WPFAAT winter chapter three
Yeah. I said I would update Sunday and it's Friday. Normally that would be good, except we're talking the Friday that comes after Sunday as opposed to the one that comes before. Um...if that made sense at all. I have many excuses as to why I didn't update. But they're not really true. I had a research paper (but I didn't actually work on it), I've been sick (more reason to write) and our power went out (it only just went out last night). So really I have no excuse. Anyway, I'm babbling so I'll shut up and let you read. :X
The four of them crammed into the cab of Ennis’s rusty old truck. Junior got to sit squished into the door handle, Bobby’s elbow jabbing painfully into her side. It was slightly awkward, since Jack was straddling the gearshift and Ennis turned red every time he had to shift. Bobby and Junior tried to ignore it, but it was hard because Jack chuckled every time.
Finally, they pulled into the McGowan’s driveway. They lived in town, so they didn’t have, say, the thirteen acres that Bobby had grown up on, but they weren’t in one of those tiny box houses with hardly any yard, either.
“Hey there, Roy.” Jack greeted the other man warmly. He handed him the rolls they’d brought-store bought, though Junior had offered to make some, getting slightly offended when Jack and Ennis glanced dubiously at each other. She glared at the rolls in question-store bought rolls on Thanksgiving, what kind of heathens were these people, her mother was probably rolling over in her grave for land’s sakes.
The house smelled wonderful. Bobby was practically drooling right there. When he caught sight of the table, his eyes went huge and he had to fight not to dive in. It was a battle for him not to ask impatiently when they’d be eating.
Mary Ellen tried not to wring her hands. It had become a habit she’d gotten into, whenever she was nervous (which was often) or scared (also often) or distressed (more often than almost any other emotion). She wanted everything to go smoothly tonight.
“So, you guys ready to eat?” She asked brightly, smile firmly in place. “Why don’t we sit down and say grace?”
They held hands, which Ennis found a little strange-his mama had been big on prayer, but they’d never held hands at the dinner table-and Roy asked for a blessing on the food. Finally, dishes started passing their way along the table.
The younger kids kept slipping table scraps to Snappy, who knew to stay out of sight of the adults. Jack noticed but didn’t rat them out. And if a morsel from his plate found its way onto the floor in front of the dog, well…he was a messy eater. Accidents were bound to happen. Ennis caught him in one of these “accidents” and gave him a look. But Jack saw the smile hiding back there.
“Are we ready for dessert?” Roy asked. Mary Ellen was starting to droop, but she got up to help him bring out the desserts. There were pies, puddings, cakes, cookies…Bobby thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
“Lord.” Jack whistled. “Musta taken all day to bake all this, Mary Ellen. Smells wonderful.” He gave her one of those toothy smiles and she smiled back, tentatively.
Junior was taking a bite of apple pie when she wondered how her mother would like it. And then, suddenly, it came down on her that her mother wasn’t eating this apple pie or any other apple pie and she found herself fighting tears. Alma made the best apple pie and whenever they ate anyone else’s they dissected it on the way home. Junior couldn’t breathe. She slipped out unnoticed-the place was a madhouse; a bomb would probably be disregarded-and found herself sitting on the back porch.
She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She was totally losing it. She’d made it through turkey and mashed potatoes and corn and gravy and Jell-o and she’d been fine, but the apple pie set her off? Did that make her crazy? She heard the door close behind her and looked up to find Kurt sliding down next to her.
“Hey.” He said quietly, breath puffing out in front of him.
“Hi.”
“You okay?” He blew on his hands.
“Um.” She looked down. To her horror, tears started pooling in her eyes. “Yes.” She sounded like someone was strangling her. He glanced at her but didn’t say anything. After a while, he sighed and tipped his head back to look at the stars.
“It’s hard, huh?” He mumbled. She almost didn’t hear him.
“What?”
“Having ‘em gone. It’s hard.”
“Oh. Yeah, it is.” She brushed a strand of hair off her cheek and stuck her hands under her legs. It was freezing.
“Mom went back to bed right after you came out here.” He kept his voice neutral, but Junior could tell it made him…what? Mad? Sad?
