by Maggie Wells
“So, Kyle, what are your plans?” she asked.
Kyle swallowed. “Delicious chicken, ma’am.”
“Um, Mom,” Aleecia said. “Kyle needs a place to live. Just until school starts.”
“Oh?” her mom asked.
“I have a scholarship at FSU,” Kyle said. “But I can’t live with my mom anymore, now that I’m eighteen.”
“Do you have a job?” asked her mother.
“I’m working with my friend, Steve, in construction again this summer,” Kyle said.
“Could Kyle stay here with us?” Aleecia asked. “Please?”
“I don’t see how,” her mother said. “There isn’t room.”
“What if we finished the garage?” Aleecia asked. “Kyle could do the work, right? There’s a toilet out there already.”
“Sure, Steve could help,” Kyle said. “We could put in dry wall and a subfloor, maybe an outdoor shower?”
“It would be like a little guest house out back,” Aleecia said. “I’ll work extra hours at Big Lots, and I can use my employee discount to buy everything. Please?”
Her mother sighed. “You can stay on the couch tonight,” she said. “Tomorrow, you two need to clean out that garage. Have you looked in there, lately?”
The next day, Aleecia knocked on Mr. Martin’s door.
“Can I get more hours?” she asked. “Full-time if possible?”
“Are you looking for benefits?” Mr. Martin asked.
“No, I’m on my mom’s plan,” Aleecia said. “I just need to make more money this summer. We’re doing a little remodeling at home.”
Mr. Martin rifled through some papers on his desk. “Can you get here by seven?” he said without looking up. “I can give you the opening shift, Monday-Friday, seven to three. That work?”
“That would be awesome!” Aleecia gushed. “Kyle is going to come by this evening to pick up an airbed and some plumbing stuff. I’m putting it on my card, okay?”
“Sure, whatever,” Mr. Martin went back to marking up schedules. “Tomorrow morning at seven, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Aleecia said.
Kyle
On Sunday after dinner, Kyle went home to clean out his drawers. Dwayne sat morosely on his bed, watching as Kyle filled black garbage bags with his clothes and shoes.
“Why are you leaving?” Dwayne asked. “Because of the fight?”
“No, buddy,” Kyle said. “It’s time for me to leave. I’m done with school. I need to be out on my own.”
“Where are you going?” Dwayne asked. “Can I come?”
“I’m only moving across town, to Aleecia’s,” Kyle said. “I’ll see you all the time.”
Kyle stopped packing, sat down on the bed and put his arm around Dwayne.
“Jared is moving in,” Kyle said. “Remember Jared, Mom’s ex?”
“I hate Jared,” Dwayne said.
“I know,” Kyle said. “But, look, Mom needs him and Crystal needs a dad. Try and make it work. Keep your head down and stay out of his way. And if anything bad happens, anything at all, you call me right away, okay?”
Dwayne wrapped his arms around Kyle’s waist and buried his head. “Don’t leave me here.”
Kyle hugged Dwayne. “Don’t cry. It will all be okay. I promise,” he said.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Dwayne said.
“Sure, move over,” Kyle said. “As long as you don’t wet the bed. As a matter of fact, why don’t you go use the bathroom right now? Then I’ll lay with you until you fall asleep.”
Kyle picked Steve up at five the next morning.
“What’s all the crap in the back seat?” Steve asked.
“I’m moving in with Aleecia,” Kyle said.
“Shit! For real?” Steve asked.
“Her mom is letting us move into the guest house,” Kyle said.
“She has a guest house?” Steve asked.
“Well, not yet,” Kyle said, laughing. “We need to build it, you and me.”
“We’re building a house?” Steve said. “We don’t have the license to do that.”
“We’re not building a house, dummy,” Kyle said. “We need to finish the garage. The plumbing and electrical are already in there. We need to put in the walls and drop ceiling, sub-floor—the usual shit. We could knock it out in a weekend.”
“Two weekends, maybe,” Steve said.
