Chapter 16 #2
“It is,” I countered. “I’ll teach you to read, if you want.”
Meg snickered.
“Why are you guys all here?” I asked, looking around the table. “I’m stuck here, but you’re not.”
“Moral support and all that,” Olive said with a wink. “We figured you’d find us eventually.”
“I’m here for the food,” Brody argued. “Auntie ordered Chinese.”
“Well, thanks for the support,” I said with a sigh. “Who would’ve guessed that the boring, brainy one would start a whole clusterfuck?”
“Club kids have a tendency to land themselves in deep shit,” Meg said with a shrug. “It’s not that surprising.”
“And who are you calling the brainy one?” Olive asked. “I’m as smart as you, asshole.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “Fair point.”
We fell into our old roles pretty seamlessly, and even though Myla didn’t say much, she also didn’t seem to have any kind of attitude.
Eventually the food came, and we piled our plates high, migrating back to the same set of tables so we could all eat together.
It was like old times, with the boys stealing food off our plates and each other’s, everyone bullying Forrest into getting us drinks because he was the quietest and the least likely to fight back, and generally causing a ruckus.
By the time my dad came to tell me that we were leaving, I was actually kind of sad about it. I hadn’t had that much fun inside the clubhouse since I was a kid.
“Love you guys,” I said, getting up from the table.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Meg ordered, pointing her fork at me. “We’ll hang out soon.”
“Sounds good,” I replied. “Can I interest any of you in a visit to my parents’ house? My schedule is completely empty for the foreseeable future.”
“None of ya are welcome,” my dad interrupted gruffly, and he shoved me hard enough to make me stumble to the side. “Stop invitin’ people over.”
“You’re such a buzzkill,” I complained, bumping him back.
“We’ll be over tomorrow, Uncle Leo,” Olive called jokingly as we walked away. “And we’re bringing a Bop It!”
I burst out laughing.
“The hell you are,” Dad called back as he slung an arm over my shoulder.
“Oh, my god, I forgot about that,” I wheezed as he led me outside.
“Don’t know how,” he grumbled. “That toy was so fuckin’ loud they could hear it in space.”
I was glad to be home and went straight to my room to grab some clothes and hop in the shower.
If I was going to be stuck in the house for a few days, I planned on being comfortable.
Soft bra, cozy pajamas, and slippers all the way.
Halfway through my shower, I heard something in the bathroom and froze.
“It’s just me,” Mom called out.
Peeking around the shower curtain, I found her sitting on the closed toilet seat.
“Ran out of things to do?” I asked jokingly.
“Just wanted to be close to ya for a while,” she said, smiling her mom-smile at me.
Only Gray and I were ever on the receiving end of that smile. The smile she gave my dad was similar but different. When she smiled at us, her mouth stayed closed and her eyes were…soft, crinkling a little at the edges.
“Well, I’m happy for the company,” I said, smiling back. I leaned back into the spray and started soaping up my body. “It’s nice to be home with my own shit in my own shower.”
“It is,” she agreed.
“Since we’re going to be stuck here, we should do a project or something,” I offered. “A puzzle? Want to paint a room? No, Dad’s stuck here too, and he’ll spend the whole time supervising and being a pain in the ass.”
“Your mood seems to have improved,” she joked.
“I’m anticipating all of this being over,” I replied.
“I’m worried about Bas, and I’m nervous that something else is going to happen before all of this is over, and I still haven’t found a fucking job—but I’m safe.
Gram’s safe. Eventually, I’m going to get to start living my life, and I’m looking forward to it. ”
“You’re not moving away again, are you?” she asked knowingly.
I peeked back out of the shower. “Bas asked me to move in with him,” I confessed, widening my eyes at her. “Don’t tell Dad yet.”
“Dad likes Bas,” she protested.
“Dad is still trying to convince me we’re Catholic enough for me to be a nun.”
Mom scoffed. “Just tell your dad that you’re staying in Eugene because of Bas,” she said. “Then he’ll be Bas’s biggest fan.”
“Manipulative,” I said. “I like it.”
We were quiet for a while as I finished up, but I knew that she hadn’t left. Eventually, I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around me before stepping out of the tub.
“You okay, Ma?” I asked, grabbing a second towel for my hair.
“Just—” She let out a little nervous laugh.
It was one I hadn’t heard before—and I’d heard all of her laughs.
“I’ve lived through a lot of club problems,” she said.
“Lockdowns and crisis and all of that—but it’s different when it’s your own kid.
When we got the call that someone had broken into Mom’s house and you were there—” She shook her head.
“My entire world stopped. The only thing that’s ever been even slightly close to that was when Gray’s maternal grandma kidnapped him. ”
“She what?”
“It was before you were born,” she replied.
“Doesn’t matter. I was scared when she took Gray, but I knew she wouldn’t hurt him.
The entire ride to the house, we didn’t know if you were hurt or if there was anyone else there.
We didn’t know what the hell was going on.
It was the worst fifteen minutes of my entire life. ”
My mother had once lain beneath the bodies of her grandmothers as they died shielding her from gunfire.
The guilt was suffocating.
“I’m sorry, Ma,” I said softly.
“Why the hell are you sorry?” she snapped, meeting my eyes in confusion. “You didn’t do any of this. It’s not your fault.”
