Partners (the swimming in circles remix)
“Because we made a deal. We picked out the project together, he got the stuff for it and I’m going to build it. We’re partners.”
“Dean…”
“Please, Dad. I’m already packed. The weapons are cleaned and stowed. Tomorrow I’ll make sure Sammy’s ready, I promise. What kind of partner would I be if people couldn’t depend on me?”
Dean held his breath until his father nodded. “Okay. How are you getting to Josh’s house?”
Dean let the breath out in a whoosh and ducked his head as John grinned. “He lives a couple of blocks from school. We can walk.”
“Give me his address and phone number and I’ll pick you up at six, okay?”
Dean ducked his head again and mumbled, “His mom said I could stay for dinner,” before looking up hopefully.
“All right. Address, phone number and I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty. Deal?” John took the crumpled paper from Dean’s hand and studied it before putting it in his pocket. “Now get going before you miss the bus and I have to drive both ways.”
“Bus is coming, Sammy!” Dean called and his little brother rocketed out of the bedroom. “Now don’t forget Dad is picking you up tonight…”
The conversation was cut off by the slamming of the door, and John watched out the window as the boys got safely on the bus.
Dean wasn’t exactly nervous as he made his way up Josh’s front walk, but he wasn’t exactly calm either. The house was small with a neat lawn and brightly colored flowers filled boxes on the porch railings. Josh thumped up the front steps while Dean hesitated at the bottom.
“Come on, man,” Josh urged when he saw Dean hanging back. “Mom said she’d make cookies for us to eat while we worked.”
Josh had shared his mom’s cookies with Dean every day since they’d been assigned their project together and the thought of them got Dean up the stairs in a hurry.
“You’re sure it’s okay I’m over here?” Being at a house with people who weren’t Dad’s contacts or babysitters for himself and Sam was totally foreign to him.
“Of course.” Josh was looking at him a little strangely. “How would we finish our project if you didn’t come here to help?”
Dean nodded. That made sense. He was here for the project; people didn’t invite strangers to their houses for no reason. He stopped short again just inside the doorway, the smell of freshly baked cookies hitting him square in the nose.
“Hi honey.” Josh’s mom came through a door off to the left, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Josh looked embarrassed as she wrapped him up in a hug, before she turned to Dean with a smile. “You must be Dean. Josh has told us all about you.”
Dean smiled uncomfortably and shook her outstretched hand. He wondered what Josh had told his mother, since Dean had told Josh next to nothing about himself.
“All right,” she continued as she herded the boys to the kitchen, “I’ve got a plate of cookies ready and you can each have a glass of milk, but that’s all before dinner.” She handed the plate to Josh and gave each boy a glass of milk. “Now scoot. I’ve got to get dinner started and you’ve got work to do.”
“Thanks Mrs. Cooper,” Dean said, eyes on the cookies and the boys headed out the door. Josh turned toward the back of the house and opened a door halfway down the hallway. He flipped the light switch and Dean stepped back at the sight of stairs leading down.
“We’re working in the basement?”
Josh grinned at Dean’s expression. “Got something against basements?”
In Dean’s experience, basements were dark, dirty and creepy; filled with lots of things he didn’t want to be anywhere near. “Nah. Just thought we’d be working in your room, that’s all.”
“My dad turned the basement into a rec room a few years ago. There’s more space down there to work. Come on. It’s cool, you’ll see.”
“Whoa,” Dean murmured when he got to the bottom of the stairs and stared around the room. “This is cool.”
The room filled the entire basement; couches along one wall faced a television with a VCR along another. Videotapes were stacked on the shelves beneath the television and Dean let out another appreciative sound at some of the titles.
“Over here,” Josh called from a table in the corner. “I’ve got everything set up and since we went over the directions at school today we can get started right away.”
Dean turned to join Josh at the table and stood transfixed at the sight in front of him. “Are those yours?” he asked, awestruck.
Josh followed Dean’s gaze. “Nah,” he replied. “Those are my Dad’s.”
