Chapter 38 Tabitha #2
Dad stares Drew down to the point it makes my skin crawl.
Drew gestures at me. “How about you stop being so harsh to Tabitha?”
Dad frowns. “As her older brother, I would’ve thought you’d be more concerned about her being involved with an irresponsible hooligan. You know how those kinds of kids act, don’t you, Drew?”
The insult knocks the wind out of me.
Drew cracks his knuckles, accentuated by the chunky rings on his fingers.
Dad places his cup on the sideboard outside of his study. He then nods at Drew, gestures once more at the cup, and then disappears back into his study.
Drew scoffs and presses on my back as he turns away. “Come on, let’s go.”
Freddy moves into the living area, pulling on his varsity jacket. “Hey, are you guys ready to go?”
Drew smirks. “Now we are.”
Freddy notices the sideboard behind us. “Hey, is that Dad’s cup?”
Drew sniggers. “Yeah. He expects it to be refilled. Fat chance.”
Freddy steps forward. “I’ll do it.”
Drew holds him back. “Oh no, you don’t.”
Freddy struggles against Drew. “What’s the big deal? He’ll be happy once he gets it.”
“I don’t care.” Drew wrestles Freddy away from the sideboard. “We’re leaving.”
“It’ll take five minutes,” Freddy argues, pushing Drew backwards.
Corbin walks in from the hallway, taking in the spectacle. “What the heck is going on?”
“Corby,” Freddy rushes, maneuvering in Drew’s grip. “Go turn the tea kettle on for Dad.”
Drew smacks Freddy over the top of the head. “Are you insane? He’s likely to burn himself.” Drew snaps his fingers at Corbin and then gestures toward the garage. “Corbin, get in the car. Tabby, make sure he’s buckled in.”
I grab onto Corbin’s arm, hurrying him through the house. Despite hating the idea of babying him, I know—besides Freddy’s worship of our dad—Corbin’s slowness is likely to derail our getaway.
After some more man-handling, Drew walks Freddy to his car. Freddy continues to grumble, but Drew drowns him out by psyching Corbin up for bowling.
Freddy starts the car, and as we roll out of the driveway, he murmurs, “I just don’t get why I couldn’t get Dad what he wanted before we left.”
“Oh, shut up, Fred,” Drew and I say at once. Drew turns in his seat, sharing a look with me that makes us both laugh.
When we get to the bowling alley, Drew walks ahead of us, paying for our lane and gameplay.
It’s still weirding me out. If Drew ever had a sentimental bone in his body, it died years ago.
Now, here he is. Beat-up leather jacket, khaki commando-style trousers, heavy boots, and his long bleached hair in a messy topknot.
And he’s doing something cute for his siblings.
Bizarre.
As the attendant gets our rental shoes ready, I tap on the counter next to Drew’s hand. “You’re gonna have to shed the bling.”
Drew flexes his hand, which has three chunky rings on it. “Ha, ha.”
The four of us take our shoes to our designated bowling lane.
I wince at the inside of the shoes, wishing I had bought some kind of disinfectant spray with me.
Lord knows I’ve been spraying enough of the stuff on my hands recently.
I slip off my tennis shoes, hoping my socks provide a thick enough layer to protect my skin.
Corbin has latched himself onto Freddy, making him select his bowling ball for him. When I find my pretty fuschia colored ball, Drew is still sitting on his plastic seat with his boots on.
“Umm, hello,” I say, putting my bowling ball on the return rack in front of our lane. “If you’re supposed to be distracting me, you’ve gotta participate.”
“I am,” he says, reclined. “I brought everyone here. That’s worthy of a participation medal.”
“Pfft. No way, mister. Get yourself a bowling ball.”
“You serious?”
“Yes, doofus.” I wave my hand toward the rental balls. “Go select one and we’ll start playing.”
Corbin and Freddy return with their bowling balls, and Freddy punches our names into the scoring screen. Drew comes back too soon to have put much thought into his selection. But, oh, what the heck? He has a ball, and he’s gonna play.
It’s family night.
Kai’s with Jamie.
Ugh. No. don’t think about that. You’re with your brothers. This is fun.
Dad wants me to stay away from Kai.
Ugh, no. I’m having fun.
Corbin is already whining about there not being bumpers over the gutters. But he’s attaching himself to Freddy. He’s Freddy’s problem. Okay, this can still be fun despite the building headache.
Drew slips off his rings and offers them to me with a cupped hand. “Put these in your bag?”
I lift my clutch purse and open it up. “Only because you asked so nicely.”
He dumps the rings inside. “Thanks, sis.”
Corbin gets his way with the bumpers, and I’m cheering on the inside. Like most things that take tactics and skills, I’m not a great bowler. Even with the bumpers, my ball zigzags from side to side, only knocking down two pins at the end.
