Page 47 of The Handoff

Chapter 24

Dane

Momaskedforboth David and me to be here by the time she came back. I had plans with Lisa tonight, but I had a feeling the plans I had would need to be canceled, so I sent her a text. I knew she read the message, but she didn’t reply.

Something’s come up. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Just can’t do it tonight. D

I sat there looking at my phone in the living room, stroking the leather sofa that I used to sleep on at night. It’d been only two weeks since the shit had hit the fan. David had fucked her when I told him she was mine and we were dating. Daxon had stuck to avoiding her, but David was greedy—not only by being the brainy one, but telling me it was inevitable. I couldn’t believe he was so calm about it all.

She replayed the night she spent with him, thinking it was me. I felt sick to my stomach as she told me about moves I never even knew my brother possessed. I thought the guy was a virgin, but clearly, he wasn’t as he didn’t just take her once, but all night long.

“How long did Mom say she would be?” I asked David, thinking that maybe it would break the silence and we could be civil to each other for once—something we used to do naturally, but lately it had become a chore.

“Any minute. I just sent her a text, and she said she wasn’t far.”

I realized after the confirmation from him, there was nothing more to say about the matter. I tried, wracking my brain, thinking what more to say.

Nothing.

When did two guys who pretended to be the same person find it so hard to communicate?

I wondered if we would get called by the 49ers and I would make it professionally, or if all our efforts for all these years would officially come to a waste?

What a shame…

“Mom,” David said as he heard the key turning in the door, and it was as if he was as relieved as I was about spending as less time with each other as possible.

She smiled, but it was clear with her bloodshot eyes that she had been crying. It was as if she had aged ten years since the last time I saw her.

I ran to the door. “Mom, what happened? Where’s Daxon?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. We said some horrible things to each other, and he left.” I moved behind her to close the door; we didn’t need to give our neighbors something to watch, they loved real-time action and claimed it was better than daytime TV.

“Horrible things?”

“Gee, Dane, give her some space to breathe.” His eyes darted toward me, and I felt as if they were full of daggers as my mouth automatically closed after his scolding. I moved to the living room, thinking we could all sit down and talk. Mom and David slowly followed in the same direction.

“I’m okay, David. I could do with a tea. Just something to calm the nerves.”

“I’ll do it.”

David objected, “No, it’s fine. I asked her what she wanted, so I’ll do it.”

“Oh, the golden boy. Always desperate to shine!”

“Stop it, the two of you! You’re both driving me mad. This is why I wanted Daxon to be here, so we could all sit and talk together, but you two are not capable of doing that, are you? Dane, you left home and didn’t even bother to tell me. You just sent a text!”

I crossed my arms, unable to answer after she just spoke to us like we were a pair of little boys.

“Sorry, Mom,” David said. “I’ll go get the tea and we can all sit down and talk.”

I wanted to say something, but I bit my lip as she nodded and he gave her a warm hug. He didn’t look at me, but he didn’t have to, his coldness did it all for me. It was enough for me to know that he didn’t want me there. He hated me just as much as I hated him right now.

I sat by Mom on the sofa and she smiled at me as she continued to fight back the tears. David was in the kitchen making tea, but it felt as if he was taking forever to do it. I could hear the kettle being switched on, and then I could see him scuttling around looking for cups, or maybe some snacks—whatever it was, it was the only thing breaking the awkward silence between Mom and me. As we both sat in the living room, I turned around on the sofa to see what David was getting up to, just thinking maybe I could help him. I didn’t like the silence on the sofa, but I didn’t want to be anywhere near David, either.

I decided I would speak to Mom, but about what was another issue.

We could talk about what was going on in my life. But I knew the reason she wanted us all to be here was so we could all talk. Maybe settle the peace once and for all.

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