“Where did he get them all?” Dean’s nose was practically pressed against the glass, watching the fish flit wildly around the huge tank.
“I don’t know.” Josh shrugged dismissively. “Pet stores, I guess.”
“What does he do with them?” Dean’s breath caught at the sight of the brilliantly colored fish. “They’re really pretty.”
“Just collects them. It’s his hobby. Mom has her garden, Dad has his fish. Doesn’t your dad have a hobby? Anything he does for fun?”
Dean’s eyes followed the fish as his brain tried to process Josh’s question. The words Dad and fun didn’t really go together. “I don’t think so.”
“All work, all the time? Toby’s dad is like that. Mine’s way more laid back. Come on, Dean. If you don’t get over here and start working, I’m going to eat all the cookies.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Dean forced himself away from the tank and headed to the table, eying everything that was laid out on it. “Wow. Your dad really came through.”
“That was the deal,” Josh said with a grin. “We buy it, you build it. A perfect partnership.”
“I guess,” Dean agreed. He’d never been partners with anyone but his dad until now. He looked over the pieces of the erector set scattered across the table top. “So we’re going to build a dinosaur that walks? Awesome.”
There wasn’t much that Dean liked better than building things, and the T-Rex was more than three quarters done when Mrs. Cooper called them up to dinner.
“Bring up the dirty dishes,” her voice wafted down the stairs along with some of the most mouthwatering aromas Dean had ever smelled. “Then go wash up and come eat.”
When Dean settled at the table next to Josh, he tried to keep from staring. The table had a vase of cut flowers in the center, colors rivaling those of Mr. Cooper’s fish. Dean’s plate was already loaded with baked chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green beans. His stomach growled in anticipation and he looked down in embarrassment.
“Hope you boys are hungry.” Josh’s dad had taken his seat at the head of the table. “Nice to finally meet you, Dean.”
“Same here, sir,” Dean muttered with his mouth full.
“Dean likes your fish,” Josh said, smiling at his father. “He could barely keep his mind on the dinosaur, he was so busy looking at them.”
“Is that so?” Mr Cooper looked pleased. “Do you have fish, Dean?”
“No sir. I’ve never even seen fish like that before. They’re kind of awesome.”
“That they are. After you boys are done tonight do you want to help me feed them?”
“Really?”
Josh’s dad grinned at the delight on Dean’s face. “Yes, really. It’s not often I meet someone who’s into my fish.”
Dean downed two helpings of everything but the green beans and followed it up with a massive slice of apple pie. “That was delicious, Mrs. Cooper. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Dean. And you’re welcome back any time.”
“Umm, thanks.” Dean looked at her uncertainly. “But after the project is done, you really won’t need me to come back.”
She smiled as she took his plate. “Josh likes you, honey. And you’ve certainly made a good impression on his father and me. Any time. I mean it.”
The food sat heavily in Dean’s stomach as he followed Josh back to the basement. Tonight was it. There wouldn’t be any next time to have dinner or watch movies or feed the fish. He handed the screwdriver to Josh as they sat down.
“Don’t you want to do any of it? I wouldn’t want to turn it in as mine if I hadn’t even put one piece on.”
“Naw,” Josh shook his head looking down. “It’s not…I mean, I can’t…can you keep a secret?”
“Yeah.” Dean’s reply was emphatic. If there was one thing he was really good at, it was keeping secrets.
“Well…I kind of see things backwards.”
“Backwards?”
“Yeah. The teachers know so I don’t have to do stuff with like, what do they call it, manual dexterity, in school.”
Dean knew what manual dexterity was. It was holding your knife in either hand with equal skill, or being able to load a gun in thirty seconds. He didn’t think that was what Josh meant though.
“So, what? You can’t hold a screwdriver?”
“I can hold one. But anything I put on with it is going to be upside down, or backward or in the wrong place.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.” Dean pointed to the next piece to be assembled. “Here, try and put this one on. I’ll help you.”
