Page 24

He slung both arms around my sisters’ shoulders and steered them in the direction of the door. Beside me, Sid took a pull from his bottle of beer, watching as the trio left. Then, once they were through the door and out of earshot, he turned to me.

“So, uh, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but what the fuck is up with that?”

“What do you mean?” I asked while knowing exactly what he meant.

“Is Rick dating one of them?” He tipped his head with consideration, then added, “Or … I dunno … both of them? I mean, who am I to judge? The more, the merrier, right?”

“The hell are you talking about?” I scoffed, but hadn’t I been suspicious too?

“Hmm,” Sid answered, shrugging one shoulder. “Just a vibe I got. Especially between him and Lucy.” He chuckled, bringing his beer to his lips once again. “Man, I wanted to tell them to get a freakin’ room.”

A gruff laugh scraped through my throat. “Yeah, I don’t really know about all that …”

Hell, come to think of it, what did I know about anything?

I knew that my sisters had dated a bit here and there over the years.

Nothing serious—my father wouldn’t have allowed it—but they had interest in guys.

I’d never known who though. I’d never gotten names.

And if that was because they hadn’t seen a point or they were protecting their boyfriends from the protective older brother, I couldn’t be sure.

Is Ricky one of them?

No .

I cleared my throat and took a sip of beer, choosing not to think about it as Sid got up to take residence in the seat across from me. I made up my mind to enjoy this time with my friend and ordered another beer for each of us.

Then, with a cold beer in hand, Sid asked, “So, whatcha got planned with your family?”

“Ah, you know”—I lifted a dismissive hand—"the usual.”

The usual actually consisted of bumming around Ricky’s apartment, visiting with his mom for dinners, and hanging out with my sisters outside of the house in between moments of making out with Laura.

Truthfully, my time outside of the Army was boring and barely worth living.

But I needed to see my sisters every now and then, so I made the time when I was able.

“Yeah,” Sid huffed, nodding and looking off toward nothing. “I hear ya, man. Honestly, I’d rather not be staying at my uncle’s place. The dude’s cool—I love him—but he’s a little … off, you know? He has eleven cats and this bizarre collection of taxidermy art.”

I eyed him over my bottle of beer as I knocked it back. “Like, deer heads and shit? ”

“Man, I wish. That’d be sorta normal at least. No, it’s more like …

” He scrunched his face up, gesturing with his hand as he put the words together.

“Like, okay, for example, he’s got this one.

It’s a stuffed squirrel, dressed in a little tuxedo, and it’s posed to look like it’s dancing with a chipmunk in a wedding dress. ”

I froze while lowering the bottle back to the table. “Where the hell do you even find something like that?”

“Oh, he didn’t find it, dude. He made it. And the real kicker? He sells this shit too. He goes down to the craft fairs and shit and sells these things for a couple hundred bucks a pop.”

I snorted and shook my head with disbelief. “Wow.”

“Right? Fucking wild, man.”

We shared a sigh as Sid drummed his fingers against the table. The night was winding down, and the bottles were empty. Time was dwindling, and we were both still exhausted from traveling. I looked up at Sid to meet his weary gaze, and he nodded in response.

“Yeah,” he said, replying to a statement I hadn’t said aloud, sliding out of his side of the booth. “Time to head out.”

I followed suit, pulling my wallet out of my back pocket to throw a few bills on the table—a tip for the waitress—then turned to Sid.

“Get home safe,” I said, holding out my hand. “I’ll drop you a line soon.”

We shook, and he clapped his palm against my back. “You too, Serg. Thanks for hanging out tonight.”

We headed toward the door together, then parted ways once we were outside. When I reached my car, I turned to find Sid only a few parking spots down from mine. He lifted his hand, I lifted mine, and then in synchronization, we climbed into our separate vehicles and left the restaurant.

I drove back to Ricky’s apartment complex in silence, thinking about how strange life was.

How the guy who had tormented my buddies and me during basic training could somehow, later down the road, become one of my best buddies—one who, at least presently, answered to me in the professional sense.

It wasn’t an unhappy turn of events, nor would I have changed things.

It was just odd how things like that just happened , a progression that was so slow and stretched over time that I hadn’t noticed it even happening until I was sitting there, at a local burger joint, drinking a couple of beers and enjoying his company more than that of my best friend since middle school.

