Fast Time

by Shey Stahl

  Casten smiled down at Jack. “He must be done.”

  Jack shrugged. “Maybe.”

  See what I mean? Train wreck.

  CASTEN AND I WENT from the shop to our parents’ house where Dad had been watching the kids, my two and my niece, Gray. We found him at the table with all three of them involved in what looked to be a heated game of cards.

  Standing with his back against the wall, Casten stared down at the table, his brow drawn together. “What are you doing, Dad?”

  Casten seemed confused by what they were playing when it didn’t look like a game he knew, or why dad was playing cards with three kids under six.

  Dad rolled his eyes as if Casten should have known. “I’m playing poker. Jonah’s playing Go Fish…” He looked at Jacen. “I have no idea, and Gray…she’s ate like ten of the cards. I think she’s hungry.”

  Dad was great with the kids but I no longer expected him to listen to any instructions. He discarded what he thought wasn’t important.

  “Dad, I told you to watch her.” Casten picked up Gray and stared at her, face to face. “I told you no more eating paper, pretty girl.”

  She glared at him. No reply at all. In true Gray form, I half expected her to roll her eyes.

  “Hey, Jonah.” Dad waved at Jack. “Hand me my beer.” He motioned for Jack to hand him his beer on the counter behind him.

  Jack reached over and handed him the beer. “I’m Jack, Grandpa. He’s Jonah.”

  Dad leaned forward and stared at me. “Why are their names so similar? It’s confusing. Just call them like J-one, J-two and J-three. It would be easier on everyone.”

  Casten shook his head and patted Jack’s shoulders, a coy smile tugging at his lips. “It’s okay, Jack. He’s getting old. He doesn’t even know how old I am.”

  “I do, too,” Dad defended. “You’re twenty.”

  Casten shook his head, yet again, looking at Dad with amused wonder. “You’d think he’d know this by now. I’m twenty-one, remember? I set your car on fire that night.”

  This time Dad glared. “You should have left out that detail. I almost forgot.”

  “Whoops.” Casten laughed, heaving himself up on the counter. “Well, it’s not like you’ll remember five minutes from now anyway.”

  I smiled at them bantering back and forth.

  Hayden walked into the kitchen right then with Mom. “I’m starving,” she announced. “I thought we were going to the restaurant tonight?”

  “We are,” Casten said, sliding off the counter. “I just need to change.”

  Dad stood from the table. “Is Lily coming?”

  “Yeah, she had to go pick up the uniforms for Jonah’s team. They have their first game tomorrow,” I answered, smiling at Jonah when he heard this and got excited, jumping up from his seat. We’d enrolled him in t-ball and tomorrow was his first game. It felt good to know I was at least going to be able to see his first game.

  Making our way to the door, Jonah was bouncing all over the place as I tried to get his and Jacen’s shoes on. “You’re really gonna be there tomorrow, daddy?”

  Jonah’s baseball cap tipped up in all his commotion, revealing his bright eyes that reminded me of Lily’s. All three of my boys had my wife’s golden blonde hair and blue eyes. Though, they resembled me in the face and attitude most of the time.

  “Yeah, bud, I’ll be there cheering you on.”

  Jonah looked down at Jacen who had thrown himself backwards on the tile entry way, screaming that I was trying to get his shoes on. “Get your shoes on! I need to see my jersey for tomorrow.”

  OUR FAMILY WAS HUGE and it seemed we grew every year. It was almost Italian-style in a way. So getting us all together was usually a struggle for many reasons. Fights broke out a lot. Mostly between Dad and Spencer. Or Dad and Aiden. Or really just Dad and anyone. Dad was headstrong and if you didn’t agree with him, or share his general opinion on anything, he’d literally force you to see his side of it.

  We took up the corner room at the Pig Pit restaurant, a room they had specifically designed with our family in mind or large gatherings. Our intention was to have the JAR Racing Christmas party here this year. It was a four-thousand square foot building made from reclaimed barn boards, steel corrugated siding and rusted metals. Inside, they kept much of the same tastes with the barn boards and metal finishes. The tables were all hand made by Aiden. He was quite handy with a saw and screws.