“Well she did good, for a while.”
“Yeah, because Thanksgiving is such a trial to have to suffer through, right?” His sarcasm surprised her a little. He was always so…strong. Supportive.
“She’s gone through a lot.”
“Yeah, her oldest son died. So did my dad’s, and he has to hold it together because she’s totally lost it. You know what? Our big brother died, and none of us kids are going crazy.” He sounded so bitter. Junior didn’t know what to do.
“Well…it’s a little different when it’s your child than just your brother.”
“Just my brother?”
She probably could have phrased that better. Kurt was mad now.
“Well you listen to me. Roger was my hero, Alma. He taught me how to ride a bike, he taught me how to hawk a loogie and he taught me all about science. He was my best friend. My fucking best friend. He was going to teach me to drive as soon as I was old enough. You have no fucking idea what it feels like so don’t tell me he was just my brother.”
He got up and went back in the house, slamming the door behind him. No one inside noticed. It was too loud. Junior stayed where she was, effectively scolded. She felt horrible. How would she have felt if he’d made light of her mother’s death? God, she was the worst person in the world.
She stayed outside as long as she could. When she finally couldn’t stand the cold anymore, fingers numb and face stinging, she slipped back inside. Ennis saw her come in and gave her a questioning look that she didn’t deserve. She acted like she didn’t see him.
They left about an hour later. It was a long hour, Junior staring at the table and trying to disappear right into the grain. Finally, Jack put a hand on her shoulder.
“You ready to go?” He asked, peering concernedly into her face. She ducked her head down and nodded.
The ride home was pretty quiet. Bobby was almost asleep, tired out from a day of eating, and Ennis was all talked out. He’d actually joined in on some of the conversation, at Jack’s prompting. Jack talked now and then, but he seemed content to let them ride in semi-comfortable silence.
“Well, that wasn’t a disaster.” Jack said when they turned into the gravel path leading to the house. Ennis grunted and Junior didn’t answer. Bobby snorted as they hit a pothole.
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A few days later, Junior was home when Kurt came over to help Bobby study for some of his finals. She’d been doing pretty well at avoiding him, but as Bobby went to the kitchen to rustle up some food Junior and Kurt found themselves alone in the living room.
“Um, Kurt?” Junior started quietly. “I’m…I’m real sorry. ‘Bout what I said. I didn’t mean it how it sounded.”
Kurt sighed. “I know you didn’t. I’m sorry I blew up at you. I was just…well. Yeah.” He gave her a little smile, and she returned it. Bobby came in just then and wrinkled his brow.
“You two making out in here or something?”
Junior went scarlet and Kurt just shook his head, laughing. Junior made some kind of excuse to get away and went to her room. But she was restless and didn’t want to sit in her room. She made her way out to the barn. Jack and Ennis were talking to David.
“Yeah, cousin a mine was wondering if you gonna take on more hands, ‘cause he needs a job.”
“He gonna work hard?” Ennis asked.
“Oh, sure will. Yeah.” David nodded energetically. He was cute, Junior noticed.
“And he ain’t gonna cause no trouble?”
“No sir. Nah, he needs the job too bad. See, he got hisself a wife and a baby and ‘nother on the way. Ranch he was on just went under; he been working out at the vet’s, sweeping stalls, trying’a make some money. Good worker, swear on my life.” David looked earnest. It was the wife and baby part, Junior knew, that won Jack and Ennis over. They had a soft spot for guys trying to provide for their families, having both struggled in those miserable two years apart, and then struggling some more when they first got together.
“Well…” Jack shrugged, shot a look at Ennis, who nodded. “Yeah, bring him ‘long tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, thank you! He gonna be real excited. Really misses the ranch work, you know? I sure do ‘preciate it, taking my word, since you ain’t even met him.”
“Well.” Ennis scuffed a boot in the dirt. “We do need the help. And we trust you.” David looked like Ennis had given him some kind of present, admitting that they trusted him. His whole face lit up. “Getting kinda late.” Ennis went on. “You go on home now, your mama prob’ly got dinner waiting for you when you get there.”
