When Lick swings the metal, door open to the building, Maggie’s standing there, waiting. “There you two are. I thought you might have changed your minds.”
“Did you give us a choice?” Lick snaps.
“Oh, Mr. McCoy, we both know we always have choices. Good or bad, they’re ours to make.” She gives him a wink before turning on her heel. Over her shoulder, she continues to talk as we follow her deeper into the building. “Please remember that children are fragile by nature. They may be timid, shy, especially Roxy being as young as she is. Ryder, poor boy, seems to be having a rough go of it. Very moody, that one, but now I see it may run in the family.”
Her comments make me smile. Lick, on the other hand, only deepens the frown he’s had plastered on his face since he got out of my car.
“I’m sure everything will go fine,” I reassure her.
She stops at a wooden door. I can hear a little girl’s laughter coming from inside the room next door. If that’s Roxy, my heart sinks knowing that by the time we leave, her laughter may turn into cries of heartbreak.
“Remember, please keep in mind what these kids have been through.” Maggie nods before pushing through the door, allowing us to enter first. “Please take a seat. I’ll bring the kids in.”
We both take a seat in silence. The sound of muffled voices coming from next door is almost drowned out by the tick of the clock on the wall.
“You’ve got this,” I tell Lick.
“Do I? I mean com–”
“Uncle Tylan!” Roxy screams as she and her older brother enter the room. I guess Lick was wrong when he thought these kids wouldn’t know who the heck he was. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for forever to meet you. My whole life Momma said we would meet you, and I hoped and hoped and hoped, but I never thought it would happen.”
Ryder’s quiet, observing his sister as she throws herself into her sitting uncle’s lap. She wraps her little arms around the girth of his neck. She seems to be holding on for dear life. Right away Lick stiffens. His arms don’t reach around to comfort her small frame, and his eyes plead with me to help him.
I take a step towards them and rub my hand up and down her tiny back. Her head swings to me and her eyes light up then a smile spreads across her face. She reaches and rubs my hair between her little fingers. “You’re pretty. I like your hair. It’s wild and soft at the same time.” She turns herself from Lick’s lap and stands to face me while I’m on my knees, looking at her eye to eye.
“I’m Jenni.” I give her a small smile.
She bites her bottom lip and glances behind me. I can see the reflection of her brother in the softness of her eyes. “Did you hear that, Ryder? Her name’s Jenni.”
I turn to peer behind me, and I’m met with a blank faced, angry eleven-year-old. It’s like I’m looking at Lick at the age of eleven.
“Kids,” Maggie calls their attention. I stand and immediately feel the gentleness of Roxy’s delicate hand slide into mine. The act tugs at my heart. She wants and needs human contact; she seems to be starving for it. What have these kids been through?
“If you’d please take a seat,” Maggie instructs them, gesturing to the love seat next to the couch where Lick is sitting. Roxy won’t let go of my hand. She peers up at me with fear in her eyes.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Go and sit,” I tell her, placing my hands on her shoulders to direct her to sit next to her brother who has already flopped down on the cushions.
“Ryder, Roxy, as I’m sure you now know, this is your Uncle Tylan. He’s your mother’s brother.”
“We know,” Roxy says as she swings her legs up and down in front of her. “Momma showed us a picture of him all the time.”
“She mostly cried when she did,” Ryder announces.
“It’s cuz she missed him, Ryder,” Roxy defends.
“And why do you think that is, Rox?”
Wow, he’s angry. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, that’s for sure.
“Ryder,” Maggie warns, “that’s enough.” The jerk of his head tells me he understands. “All right, you two. I’m going to give you guys some time to talk with your uncle. I know it’s late.” I glance at the clock and see that it’s already nine thirty at night. “They know to expect you upstairs once you’re done. Shaun’s outside to escort you when you’re finished with your visit.”
“We can’t go home now?” Roxy’s voice is wobbly, her eyes start to rim red. She’s getting upset.
“No yet, little one,” Maggie answers.
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” Ryder butts in. “Mom’s not there!”
Roxy’s little lip starts to quiver then she throws her face into the palms of her hands and starts to sob. When I get up to comfort her, Lick gives me his trademark scowl warning me not to move. My eyes dart between the warning look and the sobbing cries of a little girl. There’s no question as to who I’m going to bend to so I get up and gather a crying girl into my arms replacing my bottom in the seat she was just in holding her on my lap.
Ignoring the emotional little girl, Maggie continues, “Remember, when you’re done here, allow Shaun to walk you upstairs to get you settled. Mr. McCoy, once the children are with Shaun, you and I will need to talk so we can get on the same page. Please don’t go anywhere.”
Once the door closes behind Maggie, Roxy lifts her head from the crook of my neck. She peers up at me with wet sticky lashes and rosy pink cheeks. Placing her little hands on my face, she softly asks, “Where’s my momma, Jenni?”
“Your mother’s dead,” Lick says. His voice is like lead, hard and cold. It hits me, and the kids without warning. Roxy flinches while I feel Ryder tense beside me. “She overdosed on drugs, and she’s dead.”
“Tylan–”
“Liar!” Ryder yells as he gets up and charges towards Lick. “She’s just gone! She’s not dead.” I think he’s going to try to take a swing, but once his hand comes around, Lick grabs it and uses Ryder’s momentum to wrap his arm around him, pinning his back to Lick’s chest. “She’s just gone.” Angry sobs leave his chest. As tears roll down his face. Roxy throws herself into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. Ryder grunts and fights Lick for control, but it’s no use. Ryder’s no match for his uncle.
“It’s true.”
“No,” Ryder spits.
“You need to settle down, boy. I don’t want to hurt you, but you need to settle that ass. Now.” I can tell Lick tightens his grip until Ryder calms down. His chest is still heaving, but the fight is leaving his body. Emotions rip through him, leaving him still. Broken.