Page 4 of Blood Ties

Kai

I t’s a rare thing for the house to be this quiet.

I sink into the living room couch and cherish it.

The feeling of being out in the open without listening hard for footsteps, or bracing to hear my name.

No sound of Dad slamming doors, or Uncle Frank messing with his gun.

No screaming from the basement. Not even Knox.

Just me and the house and the quiet. Plus Momma, I guess, but she’s asleep in the attic, like usual.

I can’t even be bothered that Knox took off without telling me where he’s going.

Whatever. He’s not my responsibility. If I’m lucky, maybe he’ll shack up with some townie.

Be gone till morning. That could come with its own set of problems, of course, but he’s not gonna do something risky without Dad around to clean up his mess.

He and Frank will be gone all weekend visiting their brother.

A whole weekend of peace. I can hardly believe it. I don’t even turn on music like I usually do in my free time; I just enjoy the silence.

Then the front door slams open and shatters it.

I sit up instantly, every muscle in my body tensing as I listen, hard, for footsteps coming through the mudroom.

When I hear the familiar thudding rhythm of Knox’s boots instead of Dad’s heavy tread, I relax.

I’m about to sink down into the couch again until I hear an unfamiliar voice.

He brought a girl home. Of course he did. But then — there’s another voice. And another. What the fuck?

Torn between the desire to investigate and the urge to flee to my room, I end up frozen in place until Knox bangs through the door into the living room. His grin fades when he meets my stare.

“Kai,” he says. “Thought you’d be asleep.”

I push up from the couch. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve got company.”

“What?” My gaze flicks to the doorway behind him. Four strangers step through the door from the mudroom. Two girls — one dark-haired and sharp-eyed, the other smiling and blonde — and two guys, one lanky with glasses and the other big and square-jawed.

“You didn’t say there was someone else here,” the dark-haired girl says.

Her eyes lock with mine. I have a sudden, mad urge to say something weird enough to stoke her suspicion, to get them all to leave.

Yet I can’t bring myself to speak. I’m not used to talking to strangers, especially not pretty girls like her.

Knox is never lost for words. He throws an arm around my shoulders.

“Yeah, sorry, should’ve mentioned. This is my little brother, Kai.

Kai,” he gestures with his free hand. “Our guests for the night.” He glances at me.

“Now I know you’re not that fond of company, but their car broke down and they’ve got nowhere else to go.

So...” He squeezes my shoulders hard enough that I suppress a wince. “Be friendly, alright?”

You shouldn’t be here , I want to tell them. But I don’t. I keep my head down and my mouth shut, like always.

“Now, if y’all wanna go right to sleep, you’re welcome to it. But I, for one, could use a drink,” Knox says. Our “guests” exchange glances.

“We’ve got some beer in the car,” the big guy says.

“Got some things other than beer, too,” the other says with a grin, pushing his glasses up.

“Now we’re talkin’,” Knox says. “I’ll grab the whiskey.”

They filter out of the room, one by one, chatter fading as they head outside again.

All except me and the dark-haired girl. She leans against the doorway and watches me with her unreadable eyes.

She really is awfully pretty, so pretty it’s hard to look at her for too long without my stomach twisting into knots.

“I’m Riley. Sorry for invading your house,” she says. “We really didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

I shrug, avoid eye contact. “‘S fine,” I mumble, though it’s a lie. “I’m just gonna...” I jerk my head toward the stairs.

“We’re not trying to chase you out of your own space,” she says. “Why don’t you have a drink with us? We definitely owe you some beer for the late-night drop-in.”

Spending time with these people — getting to know them — is the last thing I want. But when I glance up to meet her eyes with a no on my lips, something in her gaze stops me.

It isn’t just that she’s beautiful. Though, God, she is. It’s the way she looks at me, head slightly tilted and a genuine smile on her lips, those soft blue eyes crinkled at the corner. I’ve seen girls look at Knox like that, but never at me.

Before I know what I’m doing, I dip my head in a nod. “Sure. One drink.”

*

O NE DRINK SOON TURNS into three, and then the shots start flowing.

Soon we’re all sprawled in the living room, the coffee table covered with half-full bottles and empty cans.

I’m embarrassed about the state of the house.

I keep the place as clean as I can, but there’s no hiding the sun-bleached carpet or worn-down leather couch or the empty spot on the entertainment center where the TV used to sit.

