Keller and Callahan

Chapter 9

Sam attempted to open his eyes as he felt the morning sun creep through the window, only to find his right eye was swollen shut. He started to panic until his left eye squinted open and saw Olivia curled up against him, and all the memories of the previous night rushed back to him. His entire face hurt like hell, and yet he felt as if he was floating on a cloud holding Olivia in his arms. She was sleeping so soundly, taking deep, even breaths, with her head resting gently on his chest and her arm draped across his middle. Her blonde hair was a mess of waves that were splayed across the pillow, and her face was the picture of peace.

Laying in the silence of the morning, after such an intense night, things began to shift more clearly in Sam’s mind. Olivia had been his best friend for years, the relationship they shared was special.

Sacred.

He had absolutely no doubt that she felt the same way in that regard. But Sam had held deeper feelings for her for years. And his fear of complicating their friendship had held him back from expressing them to her. But thinking back to how calmly and efficiently she took care of him last night, without judgment or a second thought, he felt that it was finally time to tell her how he felt about her. How there was never a minute that went by where she didn’t occupy his mind, and how she was the only one who knew all his secrets and still continued to care about him through all the darkness of them.

And how he cherished her more than anything else.

Without thinking, he took his free hand and brushed the hair off her face, causing her to stir. “Morning,” he said with all the smile he could muster through his busted lip as he looked down at her.

“Hmm, morning,” she said lazily as she stretched out long with her eyes closed.

When she looked up into Sam’s eyes and saw the dried blood crusting his lip and his eye swollen shut, she gently reached up and touched his cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Never better.” And that wasn’t a lie, her touch had sent flames down his entire body, and he felt as if he might explode. Her exasperated laugh caused him to let out one of his own. “Liv, I need to tell you some –”

“Hey Livvy Girl, how about pancakes for –” her father’s voice sounded on the other side of the wall paired with his subsequent knock at the door as he pushed it open, causing Sam and Olivia to freeze.

Ray stopped short when he entered the room and took in the sight before him: Olivia in her tank top and night shorts, draped across Sam’s body, with the bedsheets tangled around them. His hands immediately clenched into fists at his sides before he took in the state of Sam’s face and took a deep breath.

“Ok. Normally I would be shouting and getting ready to kick your ass Callahan, but it looks like someone has already done that. And considering you”re both fully clothed, my heart rate is starting to drop a little. Someone explain. Now.”

Sam and Olivia exchanged a look and silently agreed to go with the truth. Sitting up in bed, Olivia crossed her arms in defense of Sam, ready to stand up to her father.

“Sam came over last night, after a run in with his dad. He didn’t want to stay in that house and I don’t blame him,” Olivia’s chin lifted an inch higher as she looked her father in his eyes, daring him to challenge her and relaxed a little once he released a sigh.

“Damn it. Ok.” He huffed out a breath as he placed his hands on his hips in resignation. “Well, why don’t you head down to breakfast and we’ll figure this out,” Ray said as he reached down to pick the melted bag of peas off the floor.

They scurried off the bed quickly and dashed down the stairs silently. Cursing under his breath, he wanted to throw something at the wall. He knew things at the Callahan house were rocky, but naively he didn’t realize they were this bad. Feeling his guilt creep in that he hadn’t stepped in sooner, Ray said a silent prayer for help to figure out how to deal with this.

Sam and Olivia shuffled around the kitchen and made their plates as they could hear Ray pacing around upstairs. As they sat down across from each other at the kitchen table, Olivia really looked at Sam’s face for the first time in the daylight. Trying to hide her feelings of fear for him, she put on a brave face and cringed on the inside. Parts of his face were starting to morph into deep, ugly colors of black and blue, where other parts were splattered red with dried blood.

“So, this is a stupid question, but how are you feeling?” Olivia asked as she took a bite of pancake.

“Sore. Really fucking sore. But I got the best night”s sleep I’ve had in weeks,” he said with a crooked smile as he looked at her from under his lashes and saw a flush cross her cheeks.

Gingerly digging into his pancakes, Sam savored the moment. Despite the mess that had happened the previous night, here he was, sitting at the breakfast table having Saturday morning pancakes with Olivia. If that wasn’t an omen after their conversation on the dock the previous night, he didn’t know what was. Looking at her as she took another bite of food, Ray came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Sam and Olivia shared a look over their forks and Olivia could see Sam visibly tense. She looked up at her fathers” face and could instantly tell how serious of a situation this was. There was a sense of intensity in the room and the look in her father’s eyes made her anxious. She very rarely saw him angry, his easy going attitude was one of her favorite qualities about him. But the look on his face was nothing other than fury.

“Well, first of all Sam, I’m really glad you felt comfortable enough to come here, but next time, use the front door and tell me what is going on. Even though I trust you both, I don’t love the idea of you being in bed with my daughter.”

“Dad –” Olivia’s cheeks flushed crimson as she was cut off with her father’s palm in the air.

“Moving on,” he settled his hands on his hips as he turned to his surrogate son. “Sam, I really feel we should inform the police about this and file a report.”

“Aww, Ray. I really wish you wouldn’t do that. It will probably spark a visit from CPS and I don’t want to have to deal with that again. Last time they came they were talking about placing me in a different home. This hasn’t happened in awhile, my father probably doesn’t even remember.” Sam pleaded to Ray with his eyes and even though Ray wanted the son of a bitch arrested, he decided to listen to the boy sitting in front of him.

