[ WP ] Write a compelling dialogue between a grandfather and his grandson , after they attended the funeral of the grandson 's parents .

There's two men sitting at the counter, both wearing dark suits. One's an older man with gray hair, long on the sides and almost nonexistent on his scalp. He only looks up from his cheeseburger every so often, and only then to look his companion in the face. From the reflection of the mirror behind the counter, you can see a struggle in that heavily lined face every time he does it. The effort to lift the wrinkled corners of his mouth and create a smile might just give him a heart attack before they get the check. His eyes do n't even try to help with the illusion. And yet, with every word, he tries again. 
 
 The other man... well, he looks a little too young to be called a man. The thick pimple on his forehead and his bodyset -- all height, no midsection, long thin limbs -- suggest early teens at the most, but something in his stature tells a different story. Despite sitting on a bar stool, he sits upright, his spine as straight as the bar on which his plate sits. He takes neatly measured cuts off his pork chop, finishes every bite before speaking to the older man. He looks up from the food a lot more frequently, and not just towards his companion: you can tell he's watching as much of the restaurant as he can manage. If he'd had it his way, he'd have been in a corner booth, seeing everyone and everything -- but this has to do for now. 
 
 `` Did n't Uncle Ronnie say he was going to come out with us?'' 
 
 `` I believe he said he had to get back to the office and tend to some paperwork regarding the estate.'' 
 
 `` Ah.'' He takes another bite before looking up with a politely confused grin on his face. `` Who was that man shaking your hand by the grave?'' 
 
 A pause. `` That was one of your father's business associates. Mr., ah, Heinrich, I think. Wanted to wish his condolences, offer help with you if we needed it.'' 
 
 `` Kind of him.'' 
 
 `` Yes.'' They continue eating for a moment. The younger man does n't look up; the older man ca n't look down. He speaks again after composing himself. `` We may need to discuss the situation.'' 
 
 `` What situation?'' 
 
 `` Your living situation, obviously. You have to understand, I'm proud to be your legal guardian, but my house... it's not quite ready for company yet.'' 
 
 `` Ah. I'm'company' now?'' 
 
 `` Do n't do that, damn it. Do n't act like I'm the bad guy here. You're not the only one who lost people this week.'' 
 
 They eat silently for a few minutes, neither one looking at the other. The elder, obviously not comfortable with the silence, breaks it. `` I have a study that can be converted to a bedroom, but it will take some time.'' 
 
 `` I'm cool sleeping on the couch, leaving my stuff in storage.'' He pauses. `` Or just staying in my house until you're ready for me.'' 
 
 `` I'm not sure that's a good idea. Do you need to be constantly reminded of their absence?'' 
 
 `` Will a break in my routine make things easier? Studies show that --'' 
 
 `` All right, all right. I'm just saying, a twelve-year-old alone in the house is irresponsible at best, very probably criminal.'' 
 
 That brings a smile to the younger man's face. `` So there's no chance that you'd be comfortable staying at home with me until the study's ready?'' 
 
 He's evidently not. `` There's a school --'' 
 
 `` Ah, yes. Andrews's Preparation Academy, is it? That's somewhere out in Colorado, right?'' 
 
 `` How do you --'' 
 
 `` I know a lot of things, Grandfather. And trust me, I have no intention of going there, or moving into your house. Things are going to be as close to... before, as we can make them.'' 
 
 He sighed and rubbed his bald pate. `` Marcus, you ca n't make them --'' 
 
 `` I can. We can, actually. You, me, and your buddy.'' 
 
 The old man frowned. `` Who do you mean?'' 
 
 `` Heinrich. The man you allegedly just met today, but have had four separate meetings with him in the last three months. I'm sure that he did have some business with my father from time to time, but he's made a lot more money in the Middle East than he ever could have made financing a newspaper, would n't you say? I mean, if you believe half the rumors about his time in Kuwait --'' 
 
 Two hands slam onto the countertop. `` Are you calling me a liar?'' 
 
 He laughed; the noise and tremor meant nothing to him, not after this last week. `` Oh, do n't worry. I have evidence. I even have video of my procuring that evidence. And I have Uncle Ronnie at a bank right now, putting all that information in a safe deposit box.'' 
 
 The older man's face turns the color of his hair. `` What....what are you --'' 
 
 `` Really, Grandfather, did n't Heinrich teach you anything? Or the movies, for that matter? I mean, who keeps such damning evidence in the top drawer of that big oak desk in the study? The firing notice from the newspaper's one thing; the maintenance guide to a 2009 model Nissan, with the pages discussing the brakes are another; the brochure to a boarding school in Colorado's a third; but all of them together, one stacked upon another?'' He speaks again, stopping the older man mid-sentence. `` And there's the bottom drawer with the false bottom, with the local elementary school's yearbook. Tell me, Grandfather, do you know any of the parents of any of those children? Any of them, not just the ones circled in blue Sharpie.'' 
 
 He stands up, wiping his mouth with a napkin before stepping out. `` So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to continue living at home, and you'll continue living in your disgusting little house of horrors. If I dislike any particular change in my routine, or if he fails to hear from me for more than three consecutive days, or if you just happen to piss either of us off, then Uncle Ronnie takes the contents of that safe deposit box to the police. There's another box in another bank in another state specifically for Mr. Heinrich. You do n't even want to know what's in that box.'' 
 
 He walks away, but stops just before the door. `` Oh, you've got the check, right?'' 
 
 [ Author's note: I liked the prompt, though I blurred the line on the kid's age a little. Keep'em coming! ]
