His Best Bet_Uncensored

by Laney Smith

  He took a plastic zipper baggie and a package containing a cotton swab. He tore the swab from the paper package and ran it along the inside of his mouth before stuffing it in the plastic zipper pouch. He took a pen from his mother’s counter top and filled in the information on the front of the plastic pouch. He waved the baggie through the air.

  “See, Rick? This is how worried I am.” He cut his eyes over to Sasha, holding her stare. “Have you just lied so long that you believe it, too? I never touched you.”

  “Don’t bulldog her, Ryan,” Rick threatened. “Leave her alone.”

  Ryan’s chin jutted toward his shoulder as he stared into Sasha’s eyes. “I always have,” he said before breaking the gaze and tossing the bag onto the table. “Send it off. Get your answer. My niece shouldn’t suffer because of her mother’s lies.”

  “I’m not lying,” Sasha countered.

  Again, Ryan glared at Sasha with a smirk on his face. “I’ll hold no grudges. I give you my word. Two of us know the truth. How can you just stand there and let him defend you, knowing you’ve lied to him for four years? What about your little girl . . . his little girl? You’re a sick soul, lady.”

  “When that test comes back, you’re going to owe me child support,” Sasha threatened.

  Ryan scoffed as he shook his head. “Sick! You’re absolutely sick,” he said as he passed by her making his way toward the door, preparing to leave.

  “Ryan, you will sit down and eat dinner with us,” his mother ordered.

  “No, I better not! I think I’ll leave the rest of you to star in Sasha’s next tall tale. I’ve had my fifteen minutes of fame in her stories.”

  Frannie followed her son out onto the porch.

  “Get back in there. Ryan! Stop! I asked you for one family dinner. I asked you to get to know your nieces. I may never have this chance again, if I let you leave now.”

  “Why? You think that test is going to come back that I’m that little girl’s dad?” he asked, incredulously.

  “No! I’m scared your brother will be too embarrassed to face you. I believe you. I believed you before tonight. Come back inside, please,” Frannie pleaded. “Come show your nieces how fun their uncle is.”

  “Not tonight. You wanted us all together. We were. We’ll do it again, some other time.”

  “Where are you going? Are you coming back, tonight?”

  “Go visit with Rick and the kids. I’m a big boy.”

  Frannie shyly smirked. “Are you going to see Scottie?”

  Ryan sighed, dropping his head, rolling it from side to side.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” she smiled. “I don’t mean to pry. I’m just so happy to see you two getting along so well.”

  “I know,” he conceded. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “OK. Ry, for what it’s worth, I respect you for facing the issue with your brother and Sasha.”

  “I have nothing to hide,” he shrugged, jingling his keys in his hands. “I’m going to go. I really do hope the rest of the night goes better.”

  ~TWENTY-ONE~

  As Ryan started his car, he realized he really had no place to go. He could entertain Scottie, and though it would be a place to rest his head for the night, he wasn’t in the mood for her empty, shallow demands. His soul felt battered and he wanted to be somewhere where he could feel good about himself. He missed Nathan.

  He checked the time. Seven-thirty. If he hurried, he could tuck Nathan in. He took his phone out as he thought about calling. He stared at Corlay’s contact information. Selfish as it was, he didn’t want to give her an opportunity to deny him. If he just showed up at her door, she’d have to deal with him. He could convince her to let him in if he was standing on her doorstep.

  “I really am an asshole,” he muttered to himself as he pitched the phone to the passenger seat and drove toward the Brock house.

  Ryan stood on the doorstep and reached for the doorbell. He thought better of pressing it, in fear that he would wake Nathan, should the boy be sleeping. Ryan opted for lightly tapping on the door, instead. He heard stirring on the other side, just before the door opened. Corlay squinted at him, trying to see.

  She brushed her hand over her head. “Hey! What’re you doing?” she asked sleepily.

  “Did I wake you up?”

  “No. Well, yes, but it’s OK. Come in,” she said as she stepped away from the door, granting him access. “I probably look a mess, so just overlook me,” she said as she adjusted her clothing and smoothed her hand over her hair.