Everything here is old, including my hand-me-down clothes, while the strangers are so new and shiny it’s almost blinding.

But nobody comments. The girls sit close together on the couch while I perch on the edge, trying to take up as little space as possible.

Knox takes Dad’s armchair, and Caleb and Felix are both cross-legged on the carpet.

Terrible music thumps from someone’s phone on the table between us; it’s way too upbeat for my taste.

Conversation seems to flow easily for everyone but me.

But even though I’m quiet, just watching it all unfold, I’m having an okay time.

Knox is in a good mood, and the strangers prove to be pretty decent.

It’s fascinating, watching how the outsiders behave.

Getting a taste of what normal life must be like.

They talk about college classes, part-time jobs, a music festival they’re headed to. The sorts of things I’ve only really seen in shows on TV. Before Dad broke it, I mean.

It’s a lot of information to hold on to, especially with a buzz brewing.

Most of what they say slips right back out of my brain.

But I pay attention whenever Riley speaks, hoarding tidbits of information about her like precious trinkets.

She’s majoring in education; she works part-time as a tutor; she lives in an apartment with May.

She’s not dating either of the guys as far as I can tell.

“What about you?” Riley asks.

With a start, I realize she’s talking to me. Her blonde friend is between us, but she’s sitting forward, while Riley leans back to look at me. I do the same. “What?”

“You’re around our age, right?”

I take a second to remember. “I’m 22.”

“So a year older than me. You’re not going to college?”

“Oh, uh...” I shake my head. “Nah. Not for me.” I’ve never been to school at all, but I’m not about to admit that. Riley is still looking at me, clearly expecting me to say more, so I add, “I work for my dad.”

“A mechanic like him and Knox?”

“Not exactly...” I shrug, picking at the label on my beer. The bottle is sweating, or maybe that’s my hands. “I mostly work in the scrapyard. And take care of the animals around the farm... I dunno, just, whatever he needs me to do.”

“Animals?” The blonde girl, May, leans in to join our conversation. “You guys have animals?”

“Yeah...” Knox is talking with the two guys, but he keeps glancing at me. As if I’m not already hyper-aware of how easy it would be to say something stupid. “We have chickens and pigs.”

Both girls gasp. “Oh my god,” May says. “Can we see them? Please?”

“Uh...” Now I’m definitely sweating. The animal pens are way too close to the barn, where the butcher's room is. Plus Uncle Frank’s shack. God only knows what he keeps in that place. “Probably shouldn’t. Sorry.”

“Why?” May pouts.

Riley flicks her on the nose. “Because you’re drunk and the pigs will eat you.”

“No!” May makes a face, and then looks at me, wide-eyed. “Would they really?”

I swallow back a rush of unease, a flicker of memory. Flesh disappearing into a dozen slavering mouths. “Pigs will eat anything.” Bones and all.

Both girls look at me, wide-eyed.

“I’ve heard that,” Riley says, before it gets awkward. “That farmers sometimes fall into the pen and get eaten.”

“By the little piggies?” May says, face scrunching. “No...”

“Pigs aren’t little, May. They’re huge. They probably stink, too.”

Thankfully, the conversation moves on from there. I lean back against the couch, watching the rest of them talk.

I keep bracing myself for the inevitable sound of Dad’s footsteps stomping in through the front door, but it doesn’t happen. Soon, with a buzz of alcohol in my veins, I can relax despite my reservations about having people in the house.

Dad won’t be back until tomorrow night, after all. And Knox isn’t in one of his moods, just relaxing with a drink and a joint. Maybe this isn’t the worst idea he’s ever had.

He catches me looking at him and grins. “You having fun, kiddo?”

I pluck at the label on my beer. “Guess so.”

“You guess?” I still wish it was Riley sitting next to me, but May is pretty enough to make me blush, too. “We gotta do better than that after crashing your night! How about we play a game?”

“What kind of game?” I ask, wary.

She chugs the rest of her beer and holds the empty bottle above her head.

“May,” Riley says. “No.”

“Why not?” May slides down the couch to sit on the carpet, setting the bottle in front of her with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

“Spin the Bottle?” Caleb asks. “Really?”

I flush, finally catching on.

“I think our ratio’s a little off for that,” Felix says, with a glance at Riley that I can’t decipher.

“Ooh, so true.” May taps a finger against her lips. “How about... anytime two boys have to kiss, Riley and I will each take off a piece of clothing?”