Vultures
Wrenly
“I see the vultures are out in full force.” Tia nodded her head toward the bar where Magnus was ordering a few more pitchers of beer. Just as suspected, Magnus had a slew of women trying to talk to him. One in particular caught my eye, Stacy. It wasn’t enough that she already tried something with Travis the other morning at a dinner, suddenly she was standing next to Magnus with her boobs practically in his face. I was sitting on Travis’s lap after he pulled me over when three guys approached me and Tia on our way back from the bathroom.
“Wait…what?” I tilted my head in confusion as I witnessed Magnus shake his head and I think I read his lips and what I could make out was “Thanks, but have a good evening.”
“Umm… Travis. I think Magnus just shot all those girls down.”
“Yeah, I saw that and its strange. He must not be in the mood tonight.”
I shook my head. “No, something is bothering him. Didn’t you notice today that he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts here and there?”
He nodded in acknowledgement. “I asked him about it earlier and he said it was nothing.”
I hadn’t known Magnus all that long, but I knew him long enough to know he was acting out of his typical behavior. There was no flirty smile or charming little moves like pushing a woman’s hair behind her ear. Nope, what I was seeing was the Magnus I knew from hanging out at Creed’s place with him. The one where he was hanging out with his friends and his friend’s wives and girlfriends. He looked right past those women like he didn’t even acknowledge their existence. It was very strange, but I let it go when he returned to the table with a few pitchers and set them down.
An hour later, the bar was absolutely packed. We were lucky we arrived when we did to snag a table for all of us. There were people in lines at the bar and it was really loud, only made louder by the live band. Travis nursed his beer so that he could drive, while Magnus and I threw them back, one after another.
Tia dragged me out to the dance floor, which was also packed, because Cotton Eye Joe came on and it somehow became our tradition. As I did the line dance, I would glance at Travis who was ignoring the conversation between the men to watch me. I felt a heat in my face a few times, not just from blushing when I caught him watching, but the bar was getting hot. There were too many people in a small space.
I couldn’t help the smile on my face. The last time I was at that bar, I could only live in our memories, but now he was with me in the flesh. The amount I had missed him over the years wasn’t measurable. It was an everyday occurrence and a battle to stay in the present, not to allow myself to live in our memories.
I felt a jerk on my arm, and I spun around to come face to face with Matt. Jesus, not again.
“I need to talk to you!” He yelled over the music, but I noticed he wasn’t exactly sturdy on his feet.
“Are you drunk?” If he was, then he was completely out of sorts. He was never a drinker, more like the kind of guy that always drove to make sure everyone made it home at night. Well, that and his family were deeply religious, and drinking wasn’t their thing.
“Come on!” He grabbed my arm again, but I pulled from his grasp.
“Fuck off!” I yelled over the music and crowd. It was one thing to request we speak, but he had no right to grab my arm. He might have been a professional quarterback, but I could still take him. I gave him a warning look and he threw his hands up in surrender as he backed away.
He ruined my night. I always struggled when I saw him, but I didn’t know a Matt that drank alcohol. He brought my grief and guilt back up to the surface. After storming off the dance floor, I made my way to our table to pour myself another beer, but Travis pulled me down to his lap.
“You okay? I saw that out there and figured you had it handled.” He spoke loudly over all the noise.
“I’m fine, just need a beer!”
He gave me a nod and I poured one and practically sucked it down. I appreciated Travis staying out of it. He knew I could hold my own and had trust in my skills as an operative. I could take a man five times my size down and Travis knew it. He avoided a confrontation by letting me handle it. Plus, Matt wasn’t a violent man, and it was obvious something was wrong.
Brianna came with an entire tray full of shots and I was more than happy to shoot two of them back. Then Magnus handed me another one and we tapped our tiny glasses together and threw them back at the same time.
“I hope you don’t get white girl trashed, do you? You’re not going to start crying and picking a fight with me? Maybe fall over into some bushes and piss yourself?” Travis asked and I threw my head back and laughed.
