Page 129 of Honeysuckle
“You just answered my question.” Cael looked me up and down as he backed away, his vague statement set me on edge as I started down the stairs to meet Silas as they entered through the front door. “And Josh,” Cael leaned over the banister. "I’m not competition, I’m just the guard dog,” he added, lifting his hands in surrender.
“What’s he whining about now?” Arlo threw his hat on the table in the hallway and tried to catch a glimpse of Cael.
“Nothing, he’s just being a brat.” I stepped down from the last step. “You guys locked up?” I asked as Jensen tossed his keys away and excused himself into the house.
“We caught two more of them trying to come up here, I don’t want them on the lawn. Harassing us from the street is bad enough.” Arlo shook his head. "It’s on an automatic lock, I’ll have Dean get you an opener for your car…”
“Don’t bother,” I said, and Arlo scowled. “I’m always with him anyway. Honestly, my car might be better off sold for parts.” I laughed awkwardly. Arlo just glared. I was trying to be personable, but the joke fell flat, and a tense silence fell over us.
“Yeah… I’m going to go find Blondie.” Arlo looked between Silas and me before disappearing, leaving us to suffer in silence alone.
“You’ve been staying with your mom?” I asked him and he nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. The dark red long-sleeved shirt he wore stretched over his arms, and I could see how tense he was through the thin fabric.
“She’s fine. It’s just... a lot. She didn’t expect her husband to wind up in jail, but she’s been meeting with lawyers. Money is moving, news is talking… I didn’t come up here to talk about my mother,” he said, pulling his hat off and fixing his hair with his hand.
“Alright, what do you need me to do?” I asked, expecting him to need testimony or to meet with lawyers. I didn’t want a cent of their money more than getting me through the rest of school. I just wanted everything over with.
“Nothing, I-” he sighed. “I came over here to talk to you about getting your mom into a facility, there’s a bed for her if you think she’ll take it.”
“You want to put my mother in rehab…” I scowled, aware that I wasn’t hiding the confusion or the resentment for his family in my expression.
“It’s not a handout or an apology. It’s something I wanted to offer, maybe in a desperate attempt to show you that I do care. That this isn’t about the money or the news… I really am trying to be your brother, Josh.”
I chuckled, the air leaving my lungs in a low huff.
“Dean told me that you aren’t big on favors.” Silas swallowed and I made a mental note to kick Tucker’s ass for telling him anything. “Riona runs a program on the weekend in Lorette for underprivileged kids, it’s a sports program that runs in hand with the child services committee in the city. They work with kids, teaching them how to manage their emotions through play,” he said. “She wants you to come coach the baseball team.”
“A trade.” I chewed the inside of my cheek, still angry with Dean and his big mouth but also grateful for his stupid, soft heart. “Fine.”
“Yeah?” Silas perked up, and a smile spread across his face. “They’re middle school kids, rough and mean, but you have experience with that.”
“There’s really a bed for her? For my mom?” I swung the conversation back around.
“Yeah, we can bring her in today if you want, we can run by before practice,” he said, his mood lifted from before. He must have been trying to figure out a way to ask me for days before he finally found the courage.
I nodded. "She’s going to fight it.”
“That’s okay, do you need to bring anything…” he asked, staring toward the door.
I looked up the stairs, tempted to bring Dean, but I shook my head. "No, let's get this over with.”
“I forgot how horrible this neighborhood was.” Silas cut the engine on the fastback Arlo had reluctantly handed over the keys to. There was no way I was getting on the back of the bike and holding on to him all the way to Lorette.
“It’s fine, just lock the doors.” I shrugged. "If they break the windows, you’re taking the blame, me and Arlo, I just became friends.”
“I’m not, that’s what I would define your relationship as, he doesn’t want to strangle you anymore, and that’s a start.” Silas locked the car and followed me up the cracked pavement to the front entrance. The building reeked of mold, smoke, and stale beer as we climbed the stairs to her apartment.
I knocked once, but as predicted, she didn’t answer. "You should probably stay here. If she sees you, it’s only going to make this worse.”
Silas’s jaw tightened. "I told Tucker I wouldn’t let you go inside alone,” he said quietly.
“That idiot,” I sighed and pushed the key into the lock. I popped the door open, and the smell of rotten fruit was the first thing to invade my senses. “Fuck sakes.” I gagged, stepping inside to see the kitchen infested with fruit flies and trash.
Silas covered his nose with the collar of his shirt as we made our way through the apartment. I called out to Mom more than once without an answer, kicking the trash out of my way as I went to create a path.
“Maybe she’s not here,” Silas mumbled under his breath.
“She doesn’t leave, Silas,ever.” I chewed on my lip and pushed further into the apartment, my breath catching knowing that he would see the door.
