Page 64 of Beyond Oblivion

“Right behind you,” I said, following him out the front door and down the steps.

Before we could intervene, Jessica was already mid-rant. “Say that to my brother again, you little shit, and I’ll hit you so hard you’ll be Googling how to stop crying!”

“Oh! Whoa!” Travis said, trying not to smile as he jogged over. “What’s going on?”

“He,” Jessica said, pointing to a freckle-faced ginger kid, “called James a pussy!”

“Did not!” the kid spat.

Chaos erupted—everyone yelling over each other, with Olive standing between them, her arms extended to keep them separated.

“Ooookay!” Travis said, gently moving Olive and taking her place. “Okay. You,” he pointed to the boys, “get your asses home before my daughter hands them to you. And trust me, she’s not all talk. You,” he said, pointing to our kids, “get inside. Now.”

“But, Daddy!” Jessica protested.

“What’d I say?” Travis said, stern.

Jessica’s shoulders fell and she trudged into the house, followed by James and Olive.

Once inside, the twins were talking over each other to explain.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Travis said, holding up his hands. “One at a time. Olive? Tell me what happened.”

“They were, um, those boys were riding by on their bikes and said something about James playing with girls. Then they came back and kept calling him names, so Jess yelled at them. So, they threw down their bikes and acted like they wanted to fight. So, Jess told them… um…” she looked to Jessica.

“Tell him, I don’t care,” Jessica said, defiant.

“That she’d defend her brother,” Olive said, a pained smile fixed on her face.

“Oh, that,” I said, shaking my finger at Olive while looking at my brother. “That’s her lie face. Olive can’t lie for shit.”

“I don’t have a lie face!” Olive insisted, elbowing me in the ribs.

Travis narrowed his eyes. “I bet that’s exactly how she worded it.”

“Basically,” Olive said with a shit-eating grin.

I patted my niece on the back. “You did good, Jess, but you’ve gotta let him fight his own battles.”

“I tried!” James said. “She wouldn’t shut up long enough!”

Jessica bumped him with her bony hip, and he rubbed the spot but refused to let her know it hurt.

“Hey!” Travis said, separating them. “Didn’t you just threaten that kid’s face for that?”

“He’s my brother,I can. If anyone else does, God help ’em,” she said, unapologetic.

Travis was fighting for his life, visibly trying not to burst into laughter. I couldn’t blame him. I was sure we’d had that same conversation with Dad a hundred times growing up.

He finally fixed his face long enough to scold her, “You need to watch that mouth of yours. I’m tired of explaining to other parents why their kid knows a whole new vocabulary of inappropriate insults.”

“He’s the one who called James a pussy,” Jessica grumbled.

“Jessica Maddox!” Travis said, unable to speak without chuckling. He forced himself to look serious before he spoke again. “I’m glad you protect your brother. I am,” Travis said, his tone a mix of stern dad and exhausted referee. “But you’ve gotta figure out a way to send that message without, you know, without child services getting called.”

“You said to put the fear of God into them to avoid an altercash… an altercade… a fight! That’s what I did! They didn’t expect me to say all that and they stopped rushing us!” Jessica said.

He looked at me, and then Abby, who’d just joined us. “Help me out here, Pidge.”

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