by Rhys Everly
“Say no more,” he said. “Anyway, I’m sorry I haven’t been back. Life has been crazy since I got that job in the ER.”
“I know. I’m just messing with you. What would Detroit do without your magic healing hands?”
We descended the stairs to the first floor and headed for the kitchen.
“I wouldn’t say magical, but they do the job they’re paid for,” he said.
“What brings you back anyway?”
Charlie stopped in his tracks and put his hands on his hips.
“What? I can’t come visit my favorite nephew?” he asked, but I walked past him and entered the kitchen.
“You know, five years ago I might have bought that shit, but nowadays, not so much,” I said.
He followed behind me.
“Oh, come on. Why not?”
“Because I’m your only nephew.”
“Oh. You noticed that,” he grimaced.
The kitchen was busy as expected. Summer was already up and biting into her jam on toast. Yaya might be strict over what we ate for breakfast, but weekends were fair game.
Sometimes, anyway.
Yaya was over the expensive mixer Maya and I had gotten her for her birthday, and Luke was reading on his tablet.
“Seriously, what are you doing back though?” I insisted.
“What? Is it wrong he wants to visit his family?” Yaya said, turning the mixer off. “Come on, sit down. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
Charlie looked over at Yaya, and she seemed to glare at him for a moment before they both turned away from each other and acted as if nothing had happened.
There was definitely something else going on. And I’d find out.
“What? We’re not having jam on toast?” I asked.
“What are you? Ten?” Yaya asked.
I glanced at Summer, and she stuck her tongue out.
“Pancakes?” I asked.
Yaya smirked. “Maybe.”
“Oh, you’ve got my attention,” I said and tried to get closer to Yaya.
“Sit down and you’ll see,” she said.
I walked back to the table and sat down.
I opened my Cinderfella app and sent a message to Sweet_Peaches, who hadn’t answered my message from last night.
I hoped he wasn’t annoyed with me for what I did with Hudson.
But then again, why would he be? It’s not like we were in a relationship or anything.
“Uh-oh. I know that sound,” Charlie said when a response arrived from Sweet_Peaches.
“I know that sound, too,” Luke smirked.
I glared at them and made a face.
“You know too much. Both of you,” I said.
“Oh come on. Who is it? Is he big?” Charlie asked while Luke covered Summer’s ears.
“Charlie, ew. Gross. Not in front of Summer,” Luke said.
“Sorry,” he sniggered.
When my phone pinged again, he glanced at it and then stared at me.
“Come on. Who is it? Are you meeting him?”
“You’re so nosy, little brother,” Luke said.
“And you’re not?” he asked with a mocking voice.
“Of course I am. But I have something you don’t.”
“And what is that?”
“Class,” Luke said and then cried out in pain.
Charlie had probably kicked him from under the table.
My conversation with Sweet_Peaches wasn’t going great. He was avoiding my remarks about him, deflecting to what happened last night and my feelings for Hudson.
Did he not like me? Was he already in a relationship? His status said single, but maybe it was a lie. Or was he really not who he was saying he was?
“Breakfast will be ready in five,” Yaya said.
“How was the reunion?” Luke asked me. “It’s already the talk of the town.”
“What isn’t the talk of the town in this place?” I muttered.
“What reunion?” Charlie asked.
“High school reunion,” I said. “It was last night.”
Charlie winced. “Isn’t that a little too soon for a reunion? You only graduated yesterday,” he said.
“That was my thought, too,” I said.
“How did it go, then?” he asked.
Well, let’s see.
I faced up to my high school bully, sucked off my other bully, rekindled my friendship with said bully I’d blown in my sister’s car, and he was now sleeping in my room.
“It was eventful,” I said.
“I’ll say,” Luke laughed.
“God. What do you know?” I asked Luke.
“Just about everything Carrie Vaughn could get in such a short time,” he replied.
“I always hated that woman,” I said.
To be honest, I didn’t know if I wanted to know what was running through the mill.
“Carrie is a lovely woman. Don’t be nasty,” Yaya said, bringing a tray to the table.
It contained a porcelain jug of maple syrup, a bowl of berries, a ramekin of sugar and cinnamon, lemon wedges, and chocolate spread.
“So we are having pancakes for breakfast!” I exclaimed.
“Of course,” she said. “It is Saturday, isn’t it?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know. Your breakfast regime has been very temperamental lately,” I said, only to get a smack in the head from her. “Ouch.”
I tried to make a point, but Yaya was already back over the stove.
“So? Are you gonna tell us what really happened?”
I slapped my face and tried to hide from Luke. And Charlie.
Charlie took the contents of the tray off and placed them on the table, as close to him as possible.
Which gave me the perfect excuse to get up.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get someone before you ravish those pancakes,” I said.
“Hell yeah, I’m gonna show them a good time,” Charlie said, staring at the pancake toppings. He sounded like he was talking more to himself than us.
Yeah, my uncle was a weirdo. Our family was full of them. But we also loved each other and embraced everyone’s weirdness.
