Page 99 of The Toymaker
Kit got on top of him and earned himself a pleased little sigh. Doing the tying had been a new experience and slightly odd. It had also been satisfying to relax Riju and feel how limp and at ease he was. He'd definitely do it again as long as Riju was okay with it, of course. With the crackling of the fire being the only sound, Kit breathed in his rose and magnolia odor. It was a way for him to relax too.
Since he dozed off, he wasn’t sure how long they stayed there until Riju broke the silence and woke him up.
“I have to pee.”
***
Instead of working at night, Riju started spending more time with Kit instead. They read kid’s books out loud to each other, and Kit taught him how to draw little children. Occasionally, Riju spent the evening alone in his room. The quiet solitude was likely good for him too.
On the morning before the winter solstice, they woke up to a foot of snow.
So much was unusual in Eveningwood, and since Riju said there likely wouldn’t be many customers, they didn’t open the shop. Instead, they dressed up as warmly as possible after breakfast and went out into the backyard.
It wasn’t much of a yard, and a wall separated them from the next street over. A couple of broken crates and twisted pieces of wood sat against the back wall of the shop. Kit had never seen so much snow, and the thick carpet of white felt funny to walk on. Riju showed him how to make a passable snowball. When Kit threw it against the stone wall, it burst into little pieces.
It was so fun, he did it several more times until he noticed Riju was making a mound.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to make a snowperson. I’ve never done it before.”
Kit hadn’t either. The concept was simple. It turned out it wasn’t easy to stack balls of snow, and their creation was rather short and misshapen. For a face, they added a few bits of broken wood.
Satisfied with their blobby creation, they crouched in front of the snowperson and pronounced it a job well done. Riju’s nose was pink, and he smiled at Kit.
“This was fun.”
“It was. Has it ever snowed this much here?” Riju was older, so he'd spent more winters in Eveningwood than Kit who’d been born in Glasswood.
“Once. We got nearly this much back when I was four.” Riju hugged himself. “I took Dory out in it and put her in a lot of layers, but she got cold pretty quick, and I had to take her inside. I couldn’t go outside by myself so I didn’t get to play in it.”
He meant his sister, Dory, not the doll.
“Why couldn’t you go outside by yourself?” Kit had often played outside alone as a small child either because he wanted to or to get away from Father when he was in a bad mood.
Riju adjusted his spectacles. “I couldn’t leave her alone for long, and I had to watch her. I don't remember where Mother was that day. Father worked, and I think Mother occasionally did some basic sewing at a tailor’s shop. I think she often went out just to get away from us and see her friends. She didn’t want us always clinging to her skirts. In fact, I don’t think she'd ever wanted kids although she loved Dory more.”
Kit’s stomach pinched. He knew what it was like to have shitty parents. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything. Do you want to know why I want to start a toy shop? It’s not just because I enjoy making dolls.”
“Why?”
“I think I was three when Dory got her doll from a neighbor. She was a year younger than me. I had a few blocks, and I had a few bits of wood I’d scratched faces onto so I couldn’t pretend they were people. Dory had a soft bear, but our parents wouldn’t buy us new stuff because they said it was a waste of money, and we'd break the toys. I don’t remember ever getting a new toy, and the doll was the nicest thing she had. I want to give kids all the toys we never got to have and see them happy too. Dory was so excited about her doll, and when I asked her what she wasgoing to call it, she said Dory.” He stared at the snowman. “I miss her a lot.”
Kit put his arm around him.
“I don’t know what was wrong with her. They wouldn’t tell me, and she got so sick, she couldn’t walk anymore.” Riju sniffled. “My parents started fighting more, and the only way I could get them to stop was to tell them Dory was scared. A lot of times I said it when she was asleep because I was scared.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” Perhaps Kit shouldn’t have asked why he couldn’t go outside. It was only the second time Riju had ever mentioned his sister, so it was clearly a sore subject.
“Maybe I should talk about her once in a while.” Riju took off his spectacles and wiped his face with the back of his mittened hand. “I wanted to as a kid, but Mother would start crying, and Father would tell me to shut up and it was my fault for upsetting Mother. One day, I’ll tell you some happy memories I have with Dory, okay? I’d rather go in and get warm now.”
“All right.” When they stood, Riju hugged him. Kit squeezed him back.
“Do you want to come back out in a while and make snow angels?”
“What’s a snow angel?” Kit hadn’t heard of the term before.
