Page 12 of Big Timber

“Dad, you know what the doctors said.” Breaking away from me, Talia crosses to her dad, squeezing his arm.

Here goes nothing …

“Bill, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” I tentatively start, trying not to grin when Talia shoots a glare in my direction. “Why don’t you give me a minute to see what your daughter picked up this morning, then I’ll whip up something for the three of us. Maybe you could change out the batteries in her opener, and she had that other thing she asked me to fix, but I’m not sure how to go about it.”

Talia looks completely confused, just as Bill starts to look hopeful.

“I didn’t ask you to fix—” And I see the lightbulb click on behind her eyes. “Oh, yeah. It’s making a weird noise.”

“What is?” Bill asks, looking down at his daughter.

“That thing,” she says, waving her hand in frustration as she tries to come up with something. “We wouldn’t want it to be a fire hazard.”

“Okay, I’ll go change out the batteries, but you two are going to have to come up with an actual excuse or Tiny won’t let me off the hook,” Bill says, grinning ear-to-ear as he picks up the batteries he left on the counter.

The moment he’s out the door, Talia is in my arms, standing on tiptoe to give me a kiss.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“Damn right you will,” I respond. “Now get out of my hair—”

“You barely have any,” she sasses back before darting out of my arms when I start to tickle her. “After breakfast, you have to stay off your feet the rest of the day.”

Turning to rummage through the fridge and pantry, I think of my sister for the second time this morning. She’s the reason I learned to cook, after all. Poor thing used to cry with hunger and the local food bank only had staples instead of the microwavabledishes my mom would occasionally stock up on. I started out making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and worked my way up from there.

Chapter 4

Timber

Spending the morning with Bill is much more relaxing than dealing with their whole family all at once. He digs up a few projects to work on after breakfast, then leaves before his presence becomes annoying.

“He’s a good man,” I say when she rejoins me after seeing him out. More surprising than my words is that I really mean them.

“Dad likes you, too,” she replies as she moves to check my ankle. “What about your family? I mean, you mentioned siblings, but your parents?”

I let out a sigh, considering her for a long moment before deciding to tear the bandage off.

“I never met my dad,” I start, and she tightens her mouth as if sensing that I’m starting with the easiest part of my story. “Through my mom, I have at least four older half-siblings and three younger ones. I left home at fourteen, so I’m not sure if there were others.”

“Where did you grow up?”

“Where was I born, or where did I grow up?” I ask with a sardonic grin. Talia flinches before reaching for my hand and I instantly feel bad about my tone. “I was born in part of the Los Angeles sprawl. I don’t remember a lot about the area, just being hungry. A lot. School was good because we got breakfast and lunch there. I didn’t really think about my two older siblings once they left. By then I was trying to take care of Diona, and later, Jayson.”

“Was it Diona that you learned to make French toast for?” she softly asks, remembering something I mentioned when her dad was here.

Nodding my head, I continue. “There were twins, who were a few years older than me. Mom had thrown a family party for them on their eighteenth birthday, a potluck naturally, easier for her to keep her costs down. Then, while the guests were enjoying themselves at the park across from our apartment, she went home to pack bags for my sisters. She put them out that night and I never saw them again.”

“What about Diona? After you left, I mean?” The concern in Talia’s expression brings a warmer smile to my face.

“I remembered her dad from before she was born. I don’t know exactly what the deal was, but Mom—fuck, I hate using that word for her—made co-parenting impossible, I guess. Anyway, it took me a couple of months, but I tracked him down.”

Her head tilts to the side and I can see a myriad of questions in her eyes.

“I hung around his neighborhood until I saw him one day. I explained the situation, and that I was getting out, but I didn’t want to leave Diona without someone watching over her. We worked it so he would come to visit the next time Mom went out for the night,” I explain, releasing a wary sigh, getting frustrated with how long this story is turning out to be. “Anyway, Diona wouldn’t leave without Jayson, and it took another few months, but her dad got custody of her and made a deal with Mom afterward. She signed an agreement that he could raise Jayson also, and she got to keep getting the state benefits for him. It would be their little secret.”

“That’s really fucked up, Tarak,” she whispers, and it’s impossible to miss how moist her green eyes are. “Wait, you said there were three younger than you!”

“She was pregnant when I left.” I shrug. That’s not something I ever let myself think about. I did what I could for Diona and Jayson, then I had to take care of myself.

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