Chapter Text
Molly, 10
“Molly, Molly, look! I drawed this for you!”
“You mean drew ,” Molly corrected absentmindedly, her brows furrowing as she looked at the ingredients she’d laid out for her aunt’s favorite lemon pie. Everything was measured out perfectly, but something was missing. Her nose crinkled, the faint scent of lemon invading her nostrils. Wait... Lemon! That’s it! She can’t make lemon pie without lemons ! She scoured the kitchen, hearing her baby cousin’s disgruntled sigh behind her. She’d look at his picture in a moment, after she found the lemons. She knew that Aunt Dee had just bought some. So... where were they?
“ Moooolllyyy ! Look!” She sighed and finally turned to Fritz, knowing that he wouldn’t quiet down until he had her undivided attention. He held up his drawing proudly, a wide toothy grin on his face. She could make out two stick figures, a boy and a girl who were clearly meant to be the two of them. She assumed the abundance of colorful swirls they were standing in was meant to be a field of flowers. The top right corner was passionately colored in with violent rubbings of yellow and orange to represent the sun. She could only imagine what Fritz’s poor crayons looked like.
The smile on his face was enough to brighten her day a bit. It should be illegal to be so freaking cute.
“Oh, it’s beautiful! It’s a work of art!” She beamed down at him as she took the paper and hung it on the fridge, noting his messy signature in the corner. He wasn’t due to start school until the fall, but Aunt Dee had taken the liberty to teach him to spell his name. He was a surprisingly quick learner when he could actually sit down and focus. Molly turned back to her cousin, who was bouncing on his heels excitedly, a happy flush on his face. “Fritz, do you know where Aunt Dee put the lemons?”
“She put them in the trash!” Wait, what? The smile faded from Molly’s face as she watched him mime something falling down and then an explosion. “The phone rang while she was making lemonade and scared her and they went SPLAT when she knocked them off the counter! Then Mama had to go run some ersands!”
“Errands,” she corrected automatically, sighing as she started to put the ingredients away.
Of course Aunt Dee would request lemon pie for dessert but forget that she ruined the lemons. She’s been a bit scatter-brained lately. Guess they’re going shopping today.
***
Oak Tree summers were completely different from the ones back home, Molly noticed. They were quieter. Quainter. There were no rambunctious teenagers (Kasey and Angela) trying to pop hydrants or noisy ice cream trucks driving down the block three times a week. It took her weeks to convince her father to let her visit her aunt and cousin instead of them coming to the city. He was scared to have her so far away from him. But she stubbornly insisted that she was a big girl now (she just turned ten , thank you very much!), and when that failed, she broke out the puppy dog eyes that he couldn’t refuse.
“Fritz, how do you manage to make a mess of everything you eat?” Molly sighed as she knelt in front of her cousin and wet the handkerchief her father had given her with a water bottle. Fritz asked her to buy him a chocolate bar from the general store since she promised she would. Part of her had been hoping he’d forget about it like he did so many other things. She shouldn’t have underestimated his love of chocolate. But he’s had the chocolate for less than five minutes and it’s already all over him!
“It melted!” He grinned, holding out his stained hands proudly. Molly smiled fondly at him and gently cleaned him up. His face scrunched up as she wiped the chocolate from around his mouth. Fritz was like a little brother to her. He’s ten years younger than Kasey and Angela, so they mostly saw him as a nuisance. She thought he was adorable, and for some reason he thought she was the best person on the planet. She’s the only person he’ll listen to aside from his mother.
“Okay, all clean!” Molly picked up the wrapper he’d carelessly dropped on the ground and stood up. “Now, Fritz, do you think you can stay clean at least until lunch?”
“Nope!”
Well, at least he’s honest.
Fritz ran ahead of her, only pausing to turn and make sure she was behind him. Molly envied his energy even in this heat. It was part of the reason Dad didn’t want her to visit in the first place. Aunt Dee couldn’t afford to get air conditioning installed and she refused to accept any loans from Dad. Especially not when she knew that he was also struggling with his own bills. Kasey’s started taking on some odd jobs to help out.
Even Angela was looking into getting a job to help out... Well, when she wasn’t at the mall with her friends, shoplifting from her favorite stores. If Dad knew about it, he wasn’t saying anything.
Molly wished she was a little bit older and bigger. She wasn’t dumb. She knew that the money she got from her bake sales and lemonade stands was barely anything at all. Dad only took it to be nice. She’d never be able to help him pay for all his grown-up things at this rate. All she could do was work harder at her ballet until some talent scout picked her up. Then she’d be famous and she could pay Dad back for everything he’s ever done for her.
She could buy him some new clothes! A new car! Or maybe they could finally fix the house up —
“Damn it Fritz, why don’t you ever watch where you’re going?!”
“How many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth?”
Molly blinked as she was abruptly brought back to life, stumbling slightly as she tripped over... an apple? She frowned and took in the sight in front of her: Fritz on the ground, surrounded by what looked to be someone’s groceries. Two boys, one furious and the other frustrated. Her brain struggled to comprehend what she was looking at. Fritz laughed and hopped to his feet like nothing had happened.
“Sorry, Chase! I didn’t mean it!” He picked up a banana and handed it to the younger-looking boy, who scowled at him with angry violet eyes. Molly huffed. There was no need for this guy to be so mean! Fritz was practically a baby, and it’s not like he did it on purpose.
“Maybe you should watch where you’re going!” Molly felt her face flush with anger, which was rare for her. Messing with her friends or family was probably the only way to make her mad. The boy turned his uninterested gaze towards her. Something about that irritated her even more. “Don’t look at me like that! Aren’t you supposed to be a big kid? Why are you being so mean to Fritz?”
“I guess everyone’s big to you, princess. How old are you? Seven?”
“I’m ten!” Molly huffed, stomping her sandaled foot against the pavement. It probably didn’t help her case much. She looked at Fritz with a furious pout. “Come on, Fritz! We have more important things to do than deal with that immature jerk!”
“Immature?” The boy laughed, the most frustrating smirk on his face as Fritz scampered over. Molly chose to ignore him and ushered her cousin away. She didn’t want to end up doing something that would embarrass Aunt Dee. She had to be the bigger person since this guy clearly wouldn’t be.