Page 173 of Restless
Rule shook his head.
Clasping his hands together, Dad leaned forward. “Did you do schoolwork?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“My ass got a question, boy. If you want to be a priest, I won’t stop you. But you’ve crossed a line. Most clergymen are well-rounded. Well before your ma got so sick, you’d started praying a lot. What got you on such a singular track?”
“I like to draw.”
Dad nodded. “I carried a couple of your drawings in my cut for years.”
“I just hated being around the cousins. Ryan was always so mean to me. CJ and Rebel defended me. I still felt out of place, like I was the only one who needed protection. When I’m alone, I don’t feel that way.”
“So, Ryan should be fucked up for turning you into you,” Rebel said with disgust.
“Baby, I know the lil’ motherfucker your twin, but would you please shut the fuck up foronefuckin’ minute so I can talk to him?”
Tabitha smirked at Rebel.
“Fuck off, bitch,” Rebel snarled. “Daddy told me to keep quiet forhim. Not you.”
“Rule, after I bring your ma back upstairs, you and me talkin’. Hear, boy?”
Rule nodded.
“I came downstairs to thank you for the meal, Tabitha,” Mom said, a smile pasted on her lips.
“I thought maybe you needed help with Gunner,” Tabitha cooed.
“Bunny took Gunner to her house,” Mom said, frowning at Axel’s spot. “No one ever said why there’s water on the table or where Axel might be.”
“Axel was bored, Mom,” CJ inserted, “so he decided to pretend to drink water.”
“And poured it all over himself,” Rebel added.
“Ain’t I beat his lil’ ass a couple times over that?” Dad asked Mom.
Giggling, she nodded, and he chuckled. For some reason, they all began laughing, and the intensity of the arguments floated away.
“Where is Axel?” Mom asked again, once the humor died down.
“He went to get a mop, Aunt Meggie,” Tabitha said. “I threatened to send him to bed with no dessert for disrespecting me.”
“I see.” Mom gulped from Rebel’s glass again. “In future, please tell me or Christopher if one of the kids misbehave. We’ll dole out the punishments.”
“As the only other adult woman in the house, I thought it was my job, Aunt Meggie.”
“You thought wrong,” Mom retorted.
“But—”
“Look, Tabitha,” Dad interrupted. “Megan told you to shut the fuck up about our lil’ motherfuckers. End of fuckin’ story. Your arguin’ is stressin’ her out. If you don’t want me to throw you the fuck out, shut the fuck up and accept what she said. This isherfuckin’ house. She lay the rules.” His look of dislike exposed his real feelings. “I enforce the motherfuckers. Underfuckinstand?”
A moment of silence followed before Mom looked at CJ. “What have you been up to, son?”
“I spent the morning with Molly, then I visited Jaleena to pick up my schoolwork.”
“You and school just don’t fucking mix, huh, CJ?” Ryder asked, a plastic straw hanging from one of his nostrils.
