Chapter 13
Pot calling the kettle
Ty
My wife went to bed furious with me, and she didn’t wake up any better. “Don’t look at me like that, Ty. You made this mess. You swore you were done with it.”
“I didn’t do anything. That message could have been for anyone. Maybe it’s an inside joke between the others.”
“An inside joke that happens to coincide with Colt being unable to ….” She’s waving the whole situation away, as if that works. “I can’t even talk about this.”
“Baby, come on. It’s still early. Come back to bed. We can cuddle it out.”
Miranda leaves me to sulk in my room. She only comes back in to throw my cell phone on the bed. When I take a look at it I see I have messages from both Colt and Van.
This can’t be good.
Did you put Amber up to that? – Van
I have lost all trust in you. Fuck off, Ty. – Colt
This is bad.
It wasn’t me guys. – Ty I send it in a group message hoping they’ll both see it. The only thing worse than being reamed out is being completely ignored. Not only do they refuse to respond, but I don’t hear from them at all, not for the weeks leading up the fundraiser.
In that time I’ve confronted Jax, the culprit of the whole mess. He’d come over to watch a football game, acting as if nothing was wrong. With his feet up on my coffee table, he proceeded to bring up the text message event, and how Amber was so embarrassed when they realized what the nickname meant. He was carrying on about her trying to apologize, but not having the guts to call Colt up and discuss his penis problems.
Since it took Miranda days to look at me, I’ve been on my best behavior, even when it’s been hard going without talking to my closest cousins. A few days before the fundraiser the whole family travels to the Kentucky Ranch to prepare for the event. The location changed three times because of the amount of expected participants. We’re now set up outside of Louisville at a stadium. Since I’m on everyone’s shit list, I’ve been assigned to help the staging people set up for the concert. I know the family has put me there to keep me from running into Colt. Apparently he’s still salty about the whole ordeal. I guess things still aren’t looking up for him. If you catch my drift.
It’s lonely working by myself. It’s the punishment they’ve all agreed to give me. My punishment isn’t as bad as the twins though. Jake and Jax have been assigned to trash and septic duty. With porta pots being the only form of bathroom, they have to make sure they are fully stock with paper and sanitizer. Not only that, but they have to keep the grounds as clean as possible so we aren’t fined. Just to make sure they feel like jackasses, the girls even made them bright orange vests that say POOP PATROL on the backs.
Miranda comes looking for me after everyone is finished for the day. Assuming we’re all going to get together for dinner I discover we’ve been uninvited. For the first time ever, we’re not even staying with Van and Colt. Instead we’re in the main ranch house with some of the cousins. It’s a low blow, but I get it. We messed with Colt’s pride. We told his secret and he’s still pissed.
“Just keep the peace, Ty. Let it go. It’s a couple more days.” Miranda has repeated that sentence or close to it since we arrived, but it’s not gotten easier. I want to sit around drinking and playing cards like we always do. I want to be able to crack on Colt and hear everyone in the room laughing their asses off.
Lucky for us the grandkids keep us occupied. Instead of the big family dinner, we take them out for pizza. It’s weird being in Kentucky and only spending time with out immediate family. Even Colt’s kids are giving us the cold shoulder, well some of them. Cole is pretty cool. He stays out of the drama. Ethan does whatever Christian tells him. Noah thought the whole ordeal was funny until he had to be around his dad. Then he changed his story. My Godson is a pussy.
Conner and Amy are pretty neutral. It’s hard for them to side with either of us, but Miranda is Conner’s sister so he doesn’t really have a choice. No one wants to get on her bad side.
After dinner we arrive back at the ranch and I lose it. I can’t play this game anymore. I love my kids, but I can see them every day at home. Bella and Rusty are somewhere with their cousins, but the rest of us are being treated like strangers.
Against my wife’s wishes, I grab Jax, who is the real person at fault, and we ride over to Colts. “We’re not leaving until you apologize and he stops being pissed at me.”
“Fine, Dad. I’ll take the blame for this one. I’ll do it for you.”
“Look, it was funny, especially when you didn’t know what it actually meant.”
“You’re the one who made it up. You told us to call him Uncle Limpy.”
“Yeah, well I didn’t tell you to do it in a group family chat. That was pretty fucking low, kid.”
“It was funny.”
“For like a minute. Then I knew I was screwed.”
We pull up at the house. Pointing in the direction of the front door, I give him directions. “You should go first, get a feel or how they’ll react to seeing me.”
“Hell no! That’s like jumping in front of a bus. Do you think I’m crazy?”
“A little.”
Jax refuses. “No way. Get your ass up and apologize first.”
He’s walking away, headed back the way we came. “You know I’ve got your back any other time, but not for this.” He motions with his hands. “This mess between the two of you needs to get figured out. You started this, Dad.”
“Now you’re on their side?”
“You taught me to own my mistakes. You screwed up and took something personal and made it public. It was a dick move.”
“You’re right. You’re all right.”
“Finally admitting you’re an asshole?” Colt’s voice appears from behind. Had I known he was outside I would have made a different approach.
“I’ve never denied being a dickhead. You of all people should know that.”
“Yeah, except most people grow up or out of it. You’re still the same prick from when we were kids. Now you’ve got your own boys acting just like you.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t bring in my parenting, Colt. You know I’m a good father. I’d do anything for my kids.”
“You’ve taught them to be disrespectful.”
“Oh, get off your high horse. Your own son ran off because he couldn’t stand the way you control everything. None of us are perfect.”
“Perfect?” He questions. “You can’t used a word like that. Nothing about you is perfect. You’re defective. Everything you touch is tainted.”
I can’t help but to bite my tongue when he uses the word taint. Right away I think of the skin between the dick and balls. It’s not my fault. I can’t help myself.
“You can’t ignore me forever. We’re kin.”
“You’re the black sheep, and I’m tired of pretending it doesn’t annoy the shit out of me.”
“Come on. We’ve all messed around. We’ve been pranking ach other for years.”
Out of the corner of my eye I notice the porch is filling with the people that were inside. They’re all watching and listening to this confrontation.
I clap my hands together. “Fine, you want to settle this? Let’s do it the old fashioned way. One on one. You beat my ass and I’ll walk away. I win and you have to forgive me.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m not fighting you.”
I shove him. It’s a gut reaction. He’s pissed and it’s infuriating me that he won’t give in.
Colt turns around and shoves back. “Go away, Ty. You don’t want to do this. The whole family is here. You own grandchildren are here. Is this what you want them thinking is okay?”
“I want them to grow up knowing nothing is more important than the bond between a family.”
“Well, you should have through about that before you ran your mouth and humiliated me.”