“Why’re you hiring someone you never even seen before?” Junior asked after David had gone. “It’s his cousin. Course he’s gonna say he’s a good guy.”
“’Cause. Like I told him. We trust him.”
“Why? He’s just a kid. I heard you saying just last week how he ain’t got a lick a sense.” It was true. She’d heard the words out of Ennis’s own mouth. Ennis made a face.
“Well that’s ‘cause he was being stupid that day. I was just mad. Really he’s a hard worker. And if his cousin needs the job that bad, he’s more likely to work hard to keep it. ‘Sides, we need the help.”
“Oh.” For some reason Junior felt jealous. They trusted David. Did they even trust her? Well, now, it wasn’t her fault if they didn’t trust her. But maybe it was. Had she given them any reason to trust her? Since she’d come to live with them, the whole town had figured out about them and Bobby had been in two fistfights. Not the greatest track record. She left them to go see Thunder. He trusted her.
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“Bobby, have you called your mother?” Jack asked sternly, knowing the answer was no. Bobby just shrugged at him. “Well, you need to.”
“Why?” It was barely audible, bitter and quiet, full of teenaged resentment. Jack pursed his lips.
“Because she carried you for nine months and then went through seventeen hours of labor to bring you into this world, that’s why. You should never forget that.”
“She seems to awful quick.” Very audible now, and very bitter.
“Bobby.” Jack blew out a breath. “This hasn’t been easy on any of us. It weren’t like she just handed you over without batting an eye, you know. There was lots-”
“Lots of tears. Yeah, I’ve heard this story.”
“Don’t you go disrespecting your daddy.” Ennis broke in. Bobby fought the urge to roll his eyes. Couldn’t they just fucking leave him alone for five minutes? He was sick of their bitching at him.
“Okay, whatever. I’ll call her later.” Bobby tried to keep his impatience below the surface, but the matching frowns he received told him he hadn’t succeeded.
“Bobby, that’s what you said four days ago when I asked you to call her on Thanksgiving. She deserves at least a phone call from her son.”
“She does? What’d she do to deserve it?” It slipped out of Bobby’s mouth before he could stop it, but once it was out, Bobby found he couldn’t stop any of the other words. “A birthday card every year with twenty bucks inside is enough to get a phone call? She asked me to stop coming to see her when I was twelve fucking years old. She’s busy with her life down there and she don’t want to hear from me and I don’t want to talk to her.” Bobby let out a breath and stomped into his boots. “I’m out of here.” He growled.
He went to the barn and forced himself to take a few deep breaths. He didn’t want to go into Firefly’s stall pissed and raging. As he paused, a dog pawed at his leg and whined.
“Hey there Buddy.” Bobby had never been real original in naming his pets. Throughout his life, his dogs had borne names like “Buddy,” “Pup,” and, the first dog he’d named when he’d been about three, the mother of all original names, “Doggie.”
Buddy was one of Bobby’s favorite dogs. He wasn’t big but he wasn’t little, and he wasn’t a yappy, hyperactive little thing. He was pretty calm, but always willing to play. And now he wanted some loving. It had been a while since Bobby had taken the time to just play with his dog. He stooped and rubbed Buddy’s ears.
“You having a rough day, too, pal?” Bobby asked. “Poor guy. It’s cold out here, ain’t it? You can sleep in the house tonight. I’ll sneak ya in if I have to, ‘kay?” Buddy rolled onto his back so Bobby could scratch his belly. He wouldn’t have to sneak Buddy in. Ennis always grumbled about animals sleeping in the barn (where they were supposed to be), but Bobby had caught him smuggling some of the smaller cats and dogs into the house. And besides, all Bobby had to do was bat those eyelashes and say,
“Please, Ennis? Please?”
Ennis was such a pushover, at least when it came to a pair of big blue eyes rimmed with dark lashes and a pout. Bobby made his way toward Firefly’s stall. Buddy wasn’t offended; he followed with his mouth open in a crazy dog grin and tail wagging. Firefly sniffed at him and then let him alone. He followed them on trail rides sometimes.
