Page 100 of Irons

I chuckled. “Wrenly Carlson, she’s my girlfriend.” It almost broke my heart that she didn’t have a nice thing to say about the kid.

“Damn, she’s gorgeous, congrats. I was pretty little, but you don’t forget a girl like that one.”

No shit. “Yeah, she’s definitely unforgettable.”

“Anyway, I don’t have much else to say about dad. He always compared us, saying you were trouble too but made something of yourself. I was sixteen, working two jobs, and that’s what he had to say when I had to drop out of basketball because of my grades. I got in trouble in school a few times, I’ll admit that much, but it wasn’t like I was going out to party. I got a co-op job through the vocational school and washed dishes at night and on the weekends at the restaurant my mom worked at, while he was sick and not doing shit but wallowing in his misery. I don’t know, maybe it’ll mean something to you that he always kept tabs on you, cried about you because he had regrets, but made us all promise on his deathbed that we would never find you. You were better off without our fucked up lives.”

I glanced at him as we pulled into the diner’s parking lot. “He told my mom not to find me?”

“Yep, sort of, I guess. I just remember him telling her that until she found peace with their oldest sons disappearance, she needed to leave you alone. That they were miserable, and you got hurt the most and when you got in trouble it was a blessing for you. You escaped their misery and somehow turned out to be a good man. I also remember her getting mad at him because he kept tabs on you and never told her. He reminded her that you weren’t kidnapped and if you wanted them in your life you would have come home. Obviously I couldn’t blame you for staying away. If I didn’t have the responsibility of taking care of my mom, I’d leave in a heartbeat. Do something better with my life, you know?”

That was a lot to take in, and also not the reason I was spending the day with him. I needed to get the conversation back on track. “I’ll tell you what, I agree we both got a shitty hand, but let’s not focus on dad. Let’s focus on learning more about each other. We’re brothers, right?” I didn’t see it coming, but I was open to the idea. He struggled as a kid, I struggled as a kid, and maybe somehow we can put our heads together and somehow improve his life.

“Are we? I’m not exactly proud of how we met.”

I waved him off. “Forget that, like I said, I’ve had my moments too. Just think, that shitty night put us on the same path and without it, we may never have met. So, let’s go in, have some breakfast and you can tell me all about basketball and maybe a little about what you wish would happen for your life, okay?”

He nodded. “Sure, I’m kind of dying to hear more about your life. Special ops, dude?”

I couldn’t believe it. “Just how much was he able to learn?”

He shook his head. “That wasn’t him, I figured it out.”

“Let’s go inside and you can tell me how you figured that out, it doesn’t sound like it was new information for you.”

We stepped out of the Tahoe, and I locked it before we went inside the diner. It was a seat yourself kind of place, so I led him to a table in the back corner for more privacy. It wasn’t busy, so I felt like it was a good spot.

“Oh…my…God!” I heard a woman squeal before we even took a seat. I turned and saw a waitress but squinted a little to see if she looked familiar.

“Shit.” I muttered.

“What?” Brock asked.

“Hang on tight, or hold your ears, it’s about to get a little crazy.”

“Travis! Oh my God! I’m so excited! I can’t believe you’re home! Holy shit!” Stacy practically knocked me over when she jumped into my arms. “You look amazing!” She nearly busted my eardrum. “Let me get a good look at you.” She stepped back and drank me in, making me feel pretty damn uncomfortable. “What’s brought you home?”

Dammit, she wasn’t even a thought when I came home. She had the biggest fucking mouth of all the girls in school. Granted it was a nice mouth, one that sucked me off too many times to count. “It’s just a short visit, yeah, I came to see my brother.” I was a tad bit weary to mention Wrenly. She didn’t need to be the target of Stacy’s rumors once again.

“Oh, that’s right, your dad had another kid.” She looked at Brock and acted like she was going to squeeze his cheek.“Aren’t you just so adorable? Tall, but you’re a cutie.” She looked back at me. “Let me get your drink orders and I’ll be right back over to hear all about your life now.” She looked at my left hand. “Oh, and you’re still single.” She clapped like an idiot.

She sashayed away, and I looked at Brock. “Not even worth talking about.” I sat and he followed suit.

“Damn, if that’s the shit I had to deal with, I wouldn’t come home either. She didn’t even ask us what we wanted to drink.” He reached for the menu.

I chuckled. “Yeah, nobody said Stacy was the smartest.”

I opened the menu and looked down at it. I reached up and stuck my pinky in my ear and kind if shook it. There was a high pitched ringing in it, then I looked up and saw Brock was doing the same thing. I had to laugh. “Imagine if she was closer, like when she squealed directly in my ear.”

“Damn, you must have been a good lay, she’s really excited to see you.”

I busted out laughing, not believing he said it.

He shrugged. “It’s kind of obvious.”

I shook my head. “I was fourteen and she was sixteen. It didn’t last long, believe me. I was just a kid and didn’t know better.”

“Oh, I definitely get it.” He looked back down at the menu. “My biggest mistake was during my co-op. She was the shop owners daughter and never kept her hands to herself. I was sixteen and she was eighteen when I finally gave in. She worked as a secretary at her dad’s shop and every damn day I sweat beads worrying that she would tell on me. See her all the time and she acts the same damn way, except now she’s knocked upby one of my classmates and he’s really sweating beads. Her dad is kind of a badass.”

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