by Katie Ashley
“Hey there, I’m Noah,” I replied. I took his hand gingerly into mine, afraid one hardened shake might rip it completely off.
“Nice to meet ya,” he said. He didn’t release my hand. Instead, he started dragging me down the hall towards his room. “I wanna show you somethin’,” he said.
“Josh,” Maddie’s voice warned.
He whirled me into his room. I did a double take. “Jes-” I began before I quickly looked down at Josh. “I mean, geez,” I replied.
My dad’s face was plastered all over Josh’s room. His rookie poster hung over the bed, and then his MVP poster was over the closet door. It was intense. “Wow, you sure do like Joe Preston.”
Josh rolled his eyes and grinned. “Duh, he’s like the most awesome baseball player ever!”
“Yeah, I guess.”
He stared at me. “Don’t you like him?”
“Uh….” I didn’t know what to say. “No, Josh, I don’t like him. He’s a major asshat who knocked up my mother and ran off. I’ve had little contact with the prick.” Nope, that wouldn’t work. Josh would probably pass out.
Maddie joined us in the doorway. I glanced from her to Josh who was waiting for my response. “You see, Joe Preston is my…” I choked on the words a little, “my dad.”
Josh’s hollow eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Nun-uh,” he protested.
“No, it’s true.” I swept my hand over my chest. “Scout’s Honor.”
“Wow…” he shook his head slowly. Then when the realization finally sunk in, he started bouncing around. “Wow, I can’t believe this! You’re Joe Preston’s son. That is so cool!” He then ran across the room to his desk and grabbed up an autograph book. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Josh,” Maddie scolded.
“What?” he questioned.
“Maybe Noah doesn’t want to sign your autograph book.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said.
The doorbell rang. “Pizza’s here!” Josh cried and then ran out of the bedroom.
Maddie smiled at me. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No, he’s fine.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“If Joe Preston is your father, why do you go by Sullivan?”
Oh Jesus. She just had to ask that question. I didn’t know what I was going to tell her since she had no realm of understanding. I mean, her parents were the ideal couple. But, she wanted an answer, so I drew in a deep breath. “Because I don’t really have a relationship with my father. He was twenty-one when he got my mom pregnant, and he really hasn’t had much to do with us. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not a total deadbeat. He does pay a little child support.”
“Oh, I see.” Her face flushed the color of the red spread covering Josh’s bed. It made me feel like an ass. “Then I’m really sorry for what Josh did—and for all this,” she said, gesturing around the room.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.” I cleared my throat. “Um, can I ask you something?”
“He has leukemia,” she replied anticipating my question.
I grimaced. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” Maddie stared at the door. “It’s been really rough on him. He’s had two rounds of incredibly aggressive treatment. The doctors say his prognosis is pretty good.”
Pretty good? I didn’t want to say that I didn’t like odds that were pretty good. You might as well say you had a shot in hell.
“Did Jake…?”
“Yes, Jake met him, and he was really good to Josh. He even skipped basketball practice to sit with Josh during one of his treatments.”
I tried not to let the surprise show on my face. I did remember Jake bitching about having to run suicides until he puked because he’d cut out on a practice. Of course, he never told me why he skipped out.
“Was he at the funeral the other day?” I asked.
“Yeah. Mom and Dad weren’t sure about him going, but he finally wore them down.”
We were interrupted by Josh’s voice. “Guys, come on!”
I followed Maddie down the stairs. Mrs. Parker was setting the dining room table while Pastor Dan was putting ice in glasses. Maddie ushered me to the table, and before I could sit next to her, Josh shook his head. “No, I want Noah to sit here,” he insisted. Maybe there was some kinda religious hoodoo hanging over the house. Normally, I would’ve recoiled at the very idea of Josh. But instead, I smiled at Maddie and moved to sit next to Josh.
The Parker’s were the real deal. After we bowed our heads over paper plates, Pastor Dan gave thanks. I started to feel like I was in an episode of that old show 7th Heaven. Then we started making a dent in the two large pizzas they’d ordered from Dominos.
