Golden Sis strikes again. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
He goes on, “She’ll be here tomorrow evening, so—”
Bouncing my head side to side to this all-too-familiar tune of his, I finish his sermon, “I know. Play nice.” A sudden, inspiring idea comes to me and I abruptly laugh. “Maybe I’ll take her out and get her plastered. Some real brother/sister bonding time.”
“Sounds great,” he morosely replies to the car ahead of us. “She’ll have Finn with her, so I don’t know what they’ll want to do.”
“Well, I’m sure she can loosen his leash long enough for him to have a beer or three with me.”
“She won’t have a problem with her boyfriend hanging out with her brother.”
I lazily shrug. “I guess we’ll find out.”
“If you do need a ride home, call me.”
“Hadley could probably snag us a taxi if she wears a short enough skirt.”
“My daughter will not be resorting to doing that to get a ride. Just call me.”
“I doubt Finn would let anyone else ride her anyway, unless he’s into that sort of thing.” I bite my impending smile.
“Jared Adam,” Dad admonishes, and I widely grin at the windshield with prevailed satisfaction.
Still too easy.
Friday morning, I found Tony before Dash had the opportunity to ruin my day. Knowing Tony’s working on shingles today, I grabbed a spare tank top and sprayed my arms with sunscreen, so I’m not at my dad’s mercy for an aloe rubdown tonight. That’s enough to scar me for the rest of my life.
Because I helped reshingle my grandparents’ roof, I told Tony I wanted to help with this one. At first, he was hesitant, but I promised I wouldn’t fall off and if I did, he could put me out of my misery with a nail gun, given that I’ve been hoping for that to happen since starting this damn thing.
Being high above everything and everyone, even in the extreme heat, is absurdly refreshing. Up here, I’m not constantly looking over my shoulder or bracing myself for some kind of intervention. I almost expect cameras to appear for one of those TV episodes, on top of the roof’s pitch, with my dad and Dash heading up the pointless confrontation. Fuckers.
Once or twice, and against my better judgment, I do glance to the ground below for the whereabouts of Dash and Kat, but don’t see them. Dash’s car is parked at the curb, so I know that dickwad is around somewhere.
By lunch, I’m soaked from the morning humidity. Sweat drips from my hair, my eyelashes, the tip of my nose, and has drenched my gray tank top. Yet, I don’t want to stop, but know I have to take a break or Tony won’t let me back up here.
Upon climbing down the ladder, I go right to my dad’s black truck, roughly running my hands through my damp hair on the way there. Finding a towel in the backseat, I somewhat dry off my face and hair before flinging the towel back into the truck. I then peel off my wet shirt. As I twist to heave it into the backseat, something catches my eye and I look to see Kat hurriedly turning away, speed walking into the construction. How long was she watching me? And why? After Wednesday night at the races, I’ve been keeping my distance and have done nothing to encourage her to pay any attention to me.
Mechanically grabbing my white, spare tank top, I tug it on, still guardedly watching the front entryway for any more incidents of her watching me. She’s not, as far as I can tell.
I shut the truck door and head to the water cooler, reflexively nodding at Brenda as she walks by.
As I take a drink, while continuing to watch movements around me, I regret that I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. “Hey, Santa. How do you like it up on the housetop?”
I garbled into my cup, “It’s far away from you, so it’s the bomb.”
“If I’m good, will you bring me a sack of toys?”
“Forget the toys, you need an actual sack. I think that’s the Easter Bunny’s department.”
Dash laughs. “You want to do lunch with me?”
Swallowing, I shake my head and have yet to turn around. “No, thanks.”
“Come on, Jared. I’m sorry about yesterday. I won’t ask anything that will make you mad.”
“Not worried because I just won’t answer them.” I set my cup down and check my watch. “I’m not hungry anyway.”
“You have to eat. You’ve been up there in this heat for hours.”
“I’ll eat. I brought my lunch.” Still not hungry.
He sighs. “Do you have plans tomorrow?”
