Susie laughed. “You really think I can make him do anything?”
“I call you, Mom.” I looked around the room again. “So, you did all this for me?”
“Ooh.” Mom’s eyes were dancing. “You haven’t seen the best part.”
She led us out of the kitchen to my bedroom.
“Ta da!” Mom sang as she flicked on the light. “We rearranged it a little. I hope you like it.”
“A little?” It was hard to believe it was the same bedroom. “You knocked down a wall.”
I watched Mom bounce around the room, animatedly showing us how much had changed. The larger bedroom that she and Dad used to share no longer existed. Half of it was used to make the master bathroom larger. The other half was the extra space in my room. I almost didn’t notice the new door that went directly from my room to the bathroom.
After a few minutes, Susie asked if it was okay if she took a shower. She whispered in my ear that she also wanted to give me some time alone to talk to Mom. As soon as she closed the bathroom door, I sat down on the bed beside Mom.
She patted my hand. “I hope you’re okay with all these changes, sweetheart.”
“Yeah. Is this a new mattress?”
“New bed.”
“Why?” I asked. “Please don’t get me wrong. It’s all really nice but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
She looked down at the floor. “I just wanted you to have something nice to come home to. I knew you weren’t looking forward to this trip." When she turned to face me, I saw tears in her eyes. “I was a little afraid you’d cancel and go off somewhere with Susie by yourself.” She exhaled, slowly. “And I wouldn’t have blamed you.”
I put my arm around her shoulder. “No, I wanted to come home.”
Chuckling, she patted my hand again. “No, you didn’t. I can tell.”
“I just need a break. Badly. That’s all. You don’t have to--”
She held up her hand. “I know. It took me a while to understand but now I know. I didn’t make things easy for you." Mom wiped her sleeve across her eyes, looking away from me. “If you choose not to come back here after you graduate, I have only myself to blame. I won’t pressure you.”
“No, Mom--”
“Sweetie, it’s okay. You’re an adult.” She took a deep breath. “And you deserve to be happy. Even if it means I’ll never get to see my oldest son who never calls.” She let out a few laughs that quickly became sobs.
“I’m so sorry.” I pulled her closer and leaned down to put my head against hers. “I really don’t call you enough.”
“Oh, honey. I’m just happy to see you now.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was late. I was tired. And she was right about everything she said. I just put my arms around her and held her close, hoping we could save this conversation for another time.
It wasn’t long before she pushed me away and wiped her eyes.
“Well,” she said, “I want you to have a nice time while you’re here.” She grinned. “I’m glad you were able to talk her into coming with you.”
I groaned. “Me too. It sure wasn’t easy.”
“Aw.” Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “It warms my heart to see you so happy.”
“Thanks. I was afraid you’d make us sleep in separate rooms or something.”
“Oh no, no, no. No need to worry about that.” Mom looked at the closed bathroom door, where Susie was, then back at me. “She’s very special to you. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“Like what?”
“You have this...” she shook her head, looking around the room, thinking, “radiance about you.” She looked thoughtfully into my eyes. “And your eyes are bright. Hopeful.”
“Okay.” Instantly, I felt my heart pounding faster. “Do you like her?”
“Oh yes. I like her very much.”
“Good.” I tried not to sound too happy. I didn’t want it to show, but it felt good to have Mom’s approval.
“And you know what?” Her hand gently clamped around mine.
“What?”
She glanced again at the closed bathroom door then turned back to me, speaking softly. “She’s going to give me beautiful grandchildren.”
I laughed. “Don’t start that.”
“What?” Her eyes slowly widened. “You just wait.”
The conviction in her voice made me stop laughing. “You really think so?”
“I think it’s very possible.”
I resisted the urge to ask if she had more prophecies about my future. Mom always thought of herself as having a little bit of psychic ability, although she never specifically called it that. She’d just call it a ‘keen intuition.’ There were times when her predictions were so accurate, it was frightening. And there were other times when she was laughably wrong. I didn’t think it wise right then to ask for clarity. It would only feed an unhealthy part of her ego. And it would probably get my hopes up.
As I sat there pondering my future, I heard the front door open.
“Aaron house sits.” Mom stood up. “Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that. There’ve been some break-ins in the neighborhood and we couldn’t leave the house empty."
I followed Mom to the living room and saw Aaron at the door, kicking his shoes off. And he was obviously drunk.
“Hey man.” I stood several feet away, watching as he steadied himself against the wall.
