Marching to her brother’s door after walking up the flight of steps, Amy stewed about everything that happened that week. She didn’t bother knocking, but slammed the door open, finding that not only was she staring at Nate, she was staring at Elaine.
“Stop butting into my life, Nate,” Amy snapped. “I don’t need this.”
Nate raised his eyes, holding his arms up in surrender. “Just what don’t you need?”
“You’ve talked to Kyle, so why don’t you tell me? And why did you feel a need to involve Elaine? Haven’t you broken her heart enough?”
Nate lowered his eyes after seeing the amusement in Elaine’s eyes. “Amy, it isn’t what it looks like.”
“No? Don’t you think that I know every time that you hook up with her? I don’t want to lose my friend again because you turn asshole on everybody.”
“Wow! We haven’t hooked up, Amy. This is the first time that I’ve really talked to her since she's been back.”
Amy stared at Elaine, who was shaking her head. “And a coward, Nate. You did get back together, but you think that I didn’t know. I knew.”
“But this isn’t about Elaine,” Nate retorted. “This about you, or it was going to be about you. You haven’t talked to Elaine about the day our grandmother passed away.”
“Granny had a heart attack, and that had nothing to do with me.” Amy watched Elaine walk towards the door and frowned. Stepping in front of the door, Amy studied her friend. “What would make you think that there was more to that story?”
“The phone call she had made to dad before the heart attack. You’ve forgotten that he mentioned the call. I didn’t. I remember everything that was talked about last night. Including the part where he mentioned the driving lesson that Nash gave you. But he gave you more, didn’t he? Didn’t he, Amy?!”
“This conversation is over.” Amy turned towards the door and opened it. “And you can tell your friend to stay away from me.”
Nate watched Elaine follow Amy out of the apartment. “He raped you.”
“Kyle?” Amy chuckled. “I doubt that.”
“Not Kyle. Uncle Nash.” Nate walked out and pushed the women back into his apartment. “I’m really sick of playing games with you, Amy. Dad already took a few guesses about what happened. Now I’m asking you point blank. Did Uncle Nash. . ?”
Amy looked him straight in the eyes, keeping her stare cool before removing his hand from her arm. “I’m wondering if you really want an answer to that question.”
“I do.”
“Why? Ask yourself why you would want to know now after Nash has passed away.” Amy walked into the kitchen and opened Nate’s refrigerator. “Why involve Elaine? Why in the world would you want to involve Kyle? And why involve me? Answer all of those questions.”
“I don’t have to involve you, Amy.” Nate stepped over to her and shut the refrigerator door. “Why can’t you just answer the question?”
“I don’t feel the need to answer the question.” Amy shot at him.
Elaine looked from Amy to Nate, bit her lip, and finally joined the conversation. “Nate, stop harassing her.”
“I won’t. Not until she answers the question. Dad said that when Granny called him, she kept mumbling that she was sorry. That she should’ve believed him.”
“That could’ve been about anything.”
“She told him that you had been alone with Nash.” Nate snapped. “Didn’t you hear anything last night?”
“I hear you jumping to conclusions.” Amy walked around him and into the living room. “If I tell you that nothing happened, will you get off my case?”
“No, because I wouldn’t believe you.” Nate felt his eyes stinging. “We thought that the shock you were in was because Granny passed away.”
“It was,” Amy turned around to see her brother crying and stepped over to him. “Okay, I’m just going to say it once and then I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Clear?”
“Yes.”
“Nash said that we had to make a stop. It was a house maybe two houses away. Not next door to Elaine but the other direction. He was supposed to take pictures for the real estate company that he was working for at the time, and it would take a few minutes. He. . .”
“What? What did he do?” Nate guided Amy to the couch and motioned for her to sit down.
“He didn’t have a camera in his case. It was a hunting knife.” Amy covered her eyes. “I tried to fight him.”
Nate sank to the floor and stared at her. Elaine walked over and sat down next to her.