Facing him and crossing my arms, I say, “Actually, I thought about taking my sister out for drinks.” I wait for his enthusiastic reaction, knowing he won’t turn down a chance to hang out with Hadley, but purposely leaving out that her boyfriend will be with us. Too bad Finn will jam Calder into a wall if he gets too close to her.
Hang on. This might be fun after all.
Holding his red sucker in midair, his face lights up like a Times Square billboard. “Holy hell. I forgot she’ll be in town this weekend? How did I forget that?”
“I don’t know. Are you in or what?”
Dash promptly answers, “Is that a joke? Of course I am! What about Rio?”
I shrug. “If he’s not handcuffed to a bedpost and his governess is busy, why not? We going to Shooters?”
Shoving the sucker into his mouth and yanking his phone from his back pocket, he shakes his head at it and says a jumbled, “No. There’s a new place near South Gate I want to try.”
I’m instantly suspicious. “It’s not a kooky place that worships the zodiac, is it? And take that fucking thing out of your mouth before answering me.”
Pausing, Dash pulls the stick out of his mouth as he lifts his gaze. “I wouldn’t take you to a place like that.” He looks back down to his phone and shrugs. “I guess that leaves out the fortune-telling bar?”
“Categorically.”
“Your loss.”
“I’ll even stay sober the whole night, so you can drink all you want.” I cannot be drunk around my sister. I don’t want her reporting back to my dad. In that weak state, she could get me to say something I wouldn’t normally tell her.
Dash resumes tapping on his phone with one hand. “I’ll talk to Rio to see what he’s doing.”
“Sounds good.”
As he types, he asks, “Can you swing by and pick me up? I’ll just knock out on your couch.”
I shrug. “Okay. Though, do me a favor and leave your astrological chart at home, hanging on your wall.”
Glancing up at me, he scoffs, “Jericho, that’s old school. It’s an app. on my phone.” He smiles as he returns the sucker to his mouth.
Christ. On second thought, I just might need to get drunk.
Dad and I left the site early because he was in a fucking hurry to get home, not wanting to be late for Hadley’s grand entrance.
We were definitely on opposite ends of the enthusiasm scale. In the time it took me to yank my shoes off, he had already taken a two-minute shower, and then immediately started making Hadley’s favorite lasagna for dinner. It’s kind of funny that she gets her favorite dinner just for staying a couple days. I’m staying here for two goddamned months, but I got jack shit for my first night here.
Avoiding the kitchen and his barf-worthy zeal, I instead, go to my room, grab a change of clothes and head to the bathroom across the hall. As I let the hot water spray against my back, I lean against the white tile and rest my head on my arm, thinking about the fucking predicament that is reverting me into becoming a victim of an injudicious female once more.
How do I keep Kat from invading my life again? She’s at her mom’s house every damn day. I can’t avoid her unless I stay home, but even if that was an option, I can’t now.
Why can I not stop thinking about her? Why do the ghosts from my past torture me still? What causes their unrest? Kat didn’t want me in high school, so how does that make it any different now? I dreamed about her wanting me. I mentally begged her daily to want me, but nothing. I wasn’t good enough, n
o matter how hard I fucking tried showing her. No matter how much I silently pleaded with her to kiss me. No matter how much I needed Kat to tell me that I was the one for her—to finally want me. In the end, it didn’t matter because she showed me just how much she didn’t. She turned her back on me and chose someone else.
By putting my balls on the chopping block, I left myself defenseless, yet she laughed as she cut them off with a dull knife.
Now, here I am, years later, and instead of Kat’s ghost haunting me, she’s risen from the grave, taunting me. She didn’t have an ample amount of fun crushing my soul the first time around, so she’s back for more, possibly to finish demolishing me.
