Chapter Twenty-Five
Connor
I walk to Jayson’s door and ask, “Hey dude, are you up yet? You’re going to be late for school.”
I listen at Jase’s door for a minute and don’t hear any noise, but this God-awful song that has been playing on repeat for a million hours! I knock again, and I finally hear Jayson’s voice.
“Go ahead without me, I’m not going today.”
“I’m about to open the door, so you better cover up anything that will cause me to need eye bleach,” I say, hoping he will laugh.
Opening the door, I almost fall over from the fumes. It smells like a bar or a Jack Daniels distillery in here. I get mad all over again when I see the condition he is in.
Trying to talk over the music, I ask, “Man, what the hell are you doing? Trying to poison yourself? How much of that shit have you drank? And please turn that damn song off. If I have to hear Blake Shelton and Christina sing about being “Just a Fool” one more time, I’m going to punch you in the junk. Of course, since you aren’t using your junk for anything, it shouldn’t matter too much.” I try to get him to laugh with all my usual crap that I say to get him going, but he’s just lying there staring at the ceiling.
Fuck, I want to hurt that little bitch! I’ve never wanted to really hurt a woman before, but when I heard what she said to him, I wanted to cause her bodily injury. Ok, maybe not actually physically hurt her, but something to make her understand what she’s done. Of course, Madison keeps trying to tell me what a “terrible life” she has had. Fuck her life, she should have stayed away from my brother if she knew her secrets would hurt him.
Finally, I find J’s iPad under his covers and I switch the music off. Maybe now my ears will quit bleeding. I need to somehow get the bottle of Jack away from him before he slips into an alcoholic induced coma. I told Madison he was drinking a lot, but I had no idea it was this bad.
“J, give me the bottle. I mean it, man, don’t make me pull out the big guns.”
Hearing that threat, he opens his eyes and says, “I feel like shit.”
Trying not to laugh, I say, “I know you do, that’s why you need to hand over your best friend, Jack, and let me spend some time with him. And, we need to get you in the shower. If mom comes over and sees you like this, I pity you.” He flips me off and turns his back to me so I bring out the big guns. “Ok, I’ll call her now; maybe she can get you into the shower.”
He immediately stands up, swaying, but he’s on his feet. I mentally file away “Mom blackmail” for the next time I need him to do something.
“Ok, it’s shower…”
Before I get the next words out, I hear Linda Blair style retching. Fucking hell, I can’t clean up puke; that’s why I’m not going to be a doctor. I can’t handle this kind of crap.
I walk him to his bathroom and tell him to sit on the side of the tub until I’m done. I start the water and set the temperature so we can get some of this booze and puke off of him. While I’m waiting for the water to heat up, I grab a towel and a couple of washcloths. I look over at my brother and he is sitting there with his elbows on his knees and his head hanging down.
I hate seeing him like this. We give each other a lot of shit, but seeing him this way is tearing me up. I’ll say it again, this is why I don’t do relationships. You give someone the power over you and the next thing you know you’re crying in your booze over how they stomped on your heart.
I can hear Madison in my mind telling me to shut up, so I get his toothbrush and mouthwash and walk over to him. Putting my hand on his shoulder, I ask, “Hey, you want to brush the funk out of your mouth? You’ll feel a lot better.” He shakes his head yes and I see his red rimmed eyes in the mirror as he brushes. I really need to get out of here. Once he finishes, I ask, “Are you going to be ok in the shower?” He says yes and I tell him I’m going to try and clean up his bedroom.
Now that I’m back in this stinking hellhole my normally OCD brother lives in, I call my girl, Madison.
She answers the phone with “Hey sunshine, what’s up?”
I laugh and say, “I’ll tell you what’s up…”
She immediately groans and says, “Connor, if I hear about your junk one more time!”
I can’t help but tease her a bit, “Whatever, you wish it was up for you.”
“I’m about to hang up,” she huffs! “
NO, wait! I need your help…really badly. Can you come by the house? Where are you? I need you to come by here now!”
Quickly, she says, “Ok, ok, don’t get your panties in a twist, I’ll be there in a few minutes. What’s going on? Does Jayson need help?”
I cross my fingers since I’m lying and say, “Uh yeah, he really does. So, hurry up and get here.”
Now that I no longer have to clean up puke, I’m a lot happier. I go back into the bathroom to see if Jayson is still alive. I knock on the door and ask, “Hey, are you decent in there?”
He sort of laughs, which I take as a good sign, and asks, “Can you get me some pants to put on?” Since I know Madison is going to be here, I find a pair of boxer briefs and some lightweight sleep pants.
Taking them back into the bathroom, I say “Here put these on and make sure you don’t go commando because Madison is coming over.”
Finally, I hear the doorbell ring and say, “I’ll be back.” Racing down the stairs, I pull open the door to see Maddie standing there.
I step back and she walks in while saying, “Ok, here I am…what’s the big favor you need?”
I grab her hand and begin pulling her up the stairs. “It’s right up here, come on.” I pull her past my room into Jayson’s room and when we open the door,
I hear her say, “Oh my God! What is that smell? Is he still alive?”
Knowing I’m probably about to get my ass kicked, I quickly say what I need. “Yeah, he’s in the bathroom cleaning up. He spilled JD all over the place and puked on the bed. I can’t clean it up; I need you to do it. Here’s the bedding, I’ll be downstairs.”
With her hands on her hips, she fumes, “Are you kidding me, I missed a pedicure for this! I thought he was having some sort of psychiatric meltdown or something. So, I’m here because you’re pansy assed and can’t deal with a little puke? Whatever, I’m leaving!”
Knowing my bank account is about to take a hit, I say, “If you do it, I’ll buy you any purse or shoes you want!”
Taking the new bedding from me, she says, “No, you will buy me any purse and shoes that I want and pay for a mani/pedi. And, since you lied to me, you can help.” With that, she prisses over to the bed and I follow behind her like she’s the Pied Piper and I’m one of the rats. I’m not even in a “relationship” with her and already I’m so fucked.
We get the disgusting sheets and comforter off and start putting the new ones on when the door opens. Jase is standing there with just his sleep pants on and Madison is eyeing him like he’s a slab of meat.
Getting supremely annoyed, I say in rude tone. “Hey! His eyes are up there, not on his chest.”
Then I turn to Jayson and say, “Put some clothes on, man!” For the first time since Chloe pulled her shit, I get a real laugh out of him.
“Wow, Jayson! Now I see what Chl…I mean what the girls mean when they talk about you!” Madison looks embarrassed and Jayson says, “It’s ok, Madison, you can say her name. I’m not going to go postal or anything.”
Madison asks softly, “Have you heard from her?” He looks away and I want to shake Chloe all over again.