“Hey gorgeous,” Bobby greeted his horse. She nuzzled her whiskery chin into his neck, lipping his ear gently. “Well hello to you too.” He leaned into her shoulder and sighed. She sniffed around at his pockets, smelling the treats he always kept there. He gave her one and she nickered her thanks. He could feel his anger slipping away. Animals always did that for him.
“That’s the Ennis in you,” Jack had said when Bobby had told him that.
“Daddy, I don’t got any Ennis in me.” Bobby had replied, confused.
“Sure you do. He’s been helping raise you, hasn’t he?”
Pretty soon, it was too cold to stay out any longer. The sun had set hours ago and Bobby wasn’t wearing a coat. He patted Firefly’s hindquarters.
“I’m freezing, girl. Me and Buddy gonna head in. You warm enough out here with your blanket?”
She didn’t answer. But she seemed warm enough. He gave her some more goodnight snacks and whistled at Buddy to follow him. He jumped up from the straw happily and trotted at Bobby’s side. Yeah, this was the life. Coming in from seeing his horse, his dog next to him. He’d missed Buddy in the last couple months. The two of them had been inseparable until…until football season. And then all the business with Jimmy Kent and the other guys.
“Well what’s this?” Ennis grumbled a little when he noticed Buddy following Bobby in, but nothing real serious. Jack came in, hands on his hips, clearly not ready to let the issue rest.
“Robert.” He used his I’m dead serious, boy voice. “You call your mother.”
“Okay.” Bobby used his fake-sweet voice. “Soon’s you call yours.” He didn’t stick around to view the wreckage this bomb would leave. He scooped Buddy into his arms and took the stairs two at a time.
Jack sighed, frustrated, and Ennis looked up at him, abandoning his newspaper. “Just want him to call his mother.” Jack muttered. “What’s so hard about that?”
Ennis shrugged. “Well, she ain’t been real friendly to him over the years.”
“She’s never been anything but polite to him.”
“Maybe that’s the problem.”
Jack dropped into the chair next to Ennis and buried his face in his hands. “I know. I just-I feel like she should know her own son. Least I can do, since she let us have him.”
“Jack.” Ennis waited until Jack looked at him. “You can’t force ‘em on each other. Think it’s important for him to know his mama, too, but if she don’t make the effort, he ain’t gonna want to either. And you know…he’s got a point. ‘Bout your mama. You ain’t talked to her in prob’ly two years, bud.”
“Ennis, you know I’d be happy to talk to my mama if it weren’t for that bastard.” He jabbed a finger at Ennis. “And don’t you go telling me to reconnect with my family, ‘cause you ain’t said a word to your brother in fourteen years.”
“That’s different.” Ennis clenched his jaw, and Jack probably should’ve dropped it, but he was never good at checking his temper.
“Oh, it’s different? How?”
“He don’t want to talk to me, neither.”
“And my daddy wants to talk to me?” Jack barked out a laugh. “He be happy to kill me.”
“I ain’t talking ‘bout this right now, Jack Twist.” Ennis’s voice was tight and angry. But so was Jack’s.
“Don’t say ‘right now’ Ennis, ‘cause that means you’ll talk ‘bout it later, and you won’t.” Ennis shook his head and grabbed his hat. “Oh that’s right,” Jack went on. “Run on out to the barn. You talk to your damn horses more’n you talk to me.”
“Maybe ‘cause they don’t talk out their asses all day!” Ennis spat as he left. He slammed the door behind him and Jack smacked the table.
“Christ, Ennis.” He muttered, though no one was there to hear him. In her room, Junior sat quietly, trying not to make any noise. Damn, but they fought a lot. How could two people stay together if all they did was fight?
She missed hearing the answer, for it was later-hours later, when the back door squeaked open and Ennis’s boots thudded on the kitchen floor, over to Jack sitting in a chair at the table. Neither of them said a word, so she likely wouldn’t have understood the whole thing anyway, probably not even if she’d seen it unfold with her own two eyes.
