Page 52 of Blitz
Oh yeah. “Well, I could say something sexist?—”
“I wouldn’t,” Rebecca said as she rushed down the stairs with Winifred on her heels. She looked pretty in a soft white blouse, dark brown slacks, and a jazzy vest with gold threading.
“You’re making us look like slobs,” I said as she twirled around the room, Winnie dancing on her back legs. Guess my girl had also been craving another female. Trick and I were wearing clean jeans topped with polos.
“Someone has to represent,” she said, then paraded past us as she pulled on a sleek winter coat.
I looked at Trick. He shrugged, but his smile was tight. Even with his sister along, he was nervous about meeting my family. I’d told him over and over that they were just ordinary folks. My brothers were goobers. The food would rock his world. We’d eat; we’d talk; we’d fall asleep in front of the TV for the Dallas/NY game. Poor slobs. I was thrilled to not be playing today. Ratings be damned. A soul needed family, and Trick and I had exceptionally weary souls of late.
“I bet I slobber gravy on the front of my shirt before you do,” I commented as we began bundling up for the ride over the bridge to Philly. Winnie wore her little snow boots and a matching mint green coat. A few inches of fresh snow had fallen on the east yesterday. The roads were fine, but the lawns were crunchy. Winnie had very delicate pads. The snow built up between her toes, which made her uncomfortable, so booties it was.
“Probably,” Trick replied as he shrugged into his coat.
I gave him a quick kiss. He blushed deep red as his sister made silly kissy sounds behind us. I was used to sibling teasing. Trick wasn’t, but he broke free from me, then rolled his eyes at both of us before snapping a leash on Winnie to lead her to the garage. We took my Jeep Grand Cherokee for the space. The chatter was pretty steady between Rebecca and me as Trick sat silently, picking at his cuticles. The closer we got to my parents’ home, the pickier he became. Manayunk was quiet. Most people were cooking and getting ready for guests. When we parked in front of the brick rowhouse, he was chewing his lower lip.
I reached over to give his knee a squeeze. His gaze flew to me. “They are going to love you just as much as I do,” I softly said. His smile was shaky.
“Aww, you two are so cute.” Rebecca. Right. I’d nearly forgotten about her in the back seat; I’d been so lost in Trick’s eyes. Yeah, I had it bad. “Your parents’ house is so cute.”
I patted Trick’s leg, then turned off the engine. “It’s small, but it’s home.”
Winnie led the way, yipping in excitement when we entered the house. I breathed in the rich aroma of roasting turkey, sage, and cinnamon. I barely had my coat off when my brother Stevie came barreling around the corner—hair Army-short and wearing jeans and a gaudy Hawaiian shirt. I gave him the biggest hug I could.
“Man, you look like you grew another foot,” I teased my middle sibling.
“Well, I didn’t. Maybe you’re shrinking, old man,” Stevie fired back as we hugged it out. I was so happy he could make it home for a week. His CO had been very accommodating with tweaking block leave for him to fly home. We’d probably not see him at Christmas, but who knew. Maybe we could all fly out after the season was over to lounge on those white Hawaiian beaches. Maybe Trick could come with us. Maybe we would both be out and could hold hands as we walked along enjoying the tropical breeze on our faces…
Speaking of Trick. “Hey, this is my special friend, Trick.” I pulled back in time to see the rest of the Fulkowski clan pushing into the tiny foyer. “And his sister, Rebecca.” Winnie barked. “You all know this attention hound,” I chuckled, then lifted the dog from the floor so she could wash everyone’s faces.
Even though my family knew Trick and I were involved, we had agreed to keep things on the downlow and be cautious. As much as we hated it, the press did know where my familylived. They’d pestered my parents, my brothers, and even the neighbors. I didn’t doubt that someone could be lurking around outside trying to peek in and catch me and Trick doing I don’t know what. Fucking on my mother’s futon? It was a crummy way to live, but until things were all out in the open, we’d be extremely careful the moment we left the security of my home.
Joey seemed to be stapled to Rebecca’s side for the rest of the day. Larry and Trick fell into a long discussion about baseball—a sport that Trick enjoyed watching. Mom and Dad flittered about, ensuring we all ate our fill and then some. Mom kept putting more gravy on Trick’s stuffing and adding extra dollops of whipped cream to his slices—yes slices—of pumpkin pie. Larry took note of the preferential treatment and made a comment.
“When you bring a special friend to dinner, I’ll give them extra whippy too,” Mom parried, which made us all laugh.
Trick was stuffed to the gills and seemed to be about as relaxed as I had ever seen him. I sat back as I sipped my mother’s amazing coffee—mine never tasted this good—and simply enjoyed seeing him interacting with my brothers and parents. He’d never had this in his life, this stupidly loud brothers and sisters and adults and yapping dog sort of bedlam over a table cluttered with dirty dishes and a wishbone set aside for drying and future wishes. I wished I could have changed that for him. We’d both lost our mothers far too young, but I had come here. Trick had been flung into a fucking conversion camp. No warm hugs from a loving father, no younger siblings to care for, no motherly embraces in the night when the nightmares came creeping in. Just cold, harsh hatred. I wasn’t a religious man, but I prayed I never met Pastor Harrington. If I did, I might have to beat him into pudding for what he had done to his son. As I didn’t wish to go to jail for battering a clergyman, it was for the best if his path and mine never crossed.
“Okay, so who’s taking Dallas?” Dad asked before pushing out of his seat with a groan, then waving us all into the kitchen. Mom sat smiling, tired but glowing, as we all started cleaning up around her. She would sit there sipping coffee and nibbling on pie with our guests while we loaded the dishwasher. And wiped the counters, and swept the floor, and made sure her kitchen was as spotless as she always left it.
Football talk filled the kitchen as cleanup got underway. Cookie bets and more coffee were made. I peeked around the corner of the kitchen into the small dining room. Rebecca and my mother were talking about college classes, while Trick poked at his pie crust with his fork.
“If you don’t like crust, you don’t have to eat it,” Mom said, then gave Trick a smile that he returned awkwardly.
“Loser. I love crust!” Rebecca grabbed the crust up, shoved it into her mouth, and then giggled, sending crumbs down the front of her. All three at the table laughed. Honest laughter, rich and warm, bubbled out of Trick. Winnie danced around them hoping for bigger bits of pie crust to drop to the carpet.
Dad hooked an arm around my shoulder. I glanced to the side to see what I would look like in twenty years. Some silver hair, a little softer around the middle, and some well-earned laugh lines.
“You really like him, don’t you?” Dad asked as my dog put on a show that had Trick, Mom, and Rebecca clapping along as Winnie did her feed-me-I’m-so-hungry two-step.
“I love him, Dad,” I whispered over the din of my brothers arguing about which type of shoelace was best. Honestly, the three of them could bicker about the dumbest things. I kind of loved it. Pretty soon someone would be in a headlock. It was inevitable.
“I can tell.” He gave the nape of my neck a squeeze, then turned to yell at the other guys to stop messing around before they broke something.
Trick glanced my way when something in the kitchen clattered to the floor. His gaze met mine, and I saw contentment in his eyes. I mouthed “I love you” to him. He mouthed it back. Then, my brother Joey came charging out of the kitchen as my middle brother was trying to slap a stranglehold on him. The other ape sibling cheered them on as Dad tossed out dire warnings about busting up Mom’s knickknacks.
Called it.
Winnie paddeddown the stairs to join us after checking in on Rebecca.