“Granny had been at a bingo game for the church, but I thought that she had known that Nash was. . .He said that she knew.” Amy blurted out before Elaine tried to comfort her. Amy shrugged Elaine away. “Granny tried to stop the bleeding on my stomach. Used her butterfly stitches. She was getting ready to take me to the hospital when she had her heart attack.”
Nate remembered seeing his sister’s bloody shirt after being called by their father, but he had thought that she had been in an accident. Glancing at her, he let the tears fall down his cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me? Tell dad?”
Amy stood and walked to the front door. “What would have been the purpose?”
Elaine glanced down at Nate and nodded. “I’m going to Amy’s place. Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, I’m going to ride over to dad’s house.” Nate wiped at the tears and stood. “Amy, I would’ve killed that bastard.”
Amy turned and stared at him. “Yeah, I know. Like I said, there was no purpose in telling you or dad. I really don’t want to talk about that anymore, Nate. I’m serious.”
Elaine quietly walked beside Amy until they reached her apartment. “Why did you talk about that tonight?” She asked after sitting on the couch and studying her friend.
“My brother can’t get into trouble now. Nash is dead. End of story.” Amy thought about the briefcase she had left in the car and sighed. “I’m sorry that he involved you.”
“You happen to be the one thing that we get along over, Amy. I have to ask how you knew that your brother and I had hooked up again.”
“Elaine, please. Are you being serious?” Amy pushed the thoughts of the recent conversation out of her head. “You get starry eyed when it comes to my brother. You left again, and typically, when you leave, it's because you need to get your head straight about something, and usually that something is Nate. I don’t know why you have to keep putting yourself through that package of misery.”
“Don’t worry, kiddo. I think that we can put that book to rest.” Elaine laughed at Amy’s expression. “He didn’t even try to make a move.”
“Yet, you still have the stars.” Amy mumbled.
“Says you. I happen to have met somebody.” Elaine informed her. “I want to hear if you thought anymore about having a roommate. This is a two bedroom apartment.”
Chapter 6
Kyle moaned after Nate had thrown the basketball angrily at his chest. “What gives?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Nate snapped before walking over to the edge of the court. He had yet to see Amy, and he was starting to worry. “Why did you tell Amy that I was going to talk to Elaine?”
“It just came up in our conversation, man.” Kyle grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his chest. “I don’t think that was a reason to try to kill me with a ball.”
Nate sighed, apologized, and glanced towards the picnic table again. “I’m sorry about that. I guess I have so much on my mind that I can’t concentrate on the game.”
Kyle sat down on the bench at the side of the court and studied him. “Did she tell you anything?”
“About?” Nate laughed and shook his head. “About you?”
“After she informed me that she didn’t want my interference, I doubt that she did. That being said, you had wanted to find out something from her. I was wondering if you did.”
“I found out.” Nate scowled. “And there’s nothing I can do about it now. I ca
n tell you this, Kyle.” Nate glanced towards his friend. “I'd better not find out that anybody else has messed around with her, because I have murder running through my veins at the moment.”
“It must have been some conversation.”
“Let me ask you a question. If you found out that your sister had been taken advantage of in any way, how would you react?”
“Depends on if she were a willing participant.” Kyle baited Nate and noticed that there was an anger in his eyes that hadn’t been there the day before when they had talked. “If this is about what Bob did while you weren’t in your apartment. . .”
“Bob?” Nate stared at his other friends who were still playing before Kyle had pulled his t-shirt over his head and walked away. “Oh, heck, no. Kyle, what happened between Bob and my sister?”
“Do you choose not to hear the banter when we’re playing?” Kyle asked with a laugh. “Bob hooked up with Amy when you were running late. From what I’ve heard, it was just a one-night stand. You know, the normal bull.”
“Amy isn’t a slut!” Nate shouted before catching up to Kyle. “When did this happen?”
