Weathering Stormy

by Auburn J. Kelly

  “What in the hell happened to you?” Marni asked as Stormy hobbled her way through the front door. Her tone was laced with accusation, rather than concern.

  Stormy’s temper got the best of her. “I fell,” she spat at her mother. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling and calling.” She paused, taking in the new mess in the living room. “And what’s with all these boxes?”

  Marni practically jumped out of the faded, broken recliner and made it across the living room in two long strides. Her face was six inches from Stormy’s, close enough for her to catch the pungent scent of booze that seeped out of her pores. “You better watch how you speak to me, girl,” she hissed. “I don’t have to answer to you…I don’t have to answer to anybody for that matter.” Her nostrils flared and her thickly lined blue eyes were wide with fury.

  Her eyes. Something wasn’t quite right about them, but she was too pissed off to care at that moment.

  The atmosphere in the room was volatile, and Stormy knew she needed to diffuse the situation before things got too out of hand. She took a difficult step backward and pulled her eyes away from Marni’s locked gaze. “I’m sorry, Mama. It’s just that I was going crazy not knowing where you were. I hurt my ankle and had to go to the hospital…and the nurse couldn’t get you on the phone. I was scared that something bad had happened to you.”

  Marni visibly began to simmer down. Her pupils returned to a somewhat normal state and she retreated to her spot on the recliner.

  “Well,” she huffed, “I’m too tired to fight with you anyway. Been moving Bill’s stuff in all afternoon. He’s been practically living here anyway so we figured he ought to just save his rent money and stay here full-time.”

  Translation: Bill’s an unemployed bum and he’s going to mooch off us for a while.

  Stormy resisted rolling her eyes. She sighed and sagged against the crutches that were pinching her underarms. Nothing she could say would make that nightmare go away anyhow. Her mother had never been receptive to any of her advice before, and Stormy had given up trying.

  She maneuvered around the cardboard boxes that littered the living room and headed to her room. All she wanted to do at that moment was climb into her bed and prop some pillows under her throbbing foot. Just as she was about to shuffle her way down the hall, she decided to stop and make one request, “Mama. Can you at least tell him to stay out of my room?”

  “Now what possible reason could that man have for going into your room?” she said, exasperated. And then something like realization flickered across her face. She set her mouth in a hard line. “Stormy, there’s nothing in your room that he would want.”

  Yeah, right, she thought. Except for possibly me.

  ****

  “Where are you going, munchkin?” Brylan snatched up his nephew before he could make it to the edge of the pond. The little kid was fearless.

  “Duckies! Wan’ feed duckies!”

  “Okay, okay.” Brylan opened up the package of stale bread and tore it into small pieces. “Here…throw it to them…like this….”

  River giggled and clapped his chubby little hands together as the mob of greedy ducks and geese raced each other for the scraps of bread. “Again! Again!” he squealed with delight. His big blue eyes were wide and he was grinning from ear to ear. “Look at dat one. He’s silly,” he said, pointing to the black duck with a plume of fluffy feathers on top of his head.

  “Hey! He’s got a mohawk. How about we get you a haircut like that?” Brylan teased him while mussing up his white crop of baby-fine hair.

  “Yeah! Mow-ock!”

  “Great influence you are,” his sister said while giving Brylan a playful shove. “Next he’ll be wanting a tattoo.”

  “Oh, Lil. Lighten up. He’s only two. You’ve got at least… ten years before he starts hollering for a tattoo.”

  “Ha ha. Funny, little brother.”

  Brylan and Lily were Irish twins, barely a year apart, and she never missed an opportunity to remind him who was older. As much as it annoyed him, he let her get away with the “little brother” jab.

  He felt himself staring at her features while she watched River play. Something was off with her. He could see it in the hollows under her eyes and the sag in her shoulders. She wasn’t her usual spunky self and it worried him.

  He sat beside her on the concrete bench. “You look tired, Lil.”

  “I am tired, Bry. Chasing that little guy around all the time…he’s a handful.” She nodded toward River, who had apparently lost interest in the ducks, and had found something else to amuse himself. “River, take the rocks out of your pockets, please.”

  Brylan smirked as he watched the little boy fling the pebbles into the pond, angrily. He definitely had inherited the Knight stubborn streak.

  “How long before Derrick gets home?”

  “Only two more days. Then he’ll be home for two weeks before he has to go out again.”

  “That’s good. I know how much you guys miss him.” He knew what a toll his brother-in-law’s long haul trucking job had taken on his sister. “Yeah, we do. I thought I would eventually get used to him being on the road all the time…but it just gets harder and harder. And I’m constantly explaining to River why Daddy can’t come home. It’s like he forgets, and I have to remind him why Derrick isn’t there. Sometimes I have to remind myself why he’s not there.”