For a sick kid, Josh sure could put the food away. I mean, he seriously could’ve put Blaine and some of the other football players to shame with the way he devoured his pizza. For dessert, Mrs. Parker had homemade chocolate pound cake. I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven.
After dinner, Mrs. Parker and Maddie quickly cleared the table for game night. No shit, they seriously had a game night once a week where they played board games together. You know, all that jazz that it’s not about playing the game but spending quality time together and all. This particular night was Monopoly.
Maddie glanced over at me, anxiously gauging my reaction to game night. I smiled. “I’m a killer Monopoly player. I used to always win when I played with my grandparents and my mom.”
“Oh really?” Pastor Dan questioned, with a grin.
Josh leaned over to me. “Watch out for Dad—he cheats!”
Pastor Dan laughed. “Now son, don’t you be telling lies to our guest.”
“Daddy, you know Josh is telling the truth,” Maddie exclaimed, a grin etched across her face.
“It’s sad that two children would accuse their father of such a thing,” Pastor Dan replied, and then he gave me a wink.
Maddie and Josh weren’t lying. We had barely gotten started when Pastor Dan tried to pull one over on us. “No offense, sir, but should a minister be doing that sort of thing?” I asked.
I thought I might have offended him, but instead, he roared with laughter, and so did Mrs. Parker. “That’s a wonderful question, Noah,” Mrs. Parker said. “I’ve often thought the very same thing.”
“All I have to say is sometimes you need a little something to repent for, and I know He forgives me!”
We all laughed. Fortunately, I was able to outwit Pastor Dan’s schemes to end up the Donald Trump of the night.
“Good job, Noah,” Maddie said.
“Yeah, way to beat Daddy!” Josh chimed in. It was the first thing he’d said in a long time, and I’d noticed for the last few minutes he’d been propping his head up on his elbows. He yawned, and Mrs. Parker nodded.
“All right, that’s enough for tonight. Josh is getting tired.”
“I am not!” Josh protested.
Pastor Dan shot him a look, and he piped down.
“I’ll clean this up, Mom,” Maddie said.
Mrs. Parker smiled. “Okay, I think I’ll let you. I’m going to take my coffee in the living room.”
“I’ll join you,” Pastor Dan said.
When Josh dallied at the table, Pastor Dan gave a short whistle and a jerk of his head. Josh hopped up and followed into the living room.
I started helping Maddie pick up the game pieces when the thump, thump of a jacked up stereo interrupted us. Even with her dark hair shrouding her face, I could see Maddie had flushed scarlet. “What is that?” I asked.
“My dad and his oldies,” she murmured.
“Maddie, get in here!” Josh shouted.
In the living room, Pastor Dan and Mrs. Parker were dancing together. Josh was doing crazy dance moves around the living room. I recognized the song. It was Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and it had been one of my grandfather’s favorite tunes from the 50’s. A slow burn radiated in my chest, but I did my best to ignore it. I wished
that it was possible just once to think of Granddaddy or of Jake without the same debilitating chest pain.
Pastor Dan saw Maddie, and his eyes lit up. Without missing a step, he motioned to her from the living room.
Maddie’s face glowed with mortification.
“Come on and dance with me, Maddie,” he urged.
“No Daddy!” Maddie hissed.
“Madeline Elizabeth Parker, get your uptight tail over here this instant!”
I couldn’t help laughing as Maddie stalked over to her father. He grabbed her into his arms and did a fast waltz around the living room. I had to admit, Pastor Dan had some serious moves. While he and Maddie cut a rug, Mrs. Parker did some old moves from the 60’s with Josh—the Twist, the Alligator, you name it—they were doing it. I think they even started doing the Sprinkler.
Pastor Dan dipped Maddie, and then spun her over to me. “Your turn, Noah,” he urged.
Maddie blushed as she tried to catch her breath. “You don’t have to.”
