Sing for Their Supper - 12

Each kid ate only half their sandwich. Tuck was certain that, before they left, they'd ask for a takeout box for the rest. They also ate slowly and silently, as if savoring each bite. It hurt to watch them, knowing this was probably the first good meal they'd had in a long time.

He waited until they'd finished before broaching what he wanted to talk about.

"I have a question for the three of you," he said. "Please hear me out before you say anything."

That caught their attention. From the expressions that flitted across their faces, he had the feeling they were wondering if he was going to proposition them, start quizzing them about what it was like living or the streets, or something else they weren't certain they wanted to hear or talk about.

"Sam knows this, because I told him when we first met. I'm a partner with… Okay, I didn't tell him this part. My husband and I are partners in a new theater we're going to open soon."

That got their attention. The husband part.

"You're gay? Bummer," Jolie said.

"He's too old for you, anyway," Mace whispered to her.

She laughed and told him, "A girl can dream."

"I'm not that old," Tuck protested, playing along for the moment.

She eyed him, said, "Forty?" and grinned.

"Keep that up and you'll be in the chorus, not a lead," Tuck replied.

"Say what?"

"That's what I was getting ready to tell the three of you. Brent and I are opening a new theater. What we're hoping is that we can find guys like you to be the acting company."

"I can't act," Mace instantly replied.

"You won't know until you try," Tuck told him. "We're looking for young people with musical talent, which all three of you have. The acting? I think you can handle it. I'll be coaching you, for starters."

Sam had been silent. Now he asked, "What if we can't? I mean, wouldn't we have to memorize, umm, lines? Right? Isn't that hard?"

"You remember all the lyrics to the songs you do," Tuck told him.

"But that's different. We're singing, so it sort of…I don't know, flows."

"We'd have to be emotional when we act," Mace said. "Like show how we feel?"

Tuck nodded. "Just like when you sing."

"I…suppose."

"Are you doing musicals?" Jolie asked. "That would help."

"That's the plan. We were thinking, and this isn't written in stone," Tuck replied. "We were thinking about Oliver!, for starters."

"I never heard of it," Jolie said.

"I have." Sam tapped a finger on the table. "It's about kids like us, living on the streets. Right?" He continued when Tuck nodded. "There's this guy who turns them into thieves and a kid who's in an orphanage, and he gets adopted then kidnapped, then lives with the other kids and…umm…that's about all I remember."

"That sums up the gist of it," Tucker said. "There's a lot more going on, but we'll worry about that later—that is, if you're interested."