Trust
Day 7
Peter and Skip didn’t see each other again until Thursday evening when the older boy visited the Parker house for a second time. Since Ben had gone out with friends, May had invited a friend of her own, Anna, and they were eagerly chatting in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
May beamed when she opened the door. “Hey… Skip was it, right?” She pulled the young man into a heartfelt hug.
“Yeah… Aunt May?” Skip tried and smiled mischievously.
She nodded approvingly, let him step inside and pointed upstairs. “Peter is in his room. I baked you some cookies, although I’m afraid they are slightly burned… I’m not the best cook in the world so uhm… it’s okay if you don’t want to eat them.”
“Thank you so much, I’m sure they’ll taste delicious,” Skip laughed, winked and marched upstairs.
Peter had waited excitedly for the doorbell to ring, fidgeting nervously, but when he heard his friend climbing up the stairs, he quickly grabbed a book, flung himself onto the bed and tried to look relaxed.
“Hi there.”
“Hi, Skip,” the young boy said, still slightly edgy. Skip pretended he hadn’t noticed.
“Wow, is this your science project?” he pointed to three empty bottles, one dangerously balanced on a plastic cup, “What’re you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to build a heart pump model,” Peter explained and Skip snorted. “Should’ve known you wouldn’t just do a simple presentation or some shit.”
“Well the requirements said we actually had to show off an experiment and not just talk about it. That’s why I’m really glad you’re here, as I said, I’m not really good with my hands.”
“Then let’s get started, shall we?”
Peter was greatly relieved that Skip wasn’t acting awkwardly around him anymore and even seemed to enjoy working on the project with him. The older boy helped whenever Peter was too clumsy or impatient and they made rapid progress, only pausing to eat some of the – severely burned, but still somewhat tasty - cookies May had baked.
“You are way too… hyper, that’s your problem,” Skip crackled when Peter spilled some of the liquid he had tried to pour into one of the bottles for the third time in a row.
“Sorry, Peter mumbled, feeling embarrassed, but Skip kept on laughing and ruffled through the younger one’s hair. Peter didn’t know if he liked it because it made him feel like a little boy, therefore he tried to flatten his little curls again with a slightly annoyed expression and Skip turned away grinning.
After a while they were done with the project and Skip slumped down on Peter’s desk chair. “Finally! That was… actually kind of fun, Einstein, we’re a good team.” He held up his hand and the young boy high-fived him happily.
Skip then turned around with the swivel armchair and grabbed one of the framed photographs on Peter’s desk. It was a picture of a young boy, tightly embraced by a man and a woman who were smiling happily into the camera lens.
“Are these your parents?” Skip asked and Peter nodded slowly. “Yeah… it was taken on my sixth birthday, actually.” He swallowed down the lump in this throat which had immediately started to build, and Skip looked at him with a sad expression in his eyes. He quickly put the photo back and grabbed another one placed right next to it. There were a bunch of people on there and it took him a few seconds to make out Peter’s face. He didn’t look that much younger than today.
“Who are all these people?”
Relieved that Skip hadn’t asked more about his parents, Peter came closer and glanced at the photograph over Skip’s shoulder.
“That’s my aunt’s family. Those are her sisters, their husbands and their children. Her parents immigrated from Italy when she was a child.”
The young man put the photo back down. “What about your uncle? Does he have siblings too?"
“Uhm… my dad was his brother… he had no other siblings and his parents have already died too.”
“So… your uncle is your last living blood relative?”
Peter looked down on the floor. “Yeah.”
Skip didn’t respond and Peter promptly tried to lighten the mood a little bit, not wanting to mope around again. “But it’s okay, May’s family is really accepting and they are my family too. Her parents call me grandson and her nephew and nieces call me cousin.”
“You get on well with them?”
“Yeah… especially with Harrold, he’s my best friend, basically.”
Skip arched his eyebrows. „I thought you didn’t have any friends?”
His voice wasn’t as soft as earlier and he looked at Peter weirdly, causing the younger boy to wince. “Uhm… not in school, I mean… he is my family and I hardly ever see him, just once or twice every year, my other cousins even less… they don’t live in the city.”
Skip’s eyes sparkled resentfully. „To be honest… I actually thought I was your best friend.”
