Page 3 of Actions and Reactions
Nothing is ever truly live TV after all.
But... Dad knew he was going to go off on Nilsson like that.
Why would he have asked me to watch otherwise?
What does he want from me now?
The answer comes two minutes later in the form of a group text created by my mother... and Ruko’s ex-wife, Aunt Lyla.
They’re not actually my aunt and uncle, not by blood, but they earned those names from me and Charlotte. Andsince Lyla and Ruko’s divorce was the friendliest divorce in the history of divorces, she still is, and always will be, Aunt Lyla.
She also happens to be a great friend to my mom, so I’m not surprised that they’d band together for something, but I am surprised by the other members of the group.
It’s Charlotte, Alexei, Ivan, and me.
And there’s only one message—one order.
Mom:
Family vacation in the Adirondacks cabin.
Aunt Lyla:
Tomorrow.
There hasn’t been a family call like this one in a long time, not since I was fifteen and I told my best friend in the world I never wanted to speak to him again.
The coward who lives inside me, the one who made me tell those horrible lies, comes out once more with a new dangerous idea.
I could ignore it.
Another text comes through right as those words echo in my mind.
Ivan:
I’ll be there.
No, I tell the asshole in my head. There’s no way I’m not going. If I know one thing about my friendship with Vinny, it’s that it’s worth resuscitating.
It’s time to finally face the consequences of my actions.
1
Ivan Jankowski—Eagle
I’ve never been knownfor my patience.
Mom has said many times I could never wait for anything, even as a baby, and if anyone were to ask for her opinion today, not much about my personality has changed since then.
Waiting isn’t something I care to do. Thinking things over, mulling over a decision, giving people time... I do none of it.
I act.
As a hockey player, when I’m on the ice that attitude has served me well—it hasn’t in literally every other aspect of my life, but I am trying to get better.
I fucked up the most important and essential relationship in my life because of my inability to stop and think.
Hindsight is not kind to me.
