STWG Prompt: Outsider POV
Cw: discussion of abuse
Sometimes Joyce felt like she didn't even know her own son. She'd turn around and suddenly Jonathan was different than she remembered. A little more withdrawn, taller, more tired. The first time was when he was little, old enough to watch Will for a little while until Lonnie got home so she could leave for work. She set Will up with a coloring book or some butcher paper to draw on, make sure there was a snack out on the counter in case one of them got hungry, then she would kiss her boys on the head and then leave for work. Jonathan never complained about it, just dutifully sat with his baby brother and watched him draw while fidgeting with her old camera. She couldn't afford film very often, but he loved to take it apart and put it back together, would sit at the little coffee table and arrange all the pieces by size or in order, then do it all again the next day.
And she never even considered that Lonnie might stay out later than she thought. Never considered that Jonathan assumed that human shield was part of big brother duty. It wasn't until she realized he hadn't said a word to her in a week, that she saw the bruises on his wrist that went up his arm, that she saw the new dent in the wall that had apparently been put there by Jonathan's HEAD-
It was still several more days before Jonathan found his voice again after Lonnie had been kicked out, divorce papers following not long after.
And then she felt like she lost sight of him again when he started working. He was the youngest employee at the movie theater, worked more days than he should, but Joyce couldn't bring herself to complain, not when he would smile so big after buying a roll of film or some new crayons for his little brother. But then the water bill went up and she began to find his paychecks tucked into her purse. And when it came down to using that money or going without heat in the dead of February-
They didn't talk about it.
She'd told him he wasn't alone and it felt like a lie sometimes. She'd told him she was there for him, and then he'd planned a funeral by himself and Lonnie was back-
She hadn't gotten the call when he was arrested, she only knew about the fight well after the fact. She'd watched him open a gift from Nancy at Christmas and couldn't bring herself to ask what had happened to his camera. Because she didn't know, had hardly noticed that it hadn't been on the kitchen table or in his hands for what, maybe a month now?
And it kept happening. She'd find herself tangled in grief or anger or even just with a moment's peace, and then begin to wonder what was going on with him. When she'd last sat down and asked him how he was doing. He'd normally give a one word answer and then maybe decide to talk a little more, but he'd never volunteer the information.
She'd watched him say goodbye to Nancy before they left for Lenora, seen the way he gave Will a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before guiding him to the car, but she'd also seen the way his shoulders slumped, the quiet sadness he was carrying.
None of the kids had been handling the transition from Indiana to California particularly gracefully, but Will and El had demanded so much immediate attention that it was two months before she really got a good look at Jonathan. The younger two had gone upstairs for the night and he was sitting on the couch in front of the tv, but he was looking at the wall instead of the screen. "Hey," she murmured, taking a seat next to him.
He jolted, but settled after looking around the room, gaze dragging over the doors and windows. "Hi mom."
"Doing okay?"
"Um. Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Are... you okay?" His voice had been tentative, but she nodded. "Good, that's- ...good."
"Have you talked to Nancy lately?"
She watched as he seemed to close himself off at the question. She watched as he pulled on foot up onto the couch and held his knee to his chest, back pressing into the corner of the couch. "Once or twice. She's busy with the school paper and college essays, she doesn't have much time for calls."
"College, huh? That's exciting. Are you sending out applications yet?" She should know, she thought. She should've asked that sooner.
"Soon. Um, yeah. Soon. I talked to the counselor at school, he helped me get a couple forms with deadlines. So. I'll be doing that soon." He shrugged. "How's, um, selling...?"
"It's okay. Better than double shifts at Melvald's." She chuckled softly and watched as he gave her a faint smile. "School going okay? Are you making friends?"
"It's okay. Nothing special." He shrugged, but his tiny smile got a bit more... genuine. "Yeah, I made a friend, actually. His name's Argyle, he's pretty cool."
"I'm so happy to hear that, honey."
And she'd felt like that was the best conversation they'd had in years. After that, the name Argyle came up in conversation more than a few times. When Jonathan's car finally kicked the bucket after two years of being on it's last legs, she finally met the mysterious Argyle she'd only heard about.
He was an eccentric young man and after just a few minutes, she could see the way Jonathan was pulled out of his shell around him, the way he leaned into casual touch instead of away from it. The way his smiles actually reached his eyes and were pulled bigger than she usually saw.
Argyle became a more common presence in the house after that. He'd come over after school and on weekends when he wasn't working at the local pizza place. He'd take over the kitchen with Jonathan and they'd bicker over the stove or laugh as they mixed what she thought had to be truly awful combinations of food. They'd spread out on the couch and Jonathan would be pressed in close, leaned in so they could whisper through the movie while El and Will sat on the floor to watch with them.
But she still seemed to be missing a lot, especially when she opened the door to Jonathan's room, bringing up some of his laundry from the dryer, only to find Argyle pinning him down to the bed, both of them panting like they'd run a marathon.
Thankfully, they were fully clothed, but Jonathan's loud yelp of embarrassment was louder than the door slamming shut. Clearly she'd missed a lot. Again. She swore softly and left the basket of laundry outside his room. She'd always kind of thought that Will might- but Jonathan?
And he hadn't mentioned anything about his relationship with Nancy, she'd just assumed things were okay between them. Was he still with her? Was he... cheating on his girlfriend? That didn't seem right, but could she really come to that conclusion?
Footsteps, hesitating and quiet, came down the stairs and she looked up to see Jonathan creeping down with Argyle behind him. "Jonathan-"
"We're going to go pick up- to uh, we'll be at- I'll be home later." He grabbed his left shoe from where it sat by the door and yanked it on, nearly fumbling his balance as he tried to get his other shoe on at the same time. Argyle reached to steady him, but he jerked away from the touch, panic written across his face.
"Honey-"
"We can just pretend you didn't see anything. Because you didn't, there was nothing going on. I'll be back later tonight, we've got something- a thing."
He was out the door like a shot, she'd only seen him move that fast when someone's life was on the line. Argyle hesitated behind him, standing in the empty doorway as he glanced at Joyce. "...I won't keep him out too late," he said quietly before slipping out the door.
Joyce sat in the empty living room with her head in her hands and sighed loudly. She didn't think she knew him, and it felt like that was intentional. She didn't know what was going on in his life, she didn't know when he would come home, and all she could do was sit there and worry.
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