Josh sighed as he picked up the piece. “Where does it go?”
“Right there.” Dean pointed, shaking his head as Josh tried to fit it into the hole below the one Dean had pointed out. “Nope, not that one, go one up.” The part slid down a hole and Dean shook his head again. “Wrong direction.” Josh slowly moved it up one hole, then another. “Perfect, freeze right there.” Dean quickly fitted a screw through the hole and began twisting a bolt onto the other side. “Okay, you finish it.”
Josh reached around and tightened the bolt with his fingers. He grinned at Dean as the part slid into place.
Dean grinned back, but a glance at the clock made it clear that he would have to do the rest. “Awesome. Now when we turn it in, you can say you made it too.”
Half an hour later, Dean attached the motor and jumped up from the table. “Come on, Josh. Put it down and see if it works.”
Josh flipped the switch and the dinosaur waddled across the floor, tail waving in its wake. Dean grinned at Josh like a lunatic and leaped into his high-five.
“Dad!” Josh called up the stairs. “Hey, Dad, we’re done. Come check this out!”
Footsteps thudded down the stairs, and since the dinosaur was doing exactly what it was supposed to, Dean turned his attention back to the fish. There were huge goldfish and tiny silver fish with bright blue and red stripes and all kinds of fish in between. Dean pressed his hand to the glass and watched, wondering what it was like to be constantly moving but never going anywhere. A heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder and he looked up to see his father looking down at him.
“That’s a good job, Dean,” he said, nodding to the dinosaur.
“It is,” Mr. Cooper agreed. “Your boy came through for Josh big time. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner. What say we take them out for ice cream after they win the science fair.”
Dean looked at his father hopefully, but he could see that it wasn’t going to happen.
“Unfortunately we’re leaving town the day after tomorrow.” John said. “I’ve been looking for work for a while, and I finally found a job out of state. Dean wanted to make sure Josh had something to hand in even though he wouldn’t be here, so I let him come over to finish it. And you’re right. You couldn’t have asked for a better partner.” He shook Dean’s shoulder gently. “You ready to go, dude?”
“Just a few minutes more, Dad?” Dean was a little flushed from his father’s praise. “Mr. Cooper said I could help him feed his fish.”
John glanced at Mr. Cooper, who nodded. “Okay. Your brother’s upstairs with Josh’s mom, probably talking her ear off. I’ll go rescue her and you come on up when you’re done.”
Dean went back to staring into the tank as Mr. Cooper got the fish food. He tapped one finger against the tank and a bug eyed goldfish hovered near it, staring at him. “Hey, little guy,” he whispered. “Want your dinner?”
“Hold out your hand.”
Dean obeyed and Mr. Cooper poured multicolored flakes into his outstretched palm before opening the tank hood. "Just sprinkle the food on the water and watch what they do."
Dean grinned with delight as the fish rushed to the surface and grabbed the food. "Guess they were hungry."
"Guess so. You should get one when you get to where you're going. Taking care of something like this can teach you a lot about responsibility."
Dean looked up at Mr. Cooper, his face suddenly still. "I know how to take care of things already, sir." Dean turned and looked up the stairs. "I think I should be going, now."
"You have to?" Josh asked plaintively.
"Yeah, I do. I'm glad we got to do this, though. It was a lot of fun."
"Hey, send me your address when you get where you're going and I'll let you know how we did, okay."
"Sure," Dean lied. "I'll do that."
Dean was quiet on the way back to the motel and John looked at him in concern. “You okay, Dean?”
“Yeah,” Dean replied quietly. “Did you mean what you said back there?”
“I don’t know. What did I say?”
“That they couldn’t have asked for a better partner than me.”
“Yeah, I meant that. I depend on you, Dean and you haven’t let me down yet.”
Dean settled back into his seat, pride warming his chest. Let the fish swim in circles and never get anywhere. He was moving on with people who needed him. “Where are we going?”
“Fort Douglas, Wisconsin.”
