Page 38 of Jockstraps & Newspapers

Chapter twenty-three

A stabbing most foul

Elliot

P ractice cut out early. Elliot was on the way back to his place, ready to fall face first into his couch and snooze. However, a text message appeared on his phone.

From Ma: Hey! Heard you won! I'm so proud. Swing by and I'll slice you up a piece of winner’s pie?

Elliot smiled to Toad, excusing himself from the pack of sluggish athletes and headed to his truck.

A slice of Mom's pie and a good cup of joe sounded good.

Not to mention he wanted to talk to her anyway.

Elliot wanted to talk through the heat situation.

His mom was always the understanding parent.

A bit flighty, and not always present, but she never judged…

well, harshly. She judged him for taking the no-baby juice from his brother, but that was a medical mistake.

She would judge him for that for a while…

but she'd still listen and guide him through it the best she could.

Elliot texted her back he was on his way and tossed himself in the truck.

The sun was still oppressively beating down over the parking lot.

Cassie was at Salamander Press and hadn't texted him yet, meaning it was going good. He tried not to stress over it.

Except he was stressed about it. This was important to her.

She'd told him yesterday over doughnuts and coffee about Mr. Pearson.

Rick had always been a friend, but Elliot considered charging into the office to demand an explanation.

Lily tried to walk Cassie back from the anxiety attack she was likely to give herself.

There was no proof that Rick wasn't bringing her in on bad news.

So, they sat on their hands and tried not to think about it too much.

Elliot considered texting her, poking at the beehive. If she was upset, he would rather come grab her and bring her to a warm motherly embrace and some delicious pie. However, if she was doing fine, then he wanted to know. Elliot made a mental note to text her when he got to his parents’ house.

The ride across town was relatively quiet.

It was a Monday. Most people by noon are either at lunch or at work.

He slowed down to look at the shop prior to going to the main house.

The shop was packed. All the bays were full, the parking lot was covered in people and vehicles, and he caught sight of Jessie talking with some guy near the front doors before motioning for him to follow him inside.

Elliot rolled on to the stop sign and around the massive block toward his parents’ house.

Only his mother's little economy car sat in the driveway.

The garden was freshly plucked free of weeds, their carcasses left in a pile to be scooped up later.

She'd changed the wreath on the front door.

It was King's Fall Knights purple and gold, with a dangling Minotaur knight in the center of it.

He smiled warmly, slipping out of his truck.

Elliot tossed the weeds into the recycling bin for his mother like he used to do as a teen and sauntered up to the front door.

Stepping inside hit him with a wave of delicious apple pie with cinnamon and bourbon. His mother's radio crackled from the kitchen, playing low dad rock that reminded him of his youth. Elliot wiped off his hooves and shut the door heavily behind him to alert his mother. "Hey, Ma!"

"Elliot! Perfect timing!" she called from the kitchen, the sound of a timer going off following her voice.

Elliot walked the runner along the main hallway of the house.

The living room to his left, the staircase to his right, the hallway was a long row of family photos.

Most of the boys, the shop, or of them all smashed into one camera lens as best they could.

He stopped to admire his graduating photo.

He'd finished highschool by the skin on his teeth.

Cap and gown, hooves, and horns extra shined, Elliot Bonesaw as a teen was so tiny.

Compared to him now, all elbows and shoulders, glutes, and muscle guns.

Jessie and Rex were dangling off his arms in the photos, Mom and Dad smiling proudly in the back.

Despite his father's displeasure of his choice to go with SportsBall, the man still showed up to his graduation.

They always made it at least one game as a family.

"Elle?" His mother's tender voice broke him away from his thoughts. He glanced away from the photo.

"Sorry, stuck in memory lane." He ducked his head, following her into the kitchen.

"I do that a lot. It makes me so proud to see you boys throughout the years.

Reminds me it was worth it." She patted his arm before motioning to the kitchen table.

The Minotaur sank down onto a chair while his mom brought over two bowls.

A glistening, crusty apple pie slice sat in a deep bowl with a clump of ice cream that was already beginning to melt.

