Chapter 3
Séamus “Shea”
After eating, I give her different socks to wear with her still wet tennis shoes. Giving me a dirty look, she heads to the chicken coop with me. I have her collect the eggs while I refresh the bedding and give the flock new water and feed.
For all her complaining that she hates chickens, it doesn’t take long for her to start cooing to them. She even picks up a couple of the little ones.
Her mother is a manipulative conniving bitch.
Always was, always will be. But I thought she at least cared a little about her youngest daughter.
Cheating her out of her college fund just burns me.
Chris said they looked like the American dream family from the outside, but they were a shitshow on the inside.
Each of the siblings had a different dad. Their mom cheated on all of her husbands, trying to score a bigger paycheck, a grandeur house, nicer cars, larger diamonds.
Chris and I were the same age, give or take a couple months, ten years older than Cady, and five years older than Noelle, the middle sister.
He swore Noelle came out of the womb as demanding, manipulative, and whiny as his mother.
I thought his rants were just a brother sister thing.
For years she showed me a different side.
He and I met freshman year of high school.
He was doing everything he could to stay away from his home while I was doing the same with my drunk old man.
Miss Martha Palmer, student counselor, former history teacher, put us both in our place.
She took me in when my dad killed himself in a car accident and that put both Chris and I on the right path.
She mothered and molded him as much as me.
Chris hoped Noelle would grow up and mature from dating me. He warned me not to let his mom use me. And most important, always wrap it. A few months before he died, he told me not to take any shit off Noelle.
The day he died, we were coming off two months of intense back-to-back battles. We’d lost more friends in those two months than the whole eleven years before. Morale was low. It was around that time he made me promise to always look out for Cady, she was the best of them.
I haven’t done that. I haven’t kept my promise. I’ve been holed up on this mountain, licking my wounds, both physical and mental. Now here she is seeking refuge in the same place where Chris and I did so many years ago. Martha, I hope you’re looking down. Give me insight.
I need to man up and move on. Cady needs the brother I promised I’d be. “You done playing with those chickens you hate so much?”
“This one’s nice.”
“It’s a Lavender Orpington. They’re actually pretty friendly to people. No, you are not bringing it in the house.”
She huffs. “I always wanted a pet. Mom wouldn’t even let me have a goldfish.”
“What pet would you have gotten?”
“A Rottie.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Bold. Daring. Smart.”
“Calm, gentle and loyal. All in one gorgeous package.”
I laugh. Yes, she is. “Come on, let’s get back to the house while we still can.”
The snow is still coming down so I send her inside while I grab more firewood. The generator tanks are full, but I know that winter can be draining. Weather report said this storm front could last a few days, maybe a week. Definitely through the holiday.
“I’m a simple cook, nothing fancy. How about grilled chicken, french fries, and salad?”
“Sounds great to me. Depending on what’s in your cupboard I could make sugar cookies or something.”
“Make yourself at home.”
We work well together, both of us just doing our thing. We’re halfway through dinner when it dawns on me, “Does your mother know where you are?”
“I doubt it. Probably hasn’t even noticed I’m not there.”
“Did you tell her where you were going? Leave a note?”
She shakes her head. “Shea, you’re talking about my mother.
The less she sees me the happier she is.
Since I’m not a shopaholic like Noelle and Mom’s already squandered my college money, she’s basically had nothing to do with me and won’t miss me or care.
Now that number seven has left, she’s probably too busy out hunting down her next mark. ”
“Chris really thought you were living on campus and away from home. Some of your letters to me talked about campus life.”
“I did the first year and a half. It was great. Second year, second semester is when I found out about the money. I got a part time job and stayed till the end of the semester. I was waiting to tell Chris until you guys came home for the holidays…. Oh god, he won’t be here. He won’t be coming home.”
Her voice cracks. Shoving back her chair, she rushes up the stairs to the loft. Finding a box of tissues, I follow her.
Laying crossways on the bed, her sobs are breaking what’s left of my own heart. Scooping her into my arms, I settle on the bed, leaning back against the headboard, and feed her tissues as the tears pour down. I’m choking back my own. “I miss him too, babe. I miss him every fucking day.”
Long minutes after her tears subside, she whispers against my chest. “I have to pee.”
I laugh. “It’s colder up here than I remember. I can feel a draft from one of the widows that I’ll need to fix. Let’s relocate you downstairs. You can have the bed. I’ll take the couch.”