“I’m not your typical white girl, Travis.”
He laughed. “Hope not, cause you’re lethal.”
“Damn straight I am!” I threw back my beer then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand before I burped, and Travis laughed.
“Still gorgeous!”
I nodded my head then burped again. “Yep, sexy as fuck too! Ten out of ten!”
Travis was bellowing out a laugh then I noticed Magnus and Steve were too. Travis stopped laughing and I noticed he was looking up at someone. I turned my head to look and saw Matt again. He swayed as he looked down at me with dark drunk eyes.
“Why?” Matt pointed at Travis with the hand that was holding a beer. Everyone at the table got quiet since everyone but Magnus knew of my past with Matt.
“Don’t you have a wife around here somewhere?” I asked.
He pointed at me. “You, it’s supposed to be you. What the hell are you doing here with him?”
Travis didn’t say a word, he just let me handle it myself.
“Who are you here with, Matt? I think they need to take you home, I’m sure your wife is worried.” I didn’t know how to handle a drunk Matt Trenton. His family were devout Baptists, and I never thought Matt would ever get drunk.
“My wife?” Matt let out a drunk sarcastic laugh. “What wife? The one that fucked my friend? Or the one that was supposed to marry me, gave me a son, then ran off to be a goddamn Marine?” He swayed.
“Oh Matt, I’m so sorry about your wife.” I did feel bad that his wife cheated, but I was caught off guard by his language and the drinking.
He leaned forward. “It’s all your fault.” He spoke through gritted teeth. I couldn’t quite hear him at first, it was too loud.
“I don’t want to listen to this, Matt. Who are you here with so we can find them to take you home?” I asked.
Matt shook his head. “No…you’re going to fucking listen to me!” He swayed.
Derrick stood. “Hey, why don’t you let me take you home?” He offered to Matt.
Matt looked at him. “Fuck you, Steiner. You’re here with your fucking wife. I see Steve is the same.” Matt looked at me. “So, what, you’re going to marry him? You must have a bad memory, Wrenly. He’s the reason we even had our first date. Then you fucked me over, made me marry a girl that was ridiculously perfect, then she fucked me over too. Guess what?” He was still swaying.
I looked at Steve. “Could you please make sure he gets home safely?”
Steve went to lay his hand on Matt’s arm, but Matt swatted him away.
“She needs to hear this!” He looked at me again. “She lied, Tyler doesn’t even have a brother.” He stood strait and put his hands out. “The kid ain’t even mine! What a joke I am to this fucked up world! I bought all her lies, just like I did yours. You said you loved me! You carried my son! And now look at you!” He shook his head as he let out a sarcastic laugh. “Sleeping with the fuck up that almost killed Shelby.”
Magnus stood quickly and I panicked. When I went to stand I felt unsteady. Travis reached for my hand and laid one on Magnus’s arm. “It’s okay, let it go, both of you. He’s drunk and obviously in a bad place in his life.”
Matt pointed at himself as he started crying. “Everything keeps getting fucked up because we aren’t how we were meant to be, Wrenly. I fathered your son, our perfect little boy.”
I heard Magnus gasp next to me.
“Steve, please get him out of here or go ask the bartender who he thinks Matt came with tonight.” My own tears were breaching the surface, but then I felt warm arms wrap me up in them. I laid my head against Travis’s chest and shut my eyes as all those few precious moments of holding my baby fluttered through my memory.
“I have woken up every damn day for eleven years feeling gutted because it’s another day without my family. Wrenly my wife and Tyler my son! He should be playing football, we should be going together as a family to his pee wee games every Saturday morning. We should have a daughter, one that looks just like her mother. But no, you did exactly what I asked you not to do! I told you to stay home and rest, but you betrayed me. You left, because of course nobody tells Wrenly Carlson what to do! You killed our son because you wouldn’t fucking listen!”
Steve and Derrick were trying to pull him away from our table. “Come on man, that is not true. Wrenly did not kill him.” Steve was trying to calm him. Matt was twice their size and stronger than them, even while drunk.