“I brought this back home with me—”
Mom began to laugh. “Harpy, you lost your job because you wouldn’t do something illegal,” she said, gasping as her whole body shook. “God, you’ve always been your worst critic. This isn’t your fault, kiddo. Not even slightly. Not even if you were looking at it in funhouse mirrors.”
“Okay, fine,” I said in exasperation. “It’s not my fault.”
“But don’t scare me again, okay?” she said, rising to her feet. Wrapping her arms around me, she kissed my cheek. Then she kissed it again, pressing her lips firmly for a moment. “I love you more than you can comprehend.”
“Love you, too,” I said as she pulled away.
She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “And nipple rings, Harp? Really?”
“Oh, don’t pretend you’re shocked,” I said, chuckling as she opened the door.
“It’s not like I needed to see them,” she bitched as she closed the door behind her.
I was still laughing as I dried off and threw on my pajamas. Since I wasn’t going anywhere, I refused to do more than slap some moisturizer on, run a comb through my hair, and brush my teeth before I crossed the hallway to my room.
Frankie was sitting on the foot of my bed.
“Well, hello there,” I said in surprise.
“I figured if I left the door open I wouldn’t scare the shit out of you,” she said dryly. “But it could’ve gone either way.”
“Yeah, it could’ve,” I agreed, throwing my dirty sweats into a laundry basket. “I’m a little jumpy. What are you doing here?”
“I’m staying in Gray’s old room while they’re gone,” she said as I sat down with her. “He didn’t want me out at the property alone until they had everything figured out.”
“Makes sense.”
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“Why the hell would I mind?”
“Just, you know, all the shit with Bas.”
“All what shit with Bas?” I asked innocently.
She let out a wry laugh and shook her head. “I wasn’t ever mad at you, Harp. It is what it is, you guys seem to be good for each other, and I’m happy when any of my friends find that.”
“But you were stuck in the middle,” I murmured in understanding.
“Myla was pissed,” Frankie said with a grimace. “Lou was completely silent about all of it—wouldn’t even talk about it. I wasn’t sure what the hell the situation was, and I didn’t want to get in the middle of it. I figured I’d deal with however it shook out.”
“Lou and Bas weren’t ever a thing,” I told her. “I haven’t talked to her about it, but for him—” I shook my head.
“I figured one of them—or both—wasn’t interested,” she said with a shrug. “You don’t spend that long hanging out all the fucking time without realizing if a spark is there.”
“Myla apologized today,” I said. “So, at least you won’t have to deal with that part.”
“Myla can rage all she wants. I listen, and then I go about my day,” Frankie joked. “But you’re my friend, and you’ll be my sister-in-law at some point—I wasn’t going to join in on that bullshit.”
“I thought you were pissed at me.”
“I was honestly just trying to stay as far away from the situation as I could. You’re Gray’s baby sister, and he’s protective of you. Nothing good would’ve come from me wading in.”
“I get it,” I said with a sigh, pulling a pillow onto my lap. “But, you’re going to have to grovel a little.”
Frankie chuckled. “I’m fully prepared to grovel.”
“I mean, you didn’t even get out of the truck when my steering went out…”
“Shit, Harp,” Frankie winced. “I had no idea that was anything more than car trouble. If I thought you’d been hurt or something, I wouldn’t have—”
“I’m just fucking with you,” I assured her, grinning. “As far as we knew, it was just car trouble.”
“Your brother’s been a mess.”
“Gray?”
“Well, you know, his version of mess.” Frankie rolled her eyes. “Barely sleeping. Quieter than normal. Having meetings with God knows who at all hours. He’s been worried.”
I grimaced.
“Girls, we’re watching a movie,” Mom called. “Come down!”
“What movie?” I bellowed back.
“Doesn’t fuckin’ matter,” Dad yelled back. “Move your asses!”
I met Frankie’s eyes. She was grinning.
“You’re smiling now,” I warned as I got off the bed. “But if they chose Lonesome Dove or something, it’s going to be a long night.”
“I’ve got nowhere to be.” She shrugged.
We watched movies. Read books. Spent time in the kitchen with Mom. Played dice at the kitchen table. Frankie and I got to know each other better, and even though we’d hung out plenty in the past, I was glad that we created a bit of a bond that existed outside the group.
My cousins did show up. Meg and Olive decided we needed a spa day, and they came over with Auntie Cecilia while Forrest had guard duty.
Brody and Jamo showed up at dinnertime on the second day—not surprising—and also pulled their own guard duty outside.
Myla showed up, and I braced to be the odd man out with her and Frankie, but it didn’t happen.
Kara even brought the kids over for a while when Draco took his shift.
The house was a revolving door of club and family.
It barely left any time to miss or worry about Bas, Gray, and Rumi.
But, I still did. Every day they were gone, I sent hope into the universe that they’d be successful and none of them would get hurt. The Aces who showed up didn’t seem worried at all, which helped.
Then, early the third morning, Gram and Gramps showed up.
“Hey, guys,” I called out, getting up from my place on the couch. “I wondered if you’d show up.”
Gram marched straight to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me close.
“Hey, Gram,” I whispered, tears hitting the backs of my eyes.
“Hey, Harpy,” she whispered back.
We stood there holding each other for a long time.