I wondered how things might’ve been different if I’d been stationed with one of the other guys.

Would Greg and I have fostered as close of a friendship …

or would we have learned that, with so much time spent together, we didn’t like each other as much as we’d thought?

What about Matt or Justin? These guys … I hadn’t seen them in years.

My only correspondence with them since AIT had been whittled down to the quick phone call and occasional letter.

Sid was the last person I’d have expected to bond with so closely out of the group, and yet … here we were, all these years later.

Funny how things work out.

And it was at that moment that I turned into the parking lot of Ricky’s apartment complex.

I parked my rental car in the spot I’d parked in the past few times I was home, ever since he had started renting the place.

Then I opened the car door, exhausted and ready to crash on his couch, only to look straight across and through the steamed-up windows of Ricky’s beat-up Toyota.

And there, through the fog, I watched my best friend make out with my little sister.

“What the fuck?!”

I hadn’t meant to shout, but I did, slamming the door with such force that the two of them stopped kissing long enough to turn and watch as I rounded to Ricky’s driver’s side.

I pulled his door open, reached inside to grab his arm, and wrenched him away from Lucy until he was dragged onto the asphalt, blackened in the night.

He held up his hands, blocking his face. “Max, wait, listen—"

But I wouldn’t listen. I couldn’t . Not to him or to my sister, who was now screaming from inside the car for me to stop, stop, stop , as I threw a quick punch to Ricky’s jaw.

And the bastard didn’t even try to fight back.

He just held his hand to his face and winced as I threw another at the opposite cheekbone, splitting the skin.

“Max! Stop it! Stop!” Lucy continued to scream as she hurried out of the car. “Please!”

And when I saw the blood trickling down Ricky’s cheek and into his beard, I did.

Chest heaving and blood boiling, I stared at him, seething with hot, hot rage. “Lucy, get in my car,” I ground out from between clenched teeth.

“No,” she fired back, hurrying to stand between us.

I tore my eyes away from Ricky’s to face her. I stood over her, looking down into her sad, angry eyes as I thrust my finger in the direction of my rented Ford. “Get in the goddamn car!”

“You don’t tell me what to do, Max,” she warned, her tone low and sounding more adult now than ever. “You don’t give me orders. I’m not one of your soldiers .”

I took a step closer to her, so mad that I could feel my skin radiating with heat and rage. I towered over her, leering in a way I knew was menacing—and I hoped to fucking God she agreed—and stared into her narrowed eyes.

“You will get in that fucking car right now, or I’ll pick you up and put you in it myself,” I said.

Ricky took a step forward, holding a hand out toward me. “Max, calm down—"

Lucy held up a staying hand, shushing him immediately. God, he listened to her, like a little dog given a command from his owner.

How long has this been going on? I wondered as murderous wrath continued to clear a path through my veins.

My sister shook her head, never breaking her continuous glare.“You know who you sound like right now?” she whispered, quirking her lips in a sneer. “You sound like Dad .”

In an instant, my temper cooled as realization barreled over me like a damn freight train. The tension in my face loosened as I looked from her to Ricky, and then I stumbled backward at the sight of the blood on his face, almost like I was now seeing it through fresh, clear eyes.

She was right. I did sound like him. I behaved like him. Holy fuck, what the hell was happening to me? This thing, whatever it was between Ricky and my sister, it wasn’t okay—I didn’t think so anyway—but what the hell had given me the right to …

I felt the pain radiating from my knuckles, the evidence that I had punched him. That I had hurt him.

Shit, I had to get out of there.

I turned on my heel and headed straight to my car.

“Max, no, wait!” Lucy cried, guilt and regret laden in her tone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Don’t leave, please.”

But I didn’t listen then either. I got behind the wheel, slammed the door shut, and turned on the engine, ignoring Ricky as he came to stand beside the door, his lips moving, but I couldn’t hear him over the sound of the radio blasting Staind’s “It’s Been Awhile.”

I peeled out of there and headed to the only other place I knew to go. The only other place I felt welcome . And when I knocked on the door, not knowing who would answer or if anyone would answer at all, I was relieved when it was thrown open. I was even more relieved to see her .

“Max,” Laura whispered, startled, taking a step backward inside.