Peter was startled. How could he have been so stupid? No wonder Skip was upset with him.
“Y-yes, y-you are, but… I’m just not… I mean, we’ve only known each other for a week and Harrold… until last week he had been the only one who texted me every now and then… I didn’t mean… please, don’t be mad, you really are my best friend, I swear, I’m really sorry, I just…”
The young boy knew he was babbling, but he didn’t know what he could say to convince Skip that he had made a stupid mistake and that he was in fact his only “real” and his best friend. Fortunately, Peter’s desperate stuttering seemed to soothe Skip at least a little bit.
“It’s okay, but… y’know, it’s not nice to make someone believe that they’re their best friend, only to casually mention one day that it’s actually not true.”
“No, really, it’s not like that,” Peter lamented, his bottom lip trembling, “It’s all just new for me and I didn’t think, I’m truly sorry.”
Skip kept Peter on tenterhooks for a few more moments before finally holding up his hands reassuringly. “Okay, fine, I believe you, kid, don’t freak out about it, okay?”
Peter tried not to be upset that Skip had called him ‘kid’ but a tiny voice inside his head wondered what had happened to Einstein… His friend was most likely just trying to act as if he wasn’t too hurt about it, even though he was.
“I’m really sorry Skip, can I make it up to you somehow?”
All of a sudden, the older boy smiled curiously. “How do you want to make it up to me?”
“Uhm… I dunno, is there anything I can do?
Skip seemed to contemplate but after a while he just sighed deeply and looked at Peter graciously. “You don’t have to make amends, you didn’t do anything wrong, it was just a misunderstanding, wasn’t it? Friends forgive each other.”
Peter felt a great deal of relief and when Skip even started to ask questions about his family, he gladly told him anything he wanted to know.
Shortly thereafter Peter accompanied Skip downstairs and May and her friend Anna came out from the living room to say their goodbyes to the young man.
“Is it okay if I visited Skip tomorrow evening?” Peter asked May who smiled brightly. “Of course,” she said, “But I want you home at 9 and either I or Ben will pick you up.”
“Thank you!” Peter beamed and escorted Skip outside to see him off at the street. He was already shaking from excitement because they had planned to play a few games on Skip’s PlayStation.
“Thanks for helping me with my science project, Skip,” Peter said and Skip gave him a friendly nudge on his shoulder.
“No problem…See you tomorrow, Einstein!” He waved farewell and Peter was waiting until he vanished in the darkness.
May had been watching from the doorway, smiling happily. “I used to worry that he didn’t have any friends until that nice Wescott boy came along,” May said to her friend, “He seems like such a fine young man, Anna!”
After Peter had went back upstairs, the two women strolled back into the living room.
“I’m really happy for you, especially for Peter,” Anna said and smiled, “But… he is a little older than Pete, isn’t he?”
“He is, but you know Pete…. he isn’t like his schoolmates or any other children his age.”
“You’re probably right,” Anna sighed, “Still… it is a little weird, isn’t it? I’m not sure I’d allow my children to have a friend who’s that much older than them.”
“Well, you have two daughters, I guess it’s a little different then.”
“Good heavens, I didn’t mean it… like that,” Anna said hastily, going red in the face, “But… I mean, he’s an older teenager. Before you know it, this boy takes Peter to a party with him where everyone is drinking and smoking and doing drugs.”
May busted out laughing. “Neither me nor Ben will ever allow Peter to go to a high school before he’s at least in high school himself, trust me.”
“But what if that boy is throwing the party himself and invites Peter to it? His own birthday party, for instance?”
May considered this for a second. “We will think about that when it happens, but if Skip’s parents were there, I don’t think we would have a problem with it. Besides, Skip doesn’t really seem to be like that. Honestly, I’m aware that I hardly know him but… why would he befriend Peter if he… well… had enough friends his age?”
May was deeply ashamed to say something like that but she had already spoken about it with Ben before. They felt certain that Skip was just as lonely as Peter and, considering that they had met in the library, that he was probably just as much of an ambitious genius like their sweet baby boy.
Day 8
Ben gave Peter a ride in the afternoon of the following day to Skip’s apartment in Woodside, a western district of Queens and about 6 miles from the Parker residence. Peter took the elevator up to the third floor where Skip was already waiting for him.
