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“You’re going to miss Cutler making a total ass of himself,” Leon said.
“Video it or something.”
“Hey, is everything okay?” His brows knitted together.
“Yeah, I’ll be back.”
I left them crowded around Ward and Johnson. As soon as I was out of earshot, I hit answer. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Hey, Mase.” She sounded weary. “Sorry to call you, but he’s—” A loud bang echoed over the line, and she rushed out. “Scottie, sweetheart. Don’t do that, please.”
“Put him on the phone, Mom.”
“He’s not—”
“Put me on speaker.”
“Okay.”
“Scottie brother?” He didn’t answer, but I could hear him grumbling to himself as he trashed his room. “Scottie, I need you to stop for a second and listen to me, okay?”
“Mason,” Mom sighed, “I really think—”
“Scottie, it’s me, bud. Mason. I need you to try really hard to calm down, okay? Do you think you can do that? Can you—”
“M-Mason?”
The frustration in his voice made my chest tighten.
“Come talk to me, buddy,” I said softly. “I need your help with something.”
“My help? What with?”
Relief settled inside me. I couldn’t always distract him. But when he was in meltdown mode, he usually responded better to me.
“First, I need you to tell me what’s going on, bud. Why’d you lose it just now?”
“Because I hate myself, Mase. I’m clumsy and stupid, and I’ll never get a girlfriend.”
“Don’t tell me you’re trashing your room over a girl,” I teased.
Scottie had hit puberty, and it was playing havoc with his emotions. But it was heightened by the fact he couldn’t always make sense of what was going on inside him.
“No,” he grunted. “I told you. I’m too stupid for a—”
“Hey now, stop that. You’re not stupid, Scottie. Not even close. What’s her name?”
“Brianne.”
“She pretty?”
“I like her hair.”
“Her hair?”
“It’s like the color of that squirrel we found. Remember? When I was seven? We put it in a shoebox and gave it nuts. I checked on him—”
“Every day for a week. Yeah, I remember, bud. So, your girl is a redhead.”