“I really want to file one, Sam, but this one time I’ll respect your wishes. But I’m going to drive you back home and have a conversation, just for my own peace of mind. That is a non-negotiable.”

“I’m coming too,” Olivia stood up from the table.

“No,” both Ray and Sam said at the same time. Olivia shot Sam daggers that dared him to argue.

“You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’m going to stay here by myself while you face your dad. You don’t have to do it alone,” she propped her palms on the table top, determined to put up a fight.

Sam pierced her with a look so fierce, she felt goosebumps prickle across her skin. “No,” he said in a way that effectively ended the conversation.

The mere thought of Olivia, who embodied pure unadulterated goodness, to even be in the same room as his father and all his wickedness caused his whole body to shake in rage. He didn’t want her anywhere near his nastiness and he’d do anything to keep it that way.

“Let’s go,” Sam said with finality as he led the way to the front door. All Olivia could do was watch his strong back walk away with determination, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Ray’s truck bumbled down the road en route to the other side of town, and with each passing mile, his nerves grew tighter. His hands tightened on the steering wheel, pulsing in and out in efforts to control his anger. Over the years Sam had become like a son to Ray, and because he spent so much time at the campground, if he was honest with himself, he hadn’t given his homelife much thought because it seemed as if Sam didn’t spend very much time there. But Sam’s battered face indicated things had spiraled out of control, despite the lack of time he spent under that roof.

Sensing Ray’s anger, Sam was overcome with guilt. “I’m sorry to have dragged your family into my mess. You don’t deserve it.”

Sam kept his eyes out the window, unable to show Ray his fury. His hands were clenched in fists in his lap, and he felt it was taking all of his willpower to not smash them through the fucking truck window. The Kellers were the definition of kindness, selflessness, and goodness. They didn’t have anything to gain by taking in a mangy, lonely kid, but they did it because they cared. Taking him under their wing had changed Sam’s life, and he was forever in their debt, and he would be damned if he was going to let his asshole father bring them down with him.

“Sam,” Ray let out a whistle and continued on. “You’ve been our family for years, and I’m ashamed I haven’t had this conversation with your father sooner. I’m sorry for letting you down, Son.”

Sam peeled his eyes away from the window and looked at Ray. His father had used that word in the past, but it never meant anything, it usually came out in a sneer. But hearing it from Ray, it felt the way he always thought it should. That the word was said as a term of endearment and love. That it held weight. He felt his throat grow tight, and had to clear it in order to respond.

“Thank you for being the only family I’ve ever known,” he said as the truck pulled up to his tiny house.

Ray extended his hand and laid it on Sam’s shoulder and squeezed in a show of encouragement. Silently acknowledging each other, both men exited the truck and Ray followed Sam to the dilapidated front porch as he went to reach for the screen before it was thrown open from the other side.

“Samuel.” Greg declared as he entered the doorway and made his way onto the front porch.

He reeked of booze, and he was in the same dirty clothes he had been wearing the previous evening. He had dark bags underneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept, and had decided to just keep drinking instead. He positioned his body on the top step, intentionally establishing the aura of dominance.

“Now who do we have here?”

“Mr. Callahan, my name is Ray Keller, and I own Keller Campground over on the lake. Sam has been working for us for the past few years, and I thought it was time for me to introduce myself,” he reached out to shake Greg’s hand. Greg looked down at Ray’s extended hand in disgust and spat right off to the side of it.

Greg glared down at Ray, not moving an inch. “My boy is home now, you can leave.”

“I’m not going to leave until we have a conversation. I’m not under false pretenses of where his bruises came from. And I’m here to tell you that if it ever happens again, I will be pressing charges.” Ray crossed his arms in a stance of defiance.

“Are you threatening me?” Greg took a step down off the porch in Ray’s direction.

“Just telling you how it is,” Ray challenged, not moving an inch.

“Well, you can take your fancy truck, and your campground-owning ass back across the lake and leave us alone. He no longer works for you.”

“Dad!” Sam started towards him as Greg held his hand back at him as he took a step towards Ray. Sam looked on in angst as his father stumbled his way down the steps.

“We don’t need any of your rich people”s money, and we certainly don’t need any handouts. I’m the only man my son will take orders from, he’s no longer your concern.”

“Mr. Callahan, Sam has been our concern for almost a decade, and if you think we’re going to let him go that easily, you’re sorely mistaken,” Ray commanded as Greg got closer to his face.

Before his father could do anything Sam would regret, he stepped in between them.

“Dad, we’ll talk about this later – why don’t you go inside? Ray, I’ll see you tomorrow for the 4th,” he said as he shot a piercing look into Ray’s eyes. One that told Ray he had the situation under control – which was the only reason he felt comfortable enough leaving him. Not wanting to make things worse for Sam by angering Greg, Ray started to slowly back towards the truck.

“You call us if you need anything, and if you don”t show up tomorrow, I’ll come here looking for you.” Ray said this as a promise as he looked directly into Sam’s eyes.

“Yes sir,” Sam responded as he watched Ray make his way to this truck and drive away.

“Who does he think he is? Coming over here and giving me orders about my own flesh and blood? His sorry ass has another thing coming. I’ll show him no one has ownership over my boy but me,” Greg snarled as he lumbered his way back onto the porch and into the house.

Refusing to enter the house behind his father, Sam sat down on the bottom step of the porch and hung his head in his hands as he wondered how things could go to shit so fast.