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Tree
"That's good, dude,” Knuckles says, drawing my attention back from where it’s drifting- to Nell in her tiny, tight little dress. “Hey, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. You got a minute?"
"Yeah. What do you need?"
"Nell told Maya you want to sell your house, and we're actually looking for a house. If you're not ready that's fine-"
"No. I'm ready.” A more perfect solution could not exist. “I gotta fix it up first. I just tore the place up last weekend."
Knuckles shakes his head. "I already know that. I don't care about that. I'll fix it up, no problem. Maya said the house is upsetting for you, so I don't want you to spend more time there if you don't want to. Is there anything in there you want?"
"I'll have to let Nell go through it.” She’s going to kill me for this, but I hope in time she’ll understand. “I might get a few pictures but no, I don't want anything. Actually, there's a bunch of stuff in there for a baby. Maybe it'll help you guys out."
"Was Layla pregnant?” Knuckles joined the club after we lost Milo. He doesn’t remember how horrible everything got back then.
"No, we tried but… no. Anyway, I'd love for you to take the house. We'll work it out, okay? Oh, and don't tell Nell. I'll tell her later." When we’re speaking again.
“Nell, we have to go to the house today,” I tell her as she redresses in the passenger seat of my truck. We’ve both been quiet since I told her I still have one secret to tell. I could’ve probably picked a better time to bring it up than while my dick was still inside her after a fuck, but my name is Tree for crashing into things, not Timing for knowing when shit should come up.
“What? You want to go?” Nell says, turning to me as she drags her shirt over her head.
“Uh, we have to go through everything and see if there’s anything we want to keep before it’s sold.”
She yanks her shirt down around her waist and her blue eyes turn hard. She’s pissed. “Sold? You’re actually selling it?”
“Yes.”It’s agoodthing even if you can’t see that yet.
“Knox, you’re going to let some random family move into the house you built foryourfamily?”
“No, I’m going to let Knuckles, Maya, and Skip move into the house I built for a woman that is no longer living in it. They need the space, and I don’t.” Simple, direct answers are the best way to go right now. She doesn’t want bullshit. She wants the truth, and I’ll give it to her.
“What if I wanted to have babies?”
“Do you?” I don’t think she does, but if she does we’ll figure that out. It’s not related to the house so I’m not entirely sure why she’s bringing it up now.
“No, but the point is-”
“Nellie, I’ll buy you your own house, sweetheart. I’ll build you your own house if that’s what you want. But I’m not going to live there anymore. We can have kids in the houseyouwant, not the one Layla wanted.”
“I don’t want kids. I want dogs,” she says angrily, tugging at the ends of her hair to keep her hands busy. “Do you want kids?”
“No. Dogs are good for me.” I never wanted to bring kids into an environment with someone fucked up like me for a parent. I’m only more fucked up now. It wouldn’t be right to do that to some poor kid. “Tell me what kind of house you want and I’ll make it happen.”
Nell’s eyes soften just slightly, but not enough to let me believe I’m off the hook. “I don’t want you to build me a house.”
“Then what do you want, baby?”
Her fingers twist around each other and I follow her eyes to the horizon, where the early afternoon sun has been hidden by clouds. “I want… I want a big dog named Woofus.”
My lips purse so I won’t laugh and piss her off again. “That is the silliest thing I have ever heard. What breed is Woofus going to be?”
“A mutt. A mutt from a rescue or a shelter. And I want an adobe house. Would you be okay with that?” The look she gives me is fearful. She wants to please me. She doesn’t know how much she already does.
I rub the back of her head to chase away all those little fears. “I would love to have an adobe house and a big mutt named Woofus with you. Let’s go shower at the old house and look through it so we can get whatever we want out of there. Then we can show it to the soon-to-be new owners. How does that sound?”
She nods. “That sounds good.”
“Nell, look!” I flip the picture of the three of us on the beach so she can see it. “You had braces!”
