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“I said sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you..” I toss my hands up in the air, trying to
figure out what the fuck her problem is.
“I don’t give a crap that you ran into me, I can’t believe you’re sleeping with a student!” She lowers her voice on the last four words and instantly I narrow my eyes and stumble back, her words a blow.
“Sleeping with… what the fuck? You think Sophie and I are SLEEPING together?! Wow,” I scoff. I can’t even fucking believe this. “Good to know you think so little of me.. For your information, and not that it’s any of your goddamn business, but Sophie DeMarco is my kids babysitter. Has been for the last four years.” I shake my head walking back a few steps. “Maybe instead of accusing me you could just ask me straight up next time. I can’t even look at you right now.” I turn and head back around the side of the building where Sophie is still standing, her eyes wide and her face flush, obviously embarrassed to be a part of Lex’s accusations.
“7 Saturday work for you?” I ask her as I walk past.
“Y.. yeah, sure thing Ford.” I tug her ponytail as I walk by.
“Thanks kid, I’ll see ya later. I need to get out of here.” I book it to my truck, jump in and slam the door. How the fuck could Lex even think that about me? I thought maybe there was something blossoming between us, but clearly, I was wrong. Cranking the key in the ignition, I put my truck into drive, and head to my moms to pick the kids up.
???
I slam the door behind me at moms still reeling from the incident at the school. Walking through the foyer and down the hallway towards the kitchen, I can hear everyone in the kitchen. Trying to calm down a little, I slow my steps and take time to really look around at the house I grew up in. Wood panel floors give way to light gray tile when you hit the kitchen, a sweeping staircase to the right of the foyer leads up to three bedrooms and a master bath upstairs, all recently remodeled. The great room is off the left of the foyer, with a dining table big enough to seat 10 and a window seat perfect for curling up with a book, which is something mom does often. Stepping through the entryway to the kitchen, directly in front of me is an island with concrete countertops, and where both of my kids are seated on bar stools, little feet swinging, working on homework.
“Dadddddy!” Aria squeals when she sees me and reaches her arms out, waiting for me to swing her up. I happily oblige and bury my face in her sweet little curls while she squeezes my neck.
“Hey angel. How was your first day of Kindergarten?” I ask her as I lower her back into her seat. She starts yammering on about her day. I ruffle Zane’s wavy brown hair, the same color as his mother, as I walk to the other side of the counter and drop a kiss on my moms cheek, echoing a few ‘uh huhs’ and ‘that’s great baby’ as I pull open the fridge door and grab a soda. When I shut the door and turn around, mom is standing right in front of me. I stumble back a little.
“Jesus ma, what is with you sneaking up on people? You really need to knock that shit off.” I try to sidestep her and head back to the island when she steps in my path again.
“Nuh uh. What’s this? What’s going on? I can tell when you’re pissed, and right now - you are pissed. What happened?” She finishes by narrowing her eyes at me. I roll mine.
“It’s nothing ma, don’t worry about it. I’ve just got a lot on my mind between the school year starting, football, and the kids. Okay?” She seems to stare at me for a minute, trying to figure out if I’m lying or not.
“Mm,” she mumbles while studying me. “I don’t believe you for a second, but I’ll leave it be. For now.” She turns back around and leans over the counter to help Zane with a math problem. My mom has always had this sixth sense. She could always, ALWAYS, tell when we were lying, when we were sneaking out of the house, or when we were even thinking about doing something that was against the rules. No joke, one time my brother Zander and I snuck out his bedroom window to go meet some girls, and we got out and around the back of the house and there stood ma in her bathrobe with her hands on her hips. She always knew. We never got away with shit.
Speak of the devil, I hear the front door slam and Zander shouting, “Where are my favorite niece and nephew?!” as he makes his way through the house. He’s so full of shit. They’re his only niece and nephew.
Aria says exactly what I’m thinking. “Uncle Zan, you’re silly. We are your only niece and nephew!” He chuckles.
“Guess you’re right, baby girl. Give Uncle Zan some sugar.” He leans over and she pecks him on the cheek.
“I missded you. Where ya been? Huh?” She pops her little hands on her hips. Zander cuts me a look, like are you kidding me? I shrug my shoulders.
“She’s right man, you’ve been MIA for weeks with barely a word to any of us.”
“I called Madre and let her know I would be gone for a few weeks. Not my fault if she didn’t relay the message,” he says as he grabs an apple from the fruit bowl, shines it with his shirt sleeve, and leans his hip against the counter.
“You called me a month ago, Zander Sinatra, to let me know you had to leave town for a week and I ain’t hearda hide nor hair from you since. So cut the crap.”
I slug back a little of my soda and slam the can on the counter. “A month? What the fu… dgesicles, Z?” I catch myself before I drop the f bomb and mentally pat myself on the back. The last thing I need is Aria teaching her new classmates some colorful language. I stalk across the kitchen, snatch Zander up by his collar, and drag his ass towards the back patio. This little shit has been tight lipped about some ‘assignment’ he’s been on for almost a year now, and I’ve had enough.
“Be right back,” I say to both the kids, “Uncle Zan and I need to have a little chat. Finish your homework.”
“Oooh,” I hear Zane, who like always has been relatively quiet during the entire exchange, mutter under his breath. “Uncle Z is in trouble, Ri.” I hear Aria giggling as I shove Zander through the doorway and shut the slider door.
Zander stumbles a little before righting himself and I walk across the patio and lean against the railing. “Talk.” I spit out as I cross my arms across my chest. “Quickly. And no more of this ‘I can’t talk about it’ bullshit, Z. You’ve been disappearing for weeks at a time. But never, NEVER, has it been for a month. Mom was worried sick about you. I want the truth, and I want it now.”
Zander starts pacing back and forth on the patio with one hand on his hip and the other squeezing the back of his neck. “Come on bro, you know I can’t talk to you about this.”
“And why not? Huh? You’ve been disappearing in the middle of the night, not coming back for weeks. That’s not normal and you know it. I know you're doing your top secret special forces shit, but don't you think maybe it's time to give it up?"
Zander throws himself down into one of the Adirondack chairs that are on the patio. He scrubs both of his hands over his face. “I know man, I know. I just need a little more time before I can talk to you about this, okay? And I’m begging you to accept that.” He sounds really distraught, not at all like the little brother I know. I walk over and drop into the chair next to him, punching him in the arm.
“I just worry about you. Big brother syndrome, and all that,” I sigh.
