Page 64 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Bobby chewed the inside of his cheek as he sat in silence before saying, “That night, I was second on the scene. The kids were already out of the house when I got there. I made sure they were all right, counted them eighteen times before I did anything else. Max and Zoe were scared out of their minds, Carrie couldn’t stop crying. They didn’t need to stand there and watch the house go up like that, Tom.”

Tommy closed his eyes against the images Bobby painted for him. It hurt like hell to think of them going through it, and he’d probably never forgive himself for not being there that night. Bobby went on as Tommy tried to listen and not let himself get swallowed in regret.

“I knew I could let someone else handle it, but I called a friend down at Family Services. She promised me she could come down to the station and that she’d sit on the kids until I made a few calls.”

“Calls to who?” Tommy asked, confused.

“My mother, for starters. She’s still certified for foster care, Tom. She’s already been through all their bullshit and red tape.”

Tommy had thought of that, but he didn’t know people could simply step up in situations like theirs. He didn’t know it could be taken care of with a few phone calls and a few favors. Though, he realized now what Bobby had meant about Tommy just listening to him.

“Have they been with Judy this whole time?”

Bobby looked at him with an expression that clearly read Finally, dumbass.

“Like I said, if you would’ve listened to me from the start instead of getting shitfaced drunk yesterday, I could’ve told you.” At the question he must have read in Tommy’s eyes, Bobby said, “Gene’s a great guy, but he’s a terrible liar. Did you really think I didn’t know?”

Tommy couldn’t even respond to that. He dropped his head against the back of the seat and pressed his palms into his eyes. The burn of unshed tears prickled under the touch. He didn’t know a person could be so relieved they actually cried. Tommy exhaled a long, pained groan. “Jesus Christ.”

He was sniffling when he let his hands fall into his lap and looked at Bobby again. “It was that simple?”

Bobby glanced down and looked like he was about to confess something. “I wouldn’t say ‘simple.’ I had to call in a lot of favors and have a few strings pulled. We had to fudge a little on the dimensions of the house, but it’ll be fixed by the time we’re inspected.” He wet his lips and added, “Nothing about us is simple, Tom.”

Dread washed through Tommy at those words. The kids were all right, but what about Bobby? “How bad did I fuck up?”

Bobby laughed at that. “Pretty goddamn bad.” He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot before he spoke again. “I’ll probably forgive you eventually, but right now you’ve got seven pissed-off, worried O’Sheas who refused to go to school today. You should be more worried about apologizing to them first.”

When they pulled up in front of Judy’s house, Tommy was almost afraid to face them. Bobby had said they were pissed, and they had every right to be. Before they got out of the car, he asked, “Did you tell them? I mean, about yesterday, and….”

Tommy had been fidgeting with the tail of his scarf, and Bobby reached out and took his hand.

“No,” he answered softly. “I didn’t think I should add anything to what they were already dealing with.”

Tommy nodded his head and let out a shuddering breath.

Bobby went on. “I think Colleen might have guessed. She seems more hurt than angry.”

That was the only thing Bobby could’ve said to make Tommy feel worse. “I better talk to her first,” he whispered, mostly to himself.

Bobby nodded in agreement. “I’ll send her out.”

They both got out of the car, but Tommy lingered on the doorstep as Bobby went inside.

He’d seen Colleen hurt plenty of times over the years. She was more fragile than she liked to admit, and when something got to her, deep down inside, the look on her face alone was enough to gut Tommy. Knowing he’d been the one to hurt her this time was even worse.

Tommy had expected to see her in tears, to see her trembling in the cold. He’d expected her to look down and try to hide her pain from him. What he got was a woman in a rage.

Colleen didn’t say a word to him at first. She barreled down the one step from the doorway and pounded her fist against his arm. She was kicking him and hitting him harder than he ever would have thought her capable of. At first he stood there and took it. Then she started to yell.

“Is this it, Tommy?” She kicked him again. “Is this what you wanna be now? You’re gonna turn into Pop and just leave us on our own?”

She hadn’t stopped hitting him and she punctuated every question with another blow until Tommy wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her in tight and wouldn’t let her move, but she still tried. Her voice was muffled against his shoulder when she asked, “Are you just gonna let everyone else clean up the messes while you disappear?” Then she started to cry.

He couldn’t say anything at first. He held on tighter and tried to catch his breath.

“No, Col,” he whispered after her shudders and sobs had quieted. “I swear to God, that’s not gonna happen.”

Tommy felt sure it was the truth. Even with the wreck things had been that morning, and the stress and confusion and pressure of everything else since, he wasn’t even tempted to go back to the bar and see how long Gene would let him mooch free drinks before he gave him the boot. Doing that was the furthest thing from his mind. When Colleen pulled her head back to see his face, and what he saw was a wary fear in her eyes as she looked him over, Tommy knew it would never happen again. He even wondered if there was some kind of preventative twelve-step program he could sign up for.

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