“Hey Einstein!” he grinned and pulled Peter into a friendly embrace. The young boy entered the apartment and looked around curiously. He was quite anxious, having never been invited to anyone’s home before apart from a birthday party in second grade. The furniture looked comfortable and at the same time more modern and expensive than what May and Ben owned. There was even a pool table between the living and the dining room, but before Peter could take a closer look, Skip asked if he wanted to see his room.
The teenager’s room was very different to his own. It was big, stylishly furnished and even though Skip still had some posters on his walls they displayed more grown-up interests, like motorcycles and expensive cars. At the top of a cupboard Peter found the Captain America action figure Skip had told him about, a lonely remnant of his early teenage years. There was a big TV screen on the wall opposite the bed and attached to it was a PlayStation 3. Peter’s eyes gleamed and Skip grinned. “You want some Popcorn?”
If there was heaven, Peter knew this would be it. “Sure,” he said and while Skip was busy working in the kitchen the young boy was checking out Skip’s DVD and Blu-ray collection. Some of the titles seemed familiar even though Peter hadn’t been allowed to watch them yet. Ben and May let him watch PG-13 rated movies sometimes, like Star Wars or other big blockbusters, but they wouldn’t even let him near films rated R.
A few minutes later Skip returned, balancing a big bowl of Popcorn.
“What do you wanna play?”
“Uhm… what do you have?” Peter asked and Skip recited a long list of game names, overwhelming Peter completely, “I… I don’t know, what do you like most?”
“That’s my favorite,” the older boy said and pulled a disc out of a case. Grand Theft Auto IV. Peter had heard that name before and he wouldn’t have needed to see the warning sign labeled NC-17 to know that it wasn’t exactly a game for children.
“Uh… I don’t think I should be playing that,” he said.
“Why not?” Skip sneered, “Because you’re too young for it?” He laughed, but unlike than usual it didn’t really sound kind. “Please don’t tell me you’re a mama’s boy who’s afraid to do anything he’s not supposed to.”
“Uhm...n-no, I…” Peter stuttered, blushing deeply, “b-but…”
Skip looked at him poignantly. “You’re not a baby anymore, Peter. You’re so mature for your age and trust me, the game is amazing, you’ll love it. It even takes place in New York City.”
Peter gulped. If he didn’t give in now, Skip would effectively think he was an uptight whiny mama’s boy. “Okay,” he muttered feebly, “I guess I can at least… take a look.”
Skip smiled, obviously pleased, and started the game. He vaguely explained what buttons Peter had to press, but the young boy was hopelessly overchallenged.
“I guess I’ll sure you first,” Skip said eventually and gently took the gaming controller out of Peter’s hands While Skip was speeding through the virtual streets Peter was silently watching him, eating Popcorn. The game actually didn’t seem so bad, Peter thought, until his friend suddenly overran a pedestrian and blood splattered the windshield.
“Goddamn,” Skip cursed, but he only seemed to be annoyed about the fact that a few police cars were chasing after him now. He evoked some spectacular crashes, killing even more pedestrians, before skidding into a back alley. Skip took out an automatic rifle and started firing ceaselessly, killing about twenty people before finally getting shot by an officer. Peter gulped, trying not to think about what Ben and May would say if they could see him now, but he didn’t dare to speak up, not even when Skip started a violent, horrifying in-game mission. Hopefully he wouldn’t get any nightmares from that.
Only reluctantly he took back the controller when Skip returned it to him after accomplishing the mission, but fortunately the older boy didn’t force him to shoot anyone and let Peter drive around town with a stolen car instead. Peter steered the car around slowly and carefully, but after a while it actually started to become fun and he acted more bravely, even laughing when he crashed a bunch of times. Before he knew it, they had been playing for hours, stopping only when his phone beeped.
“It’s my uncle,” Peter said, reading the message Ben had sent, “He’s gonna be here in 10 minutes.”
Skip didn’t seem pleased. “Too bad,” he said with a sigh, “Just when we were having so much fun… You can come back soon though, if you want.”
“Sure,” Peter cheered, “I’d love to. Oh, by the way, May asks if you’re coming over to have lunch with us on Sunday. We could go see a movie later, if you want.”
