Charles and Richard Chapter 3

Just then, out of nowhere, Charles clenched his molars and tears began streaming down his face. The father, the customer, and Richard were all taken aback. Charles turned around without a word and ran out of the store. Richard quickly chased after him.

Looking back, it was strange. Why had Richard only ever thought of talking to Charles? It was because, in a household where everyone was outgoing, Charles alone was passive. To Richard, everything Charles had was nothing but wondrous, sweet, and lovable. Though he was the only child of a wealthy household, Richard was severely starved for familial affection. The unconditional and harmonious love poured upon him was always in an active form. In fact, Charles’s family cherished Richard as if they were about to adopt him as their own son.

It was never that they were neglectful of their one and only youngest child, Charles, but to Charles, it must have felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck him one day. If Charles and Richard had become best friends, there would have been no problem. However, to Charles, who trembled even at the breeze stirring the leaves, Richard’s presence was far too sudden and shocking. He could not approach Richard first. Richard was the same, as it turned out. He was overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring of affection and had never once looked back at Charles, even inadvertently.

Thus, the emotion Richard felt as he caught the crying Charles, who had run out, was nothing but confusion. Richard loved everything Charles had, but he did not actually love Charles himself. He knew nothing about Charles. He didn’t even know that Charles hated him terribly. When Richard caught up to Charles and grabbed his shoulder, Charles was deeply wounded that the hand was not his father’s but Richard’s. He glared at Richard with green eyes dripping with tears.

R: Why are you crying…?

That was all Richard could say. Charles clenched his molars tight and did not answer. He had already made a vow to himself a month ago that he would never speak to Richard.

R: Are you hurting somewhere?

C: ….

R: Does your stomach hurt?

C: ….

R: Let’s go back to the store and tell Dad.

Charles was enraged. My dad, that means! Not your dad! But because he had sworn not to talk to Richard, he clamped his mouth shut even tighter. Their strange standoff was ended by the father, who had come out looking for them.

Father: Charlie, what’s the matter? Come here. Are you okay?

The father scooped Charles up into his arms. Holding Charles in one arm and grasping Richard’s hand with the other, he returned to the store. With his nose buried in his father’s shoulder, crying, Charles watched the whole time as his father held tightly onto Richard’s hand.

∞ ∞ ∞

It goes without saying that Charles’s vow—that he would never speak to Richard—did not last very long. Not long after, Charles found his lips itching to say that he hated Richard. The trigger for Charles’s itching lips stemmed from that day he had shed tears.

That day, Richard became aware of Charles’s existence for the very first time. He began to treat Charles like a younger brother. He started treating him the way Christine, Emma, and Emily treated Charles. Charles was enraged once again. One weekend evening, when Richard bustled about opening and closing the closet door, claiming he would check whether there was a closet monster or not, Charles finally shouted.

C: Get out of my room right now, you idiot!

Richard’s initial reaction was shock, but it quickly turned into delight. Richard leaped onto the bed where Charles was sitting, hugged him, and rolled around with him. Thanks to that, the two boys tumbled onto the floor. Charles was furious to the top of his head, but Richard sat on his waist and shouted in joy.

R: You finally talked to me! Emily! Emma! Mom! Dad! Come up quick! (The oldest, Christine, had returned to college)

Charles struggled desperately to push Richard off. But there was no way he could overcome the strength of Richard, who learned tennis, fencing, and horseback riding. Richard hung on, grabbing the leg of Charles’s pajama pants, while the whole family poked their heads through Charles’s doorway.

Mother: Oh, you’re really talking to Richie?

Father: Yes. You two should get along.

Emma: Let Charlie go now, Richie.

Emily: Why did you open the closet door? Do you still believe in the closet monster, Charlie?

R: That’s why I was opening the closet to show him there’s nothing there.

C: No!

Once he broke the silence, the number of times Charles sat around alone sulking or went up to his room in a huff rapidly decreased. Instead, he began picking fights with Richard over every little thing, getting angry, and answering spitefully. Even when Charles ran into Richard on the way to the grocery store or the auto repair shop, he no longer ran away. He didn’t ignore him, either. Their conversations went roughly like this.

R: Charlie, do you know what’s for dinner tonight?

C: Whatever it is, I hope it’s something you hate.

R: Hmm… I hate meatball spaghetti. The more meatballs, the more I hate it.

C: That’s your favorite thing.

R: No, I hate it. Let’s ask Mom to make it tonight.

C: Ask your mom to make it for you then.

R: Okay. Since I’m on my way to Mom’s anyway, whatever!

As can be guessed from the conversation above, Charles’s spite hardly ever got through to Richard. Richard half caught on to the spite, and half didn’t, but either way, he didn’t care. He still thought of Charles as his younger brother. Besides, because Charles was truly a good kid at heart, he couldn’t say things that would really hurt Richard. In truth, Charles never knew how to truly hurt anyone. Even now, at twenty-five. Richard likes everything about Charles, but he likes that point the most of all.

By the time the two little gentlemen reached 7th grade, Charles’s household had become much quieter. The first and second sisters had long since left for college, and with the third, Emily, entering a boarding private school, only the parents and the youngest child remained in the house. After meeting Richard’s parents a few times and having various discussions, Charles’s parents decided to send Charles to the same school as Richard. Charles was quite good at his studies, and above all, Richard actively supported the idea. Charles also thought that wearing a school uniform and attending school was a pretty cool thing, so he did not oppose his parents’ decision.

Around that time, the relationship between the two boys entered a sort of lull. First of all, with all the sisters gone from the house, Charles no longer felt as he once did, like his entire family was being taken from him. Except for Cherry, that is. It was crystal clear that Cherry liked Richard more than Charles (that was because Richard took her for walks and played frisbee with her every day). On the positive side, as the two competitively took Cherry for walks, the time they spent together increased completely unintentionally. However, even though several years had passed, the level of conversation between the two boys had not changed much.

R: What do you think Dad will give us for dessert today?

C: Tiramisu. (Richard couldn’t eat tiramisu because he hated coffee.)

R: Your share is tiramisu? What about mine?

C: There was only tiramisu at home. I guess there’s none for you.

R: Ah, I saw Mom bought a box of Girl Scout cookies yesterday.

C: ….