“Cool,” Dean murmured, fighting sleep. “I can’t wait.”
“Dean…”
“Please, Dad. I’m already packed. The weapons are cleaned and stowed. Tomorrow I’ll make sure Sammy’s ready, I promise. What kind of partner would I be if people couldn’t depend on me?”
Dean held his breath until his father nodded. “Okay. How are you getting to Josh’s house?”
Dean let the breath out in a whoosh and ducked his head as John grinned. “He lives a couple of blocks from school. We can walk.”
“Give me his address and phone number and I’ll pick you up at six, okay?”
Dean ducked his head again and mumbled, “His mom said I could stay for dinner,” before looking up hopefully.
“All right. Address, phone number and I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty. Deal?” John took the crumpled paper from Dean’s hand and studied it before putting it in his pocket. “Now get going before you miss the bus and I have to drive both ways.”
“Bus is coming, Sammy!” Dean called and his little brother rocketed out of the bedroom. “Now don’t forget Dad is picking you up tonight…”
The conversation was cut off by the slamming of the door, and John watched out the window as the boys got safely on the bus.
Dean wasn’t exactly nervous as he made his way up Josh’s front walk, but he wasn’t exactly calm either. The house was small with a neat lawn and brightly colored flowers filled boxes on the porch railings. Josh thumped up the front steps while Dean hesitated at the bottom.
“Come on, man,” Josh urged when he saw Dean hanging back. “Mom said she’d make cookies for us to eat while we worked.”
Josh had shared his mom’s cookies with Dean every day since they’d been assigned their project together and the thought of them got Dean up the stairs in a hurry.
“You’re sure it’s okay I’m over here?” Being at a house with people who weren’t Dad’s contacts or babysitters for himself and Sam was totally foreign to him.
“Of course.” Josh was looking at him a little strangely. “How would we finish our project if you didn’t come here to help?”
Dean nodded. That made sense. He was here for the project; people didn’t invite strangers to their houses for no reason. He stopped short again just inside the doorway, the smell of freshly baked cookies hitting him square in the nose.
“Hi honey.” Josh’s mom came through a door off to the left, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Josh looked embarrassed as she wrapped him up in a hug, before she turned to Dean with a smile. “You must be Dean. Josh has told us all about you.”
Dean smiled uncomfortably and shook her outstretched hand. He wondered what Josh had told his mother, since Dean had told Josh next to nothing about himself.
“All right,” she continued as she herded the boys to the kitchen, “I’ve got a plate of cookies ready and you can each have a glass of milk, but that’s all before dinner.” She handed the plate to Josh and gave each boy a glass of milk. “Now scoot. I’ve got to get dinner started and you’ve got work to do.”
“Thanks Mrs. Cooper,” Dean said, eyes on the cookies and the boys headed out the door. Josh turned toward the back of the house and opened a door halfway down the hallway. He flipped the light switch and Dean stepped back at the sight of stairs leading down.
“We’re working in the basement?”
Josh grinned at Dean’s expression. “Got something against basements?”
In Dean’s experience, basements were dark, dirty and creepy; filled with lots of things he didn’t want to be anywhere near. “Nah. Just thought we’d be working in your room, that’s all.”
“My dad turned the basement into a rec room a few years ago. There’s more space down there to work. Come on. It’s cool, you’ll see.”
“Whoa,” Dean murmured when he got to the bottom of the stairs and stared around the room. “This is cool.”
The room filled the entire basement; couches along one wall faced a television with a VCR along another. Videotapes were stacked on the shelves beneath the television and Dean let out another appreciative sound at some of the titles.
“Over here,” Josh called from a table in the corner. “I’ve got everything set up and since we went over the directions at school today we can get started right away.”
Dean turned to join Josh at the table and stood transfixed at the sight in front of him. “Are those yours?” he asked, awestruck.
Josh followed Dean’s gaze. “Nah,” he replied. “Those are my Dad’s.”
