“You wanna watch a movie with me, Bails?”
“Okay,” I muttered in a soft voice and he motioned to the family room.
I grabbed the plate of food and made my way into the family room setting it down on the coffee table as I pressed the remote at the TV. As it flared to life, Coop walked in and zipped up his hoodie, but it still rode up a little showing his toned abs as he leaned forwards to put down two cans of soda on the table and a few packets of chips and candy.
My eyes roamed unapologetically, and his amused smile met my eyes when I raised my eyes to his. It didn’t quite meet his eyes though and the pain he was trying so hard to hide set my teeth on edge.
He sat down and stared at the TV.
“So, what are you in the mood for, Bails?” he asked, turning towards me and my heart stopped for a moment because his lips brushed mine. I’d leaned forwards to grab a soda, but it slipped from my grasp as our lips connected. He gasped and pulled back, shaking his head. He muttered, “Sorry,” before turning back to the TV.
He picked some sort of dystopian action movie about a girl fighting for survival. The premise didn’t interest me, and I focused on eating and maintaining a distance with Coop. I was grateful it was Friday, but I knew I needed to get a ride back to school to get my car the following day. I wondered whether to ask Coop if he could take me, but I wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.
His hand inched closer to me. The girl in the movie was hot. His finger was now touching my skin. Should I move my hand or just leave it there?
I thought as he caressed the skin gently and then stopped, laying his thumb on my open palm. He didn’t speak during the movie and eventually, I was sucked in by the storyline. He smiled at me as I shifted, unintentionally moving closer to him. As I tried to shift again, just at the end of the movie, my fingers grazed his hip, and he sucked in a sharp breath. He turned his gaze to me as I glanced over at him.
The lust in his eyes was palpable and I almost moved closer to him, but his eyes widened, and I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Jan standing there. She lost it and color flooded her cheeks.
“I tell you my parents are making me abort our baby and you are here getting cozy with your stepsister. Guess life is good for you.”
Her words, laced with venom made me freeze as Coop shot over the back of the sofa and went to her.
“It’s not what it looks like, she was helping me deal.”
His voice was low and desperate, and I couldn’t listen to him plead with her any longer. I walked in a daze towards the stairs and climbed up to my room. She was pregnant! He’d slept with her and gotten her knocked up! My head swam around and around with that and it made my chest ache.
I didn’t want to sleep in my bed, or my closet because that was next to him and my closet reminded me too much of him, so I decided to go to sleep in the downstairs guest room. I grabbed my cell and bear from my room, before heading downstairs.
As I walked, I heard them arguing and I wanted to escape. I needed to get the hell out of the house. I couldn’t stand being there, but I had no car and nowhere to run to. I saw Coop’s keys sitting on the counter and I didn’t think. I grabbed some shoes and shoved my feet into them, and then scooped the keys from the counter running for the garage. It was still wild outside, but I couldn’t spend another minute in the house.
I unlocked the car and climbed in, adjusting the seat before opening the garage. I drove down the road without a destination in mind and when I began to feel tired, I rooted around, coming up with a crisp twenty dollar bill, so I stopped at a gas station, picking up cans of Red Bull and putting fuel in the car. As I cranked the first one open my cell began ringing. I glanced over at it, saw it was Coop, and ended the call.
I decided to drive to my old home, and maybe visit Leah and Alice, but then as I drove, I decided I wanted to go to visit Louis. I hadn’t been in a while and I’d never needed my big brother like I did then. I drove around for a while and when it finally hit six a.m., I drove into the cemetery. As I reached his grave, my heart sank. I didn’t even have flowers, but I wanted to see him.
My granddad was there tending to Louis’s grave with a waterproof coat on.
“Granddad,” I murmured, and he looked up with a sad smile on his face.
“Bailey, my girl. How are you?” I smiled at him and moved towards him, wrapping my arm around his waist as I took in Louis’s grave.
“I’m… I’m okay,” I spoke, but a jagged pain shot through me and my granddad looked down at me in concern.
“You want to visit with this old man and your grandma? She’d love to see you.” I nodded feeling my face lift in a genuine smile. We walked over to Coop’s car, and my cell was going crazy. My granddad took in the name and handed it to me. “It’s your stepbrother, sweetie.”
I knew I didn’t have a choice but to answer it, so I stepped out of the car, answering the call as the wind picked up causing the line to whistle.
“Bailey, where are you? Where the fuck is my car?” His angry voice sounded oddly broken as the wind whistled.
“Your car is fine, it’s with me and I’ll be back with it later.” I spoke to him coldly, and he went completely crazy.
“Bailey, you can’t steal people’s cars. I have stuff I need to do today. Come back now,” he screamed at me.
“No,” I hissed and ended the call. I sent him a text telling him I’d be back soon, but I wasn’t more specific than that. I pressed the button to turn off my cell and climbed into the car.
As we headed towards their house, my granddad made idle chitchat, asking about school, the weather, and my summer plans. He also asked about Coop, Zane, and Shawn. He didn’t ask about Mom, but he wasn’t likely to since my dad was his son and they’d backed him to the hilt when my dad had left my mom. He didn’t mention my dad and I didn’t ask about him.
When we reached their house, he directed me where to park and I parked behind his Buick. He told me as we parked up that he liked to walk to the cemetery to clear his head sometimes He led me into the house where my grandma squealed in delight at seeing me. She lamented how thin I was and promptly went into the kitchen to make food. My stepbrother and sister on my dad’s side took up most of the space on the walls. They looked so big and happy. I saw a photo of my dad and his wife with them and I stopped looking.
“You miss your dad?” my granddad asked, and I shrugged.
“Not really. I’m just upset I missed out on these two growing up I guess.” My granddad nodded and led me into the kitchen where I sat on the counter and watched him and my grandma dance around the kitchen. Their love was so easy, and they’d been married for over fifty years. It made my heart hurt to see how happy they were.
I glanced at the table and when I looked back up, they were both looking at me in concern. My grandma set a plate on the table filled with bacon, eggs, cornbread, and fried bread. She also set a coffee mug and the pot beside me. As I poured myself a large coffee, she sat down beside me and my granddaddy sat on the other side of me. We sat in silence and ate for a while. The only sounds were the old grandfather clock in the kitchen and the creak of the wooden swing, just visible through the window over the sink.
I glanced around as I finished eating, taking in the new pine cabinets and pale-yellow walls. There were sunny pictures over the walls and noticed that it was the same yellow and white checkered tablecloth that covered the small dining table we were sitting at. Even though the colors of the walls had changed, the place was warmly familiar to me. I sipped my coffee, thankful for the nectar of the gods because I was bone tired.