Chapter 4.4
August
After dinner, it was time for Beau and I to bug out. I hadn't even been able to really talk to him all week and poor Beau had to dodge all of Uncle Jay's inappropriately prying questions about his family. Uncle E and Uncle Jay were here visiting us for the weekend.
After dinner, it was time for Beau and I to bug out. I hadn't even been able to really talk to him all week and poor Beau had to dodge all of Uncle Jay's inappropriately prying questions about his family. Uncle E and Uncle Jay were here visiting us for the weekend.
"Hey, Dad, I think Beau and I are going to shoot some hoops, so..."
"Hoops?" Uncle Jay chimed in. "You mean you don't want to put my angels to bed? They love it when you read them bedtime stories."
His "little angels" were Uncle E's and his devil spawn--their two year old twins--Archer and Everly.
"You should let Beau help you," Mom added.
"Yeah, August," Beau agreed, "I love kids. I'd be down with putting them to bed."
God...Beau was no help. I wasn't going to spend one more minute with those brats.
Trying to laugh it off, I said, "That's okay. The rugrats will just have to make do. Beau and I haven't really hung out all day, so, yeah, we'll just be outside if you need us."
"Oh...goodness, you sure don't hide the fact that you don't like kids," Uncle Jay said, laughing. "But don't worry, I'm not offended. I was telling E yesterday I thought you were like a grumpy old man when you're with our sweethearts."
"Grumpy old man!" Beau hit my shoulder. "He's got you pegged."
I pretended to go along with the joke. "Yeah, that's me...ha ha..."
"But just so you know...I really do like them," I lied. "It's just we got stuff to do."
Uncle Jay was right. I hated kids. And his were the worst. They left me with the little monsters this morning while my folks took Uncle Jay and Uncle E on a tour downtown. What a nightmare!
After everyone finished breakfast, Archer demanded I make him chicken nuggets. He didn't eat one of them either. He just beat them to death until they were nothing but a pile of mush.
I politely scolded, "You know, Archer, it's not nice to play with your food."
Looking at me with not a shred of guilt, he flung the mush off his high chair.
SPLAT!
It took all my strength not to launch him out of his high chair. But hell, I was bigger than him and maybe he didn't know any better, so I cut him some slack.
I decided to take him to Darius' room to play. What kind of trouble could he get into there?
Things were going good for a while. I was pretty proud of myself for actually playing dolls with Everly. She seemed to like it.
But then Beau texted me and I totally forgot all about the kids.
Next thing I knew, the toddlers were screaming, Darius had escaped somewhere, and I was stranded alone without any help.
As the little shits were shattering my ear drums, I vowed never to have kids as long as I lived.
Wrapping my arm around Beau, I said, "Let's jet fast before they make us put the annoying pooper coopers to bed."
"Come on, August, it'd be fun. I wouldn't mind."
"Are you kidding? I spent all morning with those brats. No way. I can't believe you like kids so much."
"I do. I even want to have a whole football team of them one day."
"You're crazy," I said, not believing what I was hearing. "Your husband will definitely need to love kids then."
"Oh, he will. I'll make sure of that."
I laughed. "Then count me out on ever visiting you. Well...until your kids grow into less annoying teenagers."
"You're going to love my kids, August. I'll bet on it."
"Yeah, yeah...I'll love them only if you don't make me babysit them. Like ever."
We played hoops until both of us were covered in sweat and I was out of breath.
"Have you had enough of me kicking your ass?" I asked, wanting a break.
"Shit, August. Why do you have to be so fucking good at everything? You don't even play basketball."
"Neither do you. So?"
"So...it's not fair. I at least play team sports. You don't."
Spinning the basketball on my finger, I said, "Can I help it if I inherited amaze-balls genes from my great granddad? He was an MMA champion, you know. Good at fighting, wrestling, jujitsu, and was a sharp shooter. Nothing he couldn't do."
That gave me a great idea. "Hey, Beau, you should work out with me. I've got a private coach now. You could train, too. Mixed martial arts really helps with reflexes and maybe you'd end up kicking my ass one day."
"Are you kidding? I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Cash, man. I wasn't born with silver boxing gloves like you. I gotta work for all my dough."
I hit his arm and nudged him to follow me out back. The sun was setting and I always loved watching it sparkle on the ocean's surface as it broke the horizon.
"Dude, I'm like serious. You wouldn't have to pay. Just think if you could come train with me every day. That'd be so cool. And I need a better sparring partner. My coach can't be hit in the head since he's had too many concussions."
He nodded and shrugged. "I'll think about it, but it'll have to be after football season."