  My parents were all about investing their money and making sure that should the money stop rolling in, they had a business, other than racing, which they could rely on. Dad had done an incredible job over the years and had great success running both JAR Racing and CST Engines, but they didn’t like to have all their money wrapped up into one endeavor

  When my mom got sick, my parents got together with my aunts and uncles and decided to buy a restaurant celebrating her remission. Together. Dad was somewhat reluctant to go into business with them but eventually, it was Mom who made him do it.

  Months later, they opened Pig Pit, a barbeque restaurant in downtown Mooresville. The grand opening drew around twenty-thousand people that day. It was crazy.

  While it was more than likely my dad who drew in the crowd, regardless, it was nice to see their restaurant doing well.

  We were all heading to Lernerville Saturday morning so we had Thursday night free. Which happened to be the night we all gathered at the restaurant.

  Dad and I were the first ones to arrive, parking next to one another. Once we were through the door, Jack disappeared immediately to play with the iron pigs, as did his brothers.

  “You hired Rosa as a hostess?” Dad asked Aiden who appeared from the kitchen when we sat down at the table. “Are you crazy? She doesn’t do anything.”

  Aiden said nothing, but looked back as he watched Rosa sitting by the entry with her legs up and a glass of sweet tea in hand. And then he whispered, “She’s kind of lazy.”

  Dad shook his head. “Lazy is not the right word.”

  Grandma walked in, carrying bags of what looked to be toys for all the grandkids and sat next to Alley, smiling.

  “Why are you so happy?” Dad asked, watching his mom with curiosity as she searched through the bags and handed out the toys to the kids who came running up to her. Without fail, she always spoiled them rotten, just like she did to me and my siblings, too.

  “I just feel good. I had coffee with Bill and he was just so nice.”

  Dad was upset the moment Grandma opened her mouth and said she had coffee with Bill.

  “Now who the fuck is Bill?”

  Grandma smiled shyly. Either that or she knew what my dad’s reaction was going to be. He was very much against Grandma dating anyone.

  “Just a nice man I met.” And then she blushed when Mom, who was seated next to her at the table, started giggling.

  Dad glared at Mom. “You set her up with him, didn’t you?”

  “No.” She held up her hands, but couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “Emma did.”

  “That asshole,” Dad mumbled, mostly teasing.

  “Jameson,” Grandma scolded her eyes wide, “don’t call your sister an asshole.”

  Dad rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair about the time Gray crawled onto his lap. “I can when she is one.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  At this point, Dad grew frustrated. “Where’s that fucking waiter?” Looking around, he sighed, searching for the half-witted kid Aiden had hired two weeks ago. The one who if you ordered a beer, he brought you root beer. “This place has shitty service.”

  “We own a third of this restaurant.” Mom kicked him from under the table. “Will you knock it off? Can’t you just be nice for one night?”

  Leaning down, Dad rubbed his shin and stared at Grandma. “Tell me about this guy, Mom.”

  “No.” Grandma folded her arms over her chest like Gray was doing on Dad’s lap. “Not when you’re being mean. You’ll probably go slash his tires or something.�
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  He smiled, giving her a nod. “Tell me.”

  “No. I’m seventy years old.” Grandma was putting up a good fight for a reason. “I don’t have to tell my son about who I date.”

  “Date?” That made dad even more annoyed. “Seriously?”

  “Now I’m really not telling you.”

  Spencer came through the door holding Wyatt, Lexi and Brody’s two-month-old son, in his arms like a football. No one ever thought Lexi would become a mother. But in late June, Wyatt Spencer Williams was born. The only reason Uncle Spencer didn’t kill Brody for knocking up Lexi was because they named their child after him. In his world, that was worth letting Brody live.

  Mom took Wyatt from Spencer when he sat down and looked over at Dad again. “You don’t have to be so mean about it. It’s been seven years. She can date if she wants to.”

  Gray removed herself from my dad’s lap when she notice mom holding another baby, and tried to get up there with them. She was an attention whore of my parents. In her eyes, no other grandchild existed.

