Page 2 of Pieces of Me

“Hey,” the boy whispered.

“Rylan, I’d like you to meet Scott. Scott, this is my son, Rylan. I hope you’ll be great friends.”

Rylan shuffled his feet, and Scott muttered, “Yo.” An awkward silence fell, until the cry of a toddler from inside the trailer broke it.

“Scott,” Heather said, her tone suddenly wheedling. “Will you take care of Cara for a little while so Bob and I can have some alone time? He just got here―”

“No,” Scott replied flatly. “You had those brats, you fuckin’ take care of ‘em.” Heather snarled, but Scott ignored her and turned his back, intending to head off into the woods. An inexplicable impulse made him wheel around and say, “You comin’?” to Rylan.

Bob gave him a little smile and an encouraging push, and Rylan, with reluctance written all over him, scuffed through the dead leaves toward Scott, who stalked away.

“Why did you ask me to come with you?”

Scott glanced at him. “What, you’d rather stay behind and get stuck takin’ care of Heather’s kids while she goes and humps your dad? That’s what would have happened, you know. Be my guest if you wanna go back.” He made a sweeping gesture in the direction of the trailer and let out a derisive snort when Rylan didn’t move. “Thought so.”

He started walking again, and this time Rylan kept pace with him. “Thanks. I don’t want to take care of any kids.”

“Then find somewhere else to be, all the time, man. There are four of ‘em.”

“Shit. You didn’t know about them? My dad and her, I mean. I could tell you were surprised.”

“Surprised ain’t the word. My mom runs through men like Kleenex. Why would anyone want to marry her, for fuck’s sake, when everyone knows she’ll give it up for free?”

Rylan didn’t say anything, but his mouth looked pinched.

“What?” Scott asked impatiently. “I’m not supposed to talk about my mommy like that?”

“It’s not that.” Rylan shook his head and stopped walking. Scott stopped too, and he propped his hands on his hips, waiting. Finally Rylan heaved a sigh. “My mom left us about a year ago, took off one night, and we haven’t heard from her since.”

Scott opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but thought better of it for some reason; maybe it was the quiet pain in Rylan’s voice.

“Since my dad met Heather, he’s been happier than I’ve seen him in a long time.” His mouth twisted. “I…don’t want him to be hurt again, that’s all.”

Scott felt an unwilling compassion move through him, and without thinking he put his hand on Rylan’s shoulder. Rylan jerked his gaze to him but didn’t move away. “I hate to break it to you, kid, but my mom is a drunk and the town joke. ‘How is Heather Ashworth different from a Ferrari? Not everyone’s been inside a Ferrari.’”

Rylan gasped, and Scott nodded his head. “Yeah, it’s like that.”

Rylan’s eyes were big, dismay written all over him. “Shit, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine hearing people talk about my mom like that.”

Scott stared back at him, rejecting the sympathy. “It is what it is, man. I’ll get out of here someday, and I’ll never look back. I feel sorry for your dad, that’s all. He ain’t got no idea.”

“Maybe it won’t be like that,” Rylan said. “He really loves her, and maybe it’ll be different.”

Scott felt an unwilling pity shoot through him at the hopeful tone in the kid’s voice, and he murmured, knowing he sounded wholly unconvincing, “Your dad seems nice, Rylan. Maybe it will be.”

They scuffed on through the leaves in silence.

✩✩✩

Rylan sat on a large, flat rock next to the burbling creek as his new stepbrother skipped stones across the water. He’d been looking forward to meeting him, having listened for days to his dad touting all the wonderful things about the woman he’d met at the local truck stop.

“Ry, she’s so beautiful.” His dad’s voice had been dreamy soft, and Rylan had smiled.

“Really?”

“Really. Tiny, blonde, such a feminine little thing. She’s got some kids from a previous relationship, including a son about your age. It’s going to be fantastic, Rylan. We’ll be a family.”

Privately Rylan thought things were moving way too fast, but he was only a stupid kid, wasn’t he? All he knew was that his dad was smiling and happy again after a year of quiet sadness due to Diane’s sudden defection. He and Rylan’s mom hadn’t been married, and Bob was determined not to make that same mistake again with Heather.