She used to be all I ever wanted before she turned into all I wanted to avoid. Nevertheless, I still couldn’t. I thought about her every breath I took since seeing her in that fucking classroom. Only, the image of her I had embedded in my mind was outdated; however, despite the changes in her appearance, she’s still…
She’s even more…
As her face fills my head, the familiar ache beckons me to inevitably respond. Reaching down, I seize it and desperately try to expel her from my mind, as I’ve done since high school. Yet, no amount of insistent tugging can erase the pain, the sorrow, the emptiness, and the loneliness I’ve become accustomed to for so long, and will always loom over me. As everyone else has moved on, I’m stuck in my own past, reliving every excruciating detail I want to forget.
Through my low grunting and final, quiet gasp, I achieve a minor wave of relief as I predictably spurt the same, relentless desolation onto the shower wall, which negates any reprieve I just experienced.
How will I survive her ceaseless tormenting, when she’s right in front of me again?
Equally, how will I survive when she vanishes yet again, still succeeding on tormenting the rest of my existence?
It’s all a vicious cycle.
CHAPTER 8
“Hey, pumpkin pie!”
Standing at the top of the stairs, I take a deep breath as I fluff up my damp hair. Their jovial greetings ring out as suitcases thump against the floor. When the commotion dies to a dull roar, I blow a lung full of air and go downstairs.
“Jared!” Hadley rushes over, her ponytail flying behind her, and she throws her arms around my neck. As I stand here, not sure how to react, my dad beams at us, while Finn lifts his chin to me, grinning, before turning to say something to Dad.
“I missed you so much,” she says against my shoulder, the top of her head brushing my chin.
Reaching up, I uneasily pat her on the back and mumble, “You, too.”
She lets go of me, her clear green eyes shining at my muddled mix of green/hazel. Other than that subtle difference, and the obvious disparity in height, we can’t deny each other as brother and sister. We have the same hair color, lips, the same nose, and chin. Dad also says Hadley and I share the same stubbornness.
Do not.
I wouldn’t call it stubbornness. We’re just strong-willed and refuse to give up on what we truly believe in. At any cost.
Maybe that’s the definition, though.
I will give my sister this much: to those who don’t know Hadley, or underestimate her because she’s petite and soft-spoken, she doesn’t seem like much of a fighter, but I know she has it in her. I’ve been on the receiving end of her wrath quite a few times.
“Congratulations on your new job.”
“Thanks.” I glance over at my dad and Finn, but they’re already talking baseball. I now notice that Dad’s wearing a gray New York Mets shirt, and Finn has on a white New York Yankees shirt. I’m guessing they’ll be fighting over a game on TV tonight, and since I don’t care for baseball, leaving me alone with my sister. Before my dad met Finn, he didn’t seem to care about baseball either, really. Until recently, I didn’t even know he liked the Mets. To me, it seems like a bandwagon thing, although, he isn’t rooting for the Yankees with Finn.
“Right?”
I glance back to my sister. “What?”
Hadley laughs. “I said that you and I will have to find something else to do tonight, since Finn and Dad will be glued to the TV.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess so.”
She rolls her eyes before looking over to them. “I think those two purposely planned us staying this weekend because of tonight’s game.”
Looking away from my dad, Finn folds his arms, cupping his elbows, and gives my sister a teasing smile. “Don’t be hating on baseball, Becks.”
Hadley says, “You never did explain how you got the whole weekend off from work.”
“There was an opening in the schedule between vacations, so I took it.” Finn shrugs as his smile changes to an assured grin. “Plus, my boss loves me.”
She laughs. “So it is true?”
Finn guiltily puts his hand on the back of his neck, tilting his head and giving her a slanted smile. “I’m pleading the Fifth and since you’re a paralegal, you know my rights.” Paralegal. That’s right. I totally got that one wrong.
“Well, you have the right to remain silent about baseball, until after dinner.”
He laughs and Hadley blows him a kiss, which makes me cringe and roll my eyes.
Dad clears his throat and briefly gives me “that look” before swinging his arm and pointing to the kitchen. “Speaking of dinner, let’s eat.”
On the way to the kitchen, I trail behind Hadley as she meets Finn, and he puts his arm over her shoulders. As they walk, she lifts her face to him and he bends to kiss her. She whispers, “I still love you, baby.”
