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The audience cheered. “Good one, sis.”
The rest of the show passed in silence; neither of them knew the answers, and Raven was too mad to continue explaining the basics of life to her brother. Then, Hank said quietly, “I know I got no choice but to talk with this DEA guy tonight.”
Raven took the remote, turned off the TV, and took a seat on the sofa by her brother. “It’s the right thing to do,” she said, her soft tone a surprise to them both.
“Well, maybe. I’ve just always had a fear of cops. I wouldn’t make it, you know. In jail. I’d be somebody’s bitch, or they’d have to put me in solitary for my own safety, or...”
“We’re not thinking about jail. You’ve seen the movies, come on... They’ll offer you a deal and you’ll take it, then get yourself a nice job somewhere a whole lot warmer than Chicago, and everything will be fine.”
“Anice job,” he echoed sarcastically. “What the hell could I do?”
It was moments like this which their father had cruelly labeled Hank’s ‘bipolar’ episodes. He could be up and cheering, or giving his all in a debate, and then moments later crash to these depths of self-doubt. “Plenty of things. We’re going to help you.”
Outside, there was the unmistakable slam of a car door, and Hank nervously pulled the curtains across once more. “It’s Ridge. He’s talking to the fireman guy.... OK, he’s coming in. Don’t tell him I joked about PTSD, OK?”
Raven smiled and leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. “Not a word.” She opened the front door for Ridge, his hands full with bags of groceries.
“Hey.” Keys on the counter, bread and beers and vegetables into the fridge, all without a word. Raven helped in silence, hoping that Ridge might thank her, or show some gap in his otherwise frostily impenetrable armor. Instead, he got a beer and slumped into an armchair, flicking on the TV.
Shit.All three sat amid the stern atmosphere Ridge had brought home, afraid to laugh at the TV or, in Hank’s case, even move a muscle. It was only when Ridge’s phone rang that the odd silence was broken.
“Hey... Yeah, we’re all set up here. Jake kept an eye on the place while I was out, and he said it’s quiet as a broken clock. You got an ETA for tonight?” Hank’s ears pricked up, but he didn’t dare show his nerves, not with Ridge in this mood. “Sounds good... Yeah, he’ll be here,” Ridge said pointedly, glancing at the silent Hank. “Copacetic. You wanna talk to him at my place, or... Oh, OK. Good idea. Yeah, I know, with the situation, it’s best to... OK, buddy, same wavelength as always. Catch you later.”
Ridge took a long pull on his beer, almost draining it, and returned to silently glowering at the TV. Raven thanks her stars when her own phone rang. “Hey, it’s Maggie. You guys mind if I take this here?” The two men shrugged, neither interested in eye contact. “Hey, sweetie, what’s up?” she asked with forced brightness.
“Raven, you just ain’t gonna believe what went and happened.”
“Is everything OK?” she asked, but knew from the giggle in Maggie’s voice that this might be her first ‘good news’ phone call in a week.
“Oh, yeah, babe, better than OK. We’re going on a cruise!”
“Sweet! When?”
“We were given tickets by... a friend... and we’re leavingtonight! Cozumel, here we come!” she trilled.
“That’swonderful!” Raven said, genuinely happy for her friends. “Don’t forget your bathing suit!”
“Already packed! Wes can’t wait to do some more scuba, and... oh, honey, best of all,” she said, almost forgetting, “they upgraded us straight away to the junior suite! We’re gonna get us some luxury!”
Raven sat down amid the grumpiness on the sofa, hoping her smiley effervescence would rub off. After four more minutes of intolerable silence, she announced, “Maggie and Wes are off to the Caribbean for the long weekend.”
Ridge turned and actually smiled, to Raven’s immense relief. “That’s great! Good for them.” He tossed his bottle in the kitchen recycling and said, “Just gonna take a quick shower. Then maybe we’ll order something?”
The water began, and Hank raised an eyebrow. “Is he normally as delighted when friends go on cruises?” Raven shrugged with a ‘search me!’ expression. “Well, if he’s not staring at me, wishing I’d just give up and hang myself, I’m just as delighted.”
After dinner, which continued the brighter conversational trend Raven had prayed for, Hank took his turn in the shower, as much to calm his nerves before Corbett arrived as to wash his unruly hair; in the small house, this was almost the only private time two people could get. Ridge asked Raven to sit with him.
“Raven, I want to apologize.”Praise Jesus and all of my lucky stars.“I need to explain something,” he said, listening to check that Hank was under running water before he began. “This is difficult for me.”
Raven plucked up her courage, slid toward him and put an arm around his shoulder.God, it’s like cuddling a tank... a suddenly very human, very beautiful tank...“My stepfather,” he said steadily, “used to get his kicks from... well, kicking my mom and me around the house.”
“Oh, Jesus, Ridge, I’m sorry...”
A gentle raised hand told her to let him finish. “Mom forgave him, everysingletime. You know how that happens, right?” Raven nodded, resting her head on Ridge’s upper arm as he finally let the words come. “But we couldn’t take any more... my brother and me... and we made a pact to leave and never to come back. He was seventeen, I was fifteen.”
Raven waited, imagining the pain of such cruel insecurity, the warmth of a home denied him by some bastard imposter who wasn’t even his real father.
“Kyle hitch-hiked... I still can’t believe this... toIdaho, and worked on a farm for a while. He met a girl. He’s happy,” Ridge said with a little smile. “And the short story is that I joined the Navy. They gave me a home, Raven.”
