Carly Sevens
“Mom! Seriously, you’re having sex? Like teenagers in the car.”
This was horrifying. I knew they had a healthy sex life. I wasn’t blind when I lived at home, but I didn’t actually want to be confronted with it. Ever. She was busy trying to push her breasts back in her bra and then smooth down creases in clothes that even a steam press was going to struggle with at short notice
“What the hell are you doing here, Carly?” my dad barked at me. He climbed out to block the open door, and give my mom some privacy and time to pull herself together. This would have worked, but he was clutching his open pants in an effort to stop them falling down.
Even with just a bit of alcohol in my system, I knew I’d pushed us all into a situation that was going to get worse. I was so mad I’d just nearly attacked my own mother and now I was stood closer than close to my secret boyfriend at some ungodly hour in the middle of the night.
“And I don’t want any bullshit. You, him. What are you both doing here?”
“I was giving her a ride from Purps,” Jack shoved into the conversation quickly.
“Really? Then why do you have your fucking hands around her and your lips on the side of her face?”
At that moment, I couldn’t tell whether my own heart was trying to escape from my chest or Jack’s was beating that fiercely that I could feel it doing double time against my back.
I knew instantly, though, that I was through lying. Jake knew about us and I could see what it was doing to Jack, having to ask his brother to lie to his best friend for us. I was being presented with chance to put things right and show everyone just how serious I was about us.
“Dad, look. The thing is…”
My mom finally stepped forward, sensing exactly where this was heading. “Let’s all just forget about what we’ve seen tonight and move on. Go back to the world as if it was five minutes ago.” Well, that wouldn’t work, five minutes Jack had his tongue inside my vagina! I knew she was trying to protect me from my dad’s explosion, and most of all, protect the relationships in our family.
“Get in the cab, Carly.” The order in my dad’s voice was clear and it only made Jack’s arm, snaked around my waist, tighten.
“Don’t talk to her like that, Tommy.”
“You are not here because this isn’t happening. You are going to be thankful that I chose to ignore what I think is going on. Because nothing is going on between you two. Not now, not ever. Carly, cab, now.”
“No, Dad.”
My dad took a deep breath in and did his pants up in an angry motion. He then took a huge step forward while my mom watched on nervously, clutching at his arm to stop him. “Get in the fucking cab now!” he roared, unleashing all his fury three inches from my face. He was so loud and unrecognizable to me that I jumped on the spot in fear and so did my mom. In a blur of super human speed, Jack inserted himself in between my dad and I, and that was when my mom got serious in her attempt to restrain my dad. She knew exactly how this was going to go down. “Tommy, love, calm down.”
“Tell me I’m wrong. Carly, please.” My dad finally breathed, pulling his shit together in a moment of hope as my mom thought her attempts were working. It was obvious, though, his rage was bubbling just underneath the control she was helping him find.
“Dad,” I whispered back, this time reaching my arms around Jack’s middle, completely reversing his possessive pose from a few moments ago.
My mom was unable to hold back the sob that we all heard, and I watched as a few stray tears fell from her eyes. My dad shrugged her off just as quickly and began to pace with his fingers interlocked at the back of his neck.
Neither Jack or I moved.
Quick as a snake, the pacing stopped and he spun round and punched Jack square on the cheek, sending both of us reeling back a pace or two. Feeling the brunt of what Jack had just taken, I rushed to get a look at his cheek, but he just shook it off and stood back with me, not reacting or retaliating, like he was accepting his punishment. Like he knew it was the one thing my dad had to get off his chest before we could move forward.
“I’m okay, baby,” he finally said, rubbing his face like he finally felt it.
“I’m going to take my daughter home now and you will never fucking see her again.” As my dad finished speaking, my mom’s tears came faster, harder. Her face was full of disappointment and it was getting on top of her.
“Carly’s coming home with me. We’ll come over in the morning and talk about this when we’ve all calmed down,” I heard Jack tell him and then turn us to walk away.
The scene with my parents was heart breaking, but deep down I’d known it would end up this way, and all of us taking a breather was the best idea. “Mom,” I tried again as I walked backwards, away from them, holding Jack’s hand.
“How could you?” she finally said, coming after us, completely ignoring me and shouting at him. “How could you betray my trust and our friendship like this?”
Jack stopped. “I’m sorry, Lacey.” He had no excuses and didn’t offer any, and that only made her tears fall faster.
“Do not walk away from me, Carly,” my dad finally said, joining back in to order me around again.
“Jack’s right, Dad. Nothing will get resolved now. It’s late, and we’re all tired and emotional. We’ll talk in the morning.”
Jack put an arm around my shoulder to get us moving again in a show of unity and coupledom, still working his sore face with the other hand. He was clearly in some pain and discomfort. As we started to get further and further away, the only thing I could hear besides my own heartbeat was my mom’s sobbing.
“You leave with him now, don’t come home, Carly. What you’ve done, what you’re doing now is downright disrespectful. You get once chance for us all to move past this. You leave with him and you’ve made your choice. Him.”
My mom’s sobbing stopped. “Tommy, stop. Don’t say that.”
We carried on walking. “Nothing is going to get resolved with threats, Carly,” Jack mumbled, kissing the top of my head.
