Chapter 31
31
MALICE
T hanksgiving comes and goes. I took the initiative and FaceTimed my parents after the guys from my team, Josh, Rue, and her crew, and Leigh and Sorrow volunteered at the food bank, serving up a full affair, five-course Thanksgiving dinner to the underserved in our community.
I don’t know about the rest of the guys, but seeing the gratefulness and happiness on the people’s faces, including more children than I realized were in need, opened my eyes to how much I have. I’ve been an ungrateful son of a bitch, and it’s time I changed my ways.
“Malice, Son, it’s nice to hear from you. How are things?”
“Good, Dad.” I give him the condensed version of how Rue and Leigh are finding things to do in Cambridge and Delridge for my teammates and me.
They’re having dinner at Cillian McCabe’s huge estate in the Bay Area. With them are Seven’s parents, Cillian’s daughter, Blaise, and, low and behold, Leigh’s friend, “Mad” Maddox Stassi.
What a small world. One of my best friends is related to someone with ties to the Irish mob. And my parents and Seven’s folks are having dinner with this dangerous crowd. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I’m to stay out of trouble, yet they’re courting it by doing business with the mob.
“Were there any dogs that caught your attention?” Mom asks.
We signed up for volunteer shifts at the local shelter. Rue and I take the dogs out for their daily walks or pup cups in my brand-new truck. It’s one of my favorite things to do with her after school.
“There is one. She’s the sweetest. Half husky, half German Shepherd.”
“A Shepsky? She’ll be a troublemaker but the most loyal dog.”
I’ve always pictured a dog in my life, but the uncertainty of not knowing where I’ll be after graduation stopped me from making that kind of commitment.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling.” Rue crowds into me from behind and waves at my parents.
“Hi, Rue,” my parents say in unison.
“We love your weekly reports. Malice is making great progress.”
“He is. Tell them how well you’re doing in class. You forgot to mention the parts about you, Trace, and Seven helping the old folks get to and from the store and the pharmacy. Or that you’re helping whittle down the single mothers’ honey-do list. And what about the other good stuff? Tell, tell, tell.” She claps her hands with each “tell.” This girl.
I shake my head and smile. My parents laugh.
Before Rue came back into my life, I would have kept everything from my parents, including the “good stuff,” as she calls how I help the people in my community.
But seeing the pride in my father’s eyes and my mom’s bright smile has me telling them more in ten minutes than I’ve done when they were home for two weeks straight, the longest they were home this year.
I also share with them my time spent with my friends and Rue’s crew. They ask about Sorrow. My parents are close to Trace’s parents.
“We went over to Trace’s last weekend for dinner. Sorrow is quiet. Trace is helping her open up more. He’s good to her.”
What I leave out is the palpable tension between those two. Like me and Rue, they are playing their own version of the hate game. Eventually, their dislike and attraction for one another will come to a head, and they’ll have to decide whether to take the heat between them all the way to the finish line or go their separate ways.
I live in the moment, but the future is fast approaching, and we’ll have to decide sooner rather than later whether to stay together or go our separate ways after graduating.
I concentrate on listening to my mother’s story about how Seven’s parents helped Blaise and Maddox find a missing girl. A successful story in what could have been a tragic one. The girl was found alive and unharmed.
“That’s great news, Mom. Any word about the fire?”
How Rue came to be in my life again.
“Arson. Someone plugged a space heater into an extension cord and cranked the temperature up. Accelerant was poured on the wood floor.”
“I’m sorry. I should have stuck around the house and kept an eye on everyone.”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty, Malice. We’re just grateful no one was hurt and that the fire was contained to the upper floor.”
“What will happen with the house?”
“We’ll rebuild after the investigation is complete.”
“Do they have a suspect?” Rue asks. “Do you have cameras around the property?” Rue watches a shit ton of true crime shows.
“The cameras were shot out by a BB gun a few nights before the fire.”
“Makes sense,” Rue says. “A shot from a regular gun would be too noisy. How many cameras?”
“Five.”
She shakes her head. “Premeditated. Did the detective look at store footage or ask around for information on someone buying a space heater?”
“Good thinking, Rue. They did. Unfortunately, there’s a run on heaters during this time of the year.”
“Darn.”
“Yes.” My mother shares Rue’s sentiments.
“They’re looking into other leads.” Dad sticks his face back in the view of the camera. “Gold pellets were found on the ground. The auto store carries BB gun pellets, and so does the feed store in McMillan. Those are the only two places near here.”
“Will you let us know what they find?” Rue says with a strange look on her face. She purses her lips, and her eyebrows slant toward her nose. Rue is either worried or thinking awfully hard.
“We will,” Mom responds. “Do you two have plans tonight?”
“We’re going over to Leigh’s and having ourselves a scare fest.”
There’s a confused expression on my mom’s face.
“We plan on binge-watching horror movies,” I say.
Understanding dawns on Mom’s face. She cringes. Mom does not like scary movies. They give her nightmares. She prefers rom-coms. “You two have fun.”
“We will. Stay safe out there,” I tell them. “I love you.”
“We love you too, Malice. It was great talking to you and Rue, Son. Don’t be a stranger. Call and text as often as you would like. We’ll do the same. I admit we’ve been bad at keeping in touch, trusting you can take care of yourself, and that you prefer we not be in your business.”
Dad assumed wrongly.
“I like talking to you and Mom and hearing about your businesses and travels.”
Mom tears up. My throat tightens. Oh, shit, I’m going to cry.
“Should we be home more, Malice?”
“If it fits with your schedule.”
“Son, stop conceding. It’s a simple yes or no.”
“Yes,” I admit. “I would love to see more of you and Mom. Soon, I’ll be out of the house and see you less often than now. You’re my parents. You’re good people who love and spoil me rotten, and I’ve been a jerk for taking advantage and then blaming my failures on your being gone and not being here for me.”
Everything I bottled up from my freshman year, when they started traveling more, spills from my mouth.
Small arms wrap around my waist from behind. Rue rests her head on my shoulder and holds my big body tight to her small one.
“Aw, Son, I didn’t realize our absence affected you so much.”
“How could you?” I ask. “You two aren’t mind readers. I should have spoken up instead of acting out at school and on and off the field.”
“Your mom and me will do better, Son. Can you give us another chance?”
My parents look at me with hope in their eyes. I nod and dash aside a tear running down my face.
“Thank you, Malice,” Mom says. “We can return home as soon as tomorrow. Say the word, and we’ll catch the next flight home.”
“The house?—”
“We can stay in Dumas.”
“It won’t be the same. I’m fine with your original return date if we can FaceTime more often.”
“Sounds like a good plan, Son.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up. I turn into Rue’s touch. I thank her for being here with me and for putting up with my emotional breakdown.
“You’re more beautiful when you cry, Malice.” She cradles my face in her palm and looks at me with an emotion I refuse to acknowledge. Acknowledging that Rue loves me will have me admitting my truth.
I love Rue Lee, and that thought scares me shitless.