Buffy spent the next couple of days avoiding her new neighbors, then, on the third day, told herself she was being ridiculous. Surely the first meeting could have gone better, but they were her neighbors after all; she couldn’t stay out of their way forever. She was on her way home from work when she realized that she had stopped outside the large, white house next to hers and decided to just go over there and introduce herself.
Suddenly she heard a soft meowing sound, and a moment later, Princess Leia peeked out from one of the bushes. “Hey, Princess, what are you doing here?” Buffy was a little surprised, since the cat rarely left the safety of their own front yard. When she didn’t get an answer – not that she had expected one – she bent down and scooped the small cat up in her arms. “Come on, girl. Let’s go say hi to our new neighbors, shall we?”
She found Billy sitting on the front porch. When she approached him, the boy looked up, obviously surprised to see her. Buffy nodded in greeting. “Hello, Billy.”
He got a suspicious look on his face. “You here to yell at me?”
“No.” Buffy frowned. “Why would I yell at you?” Billy just shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, you mean because you deliberately lied to me the other day?” The boy had the decency to look ashamed. “Nah, I’m over it. Just don’t do it again.”
Billy gave her a doubtful look, obviously having not expected to get away with it that easily, but didn’t say anything more and Buffy realized that she wouldn’t get any kind of apology from him. Still, she decided to let it go; the boy clearly knew he had done wrong and she hoped he had learned his lesson. She smiled a little. “Your dad got pretty mad at you, didn’t he?”
Shrugging again, Billy cast a longing look at the cat, still in Buffy’s arms. “He always gets mad. Yells a lot.” He paused. “Mostly when I do something I shouldn’t.”
“Really?” Buffy didn’t know what else to say. She had already gotten the impression that the boy’s father had quite the temper; Billy’s words now only confirmed her suspicions. Suddenly she found herself being curious to whether or not his mother was still in the picture, but didn’t want to ask. Hesitating for a moment, she then quickly made up her mind. “Is your dad home?”
“He’s inside.” Billy glanced at the cat again. “You got any other animals?”
“Nope.” Buffy shook her head with a smile. “Well, except for Mr. Gordo.” Billy looked confused so she hurried to explain; “He’s a pink, stuffed pig my dad got me for my seventh birthday. That was the year before he left and the last birthday gift he ever gave me.” She was quiet for a moment, then forced the painful memories to the back of her mind and put on another smile, although it was a bit strained. “So, do you have any pets?”
The boy shook his head. “No.”
“Well, would you like to?” Buffy realized that she actually enjoyed talking to this boy. Which she found to be kind of strange, since she had never been much for being around kids. When all her friends used to baby-sit after school, she chose to make her extra cash by walking the neighbors’ dogs around the block. She had always preferred animals to children.
Billy shrugged, something Buffy found he did a lot. “Dunno. Never really thought about it.”
“I’ve always loved animals.” Buffy smiled. “When I was a kid, I promised myself that I would have the house full of cats and dogs and bunnies one day.”
“Why don’t you, then?” Billy looked interested.
“I grew up.” Buffy laughed a little. “I realized I just didn’t have enough time. So, it’s just me and Leia.”
Billy nodded. Then he asked; “Do you have kids?”
Buffy was a little taken aback by the blunt question, but quickly covered up, realizing he was just being curious. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
The conversation had started to take a turn she felt most uncomfortable with. “I don’t think I’d be a very good mom.” Billy opened his mouth, but she beat him to it, not wanting to have to answer any more personal questions. “Look, Billy, I really should go say hello to your dad. You said he was inside?”
The boy looked a little disappointed for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah.”
Buffy noticed that he was once again glancing at the cat, and an idea suddenly occurred to her. “You know what? Your dad might not want me to bring Leia into the house. Would you mind watching her for me until I get back?”
Billy’s face lit up. “Yeah, okay.”
He reached out for the cat, and it was then Buffy noticed the huge, dark bruise on his forearm. Her eyes narrowed and she leaned a little closer to get a better look. When Billy realized what it was that had caught her attention, he quickly pulled his sleeve down. Buffy gave him a concerned look. “Billy, what happened?”
Suddenly the boy wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I fell.”
Buffy frowned, finding the possibility of getting such a bruise simply from falling highly unlikely. “It looked more like someone grabbed you really hard.”
Billy was silent for a moment, looking slightly alarmed. Then he looked down at the cat in his lap. “No, I just fell. There was no one around. I was climbing the monkey-bars at school and then I just…” He hesitated. “… slipped. All by myself.”
Now she was convinced that he was lying by the way he still refused to look her in the eyes. And when he finally did look up, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Billy…” Buffy bit her lip, thoughtfully, suddenly recalling Willow’s words the other day. “You don’t think he’d hurt the boy, do you?” She had immediately dismissed the idea at the time, now she suddenly became uncertain. Could the boy’s father actually be the one responsible? Buffy didn’t want to think that was the case, but after all, Billy had even said so himself; his dad was always angry and yelling.
She took a deep breath, suddenly wishing she would have just kept avoiding this place. It was a cowardly thing to wish, she was well aware of that, but she was starting to find the situation even more uncomfortable than before. She could be wrong, right? Maybe the boy really had gotten that bruise from falling down the monkey-bars. But then there was that little voice inside her head, telling her that was just not possible. Judging by the size and the location of the bruise, someone must have done that to him. There was just no way Billy could have fallen and hit his arm on that exact spot.
Buffy shook her head, as if to clear it. There was no point standing out here, speculating in what happened, since it was obvious that the kid wouldn’t tell her. She glanced towards the front door. It was time to go say hello to Billy’s father.
TBC