I cried in Travis’s arms as Matt just kept letting the most hateful things fly out of his mouth.
“Know why I married that cheating whore? Because I thought she was the opposite of you! She was safe, she knew God, and she was good. You ruined my life, Wrenly! Ruined it! You ripped my heart out when you left me! I’m a broken man and it’s all your fault! Your impulsiveness killed our boy, then you took off and left me! Left me alone to grieve by myself!”
“Someone please help get him out of here.” Travis said.
“Know why she says she cheated? That’s your fault too! She said it’s because I could never love her the way she deserved because I will always love you! Guess what? She’s right!”
I opened my eyes to walk as Travis tried getting me away from Matt, but he just followed us.
“You never loved me because of that son of a bitch! You were delusional, a fucking crazy bitch! You couldn’t let go of the kid that didn’t think you were worth shit!”
Magnus walked in front of us as Travis tried wiggling us through the crowd and toward the exit.
“Do what you’re famous for, Wrenly! Run away, just like you did when we buried him!” Matt was behind us. “I can’t believe you’re with that fuck up! He doesn’t even know what a family is, Wrenly!”
Magnus shoved the exit doors open, and we walked outside. I was still wrapped in Travis’s arms as our shoes stepped onto the gravel parking lot.
“You said it yourself! Tyler fucked up your dreams! You were going to leave but only stayed because you were pregnant! You were selfish and probably wanted him to die!”
Travis suddenly stopped and I could hear his heavy breaths.
“Irons, come on man. Just ignore him, he’s broken and lashing out.” Magnus said.
Suddenly, I was pushed toward Magnus, and he caught me. I watched as Travis stormed toward Matt.
“She loved and wanted that baby. Don’t you ever say that fucking shit again!” Travis pushed Matt backward. “She cared enough about you to stay as long as she could, but she was grieving.” Travis pushed him backward again. “That baby became her dream.” Travis pushed him again and Matt almost tripped backward. “I was just about to go back out the doors of that gym to go get her that night of the dance. I made a bad decision, and I knew it. We were too young to understand love.” Travis pushed him again. “You had precious years with her, but instead of appreciating them your blaming her for not wanting your dreams.” Travis pushed him again and I realized he wasn’t doing it to start a fight, he was pushing him toward Steve and Derrick who had the door of a truck open. Matt might have been a good football quarterback, but he was a lover, not a fighter.
“Fuck you, Irons!” Matt yelled at him.
“Don’t act like you’re superior to me or anyone else when you and your fake Christian family let Emma and Brock suffer away in that house.” Travis took more steps forward, but Matt stopped stepping backward after almost falling several times. “Instead of being a good man and helping them, you prayed for them. All the while making millions for playing a stupid fucking game.” Travis pushed him but Matt gained his senses and stood tall. “You never cared about Wrenly, Emma, or Brock, all you care about is yourself! Prayers won’t feed your family. They won’t buy their medication, or heal mental illness. I’m sure you want to be a good man, but you’re a fucking hypocrite! You married a woman you didn’t love but expected her to be loyal and love you anyway. Ever think that’s why your wife sought attention from another man? Don’t blame Wrenly for how your life is now.”
“Back off, Irons.” Matt warned Travis.
“Tyler died because a kid made a horrible choice. Not because Wrenly didn’t stay home when you ordered her to do so! Get off your high fucking horse and grow the fuck up!”
“Of course you would side with my son’s killer! That kid was just like you!”
I took off toward Matt, but Magnus tried holding me back. Plus, I was drunk, and it was probably for the best.
“I’ll take that because I made very bad decisions when I was barely fifteen. I could have killed someone and almost did, but you can’t blame Wrenly for someone else’s mistakes. I hope like hell that kid grows up to be a good man, because it does happen, and nobody probably hates him more than he hates himself. Get into Steve’s truck and let him take you home. You’ll need your rest because I think you’ll wake up tomorrow with a hell of a lot of regrets.”