"Wow, Ma, you went above and beyond for this.

" He was gonna pass out that night. A slice of pie was one thing…

a slice of Mom's bourbon apple pie with vanilla ice-cream?

Oh, he was gonna gorge and be super happy about it.

He'd regret the food coma later. Elliot stabbed his spoon into the ooey, gooey delight and moaned with happiness at the flavor. "This is so good."

"I could teach you the recipe, if you'd like?" His mom grinned, wiggling in her seat happily over her own bowl. "That way you could make it for Cass and get me some grand babies?"

"Ma!" He groaned through a mouthful of food.

His mother swatted his arm, rolling her eyes. "I'm only teasing. You're my oldest, is it so wrong to be hoping that you two make some pretty babies while you're in heat?"

Elliot shook his head, chuckling. "I don't know. We haven't talked about it. And her career’s just taking off and I'm about to start as coach next year. Plus…I haven't even told her I love her yet."

He dug a spoonful of pie out of his bowl and chewed it, butterflies fluttering in his chest. When he peeked up to his mother, he saw her lower lip quivering. He groaned, "Ma…"

"You love her ? Oh Elliot! I'm so happy for you!

" His mother launched up into her chair to throw her arms around him.

He laughed, pulling her into his chest. She hugged him with all the muscles of a woman who raised three rambunctious boys.

Lailee Bonesaw once punched a man holding a knife to her throat so hard that she had to stitch up his head wound on the way to the Healer's Hut.

His mother had arms of steel and a heart of gold.

The warmth of her in his arms and the motherly pressure of her arms around him almost made him tear up.

She rubbed his back lovingly. "That's my boy, such a sweetie romantic. "

His mother scrambled back out of his arms. Elliot chuckled sheepishly, poking his spoon at his pie. While his mother settled back into her seat, he played with his desert…searching for the words. "I want it to be romantic when I tell her."

"Oh yeah? What's the plan? How can I help?"

Elliot was at a loss for words as he held his spoon full of glorious dessert before him. "I have no idea."

"Well…what does she like? What's romantic to her?"

Elliot wasn't sure. That's the thing, his idea of romance and hers were completely different. And he was at a loss for ideas. His mother rattled off some ideas, a walk in the park, after the game, a grand gesture of affection, etc. None of them stuck for him as they ate together.

"I dunno, Ma, I think I gotta find something uniquely…" he trailed off as his phone buzzed. He ripped it out of his back pocket and immediately burned to an embarrassed crisp. "Dang! I forgot to…what?"

Him and his mother leaned over his phone to find a text from Cassie and a picture of her ruined car.

His eyebrows furrowed on his brow. Who in King's Fall would bash her car in?

Before he had a moment to process what was happening, the back door flew open.

His mother jumped up in her seat, Elliot collecting their empty bowls in time to have Jessie shoved onto the table by his father.

Elliot nearly smashed the bowls onto the kitchen counter to see what was going on. "Jessie!"

"Honey, he's been stabbed!" Titan Bonesaw rushed to kick the back door shut.

"What happened?" Lailee Bonesaw barked at her husband, rushing to her son's side. "Who did this?"

"He had a brother," Jessie laughed weekly before his eyes rolled back in his head.

Elliot looked at his father with fear in his big eyes. "What happened?"

"No, no you need to go!" His father took a hold of Elliot, wheeling him away from the kitchen table and toward the front hallway. "Get in your car and leave, now."

"What! I'm not leaving!" Elliot stomped his hooves down, stopping his father in his tracks. "Why did Jessie get stabbed?"

"You don't want to know, and your nosey, journalist girlfriend can't find out." His father shooed him with a flick of his hands.

"Dad! Will you just tell me what happened to Jessie?

" Elliot pushed his father back into the kitchen, crossing the floor to lean over Jessie.

The wound was jagged. Whoever stabbed him meant it with all the anger in their heart.

They'd twisted the knife too. Clearly stopped before they could whip up Jessie's insides.