  “I just wanted to check on Nathan. How’s he doing?”

  “He’s been asleep since three,” she said with a worried look. “I keep checking on him. He feels warm, but if he has a fever, it’s not much of one. I’m so embarrassed. I would’ve made myself decent if I had known you were coming. Did you call me?”

  Ryan shook his head. “No. I didn’t want you to tell me not to come. So, I just came anyway. But, just so you know, I’m not here to judge a beauty contest. You’d win, even if I were,” he smiled.

  “Don’t flirt with me,” Corlay whined. “I feel disgusting. I need a toothbrush and a hairbrush. I’ve been drooled on, cried on, sweated on . . . I have no idea what I look like, but I don’t feel like it’s anything good. I just feel gross.”

  Ryan smiled as he tilted his head. “Go sleep. Go take a shower. Do whatever makes you feel better. I can keep an eye on things.”

  “I know you were talking about coming over after Nathan went to bed. Ryan, I can’t . . . I just . . . I don’t feel like it, tonight.”

  “Um, yeah. I did say that. I wasn’t serious. I’m not here for that. I know where I could get that if that’s what I wanted.”

  “Why are you here, then. Nathan’s in bed. What do you want? I mean, what are you doing here if you didn’t come here for that?”

  She studied his face as he sighed, pondering her question. He dropped his guard as he looked at her. She saw the sadness in his eyes.

  “Honestly? I just wanted to be -”

  Before he could finish his statement, a blood curdling scream came pouring down the stairs. Corlay charged past him, racing up the stairs. Ryan followed behind her.

  “What’s the matter?” Corlay called before she even reached the top step.

  There was a muffled response and the sounds of crying. When Corlay and Ryan got to Nathan’s room, he had a pillow and blankets piled on top of his head. Corlay tried to pull them away, but Nathan held on to them tighter. Ryan heard the word “plants” and quickly closed the child’s bedroom door.

  “OK, they’re gone,” Ryan said.

  As though a switch had been flipped, Nathan quit crying and pulled the pillow and blankets off his head.

  “Ryan?”

  “Hey, buddy! It’s OK.”

  “Ryan’s here?” he asked his mother as though he didn’t trust the information his eyes relayed.

  “He just got here. He wanted to check on you,” she said as she sat beside him on his bed.

  Ryan sat at the foot of Nathan’s bed, prompting the little boy to sit up.

  “Ryan, is it morning time? Can we go play baseball, today?”

  Ryan laughed as he asked, “Are you feeling better?”

  Corlay saw the happiness back in Ryan’s eyes, again. Everything that had been weighing on him appeared to have been lifted. At the same time, it seemed Ryan’s presence had brought a smile to her son’s face, as well.

  “I’ve seen this before,” Corlay smiled as she looked at Ryan. “It was a movie. It was a story about a little boy and his pet alien.”

  “Oh, we’ve got a comedian, Nate. She’s calling you an alien,” Ryan teased with a wink.

  “No, you’re the alien,” Corlay countered. “He’s the little boy,” she said pointing to Nathan.

  “Excuse me? He’s not a little boy,” Ryan smirked and winked at Nathan.

  Nathan climbed out from under his blankets and wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck, leaning against his b
ack. “I’m not a kid, Mom.”

  Corlay couldn’t help but smile at the cuteness in front of her. Ryan reached around, hugging Nathan’s legs as he stood and flipped the boy onto his bed. Ryan started tickling Nathan as the boy said the magic words of mercy.

  “Stop! You’re gonna make me pee. I gotta pee,” Nathan laughed.

  Ryan pulled his hands away, holding his arms up. “Time out. You could’ve just called a time out. There’s a lady present.”

  “Can you go with me? The plants move when you walk by them.”

  “Show me,” Ryan urged. “Show me these moving plants.”

  As he and Nathan walked out of Nathan’s room, Ryan was surprised to see the plants swaying. The vines that had grown around the railing for the stairs danced on the airflow from an overhead air conditioning vent. Ryan stood at the railing, nodding his head.

  “Alright. I see what you’re saying. That’s pretty scary. Go to the bathroom. When you come back, I’m going to show you something.”

