Chapter 22
Bryce
My time of reckoning with the parents was here. I’d been on that damn bus for six hours, and, at this moment, I debated on if what I was about to walk into was going to be worse.
But it couldn’t be helped. I had to man up and let them know that there was a possibility, although I thought slim, that I was going to be giving them a grandchild in a few months. Her due date was January 10th. At least that’s what she told me. With Mandy, the truth seemed to be a stranger. I didn’t know shit about females. I knew less about pregnant chicks. But it seemed to me like she was ready to foal any day now.
I gathered what bit of courage I could muster and walked up to the front door. They were expecting me so I knew it would be unlocked. As soon as I stepped inside, my mom was right there, grinning ear to ear and pulling me into a hug.
“Oh Bryce, we’ve missed you baby boy,” she said, sounding totally emotional, as she squeezed the ever loving hell out of me.
“Mom,” I said, dragging out the word, “Sidney’s the baby boy, remember?”
“Nonsense,” she replied, taking inventory of me. “You are both my baby boys forever.”
I felt his presence before I laid eyes on him. The alpha male in the household. My mother’s strength and true love. My father.
“Bryce,” he said, closing the gap between us. “Good to see you, son.” I felt his arms around my shoulders and, for a split-second, I was frozen in confusion.
He didn’t hate me anymore?
“Dad,” I replied, “Where’s Sidney?” I asked, trying to change the subject and break the emotional moment. It was too foreign to me…too raw…too temporary. I knew they’d flip when I gave them my news.
He loosened his grip on me, studying my face as if he couldn’t believe I’d ask about my younger brother who I mostly had treated like a royal pain in the ass six months ago.
“Basketball practice,” he replied. “He’ll be home soon. Take a load off. Fill us in on what’s been going on in your life.”
“I will,” I replied seriously. “But I’m going to let you know from the start, you’re not going to like some of it.”
My news hadn’t gone over as bad as I’d expected. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was no picnic for sure. My mom had actually reacted more negatively than my dad. I wasn’t sure what that was about. Maybe it was a “dude thing,” you know? I knew my old man had bagged his fair share of chicks back in the day. Not that he’d bragged about it, but shit, my brother-in-law could run his mouth after a few beers and I’d been within earshot as a kid.
My mother was the first to ask about a paternity test.
“Yeah, Mom. I absolutely will have that done. I’m not a total idiot, you know?”
“I just can’t understand this, Bryce. You’re a smart kid. You know about protection and abstinence, right?”
“Samantha,” my dad interjected.
“No, Eric, he damn well knows how babies are made. There’s no good excuse.”
“I get it,” he replied, and then looked at me. “Are you prepared to take full responsibility if the baby is yours, Bryce?”
“Of course, Dad. I’m not a total dick. I understand my responsibilities. I’m fully prepared to assume them.”
“Good to know,” he replied.
“Good to know? Good to know? Are you serious, Eric?” my mom interjected. “He’s eighteen years old! How in the hell is he supposed to assume responsibility?”
“Samantha…”
“No! Don’t Samantha me! This is going to change his life forever, don’t you get that?”
“Samantha,” he said, his voice not masking his authoritative tone, “I’m well aware of that. The same way you were when you were pregnant with Lindsey at seventeen, alright? Let’s keep our cool here. Nothing is to be served by getting over-emotional about this. Bryce is doing what needs to be done.”
“Oh, okay,” she snapped, “If you’ve blessed this situation then I guess my job is done. I don’t have to remind you of how that turned out for me with Lindsey’s father, do I?”
“Whoa, wait a second Mom,” I piped up. “I don’t want this to be something for you and Dad to fight about. I’m doing the best I can under the current circumstances. Please trust me to use my head this time?”
I watched as she released a sigh, and then turned to me. “I just don’t want this to turn into a nightmare for you, Bryce. Taking responsibility financially and emotionally for the child is one thing, just please don’t feel you need to be tied to Mandy for life in the deal.”
“I get it, Mom. Believe me, I get it. Hey, I’m gonna go upstairs to pack up some more of my stuff. I can’t stay long. I’ve got to drive back this evening.”
She was disappointed I could tell, but I didn’t think I should leave Mandy by herself there overnight. Not in her condition. “What is the due date?” she asked tentatively.
“January 10th.”
Upstairs in my room, I grabbed another backpack from my closet floor and started putting some of my fall hoodies, long sleeved shirts, and more jeans into it. It was surreal being back in my room after nearly five months away. Five months seemed like a lifetime.
My mind drifted to Avery. My gut ached every time I thought of her which was an unfamiliar reaction for me. It was new. It was raw. And I didn’t want the feeling to settle in and become familiar. I was tempted to pull out my cell and call her now. I missed every part of her.
But what could I possibly say at this point? I may have fucked up royally, but let’s not let it change everything we had?
Right.
My door opened and my kid brother came in.
“Hey Sid,” I said, “Damn have you gotten taller, dude?”
“Probably. It’s been a while. But hey, I need to tell you something, Bryce.”
“Listening,” I replied, stuffing more shirts into the backpack.
“Check it out, I got home early and was in the kitchen when you were talking to Mom and Dad. I seriously wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. When I heard Mandy’s name, I had to keep listening. Dude, you need to know something about that chick and your situation.”
I checked out my little brother who wasn’t so damn little anymore. When had that changed? The truth was, it had been much longer than five months since I’d really paid attention to Sidney, the perfect one.
In that moment, I knew I’d used the fact he hadn’t followed in my fucked-up footsteps as a reason to resent him. But now I realized Sidney was his own person and that was a really cool thing. He blazed his own path and I respected him for that. He was fifteen, almost sixteen, and he seemed to care about me despite all the reasons I’d given him not to give a damn.