“Hey.” He took off his coat without looking at me.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
It was the first time I’d seen Aaron in person since he cut his hair short. My brother looked more like a mixture of Dad and Mom, unlike me. I looked like the uncanny living reincarnation of Dad. There was still a strong resemblance between us, though. People said it was our jaws and noses. Aaron was about six inches shorter than me and he inherited Mom’s almond-shaped light brown eyes.
Tonight, however, those eyes looked bloodshot and miserable.
Mom gave him a stern glare. “Were you drinking and driving?”
He shrugged, then he tried to hang his coat on the wall hook. After taking several unsuccessful swipes, the coat dropped to the floor.
I bent over to pick it up. “I’ll get it.”
Aaron stumbled away to the dining table. “Whatever.”
Mom shook her head, whispering, “I don’t know what to do with that boy.”
“You go home. It’s late. I’ll take care of him.”
“I’m sorry, honey.” She put one hand on my cheek. “I do have to go. I won’t bother you in the morning but I can’t speak for anyone else. You’ll probably have people lining up at the door to see you as soon as the sun comes up. They miss you and they want to meet Susie."
I leaned down to let her kiss my cheek. “I hope they’ll let us sleep. Maybe we’ll pretend we don’t hear ‘em.”
She chuckled. “Good luck with that. Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you too.”
As soon as Mom closed the door, I took a seat beside Aaron at the table. He was eating peanut butter cookies from a cookie jar that resembled a giant red apple.
“You need something else to eat?” I asked.
“These’ll do.” He spoke in a flat tone, avoiding my eye contact.
“Fine.” I knew it wasn’t the time to ask but I couldn’t stop myself. “So, what’s your problem?”
Aaron popped another cookie in his mouth and shrugged as he chewed.
“Come on. I haven’t seen you in months. You’ve barely called me in weeks. And you’re never this much of an asshole when you’re drunk. What’s your problem?”
I put my elbows on the table and watched him quietly eat two more cookies.
“Hey.” I leaned forward, raising my voice. “Did you drive home drunk? Why you gotta worry Mom like that?”
He finished chewing, wiped his hands together, and put his elbows on the table. “They closed the place early and we all stayed in and got dru
nk. Kenny drove me home.” Shaking his head, he looked down at the table. “Don’t act like you fuckin’ care all of a sudden.”
I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut. “We’re not having this argument again. You need to go on to bed anyway.”
Aaron snorted. “Don’t tell me when to go to bed like I’m some fuckin’ little kid.”
“You’re drunk. Just go to bed and pass out, please.”
I saw him look behind me at the entrance to the hallway. “That your girlfriend I hear?” he asked.
I turned in my chair. Susie wasn’t there but I heard a hair dryer. “Yeah.”
Laughing, he pushed his chair away from the table. “Well, let’s meet her.”
“No.” I almost knocked my chair over to beat Aaron to the bedroom. I didn’t want them to meet like this. Him, drunk. Her, probably half-naked, fresh out of the shower.
As fast as possible, I ran to the bedroom and opened the door. She sat on the other side of the bed, facing away from me, drying her hair. At least she wore a robe.
“Hey!” I yelled.
She didn’t answer.
I pulled the door closed and turned the latch to lock it. I ran around to her side of the bed. “Hey!”
“Ah!” She screamed and turned off the hair dryer. “You scared me.”
The bedroom door opened. We both turned around to see Aaron burst inside.
“Shit,” I said. “I thought I locked it.”
He chuckled. “It’s a new lock. Tricky. Gotta turn it real tight or any ol’ asshole can walk right on in here and,” he winked at me, “steal somethin’ real valuable. You know?” He walked around the bed to where I stood in front of Susie.
I knew what he meant by the ‘real valuable’ comment. He was proud of himself for ‘stealing’ my ex-girlfriend, Crystal. Only, it wasn’t stealing. I’d already stopped paying her any attention and she was only still my girlfriend because she kept hanging around. Aaron made a big deal about it for a little while, but he broke up with her shortly after he realized that I genuinely didn’t care. He did me a favor as far as I was concerned. I’d known Crystal since high school and she was a good friend, but as a girlfriend she was high maintenance. When I got too depressed to give her much of my time, she somehow turned to my brother. And I was sure he only did it to feel superior to me.
Did he really think he could ‘steal’ Susie from me?
Wait... could he steal her from me? The idea sounded ridiculous in my head.
He extended his hand in her direction. “Hello. We haven’t met. I’m--”
I rolled my eyes. “This is my drunk brother, Aaron."
She pulled her short pink robe tight across her chest and stood up, using one hand to hold the robe shut and the other to shake my brother’s. “Hi, drunk brother Aaron. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Aw, wait.” He pouted and let go of her hand. “We hug in this family. That’s what us Campbells do. We hug.”