  She wiped at a stray tear and Brylan put an arm around her and gave a little squeeze. He wished there was something more he could offer her.

  They sat together quietly for a few minutes while River resumed chasing the ducks around.

  “I’m thinking of going back to school,” Lily said. “It bugs me that I never finished my degree.”

  He hadn’t been expecting that announcement, but he was glad to hear it. Lily was always the brainy one in the family. Everyone was shocked when she had announced that she was dropping out her senior year of college and getting married. But it all clicked into place when River was born a few months afterward.

  “That’s awesome, Lily. Won’t it be hard though…I mean with River?”

  “I have a really sweet lady that lives next door who offered to babysit. I figured now is as good a time as any. And I want to set a good example for River. You know? I mean, I’m proud of my husband…He does what it takes to provide for us, but I want more for our son. I want River to have options. Like his Uncle Bry.” She nudged him playfully.

  “Yeah…I don’t know about options. This whole teaching thing…it was Dad’s idea. So far it hasn’t been what I thought it was going to be. I’m not sure I’m cut out for teaching.”

  “Maybe you just need more time. It’s a respectable career, Bry. Don’t give up on it just yet.”

  Brylan’s shoulders sagged. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of being a role model and all…I just don’t know if I’m going about it the right way. I’m not sure I belong in a classroom.”

  He knew he shouldn’t be complaining. With the economy like it was, he was lucky to have a job at all. But, sometimes his job was like a pair of shoes that were a half-size too small. It rubbed him the wrong way.

  “Mommy! Let’s go pway! Swides!” River was running toward them, his chubby cheeks red from the cold.

  Lily picked him up and snuggled him. “Okay, okay. Let’s zip you up first.” She set him back down and zipped his jacket up to his chin.

  “Is Uncle Bwy going too?”

  Just as he was about to answer, he saw his car, the one Stormy had borrowed, roll up at the next picnic table over from where they were sitting. He watched Stormy clamber out and hobble over to the table, seemingly unaware of his presence. He was surprised to see her out and about so soon after her injury.

  “Hey, River. Why don’t you and your mommy go on to the playground. I’ll catch up in a little while, okay?”

  “Everything okay?” Lily looked at him questioningly.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. It’s just that I know that girl
over there, and I wanted to pop over and say hi.”

  Lily smirked at him knowingly and raised an eyebrow, “Oh, really?”

  “It’s not like that, sis. She’s a friend.”

  “Uh huh,” she said with a devilish smile. “Well, you and your friend have a nice chat. I’m going to go let this little guy play for a little while.”

  River put his hands on his hips and scowled. “I’m not wittle.”

  Lily and Brylan both snickered.

  “Oh, excuse me,” Lily tried to match River’s serious tone, “My big guy and I are going to go to the playground.”

  Brylan chuckled. “Okay, I’ll catch up in a bit.”

  He watched as Lily took River’s little hand and led him to the playground. He returned River’s little bye-bye wave before strolling over to where Stormy was sitting. She was staring out at the water vacantly, apparently lost in her thoughts. She didn’t notice him until he cleared his throat.

  “Hey, how’s the ankle?”

  “Oh, hey! I didn’t notice it was you over there. It’s a little better.”

  “I didn’t notice any crutches…”

  “Nah. They were a pain in the ass. I get around okay without ‘em as long as I don’t put too much weight on it.” She peered over his shoulder, “Who was that?”

  “That was my sister and her little boy. They’re staying with me until tomorrow. I think she just came to check up on me. She does that sometimes.”

  “That’s sweet,” she said. “It must be nice having somebody who cares enough to do that.”

  “I suppose.” He hopped up on the concrete picnic table with her. “I make out like she bugs the hell out of me. You know…the obligatory brother-sister thing…but I’m secretly glad I get to see her.”

  She smiled at him. “It must be nice. Having a sibling, I mean. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. It’s just always been me and Mama.”

  He tried to imagine his life without his sister and brothers, but he couldn’t. They were like appendages…he’d be lost without them.

  She got that faraway look again. “Everything good at home?”

  She hesitated, which he took as a bad sign. “Yeah. Okay, I guess,” she said flatly.

  “You don’t sound very convincing.”

  More hesitation. Brylan was starting to wonder if he was overstepping an invisible boundary.

  “Mama’s new boyfriend moved in with us. And he’s… I just don’t like him. He gives me the creeps.”