Ennis sank into a chair next to Jack and Jack passed him the whiskey bottle wordlessly. After he took a swallow (maybe two), Jack let his hand drift to Ennis’s thigh, and Ennis covered it with his own. Neither apologized for what they’d said; they’d both meant their words, so there wasn’t much point in taking them back. But it didn’t especially matter, because they weren’t mad anymore.
And that was why they stayed together.
The four of them crammed into the cab of Ennis’s rusty old truck. Junior got to sit squished into the door handle, Bobby’s elbow jabbing painfully into her side. It was slightly awkward, since Jack was straddling the gearshift and Ennis turned red every time he had to shift. Bobby and Junior tried to ignore it, but it was hard because Jack chuckled every time.
Finally, they pulled into the McGowan’s driveway. They lived in town, so they didn’t have, say, the thirteen acres that Bobby had grown up on, but they weren’t in one of those tiny box houses with hardly any yard, either.
“Hey there, Roy.” Jack greeted the other man warmly. He handed him the rolls they’d brought-store bought, though Junior had offered to make some, getting slightly offended when Jack and Ennis glanced dubiously at each other. She glared at the rolls in question-store bought rolls on Thanksgiving, what kind of heathens were these people, her mother was probably rolling over in her grave for land’s sakes.
The house smelled wonderful. Bobby was practically drooling right there. When he caught sight of the table, his eyes went huge and he had to fight not to dive in. It was a battle for him not to ask impatiently when they’d be eating.
Mary Ellen tried not to wring her hands. It had become a habit she’d gotten into, whenever she was nervous (which was often) or scared (also often) or distressed (more often than almost any other emotion). She wanted everything to go smoothly tonight.
“So, you guys ready to eat?” She asked brightly, smile firmly in place. “Why don’t we sit down and say grace?”
They held hands, which Ennis found a little strange-his mama had been big on prayer, but they’d never held hands at the dinner table-and Roy asked for a blessing on the food. Finally, dishes started passing their way along the table.
The younger kids kept slipping table scraps to Snappy, who knew to stay out of sight of the adults. Jack noticed but didn’t rat them out. And if a morsel from his plate found its way onto the floor in front of the dog, well…he was a messy eater. Accidents were bound to happen. Ennis caught him in one of these “accidents” and gave him a look. But Jack saw the smile hiding back there.
“Are we ready for dessert?” Roy asked. Mary Ellen was starting to droop, but she got up to help him bring out the desserts. There were pies, puddings, cakes, cookies…Bobby thought he’d died and gone to heaven.
“Lord.” Jack whistled. “Musta taken all day to bake all this, Mary Ellen. Smells wonderful.” He gave her one of those toothy smiles and she smiled back, tentatively.
Junior was taking a bite of apple pie when she wondered how her mother would like it. And then, suddenly, it came down on her that her mother wasn’t eating this apple pie or any other apple pie and she found herself fighting tears. Alma made the best apple pie and whenever they ate anyone else’s they dissected it on the way home. Junior couldn’t breathe. She slipped out unnoticed-the place was a madhouse; a bomb would probably be disregarded-and found herself sitting on the back porch.
She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She was totally losing it. She’d made it through turkey and mashed potatoes and corn and gravy and Jell-o and she’d been fine, but the apple pie set her off? Did that make her crazy? She heard the door close behind her and looked up to find Kurt sliding down next to her.
“Hey.” He said quietly, breath puffing out in front of him.
“Hi.”
“You okay?” He blew on his hands.
“Um.” She looked down. To her horror, tears started pooling in her eyes. “Yes.” She sounded like someone was strangling her. He glanced at her but didn’t say anything. After a while, he sighed and tipped his head back to look at the stars.
“It’s hard, huh?” He mumbled. She almost didn’t hear him.
“What?”
“Having ‘em gone. It’s hard.”
“Oh. Yeah, it is.” She brushed a strand of hair off her cheek and stuck her hands under her legs. It was freezing.
“Mom went back to bed right after you came out here.” He kept his voice neutral, but Junior could tell it made him…what? Mad? Sad?
“Well she did good, for a while.”
“Yeah, because Thanksgiving is such a trial to have to suffer through, right?” His sarcasm surprised her a little. He was always so…strong. Supportive.