“What do you mean ‘someone?’” Luke asked. “You’ve brought someone home?”
I walked away before I could get the third degree.
“You dirty little minx,” Charlie called out behind me.
“Watch your language, young man,” Yaya scolded him.
“Oh, come on, Yaya. I’m twenty-nine. I think I’ve earned my right to swear.”
“No you haven’t. In this house, you’re still a baby. And as a baby, you’re not allowed to swear,” she said.
“You know that’s creepy, right?” I heard Charlie snap back, but if the conversation went on, I didn’t hear it. I’d already reached the stairs, passing grandad on the way up, when my phone buzzed with a new message from Sweet_Peaches.
The answer to my question.
Sweet_Peaches: I can’t.
He couldn’t, or he wouldn’t? That was bullshit.
I wanted to meet him. To talk to him in person. Find out what he looked like and if we were an ideal match.
Maybe he was a sixty-year-old woman and I was just blind.
I didn’t want to beg, and if I sent another message now, it would definitely be needy.
So I put my phone in my back pocket and climbed the steps.
I’d find someone else to date. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.
Or so everyone said. I was yet to find my fish.
And when I thought I did, he turned out to be a hard nut to crack.
Whatever. I’d find someone. Love was waiting for me out there. The perfect man was somewhere, and I’d be damned if I didn’t find him.
I knocked on my door—which was way weirder than I thought it would be—and waited for Hudson to open it.
When he did, his beautiful grey eyes greeted me, and the memory of them burning me with their want while he made me come pierced my brain.
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Hudson wasn’t the perfect man for me.
He wasn’t.
So why the fuck did my heart skip when he answered the door? And why on earth couldn’t I get my dick to stay soft and unaffected around him?
“Hey sleepyhead. Want some breakfast?”
Twenty-Two
Hudson
“Unicorns, huh?” I asked Nathan, looking down at his unicorn-patterned pajamas.
Nathan looked up at the ceiling and exhaled.
“Summer picked them for me,” he said.
“You look cute in them,” I said, and he glanced at me, his cheeks turning bright red. “But then again, you always look cute.”
I needed to get the truth out of him. I wanted to know which Nathan to believe. The one standing in front of me that told me it was better to just be friends, or MrRomantic who said he liked me but I wasn’t right for him.
Why wasn’t I right for him, though? Because I’d been a bully? Because I was poor? Or because of everything I wasn’t? Like out?
So right then and there, staring at his beautiful blue eyes, I decided I was going to torture him.
Not that way I used to.
Not with insults.
But with compliments.
With my love for him.
And if he could resist, then I’d know the truth.
“Yaya’s made pancakes, and if you want any, you’ll have to race down before Charlie eats them all,” he said, ignoring what I’d just told him.
“Pancakes huh? Sign me up,” I said and came out of the room.
“Don’t you wanna shower? I can get you clean towels if you want,” he said.
“Are you trying to say I’m dirty?” I asked.
Nathan put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow.
“After last night?”
“Who said I didn’t want to keep you on me for a little while longer?”
Again, he inflated and deflated, his pale skin not going back to its original color anytime soon if I had anything to do with it.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
I walked past him toward the staircase.
“Besides, if I have a shower, Charlie will definitely finish all the pancakes.”
Just as I put my foot down on the first step, I turned my head to wink at him and continued my descent.
Moments later he joined me on the first floor, and we walked to the kitchen together.
It was like I took a step back in time. Yaya over the stove, flipping pancakes like a pro, Luke and Charlie bickering over the breakfast table. Paul, Nathan’s grandad, reading his newspaper as if nothing was happening.
But unlike when we were kids, the entire family looked up to stare at me as soon as they realized I was there.
Before, it used to be a common occurrence. Anyone would hardly bat an eye. They’d keep on bickering or playing with each other and just make me a part of their family.
“Oh yeah, did I forget to say? I invited Hudson to sleep over,” Nathan said, scratching his head.
“Hi,” I waved at all of them with an awkward smile.
This was going to be an interesting experience.
“Hi, Hudson. It’s been a while.” Luke broke the silence after a moment, and I turned to smile at Nathan’s uncle.
“Perfect. Less pancakes for me,” Charlie sighed.
“Charlie, don’t be a moron,” Paul told him off, setting his newspaper down.
“Oh, you don’t have to give me breakfast. I can get something on the way home,” I said, looking from Charlie to Yaya.
“Nonsense. He doesn’t need more pancakes, anyway,” Yaya said. “It’s a good thing you’re here, or he’d eat all of them.”
She came up to me with a plate of pancakes and opened her arms to give me a… hug.
She was still tiny and short and the same affectionate woman I knew as a child, and even though I was several heads taller than her, she made me feel like a ten-year-old boy again.
I hadn’t been hugged like that since forever. I’d forgotten people even did that.
“It’s been too long, dear. I’m so glad to see you again. How’s your dad?” she asked when she retrieved herself from me and set the plate of pancakes down.
“Same old,” I said.
