9. Archer
Chapter nine
Archer
Ten Years Ago
B risk air creeps through the cracked window, sending goosebumps down my arms as I fan the pungent smell of marijuana toward the small opening. Jessie tosses me the empty pizza box like it’ll help eliminate the smell faster than the fan already in my hands. Grease from our supreme pizza trickles down my arm, and I lick it up, savoring the taste of garlic, peppers, and onions.
“I think I hear someone.” Jessie’s eyes shift to the door.
My arms pump faster, and the fear drains away some of my high. If Mom finds out we were smoking again, she’ll rip me a new one. Never mind the fact that I got it from her best friend’s son, who says he took it from his mother’s stash.
Footsteps move closer, someone coughs, and Jessie joins me with a pillow. We move in tandem, arms frantically flapping as we try to push out the smell.
“I told you we should’ve smoked at the park,” I whisper-yell.
His brown eyes narrow in my direction. “We couldn’t order pizza to the park.”
“Have you ever tried to order pizza to the park?” I cough through the burn in my chest.
“No, but—”
“Kids, kids,” a voice says behind us.
Spinning around, I find my brother standing in the open doorway, his blonde hair sticking up like he’s done nothing but run his hands through it all evening. His laptop case is haphazardly slung around his shoulder, black slacks looking as fresh as they did this morning when he went to class, but the dark circles under his eyes have reappeared. I don’t know how he manages working while attending medical school.
“Dude, you scared the shit out of me.” Jessie pulls him in for a bro-hug.
Sebastian falls to the bed, resting his head on the pillow as he shoots off rapid-fire texts. “What’re you slackers doing?”
“Slackers?” I ask. “Mom had me fix the garage door since someone ran into it the other night.”
Jessie groans. “Come on, man. I’m sick of hearing you moan and groan about it.”
Sebastian’s phone goes off, triple dings echoing through the small room. His attention shifts to the screen, mouth pressed into a pout. He sits up and taps out another message.
“Damn it,” he says.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, eyes drifting to the TV where a carpentry show I’d love to host is on HGTV. “Your Friday night fling cancel on you again?”
Jessie chuckles. “Who stood you up, Seb?”
“No one,” he grunts out.
With his frustration increasing, I take notice of his appearance in a new light. I thought he’d quit taking the pills after the last time, but I guess I was wrong. The state of his disheveled hair shows me he’s been dragging his fingers through it, agitated about something, and the dark circles mean he hasn’t been sleeping. I told him not to let the pressure of our parents’ expectations to be at the top of his class weigh on him, but Sebastian only knows how to be the best.
“What’s wrong?” Jessie asks Sebastian.
Sebastian slaps his hands on his thighs and rises from the bed, and the frustration that plagued him a moment ago vanishes. “You stoners wanna go see a movie? I need to chill.”
My shoulders relax, but the niggling in the back of my mind keeps me on edge.
“Yeah.” I close the window and turn off the TV. “What do you wanna see?”
“An action flick,” Sebastian says. “I need to not think for a while.”
Jessie karate chops the air. “Hell yeah.”
We barrel down the stairs but stop cold when Dad says, “And where do you think you’re going?”
I know he’s not talking to me because why would he? Ever since I told him I wasn’t going to med school he’s frozen me out. Having dreams of being the next Ty Pennington isn’t a worthy career in his mind. No, it’s not me he cares about anymore, but his prized child. The one he’s putting so much pressure on that he takes uppers just to stay awake so he can cram more knowledge than required of him into his brain.
A pang shoots through my heart knowing that the full brunt of my parents’ expectations are now the anvil weighing down Sebastian. Carrying the family name by becoming a doctor was apparently my responsibility, something I failed at miserably enough I almost flunked out of college before I found what I loved to do.
I sigh. “We’re going to a movie.”
His focus stays on Sebastian. “Don’t you have your second licensing exam coming up? ”
Sebastian taps his finger on his head. “It’s all crammed in here. I won’t let you down.”
Dad’s frown is more pronounced, but Mom strolls into the room and slips her arm in his. “Let them have a night of fun, Archie. We can relax a little before we’re on call.”
She shimmies her shoulders in a suggestive move that brings the pizza back up my throat.
“Eww,” Jessie says.
“Ditto,” Sebastian and I reply simultaneously.
Piling into the car, I relax into the seat and put on some music. Sebastian and Jessie play rock, paper, scissors to decide who’ll ride shotgun. Jessie wins.
“We watching the new Tom Cruise flick or the new Statham one?” Sebastian leans between the center console, long arms resting on the backs of our seats.