“Right before you told us that Amy was looking for her own apartment.” Kyle answered. “I can’t believe that you missed that conversation. Personally, I wanted to kill him for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“He also bragged that Amy had tossed him out. Told him that he wasn’t allowed in that apartment until you were there. Called her an ice maiden, but a good lay.”
“That son of a bitch.”
Kyle turned around and stepped back to where Nate was standing. “I didn’t believe a word of what he said about your sister. Amy just doesn’t strike as the type of woman who would go for somebody like Bob.”
“So you think. . .”
“It’s just a fabrication? I do. My opinion is that he wanted to distract you from the game.” Kyle smiled. “I like your sister a lot, but I think you’ve realized that.”
“Because that kiss gave you away?” Nate finally laughed. “Look, Kyle, I have nothing against you if you want my input. You’re a nice guy with your feet firmly planted on the ground. You have your priorities set, and you’ve never once talked about anybody that you were seeing with disrespect. So you and Amy? I can see it. Bob? I have a lot of anger that I need to release.”
“Don’t go and do anything stupid, Nate.” Kyle glanced over to the jogging path and pointed to where Amy and Elaine had stopped at the picnic table. “Now if you think that you can stop worrying, I know how we can vent some of that anger. Let’s go kick some butt.”
Amy had watched Kyle and Nate and shook her head. “How much do you want to bet that was about me?”
“No bet, my friend. I know that I said that it was really over between Nate and myself, Amy, but I can see when he’s worried about you. That will never change. Yeah, I know. You’re an adult and have been for some time, but he still sees you as his baby sister.”
“And Kyle?”
“Hmm, hot subject there. It’s obvious that he shares Nate’s concern.”
“He’s an interfering jack ass.”
“And he has you noticing,” Elaine chuckled. “He’s rubbing you the wrong way. Typical.”
“Of him? I wasn’t aware that you knew Kyle.”
“I don’t know him, but I do know you.” Elaine glanced down to see Amy studying the soles of her shoes. “Didn’t you just buy those?”
“Yep, and they weren’t worth the money that I spent on them. I guess I should bring this to Mr. McDonald’s attention. Maybe the Eccard account isn’t something that the company wants to take after all.” Amy stripped the shoes from her feet. “Might as well walk back.”
Elaine chuckled, watching her friend walk in her bare socks on the wet ground towards the paved path. “Have you told Nate that I was moving in with you yet?”
“I think that you should tell him. I can’t face Nate right now.” Amy informed her after quickening her pace and walking faster towards the apartments.
Elaine glanced towards Amy puzzled before noticing that her ear buds had taken residence in her friend’s ears, hinting that the conversation was over.
Amy walked to the apartment door, fighting the memory that recent conversations had stirred and was silently crying by the time she walked through the apartment and directly to the bathroom where she washed her face. She wouldn’t let anybody see that since everything was out in the open, she was having a hard time coping.
“Amy,” Elaine knocked on the door of the bathroom door and waited for an answer. After not receiving one, she knocked again. “Talk to me.”
“I just need a minute,” Amy mumbled, “a freaking minute.”
“Fine, but I’m not leaving.”
Amy exhaled after hearing Elaine turn on the television, studying her face in the mirror before shaking her head. She would get through this again; she just wished she had kept it to herself without involving her brother or her friend.
After scrubbing her face, Amy walked the length of hall listening to the voices in her living room, and sighed after hearing her brother talking to Elaine.
“Tell me about Bob,” Nate stared at his sister, his hands placed on his hips and his feet spread apart.
“Bob who?” Amy asked, looking behind her brother to see Kyle standing at the door. “Well?”
“Bob, the guy who plays basketball with me. Bob, my ex-friend. Bob, the man you supposedly slept with. . .”
Amy shook her head and sighed, “That Bob.”
Nate stared at his sister in disbelief. “Oh, you remember now. The guy has a big mouth.”
