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“The food is ready, it’s just the steaks they’re waiting on. I like mine rare but Mom never cooks it right. I want it bloody not still mooing. Billie always cooks it just right. You’re in store for some good cooking. Billie loves to cook. She says she works through her problems while she puts the meal together. Give her hell if you want an amazing meal. She’ll be in the kitchen all afternoon, doing her thing. I’ll help a brother out.” I laugh at that. This family cracks me up.
“Thanks for that, Ryan. I’ll keep that in mind.” I sit down and make myself comfortable.
“You’re an only child, right? Just you and your mom growing up?” Ryan asks me without looking anywhere but at me.
“Yeah, my mom was a single parent,” I answer Ryan.
“Did she ever tell you to spank your monkey? I mean, she gave me a girlie book and explained I needed to take care of myself because she was too young to be a grandma yet.” Billie and Buzz had told me this story and it still makes me want to laugh.
“My mom gave me a similar talk when I first became a teenager, or it may have been a little earlier than that. Embarrassed the hell out of me but I guess when moms need to have the sex talk with a son, it’s always as awkward for them as it is for the boy.” I try to give it to Ryan straight.
“That’s what I thought but I had to make sure my family is normal. The friends I have always got the talk from their dads. I guess it’s one of those things that I missed out on. I know now I’m not the first guy who’s had their mom embarrass them. Billie did a much better job. I hope she’s the one that gives me other sex talks the older I get.” I see the red tint to Ryan’s face and I know it isn’t easy for him to talk to me about this, but it’s easier than talking to his mom.
“I’ll have a talk with Billie about me giving you any talks you might need in the future. I’m going to be around and it might come across easier.” I try to get Ryan to look at me but his head is in the game. I see Ryan is winning the game. He sees his target and stalks them and then shoots, hitting dead center every time.
“You and Billie are going to be doing this relationship thing then?” This time Ryan pauses the game and looks at me.
“Yes, do you have a problem with that? I was going to ask you for permission to ask Billie to marry me. You’re the man of the house and I already have your mom’s blessing with reasonable stipulations. I want yours and Maggie’s approval as well.” Ryan seems to be thinking it through.
“You will never replace my father. I will respect you, but I don’t need to mind you. I will only mind Mom and Billie. They’re raising me and deserve that spot. I may only be a teenager but you see how I play my game. I find my mark and I stalk them. When the time is right, I exterminate them. I may not have ever done it for real but if you ever hurt my sister, there will be no place on this earth that I won’t hunt you down and put you down like the dog you will be. I have three females to protect with my life and I won’t hesitate to do just that. One way or another.” I don’t think Ryan could ever go through with shooting anyone but I won’t press him on this. I don’t like being threatened, but if I hurt Billie, then I deserve exactly what Ryan has described. I can respect Ryan for putting the effort forward.
“I can accept those terms. They are very similar to the ones your mom gave me,” I tell Ryan. He nods his head in acceptance and then goes back to his game. I sit there in silence and watch him. No more words need to be said. Only one more person to go.
12
Billie…
Dinner went very well. Each of our steaks was fixed to perfection. We had a woman that used to come and stay with Maggie, Ryan, and myself right after Mom went back to work. She loved grilling meat, any kind of meat. I observed how she got each level of doneness in a steak. I perfected it before she left us to go and be with her son’s family. She also taught me to make decent yeast rolls. I didn’t perfect them like the steaks but I can make some eatable rolls and hot bread. I knew most of the cooking would be left for me since Mom worked most nights. I jumped in so I can at least make a few things good for my siblings and Mom. Not that I hadn’t cooked before that time but I never took the time to perfect some of the things I was taught to cook. No one complained about the food or the dessert Raider provided, or the sweet pecan cobbler I made. Mom enjoyed the wine even though there was plenty left for her to have later.
The table was full of Maggie and Ryan talking while Raider and I only had eyes for each other. If it hadn’t been for the constant chatter, I could have drowned in the depths of Raider’s eyes. The later the dinner went, the more I began to squirm in my seat. At the end of the meal, I was surprised at what Raider volunteered to do.
“Billie can watch me in the kitchen as I wash the dishes,” Raider said to everyone. Mom smiled at Raider but Ryan spoke up.
“We have a dishwasher. We just clean out the dishes, rinse them out and put them in the dishwasher.” Ryan couldn’t believe that Raider would volunteer to wash dishes.
“We also put the sides in the fridge along with the meat. We leave the dessert in the middle of the table in case anyone wants seconds, and I always want seconds. We start the dishwasher before bed,” Maggie goes on and she sounds like a mini-mom.
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth, Maggie. This way, you and Ryan are off kitchen duty.” Maggie looks from Mom to me and then to Raider.
“If you volunteer to take all my kitchen duties when you’re around then you can have Billie, but you two are living with us. I need Billie to braid my hair in the mornings.” Frannie laughs at her smallest daughter.
“I accept,” Raider says. Maggie walks over to Raider and puts her pinkie in front of him.
“Pinkie swear.” Raider does the same to here and grasps her pinkie.
“Pinkie swear,” Raider tells her.
“Mom, you’re my witness. Raider pinkie sweared.” Maggie makes sure she has her witness.
“Deal is done. That’s three for three, Raider,” Mom tells Maggie and Raider. Mom, Ryan and Maggie leave the room and Raider and I are alone at last. I know where Mom is going and what she’s doing. I’m a lucky woman to have my mom. Raider and I clean the table and he starts rinsing dishes while I transfer the leftovers into smaller containers. The kitchen only takes about thirty minutes to finish and that includes taking the trash to the trash receptacle outside our back door. I put on the coffee my mom likes to drink at night if she’s working. Tonight is her last night off and she needs to get into her normal routine for tomorrow night. I grab Raider another beer and hand it to him. I see there was only one left in the refrigerator. I know Mom has already moved them. I feel the nerves in my stomach but I get over it quickly. It’s just going to be Raider and me, alone by ourselves. There’s nothing to be nervous about.
“Should we go and talk to your mom and your siblings some more? This is an awkward situation for me. I don’t want to be rude but I would enjoy some time for us alone. I don’t share my personal feelings very well. I think that’s just between us,” Raider tells me as he takes me into his arms.
“Mom has been preparing our room for us.” Raider’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
“Billie, you know I want this to be good for you but this is getting in the weird zone for me. I think I need to just get us a hotel room.” Billie pulls back and looks at me.
“Calm down, Raider. She just wants everything right for us. She’ll stay away when we get in the room. I’m going to my room to shower so I don’t smell like grilled food. You want to come with me and watch some television before you explode?” I watch behind Raider’s head and see my mom walk through the back hall. She nods her head at me. I show Raider she’s behind him and he nods his head at her. “I guess we can go to our room for the night. Mom is finished. I’ll shower in our room.”