Their mother was bawling her eyes out as she cast spell after spell, stitching Jessie back together.

Titan snatched Elliot by the shoulder, jabbing a finger in his son's face. "You're the one who didn't want to be a part of the family business, you don't get to come and go when you want."

"Are you being serious right now, Pops? Jessie got stabbed and you want to make this about why I didn't want to work at the shop? Look at Jessie! That's why I didn't want to work for you! He could have died!"

Titan sneered, shoving Elliot backward. "You're a coward."

"Titan!" Lailee snapped, whirling around to face her husband.

"I'm. A. Coward?" Elliot roared, tossing his father backward with a flat, palmed shove.

"You're the one who gave in to this life!

You should have never asked Jessie to fill in your shoes!

You won't admit that your life choices made it impossible for us.

We're not your employees, dad! I'm your son!

And you shouldn't want me to follow in your footsteps, you should want me to exceed your life's work.

Be a better man than you ever were. And if you gave two shits about me or Jessie or Rex, you'd never ask us to work for you. "

"I did this for you! " Titan stomped his hooves, rattling the pans dangling over their heads with his roar.

"And now Jessie's paying for it."

"Get out of my house!" Titan jabbed a finger at the front door. "Don't you dare come back. You're not my son, if you can't even understand what I've done for you, you ungrateful little punk!"

Elliot deflated, his heart cracked in two.

Flashes back to the night before training returned.

His father pacing, huffing and puffing, demanding Elliot explain himself.

I shouldn't have to. His mother sobbing, begging him to apologize.

Elliot glanced at his mother, arms drenched up to her elbows in blood.

His brother laid out on the tabletop, eyes closed and chest barely rising.

Stay, fight with him. But Elliot couldn't. Not when none of them fought for him.

They never had…it was always dad's dream, always dad's work.

The shop, the cars, the money, all of it was to fulfill his needs, not Elliot's.

"Fine, guess you only have two sons…one, if Jessie doesn't make it because your career got him killed," Elliot whispered, cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, he held up the phone to his father. "Look who it is, my nosey, journalist girlfriend."

Titan lunged for it, but Elliot danced out of his grip and answered the phone, "Cassie—"

"Elliot! There's so much blood here. What happened? Rex is freaking out and Nikolai won't tell me what's going on. Are you alright, please tell me you're alright."

"Yeah, I'll explain when I get there. Just…just stay there." Elliot hung up before she could ask him more. This was not a phone call conversation…and it was time he fessed up, completely.

Titan grabbed him by the shoulder, "You tell her anything, and it's over."

"She's not going to ruin your business," Elliot tossed his father's hand off his shoulder. "For once could you be concerned that to regular people, a bunch of blood on the floor isn't normal?"

"I'm not talking about me, boy." Titan tossed him toward the hallway leading toward the door.

"If she writes that tell all and I'm in there…

a lot of people are going to talk. It's not just your reputation, but mine…

and some of my enemies won't like a journalist speaking the truth. This is more than a little scandal talk of some rich boy slapping people’s asses, Elliot.

I've got real enemies who will kill to keep themselves in the shadows.

If she digs into this, into you, it's not just your kneecaps they'll come for. "

Elliot stared at Titan as he stepped back toward the table.

The two adults focused their gazes on Jessie and left him to wander out into the night.

His body was separate from his mind. He floated toward his truck, his father's words crashing down around him.

It wasn't his career on the line anymore.

Titan had a point, if Cassie wrote about his childhood, if she even told a single soul, his father's enemies would come for her.

The reason the Bonesaws lived, the reason Elliot got a free pass, is because he didn't bring up the past. Ever.

But Cassie was about the truth. Stubborn as they come, resilient, she wouldn't so much as blink in the direction of fear.

Elliot threw the truck in reverse and left.

It didn't escape him that his mother didn't come out to stop him.

The front window blinds didn't even move.

No one was watching to see him go. And so, he left to go pick up his girlfriend.

Once again leaving his parents behind to clean up their own bloody mess.