“She’s gone through a lot.”
“Yeah, her oldest son died. So did my dad’s, and he has to hold it together because she’s totally lost it. You know what? Our big brother died, and none of us kids are going crazy.” He sounded so bitter. Junior didn’t know what to do.
“Well…it’s a little different when it’s your child than just your brother.”
“Just my brother?”
She probably could have phrased that better. Kurt was mad now.
“Well you listen to me. Roger was my hero, Alma. He taught me how to ride a bike, he taught me how to hawk a loogie and he taught me all about science. He was my best friend. My fucking best friend. He was going to teach me to drive as soon as I was old enough. You have no fucking idea what it feels like so don’t tell me he was just my brother.”
He got up and went back in the house, slamming the door behind him. No one inside noticed. It was too loud. Junior stayed where she was, effectively scolded. She felt horrible. How would she have felt if he’d made light of her mother’s death? God, she was the worst person in the world.
She stayed outside as long as she could. When she finally couldn’t stand the cold anymore, fingers numb and face stinging, she slipped back inside. Ennis saw her come in and gave her a questioning look that she didn’t deserve. She acted like she didn’t see him.
They left about an hour later. It was a long hour, Junior staring at the table and trying to disappear right into the grain. Finally, Jack put a hand on her shoulder.
“You ready to go?” He asked, peering concernedly into her face. She ducked her head down and nodded.
The ride home was pretty quiet. Bobby was almost asleep, tired out from a day of eating, and Ennis was all talked out. He’d actually joined in on some of the conversation, at Jack’s prompting. Jack talked now and then, but he seemed content to let them ride in semi-comfortable silence.
“Well, that wasn’t a disaster.” Jack said when they turned into the gravel path leading to the house. Ennis grunted and Junior didn’t answer. Bobby snorted as they hit a pothole.
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A few days later, Junior was home when Kurt came over to help Bobby study for some of his finals. She’d been doing pretty well at avoiding him, but as Bobby went to the kitchen to rustle up some food Junior and Kurt found themselves alone in the living room.
“Um, Kurt?” Junior started quietly. “I’m…I’m real sorry. ‘Bout what I said. I didn’t mean it how it sounded.”
Kurt sighed. “I know you didn’t. I’m sorry I blew up at you. I was just…well. Yeah.” He gave her a little smile, and she returned it. Bobby came in just then and wrinkled his brow.
“You two making out in here or something?”
Junior went scarlet and Kurt just shook his head, laughing. Junior made some kind of excuse to get away and went to her room. But she was restless and didn’t want to sit in her room. She made her way out to the barn. Jack and Ennis were talking to David.
“Yeah, cousin a mine was wondering if you gonna take on more hands, ‘cause he needs a job.”
“He gonna work hard?” Ennis asked.
“Oh, sure will. Yeah.” David nodded energetically. He was cute, Junior noticed.
“And he ain’t gonna cause no trouble?”
“No sir. Nah, he needs the job too bad. See, he got hisself a wife and a baby and ‘nother on the way. Ranch he was on just went under; he been working out at the vet’s, sweeping stalls, trying’a make some money. Good worker, swear on my life.” David looked earnest. It was the wife and baby part, Junior knew, that won Jack and Ennis over. They had a soft spot for guys trying to provide for their families, having both struggled in those miserable two years apart, and then struggling some more when they first got together.
“Well…” Jack shrugged, shot a look at Ennis, who nodded. “Yeah, bring him ‘long tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, thank you! He gonna be real excited. Really misses the ranch work, you know? I sure do ‘preciate it, taking my word, since you ain’t even met him.”
“Well.” Ennis scuffed a boot in the dirt. “We do need the help. And we trust you.” David looked like Ennis had given him some kind of present, admitting that they trusted him. His whole face lit up. “Getting kinda late.” Ennis went on. “You go on home now, your mama prob’ly got dinner waiting for you when you get there.”
“Why’re you hiring someone you never even seen before?” Junior asked after David had gone. “It’s his cousin. Course he’s gonna say he’s a good guy.”
“’Cause. Like I told him. We trust him.”
