Chapter Nine
Roni sat in the office at Walker’s Wheels trying to decipher Liam’s writing. Who the hell had taught him to write? It was chicken scratch, and she couldn’t figure out if what he’d put down was an eight or a nine. The Roni of old would have just made the decision herself. The Roni that had emerged in the week since she’d had dinner with Rooster was going to check and verify, make sure that’s what he meant. Because this Roni, she wasn’t scared to ask questions. The guys were in the back, taking their afternoon break, so she decided to go out the backdoor of the office. It would be a bit of a walk, but after being cooped up all day, she needed it.
When she walked out of the door, she was shocked to find Drew and Mandy there. Drew had Mandy pressed up against the wall. “You will not tell anybody what’s going on,” he told her.
Mandy had tears streaming down her face. “You need help,” she was whispering, her fingers tangling in her brother’s shirt. “You can’t do this on your own,” she pleaded with him.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Roni asked, her heart pounding in her chest as she saw them. For the first time, she saw why Mandy might be scared of her brother. He was much taller than he’d once been; he now towered over her, her chin coming to his collarbone. He had a T-shirt on, but it was too tight; his arm muscles were getting larger and the hint of a beard showed on his face. They would be sixteen at their birthday coming up in a few months, but it wasn’t until seeing this that she saw Drew as becoming an adult. He’d never looked more like one than he did at this moment.
“She’s messing with shit that’s none of her business,” he yelled, much too close to Mandy’s ear.
“Hey!” Roni yelled back. “Don’t you yell at her like that. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You’ve gotta make her stop, Roni.” His eyes were wild and he was sweating profusely.
“Make her stop what?” Roni was confused, and now she wondered just what in the hell Mandy had been trying to tell her the other day. “If you’re in some kind of trouble, we need to know so that we can help you.”
“Fuck that,” he roared as he punched the brick wall next to Mandy’s head. “I help myself.”
He took off running. Roni was torn over who she should follow. Mandy won out as she collapsed into herself against the wall. “What in the world is going on?” Roni asked her, pulling her close to her body.
“He’s not himself,” she cried, holding her arms against her middle. “He’s changed in the past few months.”
“Do you know why?” Roni asked, scared that Mandy did know.
She nodded. “But I can’t say anything, I won’t. He’ll be so mad at me,” she cried, burying her head in Roni’s neck.
Roni didn’t know what to do with the crying teenager, but she did her best to console her as she sobbed. Mandy needed her mom and dad; she didn’t need an aunt who was ill-equipped to handle a meltdown like this. “Let’s go get your dad.”
“He’s going to ask questions I can’t answer,” Mandy cried.
As they rounded the corner, the men stopped talking and watched the two of them.
“Mandy?” Liam questioned as he got up from his seat at the picnic table and came over to them. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” She shook her head, biting her bottom lip.
“You need to talk to him about it,” Roni encouraged her, moving the hair back from Mandy’s forehead.
She watched the two of them walk off into the office. A few moments later, she felt the presence of Rooster beside her. “Drew?” he asked quietly.
She nodded. Rooster had been at the high school part time for three days, and he’d told her he thought something was going on.
“I hate to say this, but I think he’s mixed up bad with whatever’s going on over there. I keep hearing his name, and I’m telling you, he ain’t the same kid he was a few months ago. We’ve been saying it’s because he’s growing up and changing, but I don’t think that’s it,” he told her. “I think he’s knee-deep in this shit.”
She wasn’t sure what that shit was and she was almost positive she really didn’t want to know what it was, but it made her sad. Drew was a good kid. “I’ve never seen him that angry before, and I’ve never seen him raise a hand or heard him raise his voice to his sister. I saw all of that in the span of three minutes and it was scary.”
“Liam will handle it,” Rooster reassured her. “So about tonight.” He rocked back on his heels as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Are we still on?”
She grinned up at him. “Yes, you’re still coming over around seven, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I gotta go to the gym and then go home and get changed, though,” he told her. “See ya later.” He leaned in, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
The knock at the door scared Roni, even though she knew it was coming. He was five minutes early. She was glad she’d started getting ready earlier than normal, knowing that she wouldn’t know what to wear; it helped her to slow down her erratic breathing.
“Hey.” She smiled as she threw open the door for him.
“Hey.” He smiled back, thrusting some flowers at her.
Never, in her whole life, had anyone brought her flowers. It felt odd, really odd, to blush because of this, but she did. She could feel her face get hot as she took them from his hands. “Thanks, c’mon in.”
It was awkward, but not in the way that two people who don’t know each other is awkward. It was awkward in the way that the two of them weren’t sure how to act around one another. Spending almost two decades apart and then trying to pick up where they left off was going to be difficult.
“I hope you’re hungry,” she told him as he came in and took his shoes off next to the door. No matter what, Rooster would always have impeccable manners; she knew that without a doubt.
“I am.” He put his hand to his stomach. “I usually drink a protein shake after working out to help repair the muscles, but I didn’t have time today. I barely had time to shower.”
She had noticed that his hair was still wet and he still had the five o’clock shadow that she was beginning to love so much. The lazy approach he took to shaving and doing his hair, really did it for her. “C’mon, I got stuff on the grill.”
He followed her deeper into the apartment than he’d ever gone before. They went through the kitchen to where there was a sliding glass door that led to a fenced in yard with a patio. “You got lucky,” he whistled.
“People know who Liam is.” She shrugged. “This is actually more of a townhouse than an apartment. The guy who runs the place owed Liam a favor and he converted two apartments into one. I have an upstairs, believe it or not, and there’s no one that can see into this backyard on either side. This really is my backyard oasis. Sometimes I question whether staying involved with my brother is worth it, but then I think of all the perks I get,” she laughed. “I hope you like blackened chicken, I couldn’t remember, but I’ve been on a kick lately.”
Rooster watched as she lifted the top of the grill, and his mouth watered as the aroma of the food came his way. “Damn, that smells good. I don’t cook much with it being just me. This is a treat.” He walked over to one of the chairs she had. It reminded him a lot of Liam’s back porch.
“You want something to drink?” she asked as she pushed the lid back down. “These only need a few more minutes. I’ve got corn on the cob and baked potatoes in the oven too, so we’ll be in business.”
His stomach picked that moment to growl and they both laughed. “I would love something to drink. I’ll go grab it though.” Rooster got up and made his way back into the kitchen they had just come from. Opening the fridge, he saw a couple bottles of Hard Lemonade and then some bottles of beer. He’d always been more of a beer drinker, so he grabbed one of those and made his way back out onto the porch.
“These just got done. Do you wanna eat out here?” she asked as she plated the chicken.
“Yeah, why not, it’s been the nicest summer that I can remember.”
It took a little while, but eventually they had full plates, were settled at the outdoor table she had, and were facing each other. Nothing in her life had ever felt so right, and Roni was scared to death that it was going to disappear as quickly as she’d found it.