She giggles and smacks my chest. “Nope. And I’m not telling you what it is,” she giggles again then walks down our driveway.
I watched her for a moment then my father smacked my forehead.
“Jaxen! What have we said? No drugs in the house! You shouldn’t use that shit at all! What is wrong with--”
Dad abruptly stopped talking and turned his head up to a window above the garage, a window that belongs to my sister Samantha’s room. My mother, Samantha and Itsy were having a very interesting conversation.
“Samantha!” Itsy gasped. “Of course I know. I’ve just never done it.”
“You should. Oh, God, we need to work on you… OW! MOM!” Samantha shouted. “What was that pinch for?”
“You leave her alone. There is nothing wrong with saving yourself for the right guy. It’s refreshing to hear a young lady isn’t willing to jump in a bed just because a hard dick is in front of her.”
My heart skipped a beat and I listened intently. Itsy is a virgin? Fucking grrr.
Samantha inhaled and whined, “Mom… first, EW! And second, that is so not why Parker and I have sex. I love him. He’s been the only one and I waited until I was 20, so give me some credit, okay?”
Parker is dead when I see him. What happened to respecting her? I suspected they were fucking but to have it confirmed was just… fucked up. I don’t care if I want to do that with his sister. No one told his ass he could touch mine. Fucker. Literally.
“Fine,” my mother sighs, “I will. But leave Kimber alone. If she wants to wait, then allow her. Don’t push her into doing something she will regret later. Kimber, sweetie, you’re right to wait. There is no rush and you have your whole life ahead of you but if you die tomorrow without having sex, well then that’s fine, too. It’s not like it’s a requirement to get into Heaven or something. Besides, doing it with someone you love is far better than doing it for sport. Continue to keep your legs closed and your eyes in your books.”
Yeah, you tell her, Mom! Save that for me. The guy that loves her. Now how and when do I convince her?
“Yeah, and if you get the urge, just use your fingers to get yourself off. Or the vibrating control on the shower head. Better yet, get a bullet and carry it in your purse. You never know when the urge will hit.”
My mind wandered. Itsy using a bullet on herself. The thought of it heated me through and I wanted to run up the side of the house and strip her of her virginity. I felt my eyes hood at the thought of entering her and even though I knew my father was boiling over and in a way, so the fuck was I.
“SAMANTHA MICHELLE MALLOY!” Dad shouted then counted. Didn’t help because next he said, “You’re grounded, young lady!”
I caught Itsy’s gaze then and started to erect when I saw her cheeks redden. Oh, yeah, baby, I heard it all.
“Daddy, you cannot ground a 22 year-old!” Samantha giggled causing Dad to snort. I agree. No way was he grounding either of us.
I reluctantly moved my gaze to my sister. “I don’t care whose brother he is, I’m going to kill Parker, apple-head! I hope both of you have a black dress!!”
“You aren’t going to do anything, baboon,” Samantha sneered back. “You try and I swear I will tell the cops where you keep your stash!”
I felt Dad’s hand on my arm then he turned me back to him. “And that brings us back to you, young man. What have your mother and I told you about the marijuana usage? And in our home!”
I bit back a smile and failed. Next came the full-on laugh.
“What the hell is so funny, Jaxen?” John shouted.
“Technically, John, I wasn’t in the house… I was in the garage,” I laughed again. God, I was sooo high! “You said nothing about the garage!”
“One more ‘John’ out of you, and your life will be over,” Dad snarled. I couldn’t help it but I tried, I swear… well, I tried a little. Okay, I didn’t. I started laughing right in my father’s face. But I knew the seriousness of his threat so I vowed not to say ‘John’ again, at least not to him. My stomach started cramping from the laughing and I swear I wanted chill out for my father. Nothing doing.
“WHAT THE… DAD! FUCK! THAT’S FUCKING COLD!” I shouted when the first blast of cold water hit me. It was fucking freezing and I tried everything to get away from the spray.
“Oh, it’s ‘Dad’ now, is it?” Dad shouted as he followed me and still spraying. “I thought you were calling me ‘John’ now. And that language will never do in front of your mother and me!”
“DAD! Will you stop now?” I screeched then gurgled when the water shot in my mouth which made Mom, Samantha and Itsy laugh loud in the window. Yeah, I guess I did look funny. I froze at that thought and as soon as I did, Dad turned off the water and looked at me.
“Son, you have to find another outlet for your angst. Whatever it is that’s bugging you or keeping you from being happy, reconcile it. Going on this path is hurting your mother and I. We don’t want to see you or either of our kids intoxicated, especially from illicit drugs.”
Shit.
“I hear you, Dad. I’ll work on it.” I smiled even though I felt like shit. Disappointing my father was something I did not want to do. Not now. Not with everything that was happening.
Mom and Dad came to me about a year ago, right when I was starting to look for a place to live. I was ready to strike out on my own. When Samantha and I were entering high school, Mom and Dad sat us down and said that when we turned 20, we would be free to move on our own, no objections from them, unless we went away to college.
I was fine with that. I knew then I wouldn’t attend college so hanging out until 20 with the parents was fine by me. By the time I was twenty, I had the tattoo artist job and my savings. I had the gig money from the band as well. When Samantha and I turned 21, I felt it was time. Mike had his place, Ren and Greg shared a place, Stanley and a cousin were living in his parents’ pool house and didn’t look like he was leaving there anytime soon, much to his parents’ delight.
I found something I thought I could fit right in with. It was near and the rent was great. My mother walked into the kitchen as I was making the appointment to see the place and she paled. She rushed out and I fixed myself a sandwich wondering what that was about. A few minutes later, Dad walked in, holding my weeping mother.
“Sit down, son. Your mother and I need to talk to you.”
I frowned but I sat with my sandwich, some chips and a beer. I started eating as I waited for one of them to start.
“Son, you mom and I, well… that is… see…”
“I’m dying,” Mom whispered.
I froze my chewing and stared then looked at my Dad and he subtly nodded. I stood up and went to the half-bath off the kitchen and threw up. Mom… dying. No, not my mother. My mommy. The first woman I ever loved.
###
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen -
Prologue…
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
rchive.
FALLING: The Negative Ion Series Page 16