“I love you back,” he whispers against her forehead.
Fuck me. This is going to be a long damn weekend.
As Dad pulls dinner out of the oven, I get glasses from the cabinet and Hadley asks everyone if water is okay. Taking a glass from me, she fills it up at the fridge, giving me a smile as we exchange full for empty, probably remembering us doing this for dinner when we lived here.
“Someone needs to give me a job to do,” Finn says with a laugh. “I’m feeling left out.”
Dad says, “If you want to grab us some plates in that cabinet right there.”
“How adorable,” I say.
“What?” Hadley asks, walking the last filled glass over to the table, and I grab the tray of garlic bread. “Finn’s nice, Jared. Maybe you should try it sometime.”
Dad laughs as I put the tray on the table, and pull out my usual chair, next to Dad’s at the head. Hadley takes her seat across from me and I sneer, “Oh, yeah? Who was the mean guy who used to kill spiders or helped his big sister with her algebra homework?”
“Hit,” she says with a sly smile, which unexpectedly makes me smile in return.
“What’s that mean?” Finn asks, taking his seat next to my sister.
Hadley says, “Instead of touché, Jared and I say hit. In middle school, we went through a Battleship game phase, playing as soon as we got home, during dinner—before getting yelled at—and even in each other’s rooms at night.” Yep. We were definitely obsessed.
Not that I’ve ever been obsessed with anything else in my life.
“I’d find red and white pegs all over the house,” Dad complains with a chuckle. “And don’t think I couldn’t hear you two playing that game on your beds at night. These walls are thin.”
“We had fun, though,” Hadley protests with a pout aimed at Dad. She then looks at me. “Didn’t we, Jared?”
I shrug. “It was alright.” Some of the best times of my life.
“We did that for like six months. It was a massive phase.”
“Titanic,” I abruptly declare, making her laugh, which makes me smile again. Damn it.
Reining myself in, I look down at my empty plate as Dad brings the casserole dish over. Dad asks, “How’s work, Finn?”
“It’s good. They keep me busy.”
“Hadley gives me your schedule when you’ll be on TV.” Dad announces proudly. “I watch your broadcast online every day you work.”
“I’m still trying to come up with them, but it’s hard trying to come up with something you haven’t done before.”
“There’s a lot I haven’t done before, so give me something good.”
“Do you ever turn down any dares?”
“No. I try not to, at least. I love a challenge, but I try to keep them sports-related. I’ve gotten letters and emails from people daring me to do all kinds of things, from wearing a crown during a broadcast to signing autographs in the station’s parking lot. Naked.”
Hadley puts her hand over her mouth and giggles. Confused, I ask, “What? Like you haven’t seen Finn naked before?”
Both Hadley’s hand and mouth drop at the same time, as Finn puts his fist to his mouth, coughing behind it. He does it more to stifle a laugh, and as he glances at me, he can’t hide his proud smirk.
“Jared Adam,” Dad briskly warns, cutting the lasagna, dishing the first piece to Princess Hadley.
I just get better and better at this as time goes on. Though, I’m still aiming for the triple threat of my full name. Those are rare.
“What,” I ask my dad innocently, but keeping a smile off my face is tough, since Finn is coughing harder.
Sighing in exasperation, Dad changes the subject to something banal as he motions for Finn’s plate. “Grandma and Grandpa want to have you kids over for dinner tomorrow night.” Kids. Fucking hell. I haven’t been a kid in years, but I feel more like one now than I did as a damn kid.
Picking up my glass of water, I say, “Sorry. Booked solid. I have plans.”
Another sharp looks ensues. “You can see your grandparents while you’re here, Jared. You’ve yet to stop by to visit them.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah. I’m here for a while.”
“But your sister isn’t. You can eat dinner with them and then go out afterward, can’t you?”
I shift my gaze to Hadley. “What about you guys? Do you have plans tomorrow night?”
Having salvaged her composure, she quizzically asks, “Plans? Here? No, why?”
The Keys to Jericho Page 12