  Dad looked at Mom. “Shut up.”

  I couldn’t stop laughing at all this when Spencer leaned into my shoulder, his black hair slightly graying now. “I can’t believe Alexis had a baby with that little shit. They’re not even married.”

  He said this every time I saw him. Clearly, he wasn’t over it entirely.

  “Neither are Casten and Hayden.” I was trying to make light of the situation. “And they had a baby.”

  Rolling his eyes, Spencer shook his head as if he would never accept his mother dating again. “Don’t try to make me feel better about this. It won’t work.”

  Mom turned to Alley when she sat next to her, cooing over Wyatt. “He and Jameson are so much alike. They just can’t accept change.”

  Acting more like one of the children around the table, Dad rolled his eyes. “Shut up!”

  “What’s he talking about?” Emma asked, sitting down beside Dad. Big mistake on her part. He glared at her immediately.

  “You should sit someplace else, Emma,” Mom warned, grabbing Dad by the shoulders, afraid he might actually attack his sister.

  Not knowing what was going on, Emma moved two seats down. “What?”

  “Jameson found out about Bill.” Mom smiled.

  “He’s so nice!” Alley rubbed Grandma’s arm, trying to reassure her it was okay.

  Dad groaned right along with Spencer. “Not you, too.”

  Trying to be intimidating, which wasn’t hard for someone of his size, Spencer gave Dad a nod. “Do you know where he lives?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out.”

  With a frustrated sigh, her hands on the table like she’s trying not to slap him, Mom’s eyes met Dad’s. “Can’t you guys just be happy that Mom’s happy?”

  Spencer and Dad exchanged a look of annoyance. “Not if it’s him,” Dad said, as though it was obvious.

  Without saying anything, Spencer nodded in agreement.

  Rolling her eyes, Emma went to sit next to Alley, crossing her arms over her chest. “You two are impossible.”

  “I think we’re being completely reasonable.” Dad smiled and looked at Emma. “Where’s Aiden? I need to talk to him about this fucking waiter.”

  “He’s mowing the lawn. He’ll be back soon.”

  “Figures.”

  Spencer looked at the sign above the bar to our right which displayed the restaurant name. “I can’t believe we let Aiden file the paperwork for the business license.”

  “I knew they wouldn’t let us name it Devil’s Spit.” Dad looked sad for a moment.

  “No restaurant should have the word spit in it,” Alley pointed out.

  “And Pig Pit is better? Might as well have named it Peach Pit.”

  “We would have, but it was taken.” Alley shook her head, knowing there was no arguing with Dad.

  Spencer frowned. “Devil’s Spit would have been cool.”

  “I know.” Dad threw his hand up in the air. “People are so unreasonable.” The two of them stared at the sign, upset they weren’t able to name the restaurant.

  My attention moved from them to the kids playing on the iron pig by the door. Gray was staring at the iron balls on the pig with her head tipped to the side.

  Jack placed his arm around Gray and smiled. “That’s how pigs have baby pigs.”

  I hung my head and sighed. “Casten did that, didn’t he?”

  “Yep.” Dad nodded, squinting at the pig. “Little fucker welded them on there, too.”

  My attention went from the pigs to Arie who walked in, dressed in frayed jean shorts and a JAR Racing tank top. She looked tired, her long wavy hair tied back in a messy bun.

  “Where’s Uncle E, Auntie?” Jonah asked Arie, climbing on her lap immediately.

  Arie smiled at him, shifting him around so he was facing her and she could properly tickle him if needed. Her eyes stayed on his, careful not to drift to Rager, who she took a seat next to. After this afternoon, she was probably doing everything possible not to look at him.

  “He left for New Hampshire an hour ago.”

  Dad gave her a confused look. “I thought you were going to that race?”

  “No, not that one. I’m going to Lernerville. I’ll be at the Pocono race with him.” Arie was with the sprint car teams for about half the season and usually spent every other weekend on the road with Easton. She claimed she wanted to be around family, which I understood, but if you spent any amount of time around her, you might think differently.