“Why? He’s just a kid. I heard you saying just last week how he ain’t got a lick a sense.” It was true. She’d heard the words out of Ennis’s own mouth. Ennis made a face.
“Well that’s ‘cause he was being stupid that day. I was just mad. Really he’s a hard worker. And if his cousin needs the job that bad, he’s more likely to work hard to keep it. ‘Sides, we need the help.”
“Oh.” For some reason Junior felt jealous. They trusted David. Did they even trust her? Well, now, it wasn’t her fault if they didn’t trust her. But maybe it was. Had she given them any reason to trust her? Since she’d come to live with them, the whole town had figured out about them and Bobby had been in two fistfights. Not the greatest track record. She left them to go see Thunder. He trusted her.
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“Bobby, have you called your mother?” Jack asked sternly, knowing the answer was no. Bobby just shrugged at him. “Well, you need to.”
“Why?” It was barely audible, bitter and quiet, full of teenaged resentment. Jack pursed his lips.
“Because she carried you for nine months and then went through seventeen hours of labor to bring you into this world, that’s why. You should never forget that.”
“She seems to awful quick.” Very audible now, and very bitter.
“Bobby.” Jack blew out a breath. “This hasn’t been easy on any of us. It weren’t like she just handed you over without batting an eye, you know. There was lots-”
“Lots of tears. Yeah, I’ve heard this story.”
“Don’t you go disrespecting your daddy.” Ennis broke in. Bobby fought the urge to roll his eyes. Couldn’t they just fucking leave him alone for five minutes? He was sick of their bitching at him.
“Okay, whatever. I’ll call her later.” Bobby tried to keep his impatience below the surface, but the matching frowns he received told him he hadn’t succeeded.
“Bobby, that’s what you said four days ago when I asked you to call her on Thanksgiving. She deserves at least a phone call from her son.”
“She does? What’d she do to deserve it?” It slipped out of Bobby’s mouth before he could stop it, but once it was out, Bobby found he couldn’t stop any of the other words. “A birthday card every year with twenty bucks inside is enough to get a phone call? She asked me to stop coming to see her when I was twelve fucking years old. She’s busy with her life down there and she don’t want to hear from me and I don’t want to talk to her.” Bobby let out a breath and stomped into his boots. “I’m out of here.” He growled.
He went to the barn and forced himself to take a few deep breaths. He didn’t want to go into Firefly’s stall pissed and raging. As he paused, a dog pawed at his leg and whined.
“Hey there Buddy.” Bobby had never been real original in naming his pets. Throughout his life, his dogs had borne names like “Buddy,” “Pup,” and, the first dog he’d named when he’d been about three, the mother of all original names, “Doggie.”
Buddy was one of Bobby’s favorite dogs. He wasn’t big but he wasn’t little, and he wasn’t a yappy, hyperactive little thing. He was pretty calm, but always willing to play. And now he wanted some loving. It had been a while since Bobby had taken the time to just play with his dog. He stooped and rubbed Buddy’s ears.
“You having a rough day, too, pal?” Bobby asked. “Poor guy. It’s cold out here, ain’t it? You can sleep in the house tonight. I’ll sneak ya in if I have to, ‘kay?” Buddy rolled onto his back so Bobby could scratch his belly. He wouldn’t have to sneak Buddy in. Ennis always grumbled about animals sleeping in the barn (where they were supposed to be), but Bobby had caught him smuggling some of the smaller cats and dogs into the house. And besides, all Bobby had to do was bat those eyelashes and say,
“Please, Ennis? Please?”
Ennis was such a pushover, at least when it came to a pair of big blue eyes rimmed with dark lashes and a pout. Bobby made his way toward Firefly’s stall. Buddy wasn’t offended; he followed with his mouth open in a crazy dog grin and tail wagging. Firefly sniffed at him and then let him alone. He followed them on trail rides sometimes.
“Hey gorgeous,” Bobby greeted his horse. She nuzzled her whiskery chin into his neck, lipping his ear gently. “Well hello to you too.” He leaned into her shoulder and sighed. She sniffed around at his pockets, smelling the treats he always kept there. He gave her one and she nickered her thanks. He could feel his anger slipping away. Animals always did that for him.