We all share a look of agreement. “Statham.”
We’re nearing the theater when traffic comes to a standstill due to an accident. Sebastian types away on his phone while Jessie tries to get the girls in the car next to us to give him their number. My eyes keep flitting back to Sebastian, trying to note any symptoms of withdrawal.
Last time he was a wreck, barely able to focus on a thirty second conversation without fidgeting and sweating.
“Hey…uh, can we stop by the gas station on Wurzbach?” Sebastian asks, gaze not lifting from his phone. “I have to pee.”
I groan. “We’re almost to the theater.”
“Dude, just piss in a bottle,” Jessie says.
“I’ll fill up your tank and pay for the snacks at the movies,” Sebastian replies .
“And we’ll get three separate bags of popcorn so there’s no weird hand touching going on,” I say.
Sebastian nods. “Whatever you want. Just take me to the Corner Store.”
Flicking on my blinker, I shift lanes, throwing up a thank you to the nice elderly couple driving twenty miles less than the speed limit for letting me over.
I pull up to a gas pump and Sebastian hops out and heads inside. Jessie comes around the side and leans against the trunk as I set the pump.
“Think he’s going to make it to finals without the pills?” he asks.
“Doubt it.”
His shoulders droop. Jessie grew up with Sebastian and me. Our families met at the country club, and naturally we became The Three Musketeers. We played sports together, had the same crushes, and even occasionally beat the shit out of each other for fun.
Sebastian’s addiction doesn’t affect only me.
I know if it wasn’t for my parents’ expectations he would have made it through med school without any issue, but he’s always been a people pleaser. Even the tiniest bit of disapproval from Dad sends him reeling, and Dad wields his power over him as often as he can.
Raised voices off to the side of the convenience store steal my attention. I’d know Sebastian’s voice anywhere. Twisting the cap onto the gas tank, I jog to check on my brother while Jessie moves to the front of the car.
A man with baggy clothes is arguing with Sebastian, and instantly I know the reason why he wanted to come to this specific location.
He wanted to score.
“Seb.” I come up beside him .
“Go back to the car, Arch.” Sebastian waves me away, but I can tell the dealer is tweaking. He’s scratching at his skin, pulling at the collar of his shirt, and his eyes look like they’re fighting to stay open.
“Here,” Sebastian says, handing the man a wad of cash before turning around and walking toward me.
“Really, man?” I ask as we walk back toward the parking lot. “One night. You couldn’t wait one night before getting high again?”
He shrugs. “I have a study session tomorrow night with the chick who might beat me for valedictorian. I can’t be nodding off. I need to be sharp.”
My stomach clenches, twisting tighter. I despise my parents for the pressure they’re putting on my older brother, and I wish he had the strength to stand up to them like I did, but that’s not him. He’s the good kid.
Rounding the corner, Jessie comes into view. He’s moved the car into a parking space so someone else could use the pump and is leaning on the hood.
Sebastian bumps my shoulder, a slick smile on his face. “After this exam, all I have is Residency then boards. I’ll be fine.”
I roll my eyes but bump him back.
Jessie rises from the hood of the car, his hands flying in the air, mouth open. Time slows as he lunges toward me and Sebastian. Fear ricochets through me as a loud bang echoes around us. My ears pop, pain bursting at the back of my head when Jessie slams me to the ground.
Disoriented, I scramble to get up, but his body is too heavy. I turn on my side and press my shoulder to the ground, trying to lift him off of me, but my brain is scattered. Blood pools in the gravel where I’ve just lifted my head, and instinctively my hand reaches behind me to feel the torn skin of my scalp as I stare out at the crowd forming, pointing their fingers at us.
Jessie’s scream breaks the fog clogging my ears, and I finally notice Sebastian’s limp form beside me, a circle of red spreading out on his shirt.
“Seb,” I yell, but my voice sounds far away.
My heart is in my throat, my lungs refuse to fill, and my brain can’t process what my eyes are seeing.
Sebastian’s breathing is raspy, but he reaches for me and places my hand over the wound. “Put pressure on it.”
Tears mix with the blood dripping from my head as I place my hands over his ribcage and press down. He inhales sharply, and all I can do is keep chanting, “Please don’t die. I love you, Seb. Please stay.”
Sirens wail around us, but my focus is singular. The paramedics and Jessie have to pry me off of Sebastian as I’m sobbing and telling him I love him. I’m shuffled into another ambulance and promised I’ll see my brother at the hospital after he’s out of surgery.