Page 12 of Oddly Fine

“We don’t say cuckoo! The term is triggered! He has PTSD because he’s a war hero. We don’t make fun of him for that.” She frowned and wagged her finger in Jackson’s face for emphasis.

“Who’s a war hero?” Maggie asked, as she crashed the party as well.

Beckett groaned and gritted his teeth. The damned room was quickly getting too crowded for what he’d planned. Dammit! Meanwhile, without any input from him whatsoever, the conversation about POWs swirled around him.

“Beck,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes like he disagreed.

“I thought the term was a prisoner of war?” Maggie asked with a slight frown.

“Most people just say POW,” Jackson remarked.

“Who says pow? But more importantly, who are we shooting?” John asked, as he walked into the dining room to stand next to his wife.

“We’re not shooting anyone!” Maman exclaimed as she whacked him in the middle of his chest. Didn’t her hand hurt from so much whacking?

“Well, as you’ll recall, Beckett and Hayes shot a bunch of people right here last Christmas,” Jackson reminded them with a cocky grin as he pointed towards the living room.

“Pretty sure Hayes did all the shooting, Beckett only got shot at,” Franklin stated as he walked into the dining room, his smug grin declaring his intent to stir up trouble.

“Hey! I used my knife! Which is even more badass!” Beckett exclaimed indignantly.

“Probably why he’s got a few screws loose,” Maggie snorted, unable to resist taking a shot at him.

Maman reached over and smacked her shoulder. “Triggered! Your brother is not insane, he’s triggered!”

“Because he’s a war hero,” Jackson said with a firm nod as if he’d just made some kind of official pronouncement.

“Wasn’t he a prisoner of war?” John asked, thoroughly confused at this point.

This was the last fucking straw for Beckett. He just couldn’t take any more of this or he really would have to shoot someone. He’d probably start with his brothers and give everybody else a pass.

“Enough!” Beckett roared, throwing his hands in the air, startling everyone into silence. “Christ, it’s impossible to get a single fucking word in!”

“Language,” his mother reminded him. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Weren’t you trying to tell me something before we got sidetracked?”

“What was he trying to say?” Beckett’s father whispered to Jackson, as though Beckett wouldn’t hear him.

“Why he’d brought Hayes,” Jackson replied.

“Why did Beckett bring Hayes?” Maggie asked curiously.

Beckett glanced around the room and then took a deep breath. “Hayes and I are partners.”

His family stared at him blankly. Obviously, they weren’t getting it.

“Well—” Maggie responded first as she glanced around the room at the others. “I’ll just say it—that’s more than just triggered. Boy’s only got half a brain left. It’s just calling a spade a spade to say he’s nutso.”

Hayes snorted with amusement, which was the first contribution he’d made since the whole family discussion about Beckett got started. Suddenly, Beckett realized just how ludicrously simpleminded his big declaration must have sounded. Like a bird declaring it had wings.

“No—what I meant is—” Beckett broke off and rubbed his forehead while he tried to come up with just the right words.

“Is nutso worse than cuckoo?” Jackson interjected before Beckett could explain himself.

“That word is unacceptable in this house,” their mom replied, looking cross now.

“Oh, come on, Mom! He just declared that his partner was his partner—I’m either going mad, or Beckett’s got a bunch of loose screws rattling around in his head!” Maggie tapped her forehead to reinforce her view that Beckett was mentally deficient.

“D’you mean you got a promotion, kiddo? You’re partners in a different way? Different job?” His father asked, clearly trying to make sense of things.