Smokescreen by icd
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: see part one
~~~~~~~
Smokescreen
Part 4
Waiting
When Jay came down a few hours later Marc, Carol and Jarod were sitting in the living room. Jarod was helping himself with some cookies. Jarod gave Carol an apologetic glance wherever he reached out but the woman was just smiling brightly each time she saw the young man lean forward to take another one.
They had been talking quietly and amiably among themselves but slowly, Carol and Marc were getting edgy. They were both getting more and more agitated about Jay’s staying upstairs.
Jarod had held them back from either trying to call the young man down or to walk up and drag him out of his room.
Both Carol and Marc were still angry at Jay for not welcoming Jarod.
Jarod had quickly realized that Marc and Carol were proud people who set great value on good manners. They had tried to show those manners to Jay and they were angry at him for seemingly abandoning these and act consciously against what they had tried to teach him.
Reassuring them time and time again that it was fine and that they should just let Jay be, Jarod tried to keep up a conversation and distract both with it just as much as he tried to distract Carol with each and every cookie he took.
It hadn’t taken much for Jarod to steer the conversation to his parents. Marc and Carol had easily volunteered information about Jarod’s father and mother. The men had gotten to know each other during their shared Air Force time. They had kept loose contact until the Major had appeared on their doorstep with Jay in tow, asking them to take care of the boy for a while.
All conversation came to a halt when Jay came into the room and walked straight through it to the kitchen. He came back with a glass of water and was about to return to his room, when Marc growled angrily.
Jarod winced and gave the man a stare, trying to tell him to stay silent.
Of course, Jay had heard the growl as well as Jarod had. He stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn around to face the adults.
“Why is he here?” he asked evenly.
Carol and Marc both gasped rather loudly but Jarod remained stoic. “I’m visiting family,” he said slowly, watching the young man’s reaction.
Marc and Carol looked at Jarod with a strange expression but they kept their mouths shut. Had he had the time to concentrate on his hosts, Jarod would have seen the exertion it took them. But he didn’t take the time to look. He was entirely concentrated on the young man that still stood rigid with his back to them. He was watching the boy closely for the signs he sent out.
Jay’s shoulders were set square and Jarod could see the anger and aggravation that radiated from the young man.
After several seconds with no reaction that Carol or Marc saw, Jay scoffed and stalked out of the room. Not long after that, a door upstairs slammed shut.
Carol and Marc jumped in their chairs at the loud sound and at the anger that it communicated.
Jarod just leaned back again and pondered the situation.
When he looked back up, he found himself being watched by both Carol and Marc who gave him a curious stare.
“So, what do you say?” Carol asked, breaking the silence.
“I’d say that I think I’ll be staying here for longer than I originally thought,” Jarod replied, partly evading her question.
~~~~~~~
Dinner was tense. Jay was evading Jarod’s gaze with passion and he didn’t participate in any conversation at all.
When Carol asked him about school, he merely shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt.
Jarod could see that Marc and Carol had a hard time fighting the urge to snap at Jay all throughout dinner. Once or twice, he put a hand on Carol’s arm to calm her down.
Jarod was putting on a light conversation, not trying to include Jay any longer after some attempts.
Jay was out of the kitchen the moment dinner was finished.
“See what he is like?” Carol asked when Jay was back in his room. She had a somewhat defeated expression on her face and her eyes conveyed the sadness she felt.
“Yes,” Jarod nodded thoughtfully.
“Why didn’t you react to him at all? And why didn’t you want us to try to get him to participate in the conversation?”
Jarod looked at the man. “Right now, he was far too angry for any conversation. At the moment, he is angry; angry at me and angry at the whole world. Because of what, I don’t know and I think that this is what I will have to find out. Getting myself into an argument with him the moment I was here was not on my list of things to do.”
Both Marc and Carol looked at him, with confusion but they didn’t argue - something Jarod was thankful for.
He again thought about just how similar Jay and he were. He knew what Jay would be capable of when he was really angry. And right now, Jay was on the verge of getting exactly that… really angry.
So Jarod had decided to back down for a while and give Jay some room. Jay had obviously reacted rather badly to his appearance and so he didn’t want to annoy him any further.
He would have to get to the base of Jay’s anger and find out what it was that made the boy so furious at the whole world.
There would be several arguments to come, that much was pretty clear to Jarod now, but he wanted to give Jay some time before those would start. That way the boy would have time to get used to the fact that Jarod would be around for some time - a fact that he was obviously angry and irritated about.
If he were to start a fight right now it would only add more anger to that layer and Jay seemed to already be at boiling point.
The more time he had to get used to Jarod’s being around, the less it would weight in this whole mess.
Or so he hoped.
Only the next few days could tell if his assumption was correct.
What he had seen this evening was promising a difficult but interesting time and possibly some rather heated arguments if Jay was really that much like him; a point he could probably count on after what he had seen.
