Page 52 of Pretty Broken Things

He scoffs, and something about it sends chills up my spine. I shake off the creepy feeling and continue on to find the trainer.

* * *

Practice islong over by the time I receive the green light to join the team. Shane isn’t hanging around waiting for me either, which I’m not upset about given how much we’ve been fighting lately. Classes don’t start for a couple more weeks, so I’ve got time to go check up on Grandpa Gene.

In my truck I think about everything that has happened today, and I’ve got plenty of time since I have to navigate my way through Playa traffic to get to the industrial complex where for some unknown reason my grandpa thought it was a great idea to buy a warehouse. Why he needs a warehouse beats the hell out of me, but I’ve learned my grandpa is truly one of a kind.

I’m lucky. That’s an odd thing to think after surviving a beating that put me in the hospital for nearly a week, but I’ve got a second chance and that doesn’t happen often for Parkers. Playa Pacifica Community College isn’t my dream, but it’s a place to start. I’ve done a lot more with a lot less. I could feel sorry for myself, or I could get on with living.

I’ll always choose to live. Just like that night when my father decided to beat me while I was sleeping. Shane has never told me why he thought to check on me there, but I’m lucky for that too. I had several fractures to my ribs, a punctured lung that required a chest tube, and a concussion. But, I didn’t have any muscle or ligament tears, no bones broken that would inhibit my movement, and my concussion healed without any lingering damage. Since I’m young, my lung healed after a couple of months.

Being charmed runs in the family, not that that’s a good thing. My father has a streak of good fortune he most certainly doesn’t deserve. No matter what crime he commits, assault, driving while intoxicated, or any of the numerous petty crimes he’s committed over the years, he never spends much time in jail. He went to jail for longer for assaulting me than he was in for assaulting my mom, but thanks to overcrowding he only spent fifty-nine days in the county jail. Supposedly in order to stay out, he has to quit drinking. If he falls off the wagon it’ll violate his parole, but I highly doubt his overworked parole officer even bothers to check up if he’s keeping up with his sobriety. That’s his problem though. My mom is gone, his dad washed his hands of him, and as far as I’m concerned he can enjoy the future of cirrhosis he has ahead of him.

My mom has been making an effort to get me to forgive her. It helps that she refused to leave my bedside while I was in the hospital, and that she called Grandpa Gene to take me in when I was finally released from the hospital. I’m not sure what changed for her, but suddenly everything Wendell says isn’t gospel anymore. And she didn’t seem surprised when Tessa took off in the middle of the night. She’s even tried encouraging me to go after her, like she isn’t the reason we broke up in the first place. She stopped pushing when I refused to speak to her for a few days.

I know she feels guilty for the way she and Wendell came back into town and he demanded Tessa and I end our relationship. She blames herself for Tessa leaving town and for me ending up in the hospital. I know Lloyd and Wendell are the ones I should blame, but I can’t help being angry at Tessa for what happened. It’s unfair, I know, she didn’t try to get me kicked out, and she definitely didn’t put me in the hospital, but she abandoned me when I needed her most. I can’t forgive Tessa just so my mom feels less guilty.

“Hey old man, you aren’t doing shit you shouldn’t be, are you?” I call out when I walk into the warehouse he owns outside Playa Pacifica, not far from the community college.

“Boy, I’ve been taking care of myself for sixty years. I don’t need you hovering over me,” Grandpa shouts out from his shop in the back of the building.

“You’re only seventy,” I point out. He’s a horrible exaggerator.

“And? You think my parents were any better than yours? I tried my best with your daddy, but some people are just born bad. And he took right after my dad. Thankfully, you took after your grandpa.”

“You’re right about that. So, what exactly are we doing with this old building?”

Talk about a blank canvas. This place is in the middle of an industrial park, and not one currently being gentrified. He might have gotten this place for a steal, but what he’s going to do with it escapes me.

He holds his hands out, framing the space, looking at something only he sees. “I’d like to build a boxing gym. Or, maybe something to help young people climb out of the Park. I think we’ll do theField of Dreamsapproach.”

“In that case he knew what he was building though, Gramps,” I point out.

“Eh, I’m old. Just let me tinker with my tools.”

“You bought a whole ass building, old man. That’s a bit more than tinkering.”

“This will be yours when I pass, so quit y’er bitching and help me start to frame the stairs to the upper level.”

We work in silence for hours, and it’s the most peaceful part of my day. I know he wants me to talk about how I’m doing, but he lets me come to him when I’m ready. Shane could learn something from Grandpa Gene.

He puts down his hammer. “I think it’s about time you go call that pretty blonde who has been hanging around.”

“Not you too. Why is everyone up my ass about my relationship with Jen all of a sudden?” I grumble.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re nineteen, you should be chasing girls, not spending all your time with old people.”

“I like spending time with you, Grandpa.”

“Yeah, well Ruthie from across the street doesn’t feel the need to check on me and bring me dinner when she sees you hanging around. You’re cramping my style, kid. So go and take that girl of yours out.”

“You’re not even at home. How would Ruthie know to bring you dinner?” I ask him.

Grandpa Gene sets his tools down and brushes sawdust off his pants. “I’m fixin’ to go home as soon as you go see the lovely Jen. I’ll make myself all vulnerable and lonely, and Ruthie won’t be able to resist rushing over.”

I shake my head. “You’re such a player, Grandpa. Hope she makes the meatloaf again,” I call out as I leave the warehouse.

I hear him chuckling as I close the door. I guess this answers the question of where I got my skills with the ladies. I sure as shit didn’t get it from Lloyd.

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