“Two, three, whatever,” Kyle said. “Are you in?”
“Can we stop at Starbucks?” Steve said.
Kyle parked at the address they were given by Mikey, the general contractor.
“What are we building?” Kyle asked.
“We’re converting a mini-mall into a health clinic,” Mikey said. “You’ll be busy all summer.”
“Awesome,” Steve said.
Kyle dropped Steve at his house at four and drove to Big Lots. He dug through the bags in the back seat to find a clean shirt and changed in the car.
Aleecia was working on checkout nine. They had already agreed with Aleecia’s mom on a plan. He would sleep in the garage during the construction. The first priority was to build the outdoor shower and replace the utility basin with a vanity so he wouldn’t have to share the bathroom in the main house. Kyle filled his cart in the plumbing and carpentry aisles. Then he threw in an airbed and some sheets, pillows and comforter and wheeled his way to aisle nine.
“Mr. Martin gave me a full-time schedule,” Aleecia said as she scanned his items. “I’m working seven to three, Monday through Friday.”
“You’ll have weekends off?” Kyle asked. “You can help with the painting.”
“How long do you think before we can move in?” Aleecia asked.
“I’m moving in tonight,” Kyle said. “You can stay at my place.”
“You know what I mean,” Aleecia said, laughing.
The total came to $324.17. Kyle gulped.
Aleecia scanned her employee ID, which brought it down to $194.50. Without skipping a beat, she swung the keypad around and swiped her debit card.
SEVENTEEN
Kyle
* * *
KYLE LOOKED AT ALEECIA. This beautiful girl, HE thought as she rang up the items. She makes everything possible. He thought back to the previous weekend when he was plotting to rescue the kids. And now here he was, buying home improvement supplies at Big Lots. How had he gotten here?
Kyle drove to Aleecia’s house. Her mom wouldn’t be home from work until late. He let himself into the garage.
“Shit!” he said aloud.
The garage was packed to the rafters with all the stuff that Aleecia had picked up on Craig’s list. Her mom wasn’t kidding. There was no room to inflate the bed so he started carting stuff out into the yard. I’ve been up since four this morning and worked eight hours in the hot sun and now this? His back was sore; he needed a shower. “Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath. What is up with the hoarding? I’ve heard about people like this. It was a sign of mental illness, they said. OCD. Does Aleecia have OCD? He worked for two hours and then it was time to go pick up Aleecia. He let himself into the house with the spare key and showered off.
He dug some clean jeans and T-shirt out of the garbage bags piled in the garage and jumped in the car.
He waited in the Big Lots parking lot, as always. But this time it was different. This time they were going home together. He thought about Dwayne as he sat under the security light and watched the enormous insects swarm.
He texted his mom, Tell Dwayne to call me
Lucifer responded. He’s already asleep
It’s early, Kyle texted.
Jared sent him to bed without dinner.
Fuck! Kyle thought. It’s only been one day and it’s already started. I need to get Dwayne out of there.
Tell Dwayne I’m going to pick him up after work tomorrow, around 4.
No response.
That night Aleecia and Kyle lay on the airbed in the garage.
“What is all this crap?�
� Kyle asked.
“I found it on Craigslist,” Aleecia said.
“And . . . ” Kyle said. “What were you planning to do with it?”
“I guess I’m a bit of a hoarder,” Aleecia said.
“Ya think?” Kyle asked. “We need to get rid of everything if we’re going to live in here.”
“What will we do with it?” Aleecia asked softly. She wasn’t ready to let it all go. As she looked around she remembered the adrenaline rush that she had felt with each new discovery. All of the stuff her mom had said she couldn’t afford to buy her as a little girl, she had found for free.
“I don’t know,” Kyle barked. “Call the sanitation department?”
“Is everything alright?” Aleecia asked.
“It’s my little brother, Dwayne,” Kyle said. “My mom’s boyfriend is abusing him.”
“Oh my God,” Aleecia said. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle said. “I’m going over there tomorrow after work to see what’s going on.”