When Corbin bowls, it’s like his small blue ball turned into a tortoise and it’s a race to see how slow it can get there. When it stops short of the pins, Freddy has to bowl in order to knock Corbin’s ball the rest of the way.
Great. Now it looks like my little brother is whooping my butt because Freddy knocked down five pins for him.
On his turn, of course, Freddy bowls a strike. Drew gets a spare, and it’s obvious the game is turning into a macho competition between the two of them. I don’t mind though. When they bicker about trivial things, it always makes me chuckle.
Yes, this is the entertainment I needed tonight.
Kai’s probably sharing a booth with Jamie at her café right now. He can do that a lot more now that I’m banned from seeing him.
Ah, no! Stop it! I can’t think like this.
“Tabby?” Freddy asks with concern.
I realize I’m clawing the sides of my head, and quickly release. My fingers cramp from the intensity, and I shake it off on my way to collect my ball.
Unconvinced, Freddy grabs my upper arm. “What’s wrong?”
“Headache.”
“Are you feeling dizzy?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m good.”
I hurl the ball down the lane, and I hate to admit what goes through my mind. Just like it’s phys-ed all over again, each little pin has Jamie’s head on it. I’m not proud of it, but I knock down seven pins.
My brothers cheer my name, clapping and drumming on the plastic seats.
I laugh and gesture at them to cut it out. I’m both appreciative and utterly embarrassed by them.
On my next bowl, I don’t hit a pin. But I don’t care. I sail back to my seat between Drew and Freddy, and the chaos in my mind hits the pause button.
With the determination to show his brother who’s boss, Drew narrowly misses beating Freddy. Not that Freddy took the victory. He’s too busy making sure Corbin and I know we put in a great effort. Not at all condescending, bro.
I’m just glad I beat Corbin. I couldn’t handle that humiliation tonight.
“Do we wanna get burgers?” Drew asks, pulling his boots back on.
“I want a hot dog,” Corbin blurts.
Freddy grabs his rental shoes and bowling ball to return them, when he notices people on the split level above the bowling lanes. “Yo, it’s Simon and T-Bone.”
His friends are waving back at him as they gravitate toward one of the pool tables among the vintage arcade games.
Drew sits with me as Corbin follows behind Freddy like a newly trained puppy. I then notice a few girls, who have arrived with Simon and T-bone. Like clockwork, they’ve fixed their attention on Freddy, who’s seemingly oblivious to their fluttering eyelids and popped hips.
“Well, we won’t see Golden Boy for the rest of the night,” Drew mutters.
I slip my tennis shoes back on, relieved my feet still feel normal. “Hopefully, he’ll keep Corbin with him.”
“Cut the little man some slack.”
“No. He’s whiny and annoying.”
“I remember complaining about my little sister like that, and all my parents did was give me another sibling. Be careful what you say.”
“Oh, please. Mom and Dad would never have another kid.”
“Stranger things have happened.”
I bop my hand on top of his mess of bleached hair. “Yeah, like you hanging out with us tonight.”
“And not being appreciated,” he says in a kidding tone.
I keep smoothing my hand over his hair, surprised it’s soft. “Ever think of cutting your hair? It’s so long now.”
He arches a brow. “I could ask you the same question.”
I gasp, cupping my hair in a ponytail. “No one’s ever gonna take my hair.”
“Ditto.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t grow mine to piss off Dad.”
Drew shrugs. “So?”
I let out a whisper of a laugh. “Whatever. Keep your yellow hair. It doesn’t bother me.”
Drew slings his arm around me as he slouches in his seat. “So, have you heard from loverboy yet?”
My stomach cramps, and I swallow as my mouth waters with something sickly.
Drew sighs. “I’ll take that as a no. Maybe you are better off without him.”
“Don’t say that.” I wipe my clammy hands against my thighs and exhale shakily. “I haven’t looked.”
“Tabby, you’re making yourself sick over it.” He snaps his fingers. “Give it to me. I’ll look.”
I shiver, pushing away from him. “No way.”
“Then you look.”
“I haven’t felt it buzz.” I look down at my clutch purse on the seat beside me. “But I guess it could’ve gone off without me noticing.”
“Yeah, like when you were taking your rage out on those pins,” Drew jokes.
“Are you dissing my technique?”
“Hey, I’m glad it got you to loosen up.”
I exhale another breath, this time sitting taller. “Okay.” I snatch my bag and open it on my lap. “I’ll check.”
Drew pulls his arm from around my shoulders, shifting to put more space between us.
I pinch the top of my phone to pull it from the pocket inside my bag, but stop myself. “Ugh. No, I can’t.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Drew grumbles, diving his hand into my bag.
I try whacking his hand away, but he’s already got hold of the phone and has pulled it out. He presses the side button and holds it up so the notifications flash in my direction. There’s a mess of previews on the screen, but they all blur together.