concern. Wanda shrugs without a care. She knows all about the proper ways of construction. Their father taught the two everything he knew about construction. She didn’t need her brother’s input. He knows that, but he didn’t know how to get his sister to open up to him. It seemed that since her marriage fell apart she has shut everyone out. “Do you have a plan for it? You can’t leave that wall like that for too long. It isn’t safe for you or the kids.”

Wanda takes another swig as she stares at the broken wall. “I’m drawing something up. Don’t worry about me, brother.” 

“I am worried about you, Wands. What’s gotten into you?” Pietro asks, desperate to connect with her. 

She looks at him with empty eyes as she shrugs again. “I wanted a change so I’m making one. It’s no big deal.” She finishes her bottle and gets up to retrieve another. There aren’t any left. She sighs as she grabs her keys. “I’m going to go pick up some more drinks, do you mind watching the kids?” 

“Wanda, I don’t think–” he stops as soon as he looks at her and sighs. “Okay, yeah, I’ll wait here. Just,” he starts and fails to come up with the right words that won’t set her off. “Be careful,” he finishes and Wanda nods once as she leaves. 

She drives around a bit longer than she needed to. There is a supermarket around the corner from where she lives. But she didn’t want to be recognized by her neighbors. She didn’t want the questions of the hole in the side of her house. She didn’t want the threats of the complaints to the HOA. She just wanted to get her beer and head home. 

Wanda finds a little liquor store at the corner of some street she isn’t familiar with. She pulls into one of the parking spaces in front of the small business. She grabs her purse and keys and locks the car on her way in. She browses the market for more than she was on a mission for. She finds a few brands she used to have handy for her ex-husband and she wants to smash them on the ground. She can see herself, dropping every bottle on the ground. The glass splattering around the store. The liquid pooling around her feet and seeping through the cracks under the shelves, making it almost impossible to clean up. She would keep going until the cops are called and she has to run away. 

“Oh, please don’t tell me you’re actually going to buy that,” you break her thoughts with a disgusted look. 

Wanda looks between you and the bottle, “What’s wrong with this?” 

“Well, if you like a very bitter taste, then by all means. I just think your tastebuds deserve better.” You pick up a brand that Wanda actually enjoyed but hardly ever got to have since Vision usually made her feel bad about ever spending money on herself. “Here, try this. I’ll buy it for you and if you hate it, you can meet me back here in a week and tell me off.”

Wanda takes the bottle in her hand, “And if I love it?”

“Hmm,” you look around the store for an idea and snap your fingers when one finally comes to mind. “You can buy me a drink,” you state in a friendly manner. There didn’t seem to be some ulterior motive or red flag about you that was alarming her at the moment. But why were you being so kind to her when she looked like a mess? Did you think she needed your help? Like she was some helpless damsel? Her thoughts start to upset her as they continue to run down a very negative path. “Your choice too,” you offer, getting a little concerned by her silence. Almost wanting to take back the offer. 

All of the loud angry thoughts come to a full stop and Wanda is left with an empty head. “Um, okay, deal. This time next week?” She asks and you nod as you reach for the bottle back. She releases it to you. Knowing that she will be buying you a drink next week.

“Yes, if that works for you,” you tiptoe a bit now. She looked like she could use a friend, you weren’t sure what she was going through at the moment but it didn’t look like she was in a good place. 

“It should be fine,” she states a little softer now. You smile at her and offer your hand to shake on the deal and she hesitates before accepting. “I still need to pick up a few things to take home. So,” she looks around the store awkwardly. “I guess I’ll get that from you outside?” 

You nod, “Yeah, for sure. I have to get a few things too. But I’ll uh, yeah, I’ll see you outside.” You walk away to allow her the privacy she was clearly asking for and you grab the beverages you came here for. Your ex-wife Jean had called you in a hurry. She was making dinner for her new in-laws tonight and she didn’t have time to pick up the wine that they liked. You told her not to worry about it and offered to bring it by when you came to retrieve your daughter. She even invited you to stay for the meal so that the older couple could spend some time bonding a bit more with the little girl. It was going to be somewhat awkward but you figured that the better connected you were with this family, the better it was for your daughter in the future. 

They were very involved parents when it came to their daughter, Jean’s new wife, so that meant they wanted to be very involved step-grandparents. You were going to have to encounter them at birthdays and special events. Is what you keep telling yourself to make you feel less awkward about going. You pay for the bottles of wine and the extra purchase and grab a pack of cigarettes while you’re at it. You light one as you wait for the stranger inside. Hoping the nicotine calms your nerves even though you know Jean is going to be upset as soon as she smells you. 

“You know those things will kill you,” Wanda says as she exits the store. She doesn’t know why she said it. There is a pack sitting in her bag as well. It had been years since she had touched a cigarette but lately, she was feeling as reckless as she was in college. Why not complete the behavior with a terrible habit? She had negotiated with herself when she saw the wall of smokes behind the counter. 

You drop the cigarette and put it out with your foot and look at her. You notice a familiar label poking out of her bag and smirk. “I’ll quit when you do,” you say as you point to the box poking out. Wanda shuffles to hide it. 

“I wasn’t going to,” she says defensively, “I have kids.” 

You tilt your head to the side as you look at her. “Then why get them?” 

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she starts and you put up your hands before she can continue as the words have snapped you in your place. 

“You’re right, my apologies. It’s not any of my business.” You hold out the bag with her bottle inside. “Here you go,” you say with a smile. “I’ll see you in a week.”

Wanda is taken aback. That line has never stopped anyone from imploring more information out of her before. How is it that you have shown her more respect in the last five minutes than her husband ever showed her in their nine years together? “Uh, yeah,” she takes the bag. “I’ll see you then.” 

“Take care…” you laugh as you realize you have no idea what her name is. “I am so sorry for my terrible manners. I'm Y/n. I guess it just felt like we'd met before."

"Oh!" Wanda hadn't even realized that she hadn't introduced herself yet either. "I'm Wanda."

“Wanda,” you repeat with a kind smile. “Well, it was enchanting to meet you, Wanda.” You offer your hand for her to shake again and she does. Feeling a little flattered by your choice of words. The two of you part ways. She blushes all the way back home to her brother and the kids. You drive to a house that was once yours to your ex-wife, daughter, and the extra family you didn’t ever think you would ever have.