The next evening, Kyle arrived at the house at five to find it locked up tight. He tried his key, but it didn’t work.
Where r u, he texted his mother. Where is Dwayne?
No response.
You changed the fucking locks? he texted.
No response.
Kyle banged on the front door and living room windows. He walked around to the back and peered into Dwayne’s bedroom window. He saw Dwayne curled up at the foot of his bed. He tried to open the window but it was locked. He banged on the window, crying, “Dwayne, wake up!”
Dwayne rolled over and stared with wide eyes. It was as though he didn’t recognize Kyle.
“Dwayne!” Kyle yelled. “Open the window!”
Dwayne walked over to the window and tried to open it, but it was nailed shut.
“Can you open the back door?” Kyle yelled.
“I can’t,” Dwayne shouted back. “They nailed it shut.”
“What the fuck?” Kyle took off his T-shirt and wrapped it around his right hand.
“Get away from the window!” he yelled. Kyle swung at the window and punched a hole in the glass. He swung several more punches to knock all the shards loose. He laid the T-shirt on the window frame and reached in to grab Dwayne by the armpits. As he picked him up, Kyle was surprised at how small Dwayne seemed. And shocked at how bad he smelled.
Kyle carried Dwayne to the car and set him down on the seat.
“How long were you locked in there?” Kyle asked.
“Since yesterday,” Dwayne said and began to cry. “I don’t want to stay here.”
“Don’t worry, you’re never coming back.” Kyle said.
Aleecia was working a double shift to cover for someone who had called in sick, so Kyle drove straight to Big Lots. On the way, they passed a KFC.
“Can we stop?” Dwayne asked.
“Sure, of course, you must be starving,” Kyle said. He pulled up to the drive-through window and ordered a large bucket of Extra Crispy Bites and a large Pepsi.
When they got to Big Lots, Kyle told Dwayne to wait in the car with the A.C. on. Dwayne stuffed a piece of chicken into his mouth and nodded; his face was covered with grease. He was in heaven.
Kyle approached checkout nine and stood at the foot of the conveyor belt while Aleecia finished ringing up a customer—a guy in his early twenties buying power tools. He saw her smiling and blushing. She’s flirting with him! he thought. When she handed the guy the receipt, it seemed that she hung on to her end a little too long and Kyle flashed back to the first time they met. Does she do that with every guy? he wondered.
Aleecia startled when she saw him.
“I need to talk to you,” Kyle said.
“Meet me by the men’s room,” Aleecia said. Kyle took off.
Aleecia paged Mr. Martin on the intercom, and he appeared almost instantly. “I need to use the ladies room,” she lied. Mr. Martin knew she was expecting and accommodated her frequent visits to the restroom. Aleecia raced back to the restroom and arrived breathless.
“Now, I really do need to pee,” she said. Aleecia grabbed his arm and pointed at the handicapped restroom. “In here,” she said.
“What is it?” Aleecia asked. “What’s the emergency? Don’t watch me!”
While Aleecia peed, Kyle turned his back to her and related the story of going to the house and finding Dwayne locked in his room—nailed in, in fact.
“Where is he now?” Aleecia asked.
“In the car, stuffing his face with KFC,” Kyle said. “He can’t go back there, and I can’t let the county take him.”
“Take him to my house and get him cleaned up,” Aleecia said. “We’ll talk to my mom when she gets home.”
Kyle kissed her. He started to leave and then hesitated. “Hey,” he said. “Do you flirt with all of your customers?”
“Really?” Aleecia said, laughing. “That’s what you want to ask me right now?”
EIGHTEEN
Aleecia
* * *
STORE TRAFFIC SLOWED DOWN AFTER LUNCH, SO ALEECIA asked Mr. Martin if she could clock out at two. And in truth, she was feeling a little queasy. She was throwing up almost every morning.
Kyle and Steve hadn’t yet started on the remodeling project, so they had rigged a curtain around the toilet. Aleecia nagged Kyle about constructing real walls and a real door around the toilet, but he didn’t see it as a priority.
