AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I seeyouas a success.”
“I don’t see myself as a failure, don’t get me wrong. But I was the first one here, and you make sacrifices to pave the way for the ones who come after. That’s how it’s supposed to be, each generation more successful than the one before it.”
“And you see me, Lorraine, and my mother taking this family in reverse, is that it?”
He shakes his head, looking tired even though it’s not much past eight in the morning. “When my mother died and your mom was sent to live with me and Maeve, she was a teenager full of spit and vinegar. She was torn away from everything familiar, put on a plane, dumped with a much older brother she hardly knew. She was so angry, and looking back on it now, I guess she had every right to be. It was hard going to a new school, being teased about her brogue.” He looks to me. “Do you know she stopped speaking entirely? The kids in class would laugh when she’d answer a question, so she just stopped speaking all together. I was twenty-five at the time. You think I knew what the hell to do when the school counselor called?”
“She never told me that. And I don’t hear any trace of a brogue in her speech. It’s hard to believe she was even born there.”
“I’d hear her sitting in front of the television for hours, imitating the actors’ American accents. And she’d catch herself, shaking her head and repeating the word when she’d do something wrong, like annunciating the syllables in certain words like we do back home.”
“Veh-jeh-tah-bulls.”
“Exactly. But she went months without saying much of anything. She refused to give more than a one-word answer until she believed she had the hang of it. And in the meantime, she dropped out of school, took a menial job cleaning houses, and—”
“End of story, right? She’s still stuck in place.”
“It’s more than that. She’s stuck withhim. Without an education, you’re trapped. She can’t walk away.”
“That’s some bullshit. She could have walked away from him many times, but she chose him and she chose to stay.”
“Agree to disagree...She had two children to feed.”
“Don’t go rewriting history now. She hadonechild at the time. She left him to shack up with loser number two and then got pregnant with me. When he took off, that’s when she went crawling back to Jeff. And he never lets her forget that he took her back, or that he raised some other guy’s kid.”
“He didn’t have a hand in raising you.”
I don’t say that he did use his hands—used them to beat the shit out of me on a regular basis. I’ve never spoken of it, and I’m sure my mother hasn’t aired our dirty laundry either.
We’re silent for the rest of the ride to work. No one would accuse me of shying away from conflict—most people would say I actively seek it out—but not with my uncle. He’s actually the one person in this world whose opinion matters. Sounds sad and pathetic, but I want him to be proud of me someday.
“We’re good?” my uncle looks to me and asks as we pull into the lot.
“Always, Uncle Dan…We’ll always be ok.”
I walk a few paces behind him, my thoughts shifting back to Sarah. Did she show up early to ride this morning? Did she come early hoping she’d run into me? Not likely, given that I only dropped her off a few hours ago. I smile thinking about that last parting kiss, then decide it’s better if we run into each other later on today, or better yet, tomorrow.
I’m the only one who can repair the golf-ball picker, so I guess you could say I’ve become indispensable around here. Being the go-to guy for the greenskeeper at the golf club is not among my life goals, so I’m happy to get back to repairing the paddock fence a couple of hours later.
If I have to be at this godforsaken place, I prefer working in the stables over the clubhouse or golf course for many reasons, but one cute reason in particular. I check my phone as I head back, and feel a smile forming on my face when I see it’s just past noon. I’m quick to school that smile, though, and pair it with my version of a pep talk.Calm down, you idiot. Last night was no big deal. Don’t seem too eager or she’ll think you’re a loser.
But it’s not Sarah waiting for me when I round the corner, but two guys in button-down shirts, pressed pants, and deck shoes that look like they’ve never gotten wet. Casual Sunday morning attire around these parts. They stand like sentinels at the stable doors, looking past my uncle to study me.
“Can I help you, Mr. Thomson?”
I’ve heard the name but never met the club’s director. He looks to my uncle. “We’re just here to speak to your nephew.”
“About what?”
“It’s ok, Uncle Dan, I can handle this.”
But when Thomson gestures for me to follow him and his sidekick, my uncle isn’t having it. “Mr. Thomson, if you head back to the clubhouse I’m coming along, so maybe you just want to have this discussion here so we can get on with our workday.”
He shoots my uncle a look that’s part condescending, part annoyed, but then settles back on me. “There’s been a report of some items missing from the kitchen and your name came up.”
When my uncle goes to protest I wave him off and step forward. “Items missing from the kitchen? What are you talking about?”
“Inventory from the cold case…Quite a lot, in fact.”