“Where did he get them all?” Dean’s nose was practically pressed against the glass, watching the fish flit wildly around the huge tank.
“I don’t know.” Josh shrugged dismissively. “Pet stores, I guess.”
“What does he do with them?” Dean’s breath caught at the sight of the brilliantly colored fish. “They’re really pretty.”
“Just collects them. It’s his hobby. Mom has her garden, Dad has his fish. Doesn’t your dad have a hobby? Anything he does for fun?”
Dean’s eyes followed the fish as his brain tried to process Josh’s question. The words Dad and fun didn’t really go together. “I don’t think so.”
“All work, all the time? Toby’s dad is like that. Mine’s way more laid back. Come on, Dean. If you don’t get over here and start working, I’m going to eat all the cookies.”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Dean forced himself away from the tank and headed to the table, eying everything that was laid out on it. “Wow. Your dad really came through.”
“That was the deal,” Josh said with a grin. “We buy it, you build it. A perfect partnership.”
“I guess,” Dean agreed. He’d never been partners with anyone but his dad until now. He looked over the pieces of the erector set scattered across the table top. “So we’re going to build a dinosaur that walks? Awesome.”
There wasn’t much that Dean liked better than building things, and the T-Rex was more than three quarters done when Mrs. Cooper called them up to dinner.
“Bring up the dirty dishes,” her voice wafted down the stairs along with some of the most mouthwatering aromas Dean had ever smelled. “Then go wash up and come eat.”
When Dean settled at the table next to Josh, he tried to keep from staring. The table had a vase of cut flowers in the center, colors rivaling those of Mr. Cooper’s fish. Dean’s plate was already loaded with baked chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and green beans. His stomach growled in anticipation and he looked down in embarrassment.
“Hope you boys are hungry.” Josh’s dad had taken his seat at the head of the table. “Nice to finally meet you, Dean.”
“Same here, sir,” Dean muttered with his mouth full.
“Dean likes your fish,” Josh said, smiling at his father. “He could barely keep his mind on the dinosaur, he was so busy looking at them.”
“Is that so?” Mr Cooper looked pleased. “Do you have fish, Dean?”
“No sir. I’ve never even seen fish like that before. They’re kind of awesome.”
“That they are. After you boys are done tonight do you want to help me feed them?”
“Really?”
Josh’s dad grinned at the delight on Dean’s face. “Yes, really. It’s not often I meet someone who’s into my fish.”
Dean downed two helpings of everything but the green beans and followed it up with a massive slice of apple pie. “That was delicious, Mrs. Cooper. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Dean. And you’re welcome back any time.”
“Umm, thanks.” Dean looked at her uncertainly. “But after the project is done, you really won’t need me to come back.”
She smiled as she took his plate. “Josh likes you, honey. And you’ve certainly made a good impression on his father and me. Any time. I mean it.”
The food sat heavily in Dean’s stomach as he followed Josh back to the basement. Tonight was it. There wouldn’t be any next time to have dinner or watch movies or feed the fish. He handed the screwdriver to Josh as they sat down.
“Don’t you want to do any of it? I wouldn’t want to turn it in as mine if I hadn’t even put one piece on.”
“Naw,” Josh shook his head looking down. “It’s not…I mean, I can’t…can you keep a secret?”
“Yeah.” Dean’s reply was emphatic. If there was one thing he was really good at, it was keeping secrets.
“Well…I kind of see things backwards.”
“Backwards?”
“Yeah. The teachers know so I don’t have to do stuff with like, what do they call it, manual dexterity, in school.”
Dean knew what manual dexterity was. It was holding your knife in either hand with equal skill, or being able to load a gun in thirty seconds. He didn’t think that was what Josh meant though.
“So, what? You can’t hold a screwdriver?”
“I can hold one. But anything I put on with it is going to be upside down, or backward or in the wrong place.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.” Dean pointed to the next piece to be assembled. “Here, try and put this one on. I’ll help you.”
Josh sighed as he picked up the piece. “Where does it go?”
