Pawn Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
Wyatt had seen the name “Alex” appear on the phone ID. He didn’t
answer it. He was in no mood for his family. He checked the message later when
he had more time and felt like dealing with her rambling ways. Normally Alex
talked and talked and talked, but didn’t really end up saying much of anything
at all. Wyatt usually found talking to her to be annoying, despite any love he
might actually feel for his kid sister. She was chipper and bouncy with a
positive outlook towards everyone and life in general. She was the opposite of
Wyatt. He was sour and pessimistic and quiet and only saw the bad in the world.
He loved her, but he couldn’t always stand her. He needed to work up the energy
to deal with her. It was just so much hard work sometimes, and he just didn’t
have the energy right away in that moment.
When he finally heard the sound of her voice in the message, he
instantly regretted not picking up earlier. She was shaky, and instantly scared
him. “It’s me… Alex…” she began. There was a long pause and he could hear the
sound of her sniffling. “Wyatt, it’s… It’s dad. Come quick.”
Wyatt looked at the phone. For a moment it was too much to
consider and he wasn’t able to process it all. Wyatt’s father hadn’t always
been a very good father and Wyatt had done more than his fair share in helping
to raise Alex, but his father was still his father and Alex was still his baby
sister. He wanted to save her from whatever she needed saving from. He wanted
to love his father and hate his father and have his father be gone, but also
have his father be alive and well. There were too many conflicting emotions and
too many conflicting outcomes. He needed to call Alex. He needed to call all
his sisters.
Instead he just looked at the phone and thought about the
irreversibility of the past.
Lou was an old friend. He had known Wyatt since Wyatt was a
teenager and would visit Lou’s pawn shop. Wyatt was fascinated by the many
strange and mysterious items it held. He used to go into the shop when he
should have been in school and would try his hand at stealing things. That
trick never worked. Lou always knew. Wyatt would swear he was the only one in
the aisle or that Lou was in the backroom, but he always knew and would appear
just as Wyatt was about to pocket something. Lou seemed to have a second sight
sort of ability with those things. Or maybe he just knew how teenagers thought
and what they were up to. Lou was good at stopping Wyatt from getting into trouble
and he never made things worse by calling the cops. Lou liked Wyatt. Even if
Wyatt wasn’t a great kid, he was a good kid, and he had a certain charm about
him. He was arrogant and a know-it-all but showed a curiosity for learning and
was especially interested in the history of items. Lou liked that. He liked his
shop and he liked his possessions and he liked to talk about them. As long as
he could tell Wyatt all about them, he would help keep Wyatt out of trouble.
When Wyatt’s father disappeared the first time, Lou helped out and
paid some bills and eventually gave Wyatt some part-time work at the shop. He
never let Wyatt quit school though. Wyatt had to help raise his sisters and Lou
decided to help raise Wyatt. Wyatt never understood what exactly Lou saw in him
at that early of an age, but he was always glad that Lou decided to invest in
him. He owed Lou a lot. He would feel indebted to Lou for the rest of his life.
Lou wasn’t his father, but he sure was a good man to have around.
Lou didn’t mind helping Wyatt clean out his father’s house. The
responsibility fell to Wyatt or maybe he just claimed it before his sisters
could make up their mind what to do. Wyatt just behaved that way – a
self-fulfilling prophecy as a martyr and a victim and a willing participant and
a control freak. He always wanted the responsibility, even if he wanted to
reserve the right to bitch about it.
Wyatt gave it all away; Lou could have anything he wanted.
“You’re gonna want something, right? Something to remember your
old man by?”
Wyatt shook his head no. “If you don’t want it, I might burn it to
the ground.”
“You don’t know, kid. You might be pissed at the man right now,
but you might really miss him someday.”
“Lou, you’re a good friend and a better man, but you don’t know what
the hell you’re talking about. I’ve been missing my father for twenty years.
None of this junk is ever going to fix any of that. You take every little thing
you can get any use out of. I’ll find someone to junk the rest. You consider
that back pay for all the help you ever gave me.”
“What’s going to happen to the house?”
“Alex is going to take it. She might bounce around a lot, but
maybe she’ll finally find a home.”
“And you? Where are you going to go?”
Wyatt looked off into the distance and was quiet while he thought
about things. “I don’t know yet. Somewhere. Maybe anywhere.” Wyatt realized he
really could go anywhere and do anything now; he was finally free.
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