  Mom laughed, giving Gray to Alley, and handing Arie a glass of sweet tea. “How are you ever going to make a baby if you’re never together?”

  It was meant to be a joke, maybe, but Arie didn’t reply right away; she simply smiled at Mom and changed the subject. “You’re not a waitress, Mom. You don’t have to serve people while you’re here.”

  Arie was right. When Mom was at the restaurant, she constantly felt the need to make sure everyone had everything they needed. Whether it was food or drinks, she hardly ever stayed seated.

  Dad grabbed a hold of her and made her sit on his lap. “If you want to serve someone, I can order you around if you want.” His hands moved over her hips and to her waist, tickling her.

  She giggled, the sound making us all smile. With Mom’s scare with breast cancer last year, it was nice to hear the giggle I grew up around.

  Willie, who’d been engrossed in Arie’s conversation with Mom, smiled at Arie. “Get a sperm donor,” he said, eyeing Rager, who at that point, choked on his beer. Like the kind of choking where he had to get up and we were wondering if he was okay.

  Willie moved into Rager’s seat next to Arie. “I was talking about me,” he said under his breath.

  Everyone laughed at Willie’s offer, while Rager still wheezed in the background. Concerned, Bailey, my Cousin Lane’s wife, looked up at Rager. “Are you okay?”

  Rager held up his hands as he walked toward the bathrooms.

  Casten laughed deeply, knowing exactly what was going on. Being the instigator he was, Casten waited for Rager to return. When he did, he kicked Willie out of his seat and then looked at Casten.

  “What?” Rager asked, looking at Casten.

  “Are you okay?”

  Rager was never all that friendly. He could be, but he wasn’t the joker and people person Casten, or even Willie and Tommy were. Rarely ever made small talk with anyone.

  Rager cleared his throat, leaning forward to pour another beer. “I’m fine.” Setting the pitcher of beer in the center of the table, he never looked back up at Casten.

  Arie was holding Wyatt by then, cooing over him. Gray noticed, frowned, and moved from Alley’s lap to Arie’s.

  See? Attention whore.

  “Casten.” Alley grabbed his attention. “Are you racing in Lernerville?”

  Casten nodded, removing his hat to scratch his head before replacing it. His hair was starting to grow back now, had about a quarter inch growth
to it. On his twenty-first birthday, he set my dad’s car on fire. The same one he drove into the pool with he was fourteen or fifteen. In return, Dad shaved his head while he was sleeping. It could have been a lot worse.

  “I’ll be there,” Casten assured her. In Eldora the other night, he blew up the engine. When we returned to Mooresville, he immediately tore it down to figure out the problem. “We got the engine back in last night.”

  Alley reached for her phone. “Okay, so you’ll be at the meet and greet with the other guys, too, for JAR Racing?"

  “Yup.”

  It wasn’t unusual for all our conversations to revolve around racing. It had always been this way. Probably always would be.

  We ordered food, Dad argued some more with Grandma and it was nearing seven before Lily finally showed up. She kissed my cheek when she arrived, her arms around my shoulders.

  “You made it,” I said, turning around to stand up and give her a hug. “I was beginning to worry about you.”

  Lily blew off my concerns. “You always worry about me.”

  It was true. I did. But my wife was one to worry about. Long sexy legs, beautiful thick flowing golden hair and curves I would kill to have wrapped around me that very second, I had a lot to be watchful of.

  “Did you order for me?” Lily asked, reaching for the beer in the middle of the table.

  “Yeah, ordered you a salad with brisket.”

  She winked at me. “Thanks.”

  “Hey, Rager,” Tommy announced rather loudly as Lily took a seat next to me and the waiters delivered food. Tommy waved his beer around as he talked, splashing the waiter. “Since we’re gonna be in Sarver next week, we crashin’ at your place?”

  Rager lived with his parents when he was in town, which wasn’t often. During weekends off or the few stretches of the year we had breaks, he stayed either with them or with Lane and Bailey.

  Though he never talked about it, he was building a house in Sarver, and had been for the last few years.

  Rager didn’t look up from his beer at Tommy’s words; instead, he just nodded. “Sure.”