On the drive over, I did my best to put on a happy smile. Jade was waiting outside, her phone in hand, and by the look on her face I knew it had already happened. He’d already canceled.
Stepping up to the side of my truck, she held out her phone and gave it a little shake. “At least he didn’t leave us sitting somewhere waiting for over an hour before breaking the news.” I could tell she was hiding her disappointment. Jade was slightly older than me, by less than two years. She and I have always been close and I had a hard time not wanting to protect her. When she hurt it pissed me off, and the truth was she had been hurt a lot. Not just by my father but by every guy she’s been with. She was a magnet for douches.
“Burgers?” I give her a little nod of my head, signaling for her to climb on up.
A slow smile formed on her lips. “And shakes?”
There was one thing about my sister though, no matter how many times she’d been knocked down, she always managed to get back up.
“Yeah, and shakes.”
***
After we ate, Jade and I played a round of goofy golf and then I dropped her back at her apartment. I still felt uncomfortable leaving her alone and wished more than anything that she would move closer to me. The place was rundown, and the safety of the surrounding area was still questionable. Though she would ensure me over and over than it was a great place with good neighbors, I still was not convinced.
Pulling up to the house, I noticed that things seemed quiet and I was thankful. Love the guys, honestly, they were the closest things to family I had besides Jade. But sometimes they could be a little much.
Climbing the front steps, I heard a giggle and looked to my left to see Isaac snuggled up in the corner with a blonde. Choosing to ignore their activities, I slipped inside unnoticed and started for the stairs.
“Hot date?”
I almost missed Blake as she rounded the corner wearing a huge t-shirt and socks pulled all the way up to her knees. I had to laugh. I still found it hard to imagine her and Elijah together―I mean she was the size of one of his legs and together they were like night and day. She was pint size.
Wearing his clothes only highlighted the size difference between the two of them.
“I met up with Jade.”
She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. “She’s hot.”
Another thing about Blake was since she met Elijah she had truly come out of her shell. I remember the first time I met her she was so shy and timid. Fuck, now she was right there in the center of all the havoc. The instigator of most of the crazy, and as far as the best pranks, she may truly hold the crown. No one underestimated her, but it never stopped any of us from trying to outwit her.
Note: we all failed miserably at every attempt.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Who’s our target?” A devious smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“You’re warped,” I said, chuckling as I leaned against the doorframe.
“I wasn’t, until I met all you fools.”
“I think you were always a deviant, you just needed us to awaken the beast.” I dared her to argue but she didn’t, instead she waited for me to continue. For a few seconds I wondered if I should just keep my troubles to myself but if anyone knew about shitty parents, it was Blake.
“Can I ask you something?” Normally that would trigger a smart ass comment, an opening for a dig on her part. But instead she gave me nothing more than a simple nod. My face must have expressed that I was completely serious. “I know that during all that shit with your mom, you played it off.” Blake leaned back against the railing of the stairs and crossed her arms over her chest. I didn’t want to bring up the shit of her past but truth was I didn’t know who else to ask. “On the outside it was almost like nothing was happening, like your life didn’t suck ass.”
A small smile tugged at her lips and I felt relief that I had not brought up things that would get my ass kicked by Elijah.
“I worry about Jade.” My heart ached. “Our father is an ass, pretends to care but in reality he looks at us like we’re disposable. Toss some money our way and it makes all the disappointments okay. Our mom, she’s worthless.” That did not even begin to describe her. “She insists that she’s okay. But how do I know? How do I see when she’s not?”
The one thing I didn’t see in Blake’s eyes was pity. That alone was the biggest reason why I’d chosen not to share my life and my turmoils. But all I saw when she looked at me was understanding.
“Jade is tough.” I knew this. “But you’re right, she won’t admit when she’s hit bottom and she won’t admit when things have gotten to her. That’s because she’s doing the same thing for you that you are doing for her. She’s staying strong. Maybe it’s time you share your feelings with her just as she should share hers with you. You have something I never had. You have someone who knows exactly what you’re going through and have gone through for years. Accept that and lean on each other.”
I let her words sink in.
“I’ll be the first to tell you that having someone to lean on is a hell of a lot better than being on your own, feeling lonely, and even scared. It took me a lot longer than it should have to realize that.”
Chapter Eight
Ruby
“I can’t believe how grown up you are.” Vera rounded the small table we sat at in the corner of Starbucks and placed a coffee before us both. “You look just like she did in college.”
My eyes clouded with tears as I thought back to the days when my mother was alive and vibrant. I wished I’d known her then, before my father. Granted, she showered me with love daily but I know that there was always a part of her that held back. My father despised chaos and unpredictability.
“So law?” I instantly shied away and Vera knew me well enough to detect what my avoidance of the topic meant. “I will never understand that man and his need to control everyone and everything around him.”
Me neither.
“I remember him and your mother butting heads almost daily. Something as simple as what they would have for dinner or what the thermostat should be set on for the summer. It was so hard to bite my tongue, which is why I kept my distance on most days. I only managed to set him off more.”
“Which is exactly why when I left this morning and he asked me my plans, I left out the part where I was meeting you for coffee.”
She didn’t look hurt, or even surprised by my declaration.
“Your father knows I’m here.” Repositioning herself on her chair, she rested her elbows on the table and curled her hands around the base of the cup. “I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you.” There was a sadness in her eyes as she stared down at her hands, avoiding eye contact. “I think you should tell him that you’ve no interest in pursuing law and that you have your own dreams.”
I laughed sarcastically, shaking my head in disbelief. “Yeah, sure, I’ll take care of that tonight.” Was she insane? Telling my father anything was impossible. He didn’t listen. It was his way, there was no other way in his eyes.
“So you’re going to allow him to dictate every single thing in your life, the way he did your mother’s?” This had gone so quickly from light-hearted to serious. I wasn’t sure I was ready to take on this topic. Somehow avoiding it, ignoring that every day I felt this large lump form in my stomach the very second I stepped inside any of my classrooms made the impending future easier to accept.