“Bryce, it’s like this. I have friends that drive. It’s a small town. I get out. I know about Mandy’s reputation; I’m not a complete dork like you always thought. I saw her a few times over the summer and she didn’t look knocked up to me.”
I was now confused. It was now the end of October. Pregnancy takes what? Nine months? “When was the last time you saw her, Sid?” I asked. It was an important factor because shit, she looked to me like she was ready to “pop.”
“It was the middle of August. Jake and I were cruising in the park over in Gresham. She was there. She was with that Asian guy you graduated with…Sami?”
“Sami Lee?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess. They were in the park with his bad ass car. Waxing it.”
“And you could tell she wasn’t knocked up how?” I asked.
“Man, she had on shorts and a tank top. I mean, she didn’t look pregnant to me. Well except for her tits. They were massive.”
“Dude, this is important. How are you sure it was middle of August? I mean, hell, when I was your age the summer seemed to last forever. I never paid attention to dates or shit like that.”
He grinned. “That’s the difference between you and me, Bryce. I do pay attention to crap like that. The reason I know it was mid-August was because Mom had made a dentist appointment for me for a cleaning before school started the following week. Jake was late getting me back to the house. I missed the appointment and she was royally pissed.”
He made the last statement like he was kind of proud of the fact he’d fucked up just a little. A rare occurrence for him.
“I bet she was,” I conceded, knocking my fist against his shoulder. “Thanks, Sid. Hey, can you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“I gotta split and get back to Bristol. If you see Sami around can you make sure he gets my number and ask him to call me? I don’t have his cell number. We weren’t tight at school.”
The truth was, I thought Sami Lee was a total dickhead.
“Yeah. I guess, but you guys didn’t like each other, did you?”
Leave it to my little brother to already know that. I chuckled. “Yeah, but tell him I’ve got some interesting news for him. Tell him it’s all good. But make sure you don’t tell him anything more than that, okay?”
“Bryce,” he said, giving me an eye roll, “Do you think I’m an idiot? Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
“Thanks, Bro,” I said, grabbing him and pulling him into a hug. “You’re alright, Sid.”
I said goodbye to the folks, and hit the road. I had one stop to make before heading back to Bristol, and I was hoping it could shed some light on the whole subject of Mandy. Rob was away at college, so he wouldn’t be good for any info, not that I’d talked to him in the past five months anyway. I knew where Mandy lived. I wasn’t going to leave town without giving her old man a piece of my mind for his total disregard for her safety.
As bad as things had been between my father and me, and as much as I had yanked his chain and pushed his buttons, he’d never knocked me around while I was under his roof. And shit if I didn’t know he’d been tempted with damn good reason. He practiced restraint. And it was because he loved me. I knew that now.
Mandy’s folks lived on the edge of Decatur in an area of small brick cluster homes. All the same. All government housing. They were fairly new, but you could tell by the plain design and the type of beat up cars and trucks in the driveways it was subsidized housing.
Mandy’s home was the last on the block. It was neatly kept. The lawn was well-trimmed. A couple of ferns were hanging on the porch, blowing back and forth in the autumn breeze.
I pulled in the drive and immediately saw that her old man was outside. The hood of his truck was up and he peeked around the side of it when he heard me pull up.
The dude looked kind of young. Like maybe still in his thirties. Mandy was the oldest kid for sure. Beside him a couple of boys, her brothers I guessed, were playing in his toolbox. They looked like they were twins. About six years old maybe.
Her father wiped his hands on a rag hanging from the back pocket of his jeans and walked towards my truck as I got out.
“Mr. Reynolds?” I asked shutting the door on my truck and taking a step towards him.
“That’s me,” he replied, “What can I do for you?”
“I’m Bryce Slater,” I said, “I went to school with Mandy.”
I could tell he was chewing a wad of tobacco. As soon as I mentioned my name, he spit a stream of tobacco juice through his teeth that landed inches from my boots. “I know who you are. The question is why the hell are you here now? Mandy doesn’t live here. Haven’t seen her in months.”
“What?” I asked, now totally confused. “You mean you didn’t kick her out for being pregnant and blacken her eye a couple of weeks back?”
“Hold on, I think you got some bad info there, Jump Street. Mandy left here the day after graduation. She was eighteen. Hated being here and, quite frankly, was a royal pain in the ass to her mother and me. She calls occasionally from a burner phone. We don’t know how to contact her. Last we heard, she was living with some older guy in another town. No mention of a pregnancy. That’s all I know.”
“What about Sami Lee? Was she still seeing him at that time?”
“Ah hell, who knows? I didn’t know any of their names because she didn’t bring any of them around here. She knew we didn’t approve of her lifestyle. She wasn’t raised to be the way she was, I can tell you that.”
“Mr. Reynolds, Mandy Jo is in Bristol, Virginia. She showed up a couple of weeks back. Pregnant. Saying I’m responsible.”
I saw a tick in his jaw. I recognized that flavor of fatherly pissed.
“Are you?” he asked.
“It’s possible. But I won’t know for sure until a paternity test is done. I just want you to know that she’s safe, and that I will do the responsible thing when the time comes. So you don’t have to worry.”
He scoffed and turned his back to me, walking back to his truck. “She’s your problem, Slater. Just let her know we won’t welcome her and her brat here. We’ve got the boys to raise. We don’t need more mouths to feed.”
I was dismissed apparently, so I just shook my head as I climbed back into my truck. After having spent three minutes with Mandy’s father, it was clear to see why she was so fucked up.