Page 48 of Unbound

“Mom, Rawley pushed me!”

I reach out and pull her thick brown hair, hard. “Stop lying.”

And then she turns and goes to slap me upside the head. I catch her hand. “Don’t you fuckin’ dare.”

Her glare hardens, the lines in her face hardening. “You’re such a dick.”

“You’re a dick. You tried to get me in trouble with Ma.”

We both look up when we see boots standing in front of us and judgment on his face. “Get off the floor,” Red grumbles, rolling his eyes at us. He has Chevy in his hands.

Raven jumps up, kneeing me in the balls when she does it and takes Chevy from him.

“Careful, he just ate.” Red no sooner gets the words out and his kid pukes.

Guess who’s still sitting on the floor and catches the puke?

Yep. Me. Some goes in my mouth.

Red laughs, taking Chevy from her. “Told you.”

I gag and get to my feet. Mostly because I think I might puke. “Raven… you did that on purpose!” My stomach rolls and my throat tightens.

“Oh, let’s face it.” Raven kicks me in the stomach. “That’s not the first time someone’s puked on you.”

She’s right. It’s not but still. Most of the puke went on my T-shirt, so I grab a hold of Raven before she can get away, I wrap my arms around her and rub her face in it.

That gets Red and Chevy both laughing as Mom and Sophie walk into the room, Sophie holding Lyric.

The minute he hears my laughter, Lyric looks for me and smiles. He wiggles until Sophie sets him on the floor. He takes off immediately and right over to my feet. I don’t hesitate and lean down to pick him up.

When I bring him to my chest and hold him close, he touches my cheek and smiles, then my nose and lips as I say, “Hey there, buddy.”

Someone clears their throat and I notice Red, Sophie, and Raven staring at me along with Tyler, who just walked in. “What?” I ask, wondering why they’re all looking at me.

“I need a beer,” Red says, turning around.

Tyler smiles and grabs a hold of Raven’s hand, yanking her to his side. “And I need water.” As they’re walking out of the room, Tyler scrunches his nose. “Why do you smell like baby puke?”

She shoves him into the wall. “Because I do.”

Sophie laughs, watching them walk away and then turns back to me. “I can take him if you want to change your shirt.”

I look down at the puke on my right shoulder. “Oh, yeah.” I don’t want to put him down though, and I also want to talk to Sophie, alone. There’s a moment where I struggle with what to say, and when. The house is full of people and now isn’t the time, but she’s looking at me like she’s desperately waiting for me to say something.

Squeezing my eyes shut for a moment, I push out a needed breath and remember her look in the driveway this morning and the tone of her voice.

Water pools in her eyes when she looks at Lyric in my arms and then me. He wiggles in my arms when he notices Chevy on the ground and Nova crawling after him laughing. Knowing he probably wants down, I set him on the floor.

He takes off immediately, crawling as fast as his little arms and legs will take him into the kitchen after them.

Sophie turns and follows them. Maybe she doesn’t want me talking to her right now.

I run upstairs and change my shirt before making my way into the kitchen. Almost everyone is gathered in the family room off the kitchen. Mom’s near the stove with my Aunt Gale, both with glasses of wine in their hands, laughing.

Aunt Gale spots me immediately and smiles. She is probably my favorite aunt. Not because when I was little I was clearly her favorite and she used to bring me Laffy Taffy whenever she’d come over, but because she always believed I’d be a rock star someday. She’d tell me constantly, “You’re going to be a star someday, boy.”

I don’t think I’m star level yet, but I am doing pretty well for myself and have a good following in Seattle. It doesn’t matter to me if I’m a star. I want to perform and if I can do that and make a living to pay bills, it doesn’t matter how famous I am or become. In my mind I’ve made it already.

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