Skip didn’t answer right away but eventually he agreed. “Sure, Einstein. Why not…”
Day 17
Unfortunately, Skip fell ill and canceled the appointment on Saturday evening. Peter didn’t hear a lot from him throughout the following week, starting to worry about having done something wrong, but at least Skip was still texting him back whenever Peter asked him how he was feeling.
Finally, Skip recovered, whereupon Peter invited him again for the following Sunday. This time his friend actually showed up, patiently answering every question about his family, school and hobbies May and Ben asked him. The more they got to know about Skip the more they thought he was the perfect friend for their nephew, even though their previous assumption - that the young man was a genius as well - turned out to be wrong. Skip seemed like an ordinary, down to earth guy, but they decided that this was actually an asset, hoping it would help Peter become more “normal” too.
After they had finished their meals, Ben and May drove the boys to the nearest theater where they bought them tickets for the new Superman movie. In contrary to real life superheroes Peter wasn’t a big fanboy of comic book champions, but he did enjoy the movies regardless and it’s not like he would have had much of a choice anyways if he didn’t want to take his teenager friend into a PG-rated film. Ben and May had actually had no objections, considering Peter had already seen the first Superman movie a few months ago and hadn’t gotten scared by it at all. Gladly the employees at the theater didn’t question Peter’s age, even though the boy looked even younger than he actually was, and so Skip and him were able to enjoy 120 minutes of blockbuster movie action. Afterwards, Ben and May picked them up again and provided Skip with a ride home.
When Skip entered his apartment, his mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen. She smiled when he walked over and gave her a quick peck on her cheek.
“How was the movie?” she asked and Skip shrugged.
“It was quite good actually,” he said, watching her chop some carrots.
“You’re spending a lot of time with Thomas at the moment,” she said casually and glanced at him.
Skip frowned. “So? Since when does that bother you?”
“It doesn’t,” she said and smiled mischievously, “I just thought you might have a girlfriend you’re not telling me about?”
Her son laughed but couldn’t prevent blushing slightly. “What makes you think that?”
“Because I met his mother at the store today and, strangely enough, she didn’t know anything about you eating lunch with her and her family and heading to the movies with her grounded son.”
Mrs. Westscott winked and the red on Skip’s cheeks intensified.
“I uhm… well, if you really wanna know, I might be seeing someone but I won’t tell you anything about her before I don’t even know if I… really like her, y’know?”
“I knew it!” She laughed triumphantly, “Alright, I’m gonna wait, but I swear, if you’re not bringing her over because you’re ashamed of me or because you’re afraid I’m gonna embarrass you, then you will have a problem with me, young man.”
She playfully pointed at him with her knife and Skip laughed, reassuring her that it wasn’t like that at all.
The boy then went into his room to change into more comfortable clothes, cursing under his breath. He had to be more careful from now on if he didn’t want to be faced with stupid questions. The LED light on his phone was blinking and he smiled amusedly when he saw that Peter had already sent him new message. However, his face fell as soon as he read that Ben and May had invited him for lunch again next week. What was their problem anyways? How old was he, 10? He typed a quick reply.
“Sry, not sure if my mom is ok with it, she actually wants me to spend more time studying for my midterms… I’ll ask her in a sec and let u know, maybe it’d be better tho if u came over again.”
At dinner, Skip casually asked his mother if she had any appointments coming up this week. He groaned when it sounded like she would basically be home every evening for the next two weeks straight. Back in his room he walked around in a circle, feeling irritated. At last, he pulled out his phone.
“Guess we can’t see each other this week but she might let me come over on Sunday after all. I’ll keep u updated.”
Day 24 - Day 31
In the end, Skip spent not only the next but also the following Sunday at the Parker’s. The boys played some old children games on the Wii, talked about superheroes, movies, comics and Skip even endured every excited lecture about science Peter gave him. May baked (and burned) more cookies which they consumed while watching some episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars. They built another Lego set and even had a snowball fight, which was observed by a smiling aunt and a proud uncle. They didn’t see each other during the week but constantly exchanged text messages. Peter had actually started to tell Skip whenever someone in school was bullying him and every time his older friend managed to cheer the boy up again, either by comforting him or by distracting him with stupid, but nevertheless very funny, jokes.
Eventually, Skip invited Peter over again for the following Friday afternoon, knowing his mother wouldn’t be home before 8 or 9 pm.