Ker swallowed two pills dry when he got in the car, then drove home. There, he took two more with water and stumbled off to bed. Hopefully, the voices in his head would stop soon.
At one point, his bladder woke him, and he shuffled to the bathroom. He was still wearing his coat, so he pulled that off, dropping it on the floor next to his bed, and fell back in.
He felt all floaty and could barely hear those damned voices, and he drifted off to sleep again.
Time passed. Quickly or slowly, Ker didn’t know, didn’t care. He just wanted the voices to shut the fuck up. It wasn’t his job to go back to that wretched life in Fitchburg, no matter what his father said. It wasn’t, dammit!
When the voices got loud again, he’d pop another pill or two and drift off to floaty-land. He loved that feeling of rising above all the noise and clamor and just floating around, without a care in the world.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Ash
Snowflakes were falling softly when Ash woke on Christmas morning. Unless a nor’easter was predicted, they rarely got much accumulation along the coast, so he wasn’t too worried. But he’d check the forecast on his tablet while he had his coffee and some toast. Just a light breakfast for him this morning since Christmas brunch was a big deal at Mom’s house—although that was still a couple of hours away.
He wondered how Ker was doing at home. He wasn’t overly religious but still said a quick prayer that all was going well for him.
After confirming that the meteorologists were predicting just a light dusting of snow for the area, he trimmed his beard, well, scruff as his mom liked to call it, and showered. Now to dress. Christmas at Mom’s meant ugly holiday sweaters, and he’d searched far and wide on the internet for something special this year. He’d located a doozy. The sweater itself was black and had a colorful stocking on the front, with a reindeer’s head sticking out. There were tiny presents up and down the arms and even a set of lights with a battery pack hidden in the stocking! He andhis brothers always got competitive with this, so he wanted to go all out this time.
He paired the sweater with black jeans and red-and-green striped socks.Let’s see one of my brothers top my look this year!
When he got to Muriel’s, he hung up his coat and carried the bag of gifts into the living room to place them under the tree. He heard voices in the sunroom and was greeted by Finn and Clay along with his mom.
“Jeez, bruh, you really went all out this year!” Finn exclaimed, eyeing his sweater. Finn and Clay wore matching sweaters featuring weird cats, appearing to be singing Christmas carols. They were certainly somewhere on the ugly scale but no competition for Ash’s monstrosity.
Ash slipped a finger into the stocking to flip a switch, and the lights twinkled all over the sweater. Muriel laughed brightly and hugged him tightly.
“Pretty sure this one’s gonna win this year, son,” she said, giggling.
Court and Mitch soon arrived, and they showed off their sweaters to the rest of the family. Court’s was a hideous green with a moose on the front, sparkly ornaments hanging from its antlers, and Mitch wore a bright-yellow sweater festooned with a fireplace, its mantel dripping with garland. Sure, both were squarely in the realm of ugly, but they all agreed that Ash had outdone them all this year.
Competition over, they sat together at the dining table and ate lots of food, drank mimosas, then moved to the living room, where they opened gifts as was the tradition in the Reynolds household. The afternoon turned into an open house of sorts, with a few friends stopping by. There was also a buffet of assorted appetizers set up in the dining room along with a self-serve bar of beer, wine, soft drinks, and water.
The snow had stopped by one o’clock, and at one point, Ash stepped out onto the patio outside the sunroom. He needed a break from peopling and took the opportunity to text Ker a quick “Merry Christmas.”
He heard noises at the door behind him and turned to see Mitch.
“Texting Ker?” he asked.
“Yeah. He wasn’t looking forward to going home for Christmas this year. I hope everything’s going okay.”
“Are his folks not supportive of him ’cause he likes guys?”
“Actually, that’s not the problem. They expect him to quit his job and move back to Fitchburg. His dad owns a small chain of grocery stores and wants Ker to take it over. But Ker’s told them on more than one occasion that it’s not what he wants to do. His dad just doesn’t seem to get it.”
“Well, that sucks. I’m glad he’s got you in his corner,” Mitch said sincerely.
“Thanks, bro.”
“I guess we should go back in.”
Ash wasn’t too concerned when he didn’t hear from Ker right after he sent the text. Since he wasn’t exactly sure what time Ker and his family would eat or exchange gifts, it could be somewhat hectic there.
When he got home, he placed the tiny plastic Best Ugly Holiday Sweater trophy on the kitchen island and trod upstairs to bed. None of his brothers had come close to the splendor of his sweater.
He undressed and slipped under the covers, thinking he’d text Ker again in the morning to see how everything was.
