”Are you sad?” Billy glanced at Buffy. They had just finished burying Princess Leia in the backyard, and he had been unusually quiet up until now.
Slowly getting to her feet, Buffy brushed the grass and dirt off her hands and knees. “Yeah. I am.”
“You could get a new cat,” Billy suggested, helpfully.
Watching the flat, white stone they had put on top of the small grave, Buffy let out a sigh. “I don’t think so, Billy.”
“Why not?” He looked at her, curiously.
Buffy gave him a sad smile. “I’ve had Leia for six years, since she was just a little kitten. If I would just get another cat, it would be like replacing her, like she didn’t mean anything to me, and that would be wrong.” She paused. “And I don’t want another cat.”
Billy nodded in understanding. They were both silent for a couple of minutes. Then he suddenly spoke up again. “Are you mad at the man who was driving the car that hit her?”
She thought about it for a moment. “A little. Or at least I was, at first. But I guess that’s not really fair. I mean, it wasn’t like he did it on purpose. I’m sure he feels really bad about what happened. Besides, it wasn’t his fault that the dog chased Leia out on the street. I can’t exactly blame him for that.”
Swallowing, Billy lowered his eyes, not wanting to look at her. “I lied,” he mumbled.
Frowning, Buffy looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer at first, still stubbornly refusing to meet her eyes. “Said I lied,” he finally repeated. “There was no dog. It was me.”
“What?!” She stared at him in shock. “Billy, look at me!” He reluctantly obeyed. “What happened? What did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to, I just...” Billy hesitated. “I just wanted her to go away, so I threw a rock at her.” Seeing the horrified look on Buffy’s face, he quickly went on; “I wasn’t trying to hurt her! I just wanted to scare her.” He paused as tears started welling up in his eyes. “I’m sorry. Please don’t tell my dad.”
Buffy opened her mouth, then closed it again, having no idea how to handle this new information. A part of her wanted to yell at the boy, ask him how the hell he could do something like that to a defenseless animal. But the look of pure, genuine guilt on Billy’s face was impossible to miss, and she realized that even though he didn’t have to, he had actually chosen to tell her the truth, and that took a lot of guts.
She also truly believed him when he said that he was sorry. In fact, she was fairly certain that Billy hadn’t intended to hurt Leia, any more than the man driving the car. After all, he was just a kid, and kids weren’t exactly known for stopping and thinking about the consequences before acting. Suddenly, she felt almost sorry for him. Still, she knew she couldn’t just let him get away with it. “I thought I told you not to lie to me again,” she finally blurted out.
Quickly wiping his eyes, he stared at her in disbelief. “You’re mad because I lied? I just told you I killed your bloody cat!”
“Billy! Language!” She gave him a look of disapproval, and he had the decency to look ashamed.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Sighing, Buffy was quiet for a moment. “You know, once upon a time, there was this little boy who liked to scare everybody and tell them that the wolf was coming. And when the real wolf came...” Seeing how the boy rolled his eyes, she stopped. “All right, this is a true story. When I was a kid, I once ran in to my mom and yelled that the house was on fire. I scared her half to death.”
Billy suddenly looked a little more interested. “You lied?” Buffy nodded. “Was she mad?”
She let out a snort. “I don’t think ‘mad’ covers it. Try furious.”
He looked at her with wide eyes. “She hit you?”
“What? No!” Buffy shook her head, firmly. “Of course not. She just...” She paused. “Well, she told me that ridiculous story about the wolf, and I was just as bored as you. The point is; if you keep telling lies, sooner or later people are gonna start thinking you’re lying, even when you’re actually telling the truth. Imagine how you’d feel if you wanted to tell your dad something really, really important, and he wouldn’t believe you.”
Billy got a thoughtful look on his face. “Like that time when I told him about that man.”
Buffy frowned. “Sorry, you lost me. What man?”
Suddenly very interested in something next to his feet, Billy shrugged. “The man who was sleeping in his bed.”
“Huh?” To say that she was confused would have been a huge understatement. “There was a man sleeping in your dad’s bed?”
He nodded. “While he was at work.” A pause. “My mum was there, too.”
“Oh. Oh!” Buffy’s eyes widened as realization hit her. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know about this, but for some reason, she couldn’t keep herself from asking the next question. “When did this happen?”
Billy shrugged again. “Back in LA. Before my mum got sick.”
Feeling like her head was spinning, Buffy tried to take in what the boy had just told her. Spike had been very vague about the details regarding his relationship with Billy’s mother, and she hadn’t wanted to overstep her bounds by asking. But now she got the feeling that things were a bit more serious than she had first thought. She couldn’t help but wonder what had really happened in LA. And more importantly; just how much had Billy seen?
Also, Spike had just said that his wife had yet to sign the divorce papers; he hadn’t mentioned anything about her being sick. She knew she shouldn’t be pumping the boy for information, but she just couldn’t stop herself. “I’m sorry about your mom. What’s wrong with her?” Seeing the uncertain look on Billy’s face, she waved her hand in dismissal. “Never mind, that’s none of my business.” She hesitated. “Back to this man you were talking about. Did you know him?”
He shook his head. Okay, that’s enough, Buffy told herself, firmly. I have no right asking Billy about this. I should just talk to Spike tonight, ask him what really happened. Of course, she knew she couldn’t do that. Not only would she feel totally awkward, she also had a feeling Spike wouldn’t react too well if she asked him something that personal.
Then again, Billy was the one who had brought it up in the first place. It wasn’t like she had actually asked the boy if he had seen any strange men in his father’s bed lately. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Maybe she should just change the subject and forget all about this conversation. Yeah, right! She almost rolled her eyes at herself. Like that was even possible.
TBC