"Sounds cool. I wouldn't want to take the Brindleton Bay Bulldog's star running back from the masses. Might cause a riot or something."
He pushed my head and laughed. "Shut up."
Stopping for a moment, Beau said, "Wow. That's some sweet ass view."
"Isn't it? I never thought I'd say I love living near the ocean, but I do. I mean, we were on a bay in San Myshuno, but it was different. It wasn't pure like this. There were always huge shipping barges going in and out and the noise of the city and the lights and buildings just distracted me from even looking at the water. I never thought I'd ever want to leave it, but now I'm glad."
Beau lifted the side of his mouth. "Me, too."
A strange feeling snaked its way inside me, making me feel weird. I cleared my throat. "So...you haven't told me how you and Briar got here, you know. I think it's time you spill. I want to know what happened that summer. Why did you leave?"
Matter of factly, he said, "Well, you know my dad. Always on the hunt for the next big thing that would make us millionaires."
Shaking my head, I said, "No...I didn't know that about him."
"You didn't?" he answered, cocking his head.
"Yeah, I mean, when we were kids, we never talked much about your folks. You'd just tell me they were gone somewhere and I'd try to cheer you up. You never said why they'd leave."
He let out a breath. "Huh. I don't know why I didn't tell you...but yeah, I mean that's what he was always doing mostly. He'd chase any get rich quick scheme, but it'd never pan out. That summer, he got a job as a handyman with a rich family in Italy."
"Italy?" I asked. "No shit."
"Yeah, I mean...we didn't go to Italy or anything. They just needed someone to get a huge mansion ready for the family to come live in it again. I guess it had been abandoned for like fifty years or something. Dad met these guys who worked for the family at a casino in Lucky Palms. They got to talking and then they offered him the job. Paid really well, too, so yeah. He gathered us all up, put us on a bus, and we high tailed it to Newcrest to the biggest fucking house I'd ever seen."
"Wow. Did you like it there?"
He shrugged. "Eh...I don't know. It was pretty overwhelming at first. The guy in charge scared the piss out of me so I stayed out of sight, mostly. And once the house was ready, the family moved in. That's when things got freaky."
"Freaky. Like how?"
Beau turned to me. "My dad would have to go on these jobs for the family. I had no clue what he did. Then Mom and him would have hellacious fights. I mean, they never fought before. Mostly it was about their son hanging out with Briar too much. Mom said she was too young and Dad said to leave it be."
My heart flinched at Briar's name. I crossed my arms. "And so your mom convinced him to move to Brindleton Bay?"
"No, dude, that's when my mom left my dad."
That punched me in the gut. "Oh shit, I'm sorry," I said, holding Beau's shoulder. "God...I don't know why, but I thought..." Why did I always think everyone had it like I did? Beau's life was never easy like mine. I hated that for him. "I'm really sorry, man. That blows."
Looking down, he said, "It's okay. I'm over it now."
Dropping down on the grass, I asked, "So how did you get here?"
He picked at a leaf and answered, "The family wanted to move to Brindleton Bay, so we followed. Dad was in charge of managing the contractors and getting things ready for their new mansion as he'd done before. In the meantime, Briar and Daniel got closer."
"Daniel. Who's that?"
"That's her boyfriend, dude."
Another punch in the gut. "Ah...the infamous boyfriend. What's he like?"
"H-He's okay, I guess."
I snorted. "That sounds convincing."
"Look, what am I supposed to say? I don't even know the guy very well. He whisks Briar off somewhere with his limousines and bodyguards. I've never even been invited to the family's new house, dude. And we've lived here for four years. I do see him with her when we have school events or when I've gone to some parties, but...you know...we just don't really have anything to do with each other."
"Why the hell not? I mean, you and Briar used to be close. Aren't you anymore?"
He stared down, not looking at me. "I...um...yeah, we're close."
"Then, what the fuck? This doesn't make sense. How can you be close and not know her boyfriend? She should at least talk about him to you."
He shook his head slowly. "I get the feeling he doesn't like gay guys. She always makes excuses why we can't hang out together, and he avoids me at all costs. Whatever. Anyway...now that it's just Briar and me, we kind of rely on his family to get by, so I can't get all worked up about it."
I didn't want to ask the next question, but I had to. "You're alone? Where's your dad?"
"He's dead."
*******
Want to give a huge thank you to RABOOSKI for creating the Gallegher-Day family's new home. It's a gorgeous Cape Cod style, fit for Brindleton Bay. Check it out! BRINDLETON BOUND
And thanks to Joanne Bernice for the cute toddler poses! Can't do a chapter without some of her poses!