I couldn’t see her face because it was instantly squished against my brother’s black T-shirt that probably reeked with the greasy stench of an all-day shift at Handler’s Bar & Grill.
She feebly returned his hug, her hands barely touching his back before they let go. But he held her there tight, running his hands up and down her back.
“Mmm,” Aaron said as his fingers pulsed between her shoulder blades. “So soft.”
I put my hand on both of their shoulders and used my strength to pry him away from her. “That’s enough.”
He smiled at Susie and gave her his fake, seductive, let’s-go-back-to-my-place look when I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. “Mmm, yeah. Soft,” he said. “You’re soft all over, aren’t you, angel?”
Her arm went around my back. “Yes.”
“Hey.” I glared at Aaron, trying not to show how embarrassed I was at his rudeness. The only reason I let him get away with that hug was because I was there to keep an eye on him. But he couldn’t talk to my girl that way. “Get the hell out of here and go to bed.”
“What?” He looked at me, surprised, then he gave Susie that stupid fake look again. “You’re a soft, curvy thing, aren’t you? I didn’t know my brother could appreciate a fine woman like you.” He smiled. “But I sure can. You remember that, okay? If you get lonely in the middle of the night.” He then stepped forward like he wanted to touch her.
I pulled away from Susie and took my brother by the arm. “You’re outta here.” I looked in her eyes. “I’m sorry about him, sweetie.”
She let out a quiet chuckle. “So, Aaron, how drunk do you have to be to hit on your brother’s girlfriend right in front of him like that?”
He snickered. “Not very.”
Susie sat back down on the bed and picked up her hair dryer as I walked my brother out of the room. “You’re a classy guy, Aaron. Now, go pass out and I’ll give you another chance to make a first impression tomorrow, okay?”
“Nuh-uh!” he yelled as I yanked him into the hallway. “You already made an impression on me, sugar. You remember what I said.” He screamed louder the further we got from the room. “I’m on the other side of the house! Come over anytime and lay those big titties--”
I forced my hand over his mouth, feeling his breath against my fingers as he continued to speak. I yanked his arm violently, stomping through the living room. “I’m gonna kick your little punk ass.”
A few feet away from the short hallway that led to his room, in front of a new overstuffed recliner, Aaron stopped walking and pushed my hand away from his mouth. “I’d love to see you try to kick my ass.”
“Are you really that drunk? What the hell?”
He broke his arm free from my grip and stepped back. “Come on. Let’s go. Been a long time comin.’”
There was a crazy, fiery look in his eyes I’d never seen before. Why was he so angry with me? I knew he was upset for a while after I left for college. Daisy told me Aaron felt like I abandoned the family, but he’d gotten over it. He even started calling me about once a week and we talked like friends but that slowly tapered off until he just stopped calling altogether around the end of October. I blamed his little show in the bedroom on the alcohol but I wondered if there was more to it.
Should I take one good swing and knock him out so he’ll pass out ‘til morning?
No. He deserves it, but I might really hurt him.
I stood still and looked in his eyes. “I’m not gonna fight you.”
“Oh, come on.” Aaron spread his arms wide, using one hand to wave me toward him, inviting me. “Don’t be a pussy. Show your girlfriend what a big man you are.”
I stepped forward. “You need to settle down.”
Right then, Aaron took another step back, stumbling against the corner of the coffee table.
It happened in slow motion. Me running forward, him flying backward to land perfectly on the couch in a way that made me wish I could’ve recorded it because nobody would ever believe me.
He sat up straight and only appeared startled for about half a second. Then he yawned, his eyelids shut, and he slumped over. A small decorative pillow lying against the arm of the couch cushioned the side of his face.
I tried to make him more comfortable, lifting his feet up off the floor so his whole body was on the couch instead of just his torso. I covered him up with a blanket that was folded across the recliner. With his eyes closed, he mumbled something that I was pretty sure was supposed to be, “You got lucky this time, asshole.”
I turned off the lights and waited until I heard him sleeping before I left the room.
Susie stood in the hall outside the bedroom. “Everything okay out there?”
“Yeah.” I put my arms around her, rubbing her back where her hair was still damp. “I’m sorry about him.”
“Don’t worry about it. He probably won’t even remember.”
“But I will. And you will. This trip’s really off to one hell of a start.” I sighed and stood back, putting my hands on her shoulder
s. “I’m gonna go take a shower now. I gotta wash this day off me.”
I went to the bathroom and Susie went to bed. I didn’t even think about asking her to join me, seeing how tired she was. And it was good to have a few minutes alone with my thoughts as the warm water poured over me.
Safe With Me, Special Edition Page 46