Chapter Thirteen
Jake
The Next Day
As I flip on the television, I slump down into the sofa. The station I turn to plays the local pro baseball team’s game, and the familiar voices and sounds relax me. I’ve driven over every street and adjacent country road near Brookhaven, chatting and catching up with everyone who was outside.
At some point, I’m guessing there was a message chain alerting the next neighbor that I was headed their way because there were more people milling around outside than were present for the last homecoming parade I attended.
A few more potholes dot the roadways, with patched areas that already need redone. The town needs to investigate a grant and a potential sales tax increase to improve the streets.
There’s one spot on Main Street where a piece of asphalt has cracked off, leaving a jagged edge with a flowerpot sprayed around it. I have no doubt that Rosemarie decorated the blemish to alert unaware drivers, but also to shove it in the city people’s faces that they need to do their jobs.
When my doorbell rings, I jump, blinking my eyes open and bolting upright. The television is blaring an insurance commercial, and its pitch-black outside except for the faint glow of the neighbor’s streetlight through my living room window.
I climb out of my seat while turning the television off and make my way to the door. Before I grasp the door handle, the bell chimes again.
“Hold on.” I glance down at my bare chest and spin back around, snatching my discarded T-shirt off the back of the sofa.
“Jake?” Xavier’s voice is muffled from the other side of the door as he pounds on the wood. “It’s me, Xavier.”
I slip the shirt over my head and chuck the door open. “Hey.”
Xavier smirks while leaning against the doorframe. “Shouldn’t you have checked to see if it was really me before opening the door? I could’ve been a robber.” He arches his eyebrows. “Haven’t you heard of those voice recorder devices that can change how you sound?”
“You’re an idiot.” I step out of the way. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.” He chuckles and smacks my arm. “I couldn’t resist giving our newest cop a hard time. Do you remember the time we TP’d Chief Carter’s place?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” I cringe as some of my misspent youth’s antics shift through my brain. I try to forget my earlier misdeeds as much as possible. “We’re lucky we didn’t get caught.”
He crosses his arms over his broad chest. “I don’t think we were lucky. I think Chief Carter was waiting for us to do something worse. You should ask him about it.”
“I’m not asking him about it. If he didn’t know it was us, I don’t want to bring attention to our immature bullshit.” I shut the door behind him.
Thankfully, we never did anything worse. Despite the TP incident, and that time we burnt an old outhouse in the middle of the four-way stop, we were decent kids. Sure, we drank underage, and we might’ve gotten into a few fights over girls, but that’s the limit to our criminal activities.
Xavier glances around the room. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“Nah, I was watching television.” Heat creeps up my cheeks as I smile. “Okay, I was asleep with the television on.”
“Shit, man, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I can come back another night.”
“No.” I wave my hand toward the sofa. “Go ahead and have a seat. Let’s shoot the shit.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “I must admit. I got intrigued when you said you were renovating.”
“I’d think you’d get tired of working on houses all day.” I fold my arms over my chest.
“Never.” He grins with his signature cocky grin.
The front of his T-shirt displays the logo for his father’s company, along with dust and other smeared debris. There are matching streaks on his jeans, and the tops of his work boots are scuffed from manual labor.
“I love this shit.” His eyes crinkle at the corners, showing off the line of dirt where his safety glasses were. “There’s something about taking a used and discarded building or piece of furniture and watching it come back to life. Do you mind if I look around?”
“Sure. No problem.” I point to the fireplace. “The previous owners resurfaced the bricks to the fireplace, put up new sheetrock, and woodwork in this room.” I walk over to the windows. “And replaced the windows. They’re triple pane for energy efficiency.”
“These are top of the line.” He taps his knuckle against the windowpane.
I chuckle. “It’s the only energy-efficient room in the house. You should’ve seen the bedroom before I started working on it. The curtains flew straight during a stiff breeze.”
“No wonder you don’t have a girl over.”
“Yeah.” I frown. Like that’s the reason.
He follows me into the kitchen, laundry room, downstairs bathroom, and then we travel to the second floor.
“The stairs are sturdy.” Xavier rocks back and forth on the top step.
“I haven’t noticed any weak spots.” I brace my hand on the banister and attempt to shake it back and forth. Nothing happens. “The framework is solid. It just needs a good updating.” He takes everything in as we travel toward the master bedroom. “I’ve gutted the room and replaced the windows.”
“Nice work.” He runs his hand over the braces, looking for deficiencies. When he doesn’t find any, he drags his cell phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll round the boys up, and we can knock this room out this weekend.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’ll take me a bit, but I’ll get it done.”
“Stop.” He raises his empty hand, palm facing toward me. “This is Brookhaven. Or have you forgotten? We’re here to help our neighbors. We get off on that shit.” He flexes his pecs and biceps. “Besides. It’s a good way for all of us to show off our muscles.”
“To whom? I’m the only one here.” I laugh at his flexing.
“Ple-e-ease.” He winks. “Ruby lives two houses down. She’s friends with Bella and Emily. There are always girls around. Ten to one odds that they’ll bring over refreshments if they know we’re working.”
“Yeah, right. Emily wouldn’t bring over water to put me out if I were on fire.”
“Son.” Xavier grabs my shoulder with a wink. “I think you’re wrong, and I’m willing to bet you a twelve-pack on it.”
I don’t bother arguing with him. He didn’t hear how relieved she was that Kaleb showed up when I was staying with her mother.