To be continued…
~~~~~~~
Part 4
Waiting
When Jay came down a few hours later Marc, Carol and Jarod were sitting in the living room. Jarod was helping himself with some cookies. Jarod gave Carol an apologetic glance wherever he reached out but the woman was just smiling brightly each time she saw the young man lean forward to take another one.
They had been talking quietly and amiably among themselves but slowly, Carol and Marc were getting edgy. They were both getting more and more agitated about Jay’s staying upstairs.
Jarod had held them back from either trying to call the young man down or to walk up and drag him out of his room.
Both Carol and Marc were still angry at Jay for not welcoming Jarod.
Jarod had quickly realized that Marc and Carol were proud people who set great value on good manners. They had tried to show those manners to Jay and they were angry at him for seemingly abandoning these and act consciously against what they had tried to teach him.
Reassuring them time and time again that it was fine and that they should just let Jay be, Jarod tried to keep up a conversation and distract both with it just as much as he tried to distract Carol with each and every cookie he took.
It hadn’t taken much for Jarod to steer the conversation to his parents. Marc and Carol had easily volunteered information about Jarod’s father and mother. The men had gotten to know each other during their shared Air Force time. They had kept loose contact until the Major had appeared on their doorstep with Jay in tow, asking them to take care of the boy for a while.
All conversation came to a halt when Jay came into the room and walked straight through it to the kitchen. He came back with a glass of water and was about to return to his room, when Marc growled angrily.
Jarod winced and gave the man a stare, trying to tell him to stay silent.
Of course, Jay had heard the growl as well as Jarod had. He stopped in his tracks but didn’t turn around to face the adults.
“Why is he here?” he asked evenly.
Carol and Marc both gasped rather loudly but Jarod remained stoic. “I’m visiting family,” he said slowly, watching the young man’s reaction.
Marc and Carol looked at Jarod with a strange expression but they kept their mouths shut. Had he had the time to concentrate on his hosts, Jarod would have seen the exertion it took them. But he didn’t take the time to look. He was entirely concentrated on the young man that still stood rigid with his back to them. He was watching the boy closely for the signs he sent out.
Jay’s shoulders were set square and Jarod could see the anger and aggravation that radiated from the young man.
After several seconds with no reaction that Carol or Marc saw, Jay scoffed and stalked out of the room. Not long after that, a door upstairs slammed shut.
Carol and Marc jumped in their chairs at the loud sound and at the anger that it communicated.
Jarod just leaned back again and pondered the situation.
When he looked back up, he found himself being watched by both Carol and Marc who gave him a curious stare.
“So, what do you say?” Carol asked, breaking the silence.
“I’d say that I think I’ll be staying here for longer than I originally thought,” Jarod replied, partly evading her question.
~~~~~~~
Dinner was tense. Jay was evading Jarod’s gaze with passion and he didn’t participate in any conversation at all.
When Carol asked him about school, he merely shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt.
Jarod could see that Marc and Carol had a hard time fighting the urge to snap at Jay all throughout dinner. Once or twice, he put a hand on Carol’s arm to calm her down.
Jarod was putting on a light conversation, not trying to include Jay any longer after some attempts.
Jay was out of the kitchen the moment dinner was finished.
“See what he is like?” Carol asked when Jay was back in his room. She had a somewhat defeated expression on her face and her eyes conveyed the sadness she felt.
“Yes,” Jarod nodded thoughtfully.
“Why didn’t you react to him at all? And why didn’t you want us to try to get him to participate in the conversation?”
Jarod looked at the man. “Right now, he was far too angry for any conversation. At the moment, he is angry; angry at me and angry at the whole world. Because of what, I don’t know and I think that this is what I will have to find out. Getting myself into an argument with him the moment I was here was not on my list of things to do.”
Both Marc and Carol looked at him, with confusion but they didn’t argue - something Jarod was thankful for.
He again thought about just how similar Jay and he were. He knew what Jay would be capable of when he was really angry. And right now, Jay was on the verge of getting exactly that… really angry.
So Jarod had decided to back down for a while and give Jay some room. Jay had obviously reacted rather badly to his appearance and so he didn’t want to annoy him any further.
He would have to get to the base of Jay’s anger and find out what it was that made the boy so furious at the whole world.
There would be several arguments to come, that much was pretty clear to Jarod now, but he wanted to give Jay some time before those would start. That way the boy would have time to get used to the fact that Jarod would be around for some time - a fact that he was obviously angry and irritated about.
If he were to start a fight right now it would only add more anger to that layer and Jay seemed to already be at boiling point.
The more time he had to get used to Jarod’s being around, the less it would weight in this whole mess.
Or so he hoped.
Only the next few days could tell if his assumption was correct.
What he had seen this evening was promising a difficult but interesting time and possibly some rather heated arguments if Jay was really that much like him; a point he could probably count on after what he had seen.
To be continued…