“And a vivid imagination, Nate, if he told people that we actually slept together,” Amy snapped. “Are we going to go through this every time you hear something that you don’t like?”
Kyle chuckled and was about to leave when Amy snapped at him to wait a minute. “Are you interfering again, Kyle?”
“No, ma’am. I’m just trying to keep your brother straight. It seems that he feels like he has a reason to get away with murder.” Kyle slapped Nate on his back. “I’m just grateful he didn’t knock me for a loop because I kissed you. Bob, on the other hand, was fouled plenty during today’s game.”
“You’re the one that told me about Bob.” Nate reminded him.
“I also said that he was telling a whale of a tale. You, my friend, have selective hearing.”
Elaine glanced at Nate. “If your sister had slept with Bob, I don’t see it as any of your business. Do you tell her about all the women in your life?”
“Knock it off, Elaine.” Nate glared at her, hoping that he wouldn’t blurt out that there had been no women since the last time they had been together. “I can take care of myself.”
“And I can’t?” Amy asked while tilting her head to the side. “Okay, you want to know about your friend, I’ll tell you. He went to your apartment, expecting you to be there. I opened the door instead.” She narrowed her eyes when Nate grimaced. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was during the time you and Elaine were seeing each other again. What’s the matter? I thought,” she pointed to the chair and waited for her brother to sit, “you were the one that wanted to hear about your other friend.”
“Okay, geez. I’ll admit that I was seeing Elaine then.” Nate shrugged after Elaine glanced at him. “Now about Bob.”
“He tried to make the moves on me, but I wasn’t interested. I told him to get out, and he left. There. Wow, that was just eating me up on the inside.” Amy stepped over to Nate. “I am a grown woman, Nate. Get that through your head before we come to some devastating family quarrel. Don’t patronize me thinking that I need you hovering over me every time I make a decision about my life.” She turned to Kyle. “And you can stop whatever the hell you’re doing. I don’t need anybody.”
“What did I do?” Kyle looked at her dumbfounded.
“Do you really want me to start shooting off a list? Both of you get out of my apartment and grow up.” S
he narrowed her eyes when she noticed that Nate was still seated. “I’m sorry, but I thought that we were brought up understanding English.”
“I wasn’t patronizing you, sis.”
“I guess I see it a different way, Nate.” Amy closed her eyes after realizing that Kyle had stood and was beside her. “Don’t Kyle.”
“I just want to say one thing.” Kyle watched her, smiling when he felt the way she was reacting over his nearness. “If I had a sister. . .”
“You do have a sister,” Amy argued, “the hostess at your restaurant.”
“She’s my step-sister, and we’re not really that close. Not like you and Nate. What I want to mention is that if I had a sister, I’d probably react the same way as Nate. It’s not a bad thing to have family that cares.”
“Oh, and why is Nate reacting the way he is?” Amy turned towards him, forgetting that her brother was behind her. “I guess you know that, too, because. . .”
“All I know is that he’s upset because you had been. . .”
“Son a bitch,” Amy turned back to her brother. “I don’t ever want to see you again, Nate. Never!” Amy slammed a hand on the wall while marching towards her bedroom.
“She thinks that I actually told you.” Nate stood and looked at him hard. “I didn’t tell you squat.”
“I guess that you’re not the only one in your family that can jump to conclusions.” Kyle mumbled. “I think that it’s best that we both disappear until she cools down a bit. Elaine, it was nice to meet you finally.”
Nate glanced at Elaine, who was sitting in one of the chairs. “Aren’t you leaving?”
“Not a chance. Besides, you might as well get used to seeing me when you come here. I’ve talked Amy in to letting me be her roommate. Sucks to be you right now.”
“Sucks to be both of us right now,” Kyle muttered, “and I’m innocent.”
“I guess it does,” Elaine chuckled before growing serious. “You really like her.”
“Yes, I do.” Kyle responded before stepping towards the door. “I like her a lot, but I don’t think that matters to her.”
Amy Page 4