40 – This Gift, This Curse

 

 

After supper was over, Kevin returned to his apartment to study. With him gone, Will made Mick sit down at the laptop to look for information and classes for his GED.

 

Mick groaned when he found what he needed, including some practice tests so he'd know what he needed to pay the most attention to when it came to studying.

 

"This is going to kill me," he muttered, as he began taking one of them.

 

Will shook his head. "I bet you find out you know more than you think you do."

 

"If so, I owe you for all those nights you made me study."

 

"Nope, you owe yourself for actually doing it—and learning."

 

Mick snorted but set to work.

 

A good deal later he discovered that, while he wasn't exactly ready to take the GED tests yet, he was much closer to passing them when the time came than he expected.

 

"See, what did I tell you?" Will said, clapping Mick on the shoulder. "Now you know which areas you need to concentrate on. If you do, then fairly soon you might even be applying for college."

 

"Not so sure about that. I don't see me being able to afford it, even if I could get a student loan."

 

"Mick, you never know what could happen between now and then."

 

"Yeah, like maybe I'll win the lottery." Mick rolled his eyes, but somewhere deep down inside, he finally had a ray of hope that he would really and truly be able to get off the streets.

 

* * * *

 

After Mick had gone to bed, Will sat deep in thought.

 

If what Mick saw in Charlie's expressions was indicative of how he feels about Kevin's involvement with Sue then the question is, would he instigate an attack just to keep Kevin away from her?

 

"And what did, 'She belongs to me,' really mean?" he murmured.

 

If he was involved in the attack, and that's just presumption at this point, was it because he doesn't approve of Kevin per se as someone his sister should be dating? Or does saying she's 'his' mean he really feels that she is. Does he look at her as more than just his sister?

 

"Protective or possessive? If he's possessive, is she aware of how he feels about her?" He sighed. "Am I making mountains out of mole hills? The simplest explanation is usually the right one. Some ex-boyfriend or wannabe boyfriend resents the fact she's friends with Kevin and decided to take matters into his own hands."