Page 27 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

When she pulled back, her chin was quivering, putting him in mind of her when she was a baby. She said softly, “Thanks, Tommy.”

What could he say to that? Tommy nodded and steered her over to Bobby’s car, hitting the button twice to unlock both doors. “Wanna run away to Mexico?” He was hoping to get a smile from her. “It’s got a full tank of gas and I’m willing to bet he’s got some cash stashed in there.”

Her laugh was more wounded than cheerful. “Canada’s closer.”

“Too cold. I want a warm beach and margaritas.”

Despite the jokes about running away from home, Tommy drove carefully back to the house and parked Bobby’s car out front, making sure to lock it and set the alarm before he and Colleen started up the walkway.

The closer they got to the front door, the more obvious it became that something wasn’t right. A riot of noise greeted them and the windows were shaking as things slammed around in the house. He could hear Max and Zoe crying from somewhere inside.

“Jesus, I’m gone one hour…,” Tommy grumbled as he went up the stairs. Colleen trailed behind him, looking ready for whatever awaited them.

When they got the door open, the house looked like a tornado had hit it. Furniture was tipped over, one of the curtains was down, books and toys were strewn from one side of the house to the other. When he saw Bobby standing in the middle of the living room with his arms crossed over his chest and a look of barely restrained anger on his face, Tommy knew without asking what had happened. No way had his kids done this. “Where is she now?”

Bobby looked at him and nodded his head toward the kitchen door. A loud bang sounded on the other side. To Bobby’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. “Kitchen,” he said flatly. “I usually have a gun on me when I have to deal with people like this.”

Tommy almost laughed. “Where’s the kids?”

“I sent them upstairs and haven’t let her go up there.”

Tommy could tell he was trying to remain calm, but it looked like Bobby was about to lose his cool any second.

“I thought about getting them all out of here, but I didn’t wanna leave Cheryl here unattended, and I didn’t want you coming back and finding me and the kids gone.”

Tommy nodded in understanding, thankful Bobby knew better than to take off with the kids without warning. Just as he was about to say so, he heard a loud shriek from the kitchen and then Cheryl yelled, “Goddamn it, Tommy! Where did you put it?”

He knew exactly what she was talking about as soon as she said it. The last time Cheryl and Cal had made an appearance, Tommy found a small baggie of what looked like meth. He didn’t bother to investigate it further. He flushed it down the toilet as soon as they’d left.

Growling as he started to stalk toward the kitchen, Tommy paused when he heard Bobby say, “Colleen, go get three of the kids and put them in my car, pack up the rest in yours. We’re going out.”

She was already starting up the stairs to gather the kids. Tommy turned to Bobby and said, “Gotta hit the gas station first, we’re on fumes.” He pulled out his wallet and passed Bobby a twenty and the keys to Bobby’s car. “Give the cash to Colleen for some gas. I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit.” He added, “Lemme know where you’re headed.”

Cheryl was still making all kinds of noise from the other side of the door. Pots and pans were falling to the ground—or being thrown against walls, Tommy wasn’t sure.

“I’m taking them to dinner.” Bobby worked his jaw again, looking like he was waiting for Tommy’s argument.

“We can’t afford that.”

“I can. That psychopath in there decided to look for her stash in the spaghetti sauce me and Carrie made. The kids need to eat, Tom.”

Tommy swore under his breath, rubbing his fingertips over his forehead, trying to chase away his headache. “It’s not like this is anything new to them, Bobby. Getting away from it for one night isn’t gonna change their lives.”

“Probably not, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit around and listen to that while they’re upstairs crying and hungry.”

“Nobody asked you to!” Tommy roared.

He was so goddamn tired of his life, so tired of all the people who stumbled in and fucked it up for him when they were managing. Total strangers, Cal, Cheryl, and now Bobby. He knew it was unfair, knew Bobby was more help than Tommy liked to admit, but Jesus. The last thing he needed was to be standing there listening to Cheryl tear the house apart while he argued with someone about what was right and wrong for the kids and where their next meal was coming from. He fed them. He kept them safe. Having someone swoop in—yes, swoop—and tell him they’d handle things for him pissed Tommy off. He didn’t need help from anyone.

Bobby stared at him for a long minute, stone-faced and unyielding. “Nobody said you did.” His voice was just loud enough to be heard over the cacophony coming from the kitchen. “God forbid you should ever ask someone for anything, Tom.”

Too much noise, too much to deal with, and too many goddamn catastrophes for one day made Tommy irritable. “You’re fucking right I didn’t ask for anything! I didn’t ask for this,” he yelled, waving his arms around the destroyed living room. “I didn’t ask for that,” Tommy punctuated his comment with a finger pointed at the kitchen door. “And I didn’t ask for you.”

That last comment was too far, not even entirely true, and he knew it, but he couldn’t take it back either. He was still fuming and not ready to back down yet. Instead he stepped closer to Bobby, nearly in his face, and hissed, “I don’t ask for anything for a reason.”

Bobby didn’t pull back. Colleen trudged down the stairs with Zoe in her arms and the rest of the kids in tow. Bobby tossed her the keys to his car and then looked at Tommy again. “There comes a point, Tom, where martyrdom for its own sake is ill-advised.” He did step back then, but only to take Max from Carrie as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. With the baby calming down, Bobby looked at Tommy again. “When you’re ready to un-nail yourself from that cross you carry around, let me know.”

It took Tommy less than a minute to pull himself together and realize the noise in the kitchen had stopped. He needed to talk to Bobby, probably apologize for what he’d said, but as usual, there wasn’t time for any of that. There was never time for anything he needed or wanted, and this day, as shitty as it was, had been good for one thing. It illustrated for Bobby exactly what Tommy meant when he said he couldn’t. He couldn’t run off with Bobby for a night. He couldn’t take his eyes off his family for one second. And he couldn’t give in and let someone else take care of things even for one hour. He’d tried that, hadn’t he? And look at the ruin waiting for him when he got home. “Martyr, my ass,” he muttered as he kicked the kitchen door open.

---