My dad didn’t mean that. He was just mad. Okay, he was beyond mad; he was livid, but I was his daughter and I knew this was just his anger talking. A few hours to clear our heads was what we all needed, so I kept going with Jack.
“Carly?” Jack asked, pausing to give me the chance to go with them. He wanted me to know it was up to me to lead us away if that was what I still wanted. But I’d started this chain of events and I was going to be mature enough to see them through. First thing in the morning, we’d straighten everything out.
When we’d buckled up in the car, Jack asked me again whether I was sure about what had gone down. I nodded to tell him I was and that things would all look better in the morning.
His cheek was starting to bruise up and swell a bit by the time we arrived at his parent’s house. He led me down the dark hallway towards the light of the kitchen, and it was then I could feel just how tense he was. My mind started to work rapid overtime and I feared that he was thinking I’d pushed him into a situation he was now having second thoughts about. After all, he came up with an excuse for my dad. I was that one who blurted it all out.
I heard a noise when we made it to the kitchen. It was the distinct clanking of bottles inside the refrigerator. Jack threw his car keys on the table, causing his dad, who was sneaking leftover pudding pie, to jump in surprise.
“Oh shi-ugar!” he said, correcting his curse word when he spotted me and looked at his son in confusion. The question of why I was stood in their kitchen in the early hours of the morning was apparent. “Everything alright, son?”
“Not really,” he replied with a frustrated huff.
“Is that a bruise? What’s going on? It looks like it could do with some ice.”
Jack’s dad wasn’t stupid. He must have understood what was going on and I was surprised when he didn’t explode like mine had. But the fact he was stood there in his PJ’s, eating cold pudding pie, told me that one of his sons turning up bruised or bloodied from a night out wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
“I’m going to put Carly to bed. I’ll be back down in a minute.”
Mr. Griggs didn’t bat an eyelid at Jack’s intentions. He just pulled out a chair and looked like he was settling in until he got what he wanted, an explanation.
Jack ushered me up a flight of stairs that was illuminated by a single table lamp at the top. His steps were quiet and gentle, like he’d had lots of practice sneaking girls into his bedroom. When he finally switched on the light in his room, I could see how weary he looked. Trying to read his mind wasn’t something I’d succeeded at before and I was desperate to try again right now, but just too afraid. “You’re regretting all this, aren’t you?”
Jack stayed busy, searching through his drawers before finding me a t-shirt and throwing it at me. “I just figured we’d have more time,” he replied, sounding exhausted.
“More time for what?”
“More time to come up with a plan.”
It hadn’t escaped my attention that he’d swerved my question. “Just tell me what you’re thinking because in case you missed it, I blew a hole through the middle of my family situation tonight. If I’ve got no reason to do that anymore then I want to know now so I can go home and undo the unnecessary damage.”
He finally stopped and looked at me, a bewildered look on his face. “I’m not regretting us. I don’t regret us.” Walking over to me, he kissed me as soon as I was in arms reach. “I regret how they found out, where they found out. I regret not coming up with a plan that could have avoided that explosion. Prevention is far more appealing than containment. Now get some sleep. I need to go talk to my dad. He’s going to want to know why I’ve brought you home and put you in my bed.”
Jack waited until I’d got undressed and was snug under the covers. I felt nervous for what he was about to do, and I was panicking that his dad was going to try to talk him out of everything, including us.
“I love you.” It was the one thing I didn’t want to blurt out in desperation, but I had no control over it.
“I know you do. I love you, too.” His reply sounded tired and not as comforting as I would have hoped.
I lay there quietly, taking in Jack’s childhood bedroom, and waited for the darkness to take hold of me. I was too afraid to fall asleep. I was scared that when I woke up it would all be over. After some more time, I slipped out of the bed and tip-toed to the top of the stairs to listen. If Jack was calling time on us, I wanted some advance warning. The table lamp was still on, all homely and motherly as I sat down and pulled my knees up and under the t-shirt. I forced myself to breathe calmly. Everything sounded so loud because I was eavesdropping and I knew it was wrong.
“So, she’s the reason you fell out you with your brother?”
“Yeah.”
“I was going to ask if it was serious, but I can already tell from your face it is. Why did he hit you?”
“Jake didn’t do this. Tommy did.”
“Can’t say I blame him.”
“Me neither, Dad, which is why I didn’t hit him back. I know I deserve it and more.”
“What are your plans?”
“Get Carly through her finals.”
“I asked about your plans, son.”
“Get Carly through her finals and then make a plan.”
“You have to put this right. Whatever it takes. How long?”
“Long enough to know she’s what I want. To realize she’s what I’ve been missing.”
Hearing him say that made my heart flutter and start to beat normally again. Jack wasn’t going to give up on us. He was going to fight for us to stay together just like I was.
I’d heard enough. My own insecurities were being calmed with every new beat I felt my heart take and I didn’t need to intrude on his conversation any longer. I knew it was wrong in the first place but now it was an unnecessary invasion of privacy.
It was time to have a little faith.
In the morning, I’d work things out with my parents. After all, they only ever wanted what was best for me and once they saw how happy Jack made me, we could get past this and start moving forward. I had my finals to get through. Jack had promised me that everything would work out and for the first time, it was actually starting to feel like it would.