  As Ryan waited for Nathan to return, the air conditioner shut off. His head fell to the side in frustration. He turned and smiled a fake, toothy grin at Corlay.

  “For this next magic trick, I’m going to require a lovely assistant,” he flashed his fake grin, again.

  Corlay smiled. “What are you doing?”

  “Can you please crank the air up so I can show him why these plants are moving. Could you help me out?”

  “You want me to turn it on?”

  Ryan nodded. “You’re good at turning things on . . . and heating things up. Do your thing.”

  “One of these days, you’re going to make one of those comments at the wrong time and I’m going to throw you a curve ball,” she flirted.

  With a cocky grin, he flirted back. “Throw it at me. I can catch just about anything.”

  “I’m sure you’re used to catching women that fall for you,” she said as she started down the stairs toward the thermostat. “But, I’m coming straight out of left field,” she said, flashing him a daring look as her head ducked below his line of sight as she descended the stairs.

  He stood, contemplating what she could’ve meant. He knew how he wanted her to mean it. He just wasn’t sure she meant it like he wanted her to mean it.

  His thoughts were interrupted when Nathan flushed the toilet and opened the bathroom door. Ryan spun around, facing the little boy. There were those big, curious eyes, staring back at him.

  “What did you want to show me?”

  “Come here,” Ryan said, holding his hand out toward Nathan, curling his fingers.

  Ryan aligned himself so that when he lifted Nathan, he would feel the air flowing through the vent. The two stood there for a second, waiting for the fan to kick on. When the air started flowing, Ryan lifted Nathan.

  “Put your hands on that vent,” Ryan coached. “You feel that air?”

  “Yep,” Nathan answered.

  “That air is what makes all these plants move. They’re not coming to get you. They’re wimpy and even the air can push them around. See?”

  “I’m not so sure, Ryan,” Nathan said as he looked down at Ryan.

  “Watch this,” Ryan said as he lowered the child. “Keep your eyes on those plants. Hey, Mom? Can you turn the air off, again, please?” Ryan called down the stairs.

  “She’s not your mom. She’s my mom,” Nathan teased.

  Ryan lowered his voice as he stared down at Nathan, “I can’t call her a friend. I can’t call her a girlfriend. I can’t call her Mom. What can I call her?”

  “Just call her Corlay. That is her real name.”

  Ryan flipped his finger between he and Nathan. “You and I are going to have to do some negotiating on that, one of these days.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You know when a coach challenges an official’s call?”

  “When they look at the video to see if the guy was out?”

  “Yeah. All of those kinds of challenges? I’m the coach . . . and you’re the official. Get it?” Ryan smirked.

  “No. But, you might be right. These plants are not moving and the air ca-disher is off.”

  “See? You’re not scared of plants. You’re scared of air. How’s that feel, buddy?”

  “But, Ryan, sometimes they really do move by themselves. I’m serious. I know they do. You can see them.”

  Ryan shook his head. “Trust me. I would never let kid eating plants anywhere near you.”

  “But, I’m not a kid.”

  “Right. I wouldn’t let man eating plants near you, either. OK? You trust me?”

  After they solved the mystery of the plants, Ryan and Nathan went downstairs to join Corlay. Realizing there was no hope of Nathan going back to bed, anytime soon, Corlay decided to be lenient about bed time. Considering the boy was feeling better and that he had slept all day, she let Nathan pick a movie to watch. While Nathan and Ryan set the movie up, Corlay made a bag of microwave popcorn.

  Ryan sat on one end of the sofa, with Nathan snuggling up beside him. Corlay sat on the other end with a gap between she and Nathan. None of the three seemed to notice anything odd about the arrangement. It seemed natural. They shared the popcorn until it was gone.

  All three were focused on the movie, laughing when it was funny, commenting every now and then. Corlay rested her body against the arm of the sofa, tucking her cold feet into the warm cushions behind Nathan. After a few minutes, Ryan looked over at Nathan who was snuggled against him, covered with a blanket. He glanced at Corlay as she stared intently at the television. He couldn’t help smiling at the cute visual of them both. He also found amusement at the fact that either Nathan’s busy fingers or Corlay’s busy toes were rapidly brushing against his jeans – back and forth - against his butt. He tried to ignore it, not wanting to change anything about the moment they were all sharing. He choked back a laugh as the wiggly fingers or toes began wiggling even more.