  Brylan bristled at her answer. “What do you mean?”

  “He just looks at me like…I don’t know. He’s just always staring at me. It makes me feel unwelcome in my own house.”

  “Have you told your mom about it?”

  “No. It wouldn’t do any good anyway. She’d never believe me. So I usually just stay in my room…with the door locked.”

  “Geez. That’s no way to live, Stormy.” Alarm bells were going off in his head, and he gripped the edge of the concrete table to anchor himself. Instinctively, he wanted to find the guy and punch his lights out. “Is that all he does? Stare?” His body tensed in anticipation of her answer.

  “Yeah. I don’t think he’s bold enough to try anything with Mama around. So I make sure I’m never alone with him. I don’t trust him. That’s why I’m here. Mama had to go to work. She waits tables at The Rusty Fender. Usually he goes with her and hangs out at the bar until her shift is over. Tonight he didn’t. He said he had a headache or something. So I left.”

  “I think that’s probably pretty smart, although it must really suck to not be able to go to your own house.” He let the information digest for a moment. “So…what are you gonna do, stay here in the park until the bar closes? That’s not until what, midnight?”

  “Something like that. It’s fine. I don’t mind it here. I brought a book to read.”

  He looked down at his watch. Midnight was six hours away.

  He heard giggling and looked over to see River and Lily returning from the playground. He’d lost track of time and a tingle of guilt struck him for not keeping his promise.

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you come over to the house? We already promised River some pizza for dinner. You can hang out with us for a while.”

  Hope flickered in her eyes for a second, but then her expression morphed into something else he couldn’t quite read. Concern? Embarrassment?

  “I can’t. You’re having family time and I don’t want to take away from that.”

  “I’m not taking no for an answer.” He hadn’t realized how cold the concrete table was until he tried to stand up. “I think I have frostbite on my ass. It’s too damned cold to stay out here. Besides, my sister will love having another girl around to talk to. Trust me. And River is a blast. You’ll have fun. I promise.” He gave her his best smile and held out his hand to help her up from the table.

  She smiled back. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  “Absolutely.”

  ****

  Stormy couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard. Brylan was tickling his nephew mercilessly on the living room floor, and their laughter was infectious.

  River’s giggles were exactly what she needed to take the edge off. She and Brylan had taken turns amusing the toddler all evening, and she was already half in love with the kid. She was nervous at first, not having much experience around children, and she was afraid that he’d pick up on her misgiving somehow, but he didn’t. There were no preconceived notions or judgments in those big blue eyes. Only love and adoration…with a side of mischief.

  “Stop!” River said through his laughter.

  Brylan complied and flopped over on his back, breathing heavily from all the horse playing.

  “More! More!”

  Brylan tickled him again. They’d been going on and on like that for an hour and it was impossible to not giggle with them. It was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen—Brylan giving in to the whims of a toddler to the point of exhaustion. There was no question that someday he would make a great father.

  “They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Lily took a stool next to Stormy in the kitchen.

  “Yeah. They really are. I’ve never seen Brylan like that before…so playful and carefree,” she gazed dreamily at the two who were pretend wrestling on the floor.

  Stormy could sense Lily’s stare. When she looked up at her there was a small smile playing on her lips. “You like my brother, don’t you?”

  “I…he….” The comment caught her off guard and she was tripping on her own tongue.

  Lily laughed softly and placed a hand on Stormy’s arm. “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. But I’m no dummy. I’d have to be blind not to see the sparks between you two.”

  Stormy wrung her hands, nervously. “Brylan’s a really good guy…but we’re just friends.”

  “If you say so,” Lily grinned.

  “Hey, what are you two gossiping about?” Brylan crossed over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. His sweaty hair was sticking to his forehead.

  “None of your business.” Lily’s words were clipped, but her eyes danced with amusement.

  Brylan nodded toward the living room where River was yawning and rubbing his eyes. “I think the little man is about all played out. You want me to read to him?”

  River’s little ears were perceptive. He toddled over to the overstuffed blue and green diaper bag and dug through it, tossing out about half of its contents in the process, and ran to the kitchen with a book in tow. “I want Stormy to wead me my book.” He looked up at her with those big, round eyes. “Pease?”

  He had her…hook, line, and sinker. “Sure, sweetie. Where do you want to read it?”

  He rubbed his eyes once more and then pointed to Brylan’s rocking recliner. “Over der.”

  ****

  Stormy stretched and yawned before opening her eyes to reveal a dark, quiet living room. How long had she slept? She strained her eyes to see
her watch and let out a sigh of relief. It had only been an hour since she’d sat down in the recliner with River.