I didn’t fail to notice a few cringes around the table.
“How are you Hudson? What are you up to these days?” Paul asked me and showed me to a chair next to him.
“I’m good. I help Dad out at the farm, and I got a job at Espresso Blues on Nathan’s campus,” I said.
Paul turned from me to Nathan, and his grandson nodded.
“Nice. How are you doing with baseball?”
“Not. I gave up on it a long time ago,” I said.
Even though I didn’t care for a career in sports anymore, the subject was still sore.
“But you were so good,” Paul grinned. “Such a shame. We could have used you in the Washington Nationals.”
“Everybody, eat before the pancakes go cold,” Yaya said and sat down at the other end of the table.
“I was joking, by the way. I hope you know that,” Charlie said to me with a sad face.
I reached across the table, and we bumped fists.
“So are you thinking of taking over your dad’s business?” Paul asked.
“He’d love that,” I said and helped myself to three pancakes. “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.”
“Oh that’s fine,” Luke said. “There’s too much pressure on young people to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives.”
“You said that like an old person,” Charlie commented.
“Bite me,” Luke offered him in response.
“Hey,” Paul griped.
“At the moment, I’m focusing on getting my GED,” I said when the eating resumed.
“Oh,” Yaya said. “I didn’t realize you never finished school. That’s very good then, Hudson. I’m glad you’re getting back to it. It’s a terrible affair, you know. What that boy did to you.”
I looked up at her and cocked my head. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
“What boy?” I asked.
Nathan put his elbows on the table taking a bite of his pancakes.
“The rumor mill started early today,” he said.
“Mind you, I never thought you set that fire,” Yaya said, and a wave of agreement went around the table.
“What fire?” Summer asked.
Luke leaned in to her level and explained to her, in very little detail, what we were talking about while the rest of us continued the conversation.
“It cost him a scholarship, you know?” Nathan added.
“No,” Yaya exclaimed.
“Yeah. In fuc-frigging Nashville of all places,” he said, changing his profanity after the evil glare Yaya gave him.
“Nashville? Get outta here,” Charlie said. “That’s amazing. Well, and stupid. Do you want me to call them and explain what happened?”
I laughed.
“I don’t think they take calls from people,” I said.
“I can try,” Charlie smiled.
It was good, this. I thought it was going to be strange being in the house after everything, but it actually was like time never passed.
Minus the bullying and the fire and all that crap.
“Does anyone want to clue me in?” Paul asked. “What are we talking about? What boy?”
“Dad!” Luke groaned. “Have you been paying attention? We were just talking about Nathan’s high school reunion last night.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You know I hate gossip. I hear gossip, I tune out.”
Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Derek Carlson, grandad. He set the gym on fire and dropped Hudson’s lighter in to put the blame on him. His…uhm lackeys came out with the truth last night,” Nathan said.
“Huh, really? That’s good. I always disliked that family,” Paul said. “Maybe that’s why there wer
e police outside their house this morning.”
“Police? Outside their house? And you’re telling us now?” Charlie jumped in his seat.
“I didn’t know what was going on. He used to be mayor. I thought it was normal,” Paul shrugged it off.
Charlie sighed.
“Oh, Dad. Sometimes I wish you were a tinsy bit gay so you could be a little more involved with this town’s goings-on.”
“Charlie!” Yaya scolded “That’s mean.”
“Besides, who lives in Detroit and forgot all about us?” Paul asked him with a raised eyebrow.
“Hey. At least I didn’t do a runner like Leo. And you’re one to talk. You’ve been jetting around the world living the life and leaving Yaya and Andy to do all the heavy-lifting,” Charlie snapped back.
“Hey,” Nathan cried. “Cut it out. We’ve got company.”
“It’s fine, Nathan,” Luke said. “Hudson’s part of the family.”
I was?
Did he really think that?
I waited for anyone, everyone, to object. But they didn’t. They all just nodded and ate up their breakfast.
“I wanna know what happened. Why were the police at the Carlsons?” Charlie asked.
Yaya looked from him to me and to Nathan and pushed her chair back.
“I know one person that will have the low-down,” she said and reached for the landline. “Hey Carrie, how are you dear?… I’m good. Yeah… The family is good… Andy? Oh, he’s fine. Yeah… No. He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” she shook her head but then turned to the table and nodded positively. “Listen, what’s going on with the Carlsons? Paul said he saw police outside their house… Really?… Wow. Who would have thought?… Well, I’ve been saying for years it wasn’t him… I know, dear. You did, too.” She rolled her eyes. “You always know the truth dear… of course. I’ll drop by later. I’ve run out of sugar… Oh, Charlie’s in town, so I’m making him his favorite. Cherry tart.”
“She is? You are? Hashtag winning,” Charlie said fist-pumping the air.
Yaya hung up the phone, and we all waited with bated breath for what she found out.
“Carrie said that Scotty Homerton and Jason Myers went to the station this morning and testified about the fire. The town is pressing charges, and Derek Carlson has been arrested,” she said.
“What?” I mumbled.