  After he regained his composure, he stared at the television, propping his head up with his pointer finger along his cheek. As he stared at the screen, he cleared his throat, still trying not to laugh.

  “Yep, that’s my butt,” he randomly said.

  “What?” Nathan asked.

  With his eyes locked on the television, he repeated his statement, just as flatly as he had said it before, only louder. “That’s my butt.”

  Corlay jolted, sitting up a little straighter. She kicked her foot, driving her toe against Ryan’s butt. “This firm thing? That’s your butt?”

  “That’s still my butt, yes,” Ryan said without inflection as he stared at the television.

  “I didn’t realize. I didn’t know. I wasn’t paying attention. I thought it was . . . I’m sorry, Ryan,” she spouted, sitting up and drawing her legs up into the space between she and Nathan as she stared at Ryan.

  Sensing her looking at him, Ryan cut his eyes over at her with a smirk. He winked before shifting his focus back on the television. Nathan glanced over at his mother.

  “Mom, that was his hiney.”

  “Um . . . Yeah. I know,” she answered, trying not to laugh.

  “Just be careful,” Nathan suggested.

  Ryan dragged his hand over his mouth as though he were trying to wipe the grin away. Corlay watched him, shaking her head, smiling, feeling torn between amusement and embarrassment. Nathan interrupted the silent moment the two were sharing when he asked Ryan something about whatever scene was playing on the screen. Corlay almost hated that the moment had passed. While it was cute how Nathan was curled up against Ryan, she couldn’t help but envy her son. When she snapped out of her fantastical dreamland, her heart melted at the moment Ryan and Nathan were sharing. Nathan’s head was resting on Ryan’s arm and her son was looking up at Ryan. Ryan stared down at the boy, hanging on Nathan’s every word. After Nathan was content with Ryan’s answers to his questions, the two simultaneously turned their attention back to the movie. Corlay felt every part of her body cycling through a forgotten happ
iness as she tuned in to the movie, again.

  At some point, Corlay had fallen asleep, as she discovered when she startled awake just after three o’clock in the morning. The television screen was now a glowing, electric blue. She quickly looked to the opposite end of the sofa. Nathan had crawled into Ryan’s lap, and they were both sound asleep. Nathan’s head rested against Ryan’s chest and Ryan’s head had fallen back against the back of the sofa.

  Should I wake him up? That looks painful. She thought to herself.

  She imagined softly kissing his lips. She imagined his blue eyes staring at her once his eyelids opened. She wondered if he would smile his dimply smile or jump up, wiping her kiss from his lips.

  “Ryan,” Corlay whispered, “are you asleep?”

  When no answer came, she bit her lower lip, smiling and shrugging her shoulders up to her ears at the cuteness, resting her head on the arm of the sofa. She would’ve preferred to stretch her cramped body out. However, she was afraid any movement would change everything. Even though they weren’t really a family, she was selfishly enjoying the opportunity to pretend. She could deal with the lack of space if that’s what it took to preserve the moment.

  ~TWENTY-TWO~

  Around six-fifteen, Ryan startled awake. His eyes darted around the room. He couldn’t place what was wrong, only that something needed his attention. As his eyes focused, he heard voices - two people - talking. A man. A woman. Corlay and an unfamiliar voice. The voices were muffled. They were coming from outside. Ryan gently laid Nathan on the empty cushion beside him. He listened for a second. He could hear that the man’s tone sounded hostile.

  What the hell?

  “That kid is a fucking idiot,” Ryan heard the man say.

  “Uh, no!” Ryan said to himself and started for the door.

  He opened the door and stepped out onto the stoop. Corlay and some man were standing face to face. Her soft voice was explaining something that the man had no interest in hearing. The man locked eyes with Ryan as Ryan put his hands on Corlay’s hips, guiding her behind him as he positioned himself between her and the man.

  “Everything OK?”