“What do you care?” Kyle asked. “You can use the bathroom inside the house.”
“Except when it’s an emergency!” she reminded him. “And I’m having more and more of those. Besides, do you think I like listening to you relieve yourself in the middle of the night?”
Kyle laughed. “I’ll be leaving for Tallahassee in a few weeks. Then you’ll miss everything I do in the middle of the night.”
“I doubt that,” Aleecia said, laughing. But she was keenly aware of the passage of time and that he’d be leaving soon. I don’t want him to leave, she thought and then realized how selfish that was. She dreaded returning to high school to face the humiliating stares and whispers alone. But she knew that college was the right choice for him, for both of them.
Kyle had talked about his little brother and sister all the time, even fantasized about bringing them to come live with them in the garage “guest house.” When Kyle told her that Crystal’s father was back, Aleecia thought that everything sounded okay. But when Kyle showed up at Big Lots and told her what had happened, she felt certain that they needed to intervene. She just wasn’t sure how, or whether her mom would agree.
When she got to the house, Kyle and Dwayne were in the living room watching TV.
“Hi, boys,” Aleecia said.
“Dwayne, this is Aleecia,” Kyle said. “You’re home early. What time does your mom usually get home?”
“It got slow, so I told Mr. Martin I wasn’t feeling well,” Aleecia said. “And actually, I’m not.”
Kyle jumped up. “Baby, you need to sit down.” He led her to the couch. “Do you want some water?”
“Maybe some iced tea,” Aleecia said. “Herbal.”
Aleecia got up and followed Kyle into the kitchen.
“We can’t talk to my mom in front of Dwayne,” Aleecia said.
“He’s probably exhausted,” Kyle said. “I’ll settle him in the garage and let him play with my phone.”
“Hey, Dwayne,” Kyle called out. “Let’s brush your teeth.”
Aleecia was resting on the couch, surfing through channels when she heard her mom’s car.
She texted Kyle, mom’s here
He replied, b right there.
Her mother came in loaded with grocery bags. Kyle rushed to her side. “Let me get those, Ms. R.”
“You’re going to have to start calling me Mom,” Aleecia’s mom laughed. “There’s more in the car.”
Kyle went to retrieve the groceries.
“Mama, sit down,” Aleecia said. “Do you want some tea?”
“There’s some wine coolers in the fridge,” her mother said. “That would be nice.” She sank into the easy chair and put her feet up on the ottoman. “Oh, what a day,” she started.
“Um, Mama,” Aleecia said, handing her mother her drink. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
Silence.
“I’m listening,” her mother said.
Aleecia started to tell the history of Kyle’s mother and her boyfriend. Kyle jumped in to relay the events of the day and finished with, “I had to bring him here. He can’t go back there.”
“We need to call the police,” Aleecia’s mother said.
“The county will take Dwayne away,” Kyle said. “I can’t let that happen to him again.”
“Dwayne is terrified, Mama,” Aleecia said.
“I don’t know what you’re planning to do,” Aleecia’s mother said. “Dwayne has a mother. You can’t just take him away from her—that’s kidnapping. We’ll all go to jail.”
“Here’s an idea,” Kyle said. “I’ll talk to her in the morning and see if she’ll give me custody. Jared really doesn’t want Dwayne around. I bet she’ll go for it.”
“You better call her right now and let her know where he is,” her mother said. “She might have already called the cops.”
“Dwayne has my phone,” Kyle said and headed for the back door.
Aleecia’s mother gave her a hard look. “And if Kyle gets custody, what does that mean for you, for us? You’re bringing me another mouth to feed? You’re taking on this boy’s entire family. Are you ready for this much motherhood?”
“Mama, I don’t know.” Aleecia started to cry. “I just know it’s the right thing to do.”
Kyle returned with his phone. “Thank God, Dwayne fell asleep. My mom called five times and sent some pretty nasty texts.”
“What did she say?” Aleecia asked.
