“Not yet.” I pause, looking back at him. “But I will.”
He laughs as he hugs me tightly. Before letting go, he walks back over to his bike, pausing as he gets up to it, and turning back towards me. “Do you know why he lived with us through the last year of school?”
“No,” I shake my head.
“His dad got really mean when he drank. Eli showed up at the house one night, late as hell, fucked up; you’d already gone to bed. Mom tried to get him to go to the hospital, but he refused. So obviously, she called Dan. Mom’s running between Eli’s room and Dad because Dad’s seeing red. He’s saying how he’s gonna kill him with his bare fucking hands.”
My eyes widen the further he goes into the story.
“Mom finally has Dad calmed down when Dan tells them how bad it was, that he was asleep, but he was obviously concussed, so we needed to wake him up every few hours. None of us even saw Dad leave. We heard the truck start, and all 4 of us said,‘Aw, fuck’.”
“What’d he do?”
“I don’t know; he never told us exactly. He was gone for 2 days. When he came back, he was covered in blood. He said that he told him to leave town and that if he ever heard of him contacting his son again, he would finish what he started. Mom went the next day and told his mom to sign a power of attorney, and they paid off her house.”
“Why?”
“Cause she would only do it for a price. Mom threatened to getthe police involved, but she told her to do it. She didn’t care.”
“She sold her son?”
“You may want to listen to your own advice.” Nodding his head. “We all have complicated emotions when it comes to our parents.” He turns back towards the bike before hesitating and looking back. “Just don’t tell him I said all that.”
“I thought you didn’t like it?”
“Oh, I don’t.” He shakes his head. “But if he makes you happy, that’s something I have to deal with. As much as I may hate it, I can learn to accept a lot of things if it means you being happy.” He reaches over, pulling me in for a hug, his voice lowering as he finishes. “That’s why I walked out when I did.” Pulling back, he looks at me, his hands still on my shoulders. “It’s not that the club means more. Quite the opposite. For you, I’d force myself to look past any anger I have about the situation, if it means you’re happy and being treated well. I’ll learn to live around him. As much as I hate him, I know he’ll treat you well.”
“You’re such a damn liar.” I laugh.
“What?”
“I was there when you showed up at his house drunk off your ass and in tears.”
“What?” he looks nervously around.
“I hid in the bedroom. You showed up there because you needed your friend. And when he called you for help because he needed a friend. You showed up as well.”
His eyes look at me as they seem to register something.
“Do you think you really hate him? Or are you hurt because you thought you were getting your friend back and now you’re not sure if it’s genuine?”
“That’s… uh… that’s a good point.” He nods his head.
“How do you know?”
He doesn’t respond, just gives me a questioning look.
“You said he makes me happy; how do you know?”
“I just watched the two of you together. Even upstairs, I could tell. If he didn’t make you happy and if you weren’t in love with him, you wouldn’t look at each other the way you both do, and you wouldn’t care this much.”
“Are you gonna scare him?”
He doesn’t answer me; just a large smile spreads across his face, “I won’t do anything.”
“No.” I laugh out loud. “Don’t let Zeke…”
32