Since no one from school was going to see me and possibly give me shit, I decided what the hell. I grinned. “No, it’s okay.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
She smiled with surprise when I pulled her to me. I quickstepped her across the room like Grammy had taught me. We had our own Dancing with the Stars moment in the Parker’s living room.
“Nice footwork, Noah,” Pastor Dan complimented.
“Thank you, sir.”
I cleared my throat and stared into Maddie’s eyes. “So did Jake ever…”
“Dance like this?” Maddie responded.
“Uh-huh.”
Maddie shook her head. “No, he didn’t.”
Hmm, I guess there was one thing I’d done that Jake hadn’t. I didn’t know if that was a hollow victory or not. I mean, he might not have ever had the opportunity. But what I really wondered is if given the opportunity would he have shot down the chance.
When the large grandfather clock struck ten, Mrs. Parker turned off the stereo. She gave Josh a look. “Okay, I know it’s way past somebody’s bedtime.”
“Aw, Mom,” Josh whined.
“Upstairs, now,” Mrs. Parker replied.
I glanced at Maddie. “I guess I better be heading on, too.” I smiled at Pastor Dan and Mrs. Parker. “Thanks for having me for dinner and game night.”
Pastor Dan smiled. “You’re very welcome. Come back anytime.”
“Thanks.”
Maddie walked me to the door. As I started off the porch, I looked back. “So I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”
A small expression of surprise flickered in her eyes, and I felt like an ass. Maddie must’ve been thinking I’d be behind the scenes friends with her or something. “Um, yeah, sure. See you at school.”
“Okay, then. Thanks again for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
As I dug my keys out of my pocket, I grinned. It wasn’t the way I’d envisioned the night—board games with the 7th Heaven gang and dancing around the Parker’s living room, but all in all, I had a fun, G-rated time.
CHAPTER TEN
On Tuesday, I stopped by the Nelson’s house. Luckily, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were at work, and Jonathan was the only one at home.
“Hey man, what’s up?” he asked.
“I came by to look for Jake’s camera or maybe his phone.”
Jonathan grinned. “Oh, like, for the ring investigation?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” I replied.
“Good idea. Man, I bet it’ll have an assload of chicks on there!”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure it does.”
Jonathan led the way upstairs to Jake’s room. On the bed were a couple of duffle bags. Jonathan started unzipping some of them. “This was the stuff he had with him up at PawPaw’s. Mom hasn’t had the heart to unpack it yet,” he informed me.
I nodded. Something about seeing those bags weirded me out a little, and I backed away from the bed—fully content with letting Jonathan find the camera.
“Jesus,” Jonathan murmured.
My gaze fell on a plastic bag in his hand. It was Jake’s iPhone. He must’ve had it on him at the accident because it had clearly been bagged by the police—not Jake’s MeeMaw.
I gulped. “Does it work?” I croaked.
Jonathan shot me a look before he unzipped the bag. “I dunno, man. It looks fine.” He grimaced. “It must’ve been in his truck and not on him when…” Neither of us wanted to think about the rest of that statement. The battery clicked off, so Jonathan dug in the bag for the charger.
Luckily, Jake had never felt the need to lock his phone, or we would have been shit out of luck. “Lock it? Hell, I could never remember the password, so screw that!” he’d said.
Once the phone came up, I started scrolling through the pictures—paying particular attention to the dates. Finally, I found the ones Avery was talking about. “Whoa!” I didn’t know if I would ever be able to look at her again, considering she was not only naked, but in some very, very provocative poses.
Jonathan leaned over me. “Holy shit! Is that Honey Boo-Boo?”
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s her—a lot more than I’m used to seeing”
“Damn, I bet she doesn’t show all that at the pageants.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t think so,” I mused.
“What are you going to do with them?” he asked.
“I promised her I would delete them.”
“Man, that’s a pity,” Jonathan said.
I quickly sent the five naughty pics to the recycling bin. Then I emptied it. “Okay, problem solved.”
“Yeah,” Jonathan murmured with a wistful look in his eye.
