by Tiana Laveen
He sounds selfish. That’s more in line with your personality, rather than Dad’s, but whatever…
“Well, what about Zack? I know he’s financially secure, doin’ real good in fact, but maybe he can do something with it?”
“He didn’t do what you did, so no, but I’m not mad at him about it. He’s just not like you and your father. He isn’t a tough guy. Zack isn’t strong like you are. He’s been avoiding me because he doesn’t wanna see me sick like this… wasting away. He cries on the phone when we do talk now.” She shook her head. “I end up consoling him.” She laughed dismally.
Gutter sat down on the doctor’s table next to her. The patient paper crinkled under his weight. He looked down at his hands as he clasped them. Tattoos, a couple of fresh cuts from a cantankerous guitar string, and his intricate rings.
“I’ve been having trouble getting a hold of Zina, too. I’m making plans to just show up at her apartment. I saw her at the hospital, I told ya she stopped through when she found out what happened to me,” Jenny nodded. “And I saw her briefly before that situation, when I first got into town, but it’s like we can’t see each other long or stay on the phone for more than a few minutes. Or she acts… I dunno, jumpy. Yeah, something is definitely up.”
He cracked his knuckles. Jenny reached for his hand and squeezed it.
“You know, I want all my kids happy. I don’t think she’s happy. I think she wanted to be a mom, too. That got me to thinkin’. I’m not going to live long enough to see grandkids.” She sniffed. “I don’t know why Zina never had children. She told me she wanted to have some right after she got married. Never heard another word about it.” She shrugged. “You’re always on the road. Demanding career. I get it. No time for kids. Sandra, my daughter-in-law, a lovely woman, Zachary’s wife can’t have children, so there’s that.”
After a while, Jenny got down on her weak feet, and began to slip back into her clothing. Gutter turned away, giving her some privacy. The air smelled of death and ointments. Strange how he’d become so familiar with that smell—first as a child when his friend’s grandfather died. The old man’s bedroom reeked from it. Oddly enough, he’d smelled it on the man before he’d even passed away. Now here it was again. Faint, but there.
“You’re shaking.”
He jumped when he felt his mother touch him with her small, cold hand.
“I am?” He hadn’t noticed.
“Yeah.” She slipped her now sock-clad foot in her moccasin, then did the same with the other. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She put on her coat, and then a hat over her scarf-covered head. “I’m ready.”
They walked out of the doctor’s office to the parking lot, and he helped her inside his new truck—a Black Ram 1500. He turned on the radio, where Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s, ‘When You Believe’ was playing. As he backed out, Jenny adjusted her seat and leaned back. A big smile on her face, she burst out laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“Mariah Carey always makes me think of Christmas, ya know? One Christmas Eve, when you were three or four, Zake, you kept tryna sneak out your room to see Santa. Your father kept barking at ya, grabbing ya and tucking you into bed. Zina and Zach were asleep. Leave it to ol’ Zake to not follow the rules. So, after a while, you were quiet and pretending to be asleep. Your father knew you were faking, but he said something like, ‘Awww, look. He’s finally zonked out.’ And he and I crept back to bed. Thing is, I didn’t know he had plans for you. He dug out some of the Halloween decorations from in the attic while we all dozed off and found this old wolf mask he’d worn to one of the firefighter parties years before.”
“Oh, shit! I think I remember this now!” Gutter burst out laughing, the memory coming to him in full color. “Keep going, keep going.”
“So, he put it on and sat down in that big chair he used to have by the Christmas tree with a Santa hat on, a glass of beer, and a magazine. Waiting for you. A minute or two passed he said, but not many more. Soon, he heard your door creek open. He heard your little body walking on that ancient, creaky floor. Slowly you crept… Closer, closer. And then, as you stood behind him sitting in that chair of his, you tapped his shoulder and said, ‘Santa! I knew you’d come!’
“Your father jumped up and roared like a wolf howlin’ at the moon! Oh my God, Gutter! I shot up so fast when I heard him making that terrible noise, and you screaming so loud, it sounded like you were being tortured! Of course, I found out all the details after the fact, so I’m filling them in, but I ran out the bedroom and there you were, being chased back into your room, a look of nothing but terror on your little face!”
Gutter was laughing so hard now; his eyes were full of tears. His gut clenched and he held it with one hand. He’d forgotten about all that, the memory buried deep inside him. Until now.
“Dad would prank all of us up until we moved out, and he didn’t care how old we were. He got me good that night.”
“Oh, Zake, it was such a nasty thing to do,” She chuckled. “Your dad’s hands were raised high in the air, and the Santa hat he’d shoved down over the wolf mask had fallen in the hall during all the uproar. I picked that up and put it away before your sister and brother saw it, and I had to get Zack and Zina back in their beds. It took me a long time to get you calmed down, and I cursed your father out for scaring ya like that though… I was pretty mad. He of course thought it was hilarious. Later, he and I laughed about it though. We even fooled around a bit with him wearing that mask. I tell ya one thing: Jesus, was your father good in bed!”
Oh, no…
“Zake, I hadn’t had many guys before him. Only one in fact, so I didn’t have a lot to compare it to. But I’d gotten lucky. No matter how I feel about your dad, I have to give credit where credit is due. He was the damn best! That night on Christmas Eve, I was Little Red Riding Hood, and he told me what a naughty girl I’d been, and that—”
“Jenny, I’m good!” He raised his hand, his face hot as he laughed his heart out. “Don’t need any further details about my parents’ perversions. I got it. Thanks for the visual. I’ll be throwin’ up in a picnic basket later.”
She burst out laughing and shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I got a bit carried away, didn’t I?”
“I had forgotten all about that night. I never snuck out trying to see Santa again. I didn’t know it was actually Dad until like a year or two later!”
Jenny could barely catch her breath.
Color flushed to her face. She looked alive and well. There was a glow about her, a beauty he hadn’t seen since being home, and she looked younger. Almost like she did when he was a little boy.
She looked in love, drowning in a sea of happiness, amused, and safely nestled at the core of peace…
*This concludes Gutter, PART 1 – The Rise. PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT a cliffhanger, so do not despair! The second and final installment of this double novel, is available NOW, as it has been released on the exact same day as this one, as to not keep anyone waiting.
The second book of this two-part series is: Gutter, PART 2 – The Shine.
(As seen below.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Tiana Laveen writes resilient yet loving heroines and the alpha heroes that fall for them in unlikely happy-ever-afters. An author of over 60 novels to date, Tiana creates characters from all walks of life that leap straight from the pages into your heart.
Married with two children, she enjoys a fulfilling life that includes writing books, drawing, and spending quality time with loved ones.
If you wish to communicate with Tiana Laveen and stay up-to-date with her releases, please follow her on social media platforms as well as visit her website.
Tiana Laveen website
www.tianalaveen.com