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“Fine,” she says grumpily, balancing her hand against the wall to put a high-heeled shoe on.
When she’s finished, I walk her down the steps and to the front door before I run back up to check on Hannah. I can’t leave her up here with Shep because if I do, she’ll be in that shower with my brother in no time, sucking him off and wrecking my plans.
How do I know? It’s happened a few times with different women, and tonight I have no time to play this game. As it stands, Dad will be pissed with me because there’s no way that I won’t be late. I don’t need to make it worse by being late or explaining why Shep is showing up with an uninvited guest or two who dress like skanks.
“Too bad you’re missing out on some good fun,” Hannah says, striding past me and heading for the bedroom door.
I take that opportunity to follow her out and make sure that she doesn’t take a souvenir with her same as I did with Mari.
The one thing I will say about Shep is that he may not have class when it comes to his choice of women, but he’s got excellent taste in the arts and wine. He has both in plentiful supply around his townhouse and has spent a nice penny on them.
“You have a ride, Hannah?” I ask when we reach the doorway.
“I drove us here last night.”
I nod. That sounds fitting. Shep doesn’t always drive everywhere, sometimes choosing to hire a car to take him to where he needs to be and then catching a ride home with some strange chick.
After I’ve locked the door behind her, I head back upstairs, thankful that he’s made it out of the shower and grabbing underwear.
“Do you always have to be such a fucking buzzkill?” he asks, not looking at me as he disappears inside his closet.
“Not a buzzkill, Shep. I’m just making sure that you uphold your responsibilities and commitment.”
“It wouldn’t be a commitment if Mom hadn’t committed me,” he grumbles from the closet.
“Well, you’re right on that part, but good luck. It’s your responsibility to show up tonight.”
“No,” he says, coming closer to the closet door. He’s got his pants on and pulling on a collared dress shirt. “That’s where you’re wrong. Attending these charity events isn’t my responsibility. They’re Mom and Dad’s because they choose to support all this bullshit on the premise of caring about the community and the world. Let’s face it, Cade. The only thing they’re truly caring about is the family name and their reputation. Why do we have to be there? I don’t know, but that dog and pony show is for them, you, Ezra, and poor Poppy. It’s not for me!” he argues, grabbing a tie from a rack at the edge of his closet.
I know better than to argue with him. If I do, he might get upset enough to start an argument and use that as his excuse for backing out.
“You’re right, Shep. You’re right, but some of us are stuck in this way of life, and we don’t know how to pull away.”
“Just do it. It’s not as hard as you make it.”
“Was it that easy for you? To just walk away from it all, I mean?”
He looks at me with hostility and turns to the mirror to adjust his tie.
That’s what I thought, I think, but don’t say.
“I’ll be in the car.”
He nods, and I head out before I wreck it further. He’s only ten minutes behind me.
“You clean up pretty nice,” I remark when he straps his seatbelt.
“Yeah, I’m not as much of a loser as everyone thinks.”
I don’t say anything to that because it would be me bullshitting him. We have marked him off as that, not because he has to be, but because he chooses to be.
We drive in silence the rest of the way. I’m lost in my thoughts, and him with his seat completely reclined and his eyes closed. I guess he’s sleeping off the dregs of whatever partying Hannah, Mari, and he did that had him sleeping until this evening.
“You could’ve treated them with a little more respect, you know,” he says as we pull into the parking lot of the event center.
“Why? Because you did? Heidi, Heather, Haley,” I mimic.
“You followed them out, didn’t ya?”