I slapped him on the arm. “Dude, quit memorizing the pictures of Honey Boo-Boo—I mean Avery—for your spank bank!”
He grinned wickedly and waggled his eyebrows. “Sorry but some pictures can’t ever be erased!”
“Yeah, that sounds exactly like something Jake would’ve said,” I replied.
The mention of Jake brought us back to ourselves. An awkward silence hung in the air. I eyed the phone and then looked at Jonathan. “Hey man, would you mind if I took this phone? You know, for evidence and detective bullshit.”
“Sure. Mom and Dad won’t mind—they probably won’t even miss it for a while.”
“Okay, cool.” As I weighed the phone in my palm, I glanced up at Jonathan. “So do you have any idea who the ring chick might be?”
Jonathan rocked back on his heels before shaking his head. “I mean, I didn’t know of any specific girls in Jake’s life besides Honey Boo-Boo and that Presley chick.”
While I bobbed my head in agreement, Maddie’s face once again entered my mind. “What about Pastor Dan’s daughter?”
With his blonde brows furrowing, Jonathan gave me an epic WTF? look. “The girl who tutored Jake?”
“Yeah, Maddie.”
“Dude, I don’t think so. I mean, Jake might’ve mentioned her once or twice to me, but he never sounded like he had a jonesing for her.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I thought about the many faces of Jake that Maddie, Pastor Dan, and even myself had seen. “But what if he was keeping his feelings for her a secret? Like he was hiding them away just like this ring?”
Jonathan snorted skeptically. “When did Jake ever hide anything? He said and did exactly what he wanted to.”
“Um duh, the ring?” I argued.
He pursed his lips in thought. “Well, maybe it could be her. Who knows. I’ll just say I’ll be shocked as hell if it actually turns out to be her.”
“You and me both,” I murmured. I then started for the door. Jonathan’s voice stopped me. “Hey Noah?”
I turned around. “Yeah?”
“Blowing up is pretty quick, right? I mean, you don’t think Jake felt anything on that tractor, do you?”
Anguish swam in his dark blue eyes. I didn’t know what Jake felt in that last moment—that l
ast second. I hoped he hadn’t felt anything—that he was here one minute and gone the next. Maybe in the end it didn’t matter if you knew for sure—maybe you could just choose to believe what you wanted.
So, I shook my head at Jonathan. “No man, you heard Bubba when they said it was quick. I’m sure Jake didn’t feel a thing.”
Jonathan weighed my answer for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” I replied.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I began the task of working my way through Jake’s phone. His address book was a symbolic black book like from back in the day. I started with the girls Jake had labeled “Butter Faces”—meaning everything was hot but the chicks’ faces.
And it was a bodacious bevy of hot bods I ‘interviewed’ that week. Long legs, fabulous racks, Jennifer Lopez like asses, but none of them had a song with Jake. Well, Libby Petersen did, but it was Let’s Get Drunk and Screw, not You Were Always on My Mind.
I started to get discouraged. What if I wasn’t able to find her? Jake had dated and screwed extensively not only through Creekview, but also at some of the other high school in our county. It was almost an unending journey—one I might still be on in my old age where I finally tracked down the girl to a nursing home.
Thursday as I sat zoned out at the lunch table, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Maddie. The moment I saw her, I couldn’t help the beaming smile that spread across my face. “Hey,” I said as I hopped up from my chair.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
“I haven’t seen you around this week.”
“Yeah, I’ve been at All-State Chorus competition.”
“Oh really?”
“Uh, huh.”
Maddie and I stood awkwardly at the table. I could feel the expectant gazes of the guys at my table bearing into my back. “So did you, like, uh, win?” I stammered.
“We came in third as a group, and I came in second as an individual.”
“Wow, that’s awesome,” I replied. The back of my shirt was practically peeling off from the burn of the guys gaping at me and Maddie.
Maddie must’ve sensed my awkwardness. “Well, I just wanted to say hello and see how you were doing,” she said, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.
