Further Joy by John Brandon Read Free Book Online

you ever miss your old house?” Kim asked him.
    â€œAll the time,” said Franklin. He was chewing with effort.
    â€œI can’t get used to this one. I’ve been here twice now and it still feels like a bed-and-breakfast.”
    â€œYou can get off by yourself in this house. That’s the silver lining. You don’t know anyone else is home.”
    Kim felt her stomach growl. She wasn’t going to do anything about it.
    â€œI feel sorry for men who have to live in houses like this,” she said. “It’s a big dollhouse. I feel sorry for you and your dad.”
    â€œWell, sometimes I go weeks without a Dad sighting. He lives at hotels. Not that I don’t like the guy. Not that I’m complaining or anything. Somebody’s got to bring home the bacon.”
    â€œIt can’t be good for a man’s soul to have a cutesy mailbox.”
    Franklin craned his neck, as if to look out at the mailbox. It couldn’t be seen from where they were sitting.
    â€œDo you have a job?” Kim asked.
    â€œYeah, right. Me with a name tag, speaking to customers.”
    â€œSo what do you do with your time? I’m sure they’re big on extracurricular activities at that school of yours.”
    â€œMy time?” Franklin took a moment. “I guess I lose track of it quite a bit.”
    â€œNo volunteering with the poor? No socializing?”
    â€œI steal mail sometimes. Speaking of cute mailboxes. That’s something I used to do. That’s pretty much the opposite of volunteering with the poor, huh?” Franklin gave up on his protein bar, or maybe he was only taking a break. He set it on a paper towel on the counter. “It’s not like I never make friends. Girls seem to like me okay. A couple of them.” He lowered his eyes, which were a wan green. Kim could hear the ticking of clocks from other rooms, all slightly off rhythm with each other.
    â€œFull disclosure, I’m suspended right now. From school. My mom doesn’t know. I had my dad talk to the Assistant Dean of Studies and signthe papers and he promised he wouldn’t tell her. I’m suspended this whole week.” Franklin produced a chuckle that didn’t make it past his throat. “Dr. Crantz told me the suspension would be in my file forever and I told him it was important to me to have an interesting file. He didn’t think that was humorous. I told him I wanted my file to be a fun read. I think I saw somebody say that in a movie once. It was pretty lucky I got to say it in real life.”
    Franklin insisted on driving. He had a used Audi sedan he was letting go to hell. He’d tried to peel the bumper stickers off it, but you could see where they’d been. The hubcaps were missing. As they walked down the driveway toward the car, which was parked half on the curb, a little boy wearing a loose jersey hopped over a bush from the yard next door and winged a football toward Franklin. Franklin didn’t see it in time to catch it, but he managed to flinch so it wouldn’t hit him in the head. The ball glanced off his forearms and bounced out into the road and came to a stop. Franklin’s face was red. He looked at the boy in exasperation, before taking a breath and regaining his composure. “I’m the quarterback,” the boy declared. He scuttled past them and retrieved the ball from the road, then ran back over to his own yard, leaving them standing there.
    Franklin unlocked the driver door and opened it, still flustered, and hit a button on his armrest that unlocked Kim’s door. Before he got in, he placed a hand on the roof of the Audi and poised himself to speak. “I fucking hate kids,” he said. “Let me be clear on that. They should be kept somewhere until they’re twelve. Like a bunker. Until they’re at least twelve.”
    Franklin drove them to the entrance of the neighborhood, then turned in a direction opposite from