“That’s the Ennis in you,” Jack had said when Bobby had told him that.
“Daddy, I don’t got any Ennis in me.” Bobby had replied, confused.
“Sure you do. He’s been helping raise you, hasn’t he?”
Pretty soon, it was too cold to stay out any longer. The sun had set hours ago and Bobby wasn’t wearing a coat. He patted Firefly’s hindquarters.
“I’m freezing, girl. Me and Buddy gonna head in. You warm enough out here with your blanket?”
She didn’t answer. But she seemed warm enough. He gave her some more goodnight snacks and whistled at Buddy to follow him. He jumped up from the straw happily and trotted at Bobby’s side. Yeah, this was the life. Coming in from seeing his horse, his dog next to him. He’d missed Buddy in the last couple months. The two of them had been inseparable until…until football season. And then all the business with Jimmy Kent and the other guys.
“Well what’s this?” Ennis grumbled a little when he noticed Buddy following Bobby in, but nothing real serious. Jack came in, hands on his hips, clearly not ready to let the issue rest.
“Robert.” He used his I’m dead serious, boy voice. “You call your mother.”
“Okay.” Bobby used his fake-sweet voice. “Soon’s you call yours.” He didn’t stick around to view the wreckage this bomb would leave. He scooped Buddy into his arms and took the stairs two at a time.
Jack sighed, frustrated, and Ennis looked up at him, abandoning his newspaper. “Just want him to call his mother.” Jack muttered. “What’s so hard about that?”
Ennis shrugged. “Well, she ain’t been real friendly to him over the years.”
“She’s never been anything but polite to him.”
“Maybe that’s the problem.”
Jack dropped into the chair next to Ennis and buried his face in his hands. “I know. I just-I feel like she should know her own son. Least I can do, since she let us have him.”
“Jack.” Ennis waited until Jack looked at him. “You can’t force ‘em on each other. Think it’s important for him to know his mama, too, but if she don’t make the effort, he ain’t gonna want to either. And you know…he’s got a point. ‘Bout your mama. You ain’t talked to her in prob’ly two years, bud.”
“Ennis, you know I’d be happy to talk to my mama if it weren’t for that bastard.” He jabbed a finger at Ennis. “And don’t you go telling me to reconnect with my family, ‘cause you ain’t said a word to your brother in fourteen years.”
“That’s different.” Ennis clenched his jaw, and Jack probably should’ve dropped it, but he was never good at checking his temper.
“Oh, it’s different? How?”
“He don’t want to talk to me, neither.”
“And my daddy wants to talk to me?” Jack barked out a laugh. “He be happy to kill me.”
“I ain’t talking ‘bout this right now, Jack Twist.” Ennis’s voice was tight and angry. But so was Jack’s.
“Don’t say ‘right now’ Ennis, ‘cause that means you’ll talk ‘bout it later, and you won’t.” Ennis shook his head and grabbed his hat. “Oh that’s right,” Jack went on. “Run on out to the barn. You talk to your damn horses more’n you talk to me.”
“Maybe ‘cause they don’t talk out their asses all day!” Ennis spat as he left. He slammed the door behind him and Jack smacked the table.
“Christ, Ennis.” He muttered, though no one was there to hear him. In her room, Junior sat quietly, trying not to make any noise. Damn, but they fought a lot. How could two people stay together if all they did was fight?
She missed hearing the answer, for it was later-hours later, when the back door squeaked open and Ennis’s boots thudded on the kitchen floor, over to Jack sitting in a chair at the table. Neither of them said a word, so she likely wouldn’t have understood the whole thing anyway, probably not even if she’d seen it unfold with her own two eyes.
Ennis sank into a chair next to Jack and Jack passed him the whiskey bottle wordlessly. After he took a swallow (maybe two), Jack let his hand drift to Ennis’s thigh, and Ennis covered it with his own. Neither apologized for what they’d said; they’d both meant their words, so there wasn’t much point in taking them back. But it didn’t especially matter, because they weren’t mad anymore.
And that was why they stayed together.