Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Yosh
Twilight is still in full glory when we settle into the lounge. Samira approaches with a tray of drinks.
“Hi, Doctor Aoki. Mister McKenna. Could I offer the two of you a cold glass of ginger water?”
“That would be great.” I give her a warm smile before nodding at her bandaged thumb. “How’s it feeling?”
She stretches her arm and flexes her fingers. “A bit annoying when serving, but I’m managing.”
“Good. Be careful with it. I’m proud of my Frankenstein work.”
She giggles and sets down the glasses of ginger water. Tom offers a quick thanks before lifting his drink. He takes a sip as he watches Samira move to the next table. His eyes shoot to me.
“So, she was your emergency yesterday, huh?”
I nod. “She was.”
“That’s one pretty-looking emergency.”
Leaning back in his chair, he swirls his glass before taking another sip. “I figured you were the ‘saving damsels in distress’ type.”
That’s why you’re in front of me.
“She cut her thumb on broken glass, Tom. It wasn’t a fairytale rescue.”
“Still. You dropped moi to help her.”
I give him a look. “Don’t even start, McKenna.”
“You’re no fun. But okay, I get it. Being here isn’t supposed to be fun.”
I try to keep my cool. At this rate, Tom McKenna is going to give me a heart attack.
No, probably not the best thing to joke about considering Tom had a cardiac arrest not long ago.
I put down the glass and cross my legs.
“So, Tom, why did you create so much chaos this morning?”
His jaw tightens. Something tells me he hoped it had all been forgiven. Or better yet, forgotten.
Well, that’s not how this works.
He inspects the night sky. “It’s not easy for me to open up. I’m used to keeping my thoughts and feelings locked away. I’m always surrounded by people, but I won’t let anyone get too close.”
Right. Basic math after this morning, but it's brave that he dares to admit it out loud.
“Jay always taught us that no one outside of our family can be trusted. That they will use our words against us. So I learned to always hide my affairs and keep control. I know it’s not an excuse, but I think that’s why I did what I did this morning.”
I watch how he’s fixed on the stars like they’re going to whisper in his ear what to do. There’s truth in his voice. The first knot tangled in years of conditioning is loosening. That went surprisingly easy.
“I know,” I say softly. “When trust has always felt like something dangerous, it’s hard to let go of that.”
I meet his vulnerability with my own. It isn’t difficult; he speaks a language I know by heart.
“I want to show you it doesn’t have to stay that way. With me, you’ll have a safe space to be yourself. Whatever we talk about stays between us. Erin won’t know. Jay won’t know. No one will.”
Trusting me is a terrifying bridge to cross. He thinks for a moment, then exhales and lets the tension go.
“It’ll take time. But I’ll try. I want to try.”
“I’m happy to hear that, Tom.”
I give him a moment to reflect. I don’t want to disturb whatever’s happening inside him, but there’s an opening here we can use to move forward.
“You mentioned Jay. Who is he to you?”
His first reaction is a cynical laugh.
Instinctive responses like that reveal more than whatever story comes afterward. Words are chosen, instinct is not.
Tom presses his palms against his eyes and slides them down his face.
“Jay is my brother. He’s everything to me.”
“What do you mean when you say everything?”
“From as far back as I can remember, Jay was the one taking care of me. Our mother…well, staying in one place was never her thing. She comes from a family of travelling showpeople and settling? Nah, impossible. But I get the constant urge to chase something new. I guess it’s in me too.”
The tension in his face softens as he talks.
“So yeah, I don’t blame her for running. But it was shit for Jay and my sister Cheryl. They had to pick up the pieces and take care of me.”
“And your father?” I ask carefully.
“My father was—surprise, surprise—an alcoholic. He disappeared to the pub every night after his shift at the docks. He wasn’t a bad man, just… drunk. He was never there.”
Tom flicks the memory away with a wave of his hand. He’s riding the spilling wave now, so I sit back and listen.
“The old man never provided for us. He died when I was… ten? I don’t remember. Fell with his drunken head between a ship and the quay. I’ll spare you the details, but he wasn’t a big loss in our lives.”
He clears his throat before continuing. “Well, the point is that Jay and my sister Cheryl acted like my parents from the time I was six. Jay was just a kid himself, but he took care of us. He never stopped, not even when we became famous. He made sure we were safe from the sharks in the music industry who tried to take advantage of us. He gave up his own music career to manage us so we could develop ourselves.”
The respect in Tom’s voice runs deeper than simple admiration.
“I’ll owe him for the rest of my life, but making him proud is hard sometimes.”
Hmm. That sounds like he’s caught between holding onto his own identity and living up to his brother’s expectations. Painfully familiar.
Jay sounds like an incredible person, but he had to grow up too fast, and a child being a parent? That twists the whole family dynamic.
“Jay means a lot to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow his way of doing things. You need to know you’re free to find your own way. Maybe it’s time to discover who you are beyond Jay’s protection.”
I watch Tom’s waterlines fill as he looks away. That’s enough for today.
I switch to small talk. Tom lets me. Tomorrow will give us a new day.