“Right there.” Dean pointed, shaking his head as Josh tried to fit it into the hole below the one Dean had pointed out. “Nope, not that one, go one up.” The part slid down a hole and Dean shook his head again. “Wrong direction.” Josh slowly moved it up one hole, then another. “Perfect, freeze right there.” Dean quickly fitted a screw through the hole and began twisting a bolt onto the other side. “Okay, you finish it.”
Josh reached around and tightened the bolt with his fingers. He grinned at Dean as the part slid into place.
Dean grinned back, but a glance at the clock made it clear that he would have to do the rest. “Awesome. Now when we turn it in, you can say you made it too.”
Half an hour later, Dean attached the motor and jumped up from the table. “Come on, Josh. Put it down and see if it works.”
Josh flipped the switch and the dinosaur waddled across the floor, tail waving in its wake. Dean grinned at Josh like a lunatic and leaped into his high-five.
“Dad!” Josh called up the stairs. “Hey, Dad, we’re done. Come check this out!”
Footsteps thudded down the stairs, and since the dinosaur was doing exactly what it was supposed to, Dean turned his attention back to the fish. There were huge goldfish and tiny silver fish with bright blue and red stripes and all kinds of fish in between. Dean pressed his hand to the glass and watched, wondering what it was like to be constantly moving but never going anywhere. A heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder and he looked up to see his father looking down at him.
“That’s a good job, Dean,” he said, nodding to the dinosaur.
“It is,” Mr. Cooper agreed. “Your boy came through for Josh big time. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner. What say we take them out for ice cream after they win the science fair.”
Dean looked at his father hopefully, but he could see that it wasn’t going to happen.
“Unfortunately we’re leaving town the day after tomorrow.” John said. “I’ve been looking for work for a while, and I finally found a job out of state. Dean wanted to make sure Josh had something to hand in even though he wouldn’t be here, so I let him come over to finish it. And you’re right. You couldn’t have asked for a better partner.” He shook Dean’s shoulder gently. “You ready to go, dude?”
“Just a few minutes more, Dad?” Dean was a little flushed from his father’s praise. “Mr. Cooper said I could help him feed his fish.”
John glanced at Mr. Cooper, who nodded. “Okay. Your brother’s upstairs with Josh’s mom, probably talking her ear off. I’ll go rescue her and you come on up when you’re done.”
Dean went back to staring into the tank as Mr. Cooper got the fish food. He tapped one finger against the tank and a bug eyed goldfish hovered near it, staring at him. “Hey, little guy,” he whispered. “Want your dinner?”
“Hold out your hand.”
Dean obeyed and Mr. Cooper poured multicolored flakes into his outstretched palm before opening the tank hood. "Just sprinkle the food on the water and watch what they do."
Dean grinned with delight as the fish rushed to the surface and grabbed the food. "Guess they were hungry."
"Guess so. You should get one when you get to where you're going. Taking care of something like this can teach you a lot about responsibility."
Dean looked up at Mr. Cooper, his face suddenly still. "I know how to take care of things already, sir." Dean turned and looked up the stairs. "I think I should be going, now."
"You have to?" Josh asked plaintively.
"Yeah, I do. I'm glad we got to do this, though. It was a lot of fun."
"Hey, send me your address when you get where you're going and I'll let you know how we did, okay."
"Sure," Dean lied. "I'll do that."
Dean was quiet on the way back to the motel and John looked at him in concern. “You okay, Dean?”
“Yeah,” Dean replied quietly. “Did you mean what you said back there?”
“I don’t know. What did I say?”
“That they couldn’t have asked for a better partner than me.”
“Yeah, I meant that. I depend on you, Dean and you haven’t let me down yet.”
Dean settled back into his seat, pride warming his chest. Let the fish swim in circles and never get anywhere. He was moving on with people who needed him. “Where are we going?”
“Fort Douglas, Wisconsin.”
“Cool,” Dean murmured, fighting sleep. “I can’t wait.”