The Rock Season (25 page)

“That sounds good, as long as you promise to lay down with me. I know from experience that the couch sucks to sleep on.”

She grinned and brought me my crutches.

It took us awhile to get up the stairs and I was huffing and puffing when I reached the top. I had to sit on my ass and pull myself up the stairs backwards. Thankfully, it was only my leg. If I would have had sore ribs like Peter, I never could have done it. Stevie looked worried the whole time, but I assured her it was good for me to move around like this, even if it did hurt like a bitch.

We went in the bathroom first and she helped me get undressed. She made good on the offer of a sponge bath and we quickly discovered an area that wasn’t adversely affected by this whole disaster. She promised that as soon as I was feeling better she’d take care of me and I laughed.

“You are taking care of me. He can wait.”

Stevie shaved my face and even my head, giggling the whole time.

“This is so much fun! You have to let me do this even when you’re better.”

I chuckled at her joke, but in reality I was starting to get a little too comfortable thinking about our future together. Part of me was sure we weren’t out of the woods yet, that any minute she was going to run for the hills, despite her promises to me. I tried not to think about it, but it was there. It hurt so bad last time, I wasn’t sure I could take it again.

Once Stevie finished with me, she took a quick shower while I watched. It almost made me forget my broken fucking leg. It was that incredible. She stepped out when she was done and wrapped herself up in a towel and handed me Pops’ bathrobe.

“You’ll look quite Hugh Heffner-esque, lover.”

I rolled my eyes and let her help me into the sleeves and loosely tie the belt. I made it to the bed and she helped me get my leg rested in an elevated position. She dressed in yoga pants and a tank, during which I pouted dramatically, and then curled up next to me. We were out in seconds.

Stevie

Aaron and I took a much-needed nap and I woke refreshed. I helped him into some basketball shorts and a t-shirt so he could take care of things with the alarm company. I checked on Peter and found him sleeping soundly. That left the housework. I quickly discovered that Aaron had been the only one doing laundry and the twins had a shit-ton of dirty clothes spilling out of the hamper and all over the corner of their room. I collected it all in three trips and carried it downstairs to the laundry room behind the kitchen. I did the boys’ and Aaron’s over the course of the next two days.

Patrick said school was uneventful. He came home restless, though, and asked if he could go into work.

“Schroeder’s got it, little man. Why don’t you just go up and work out?”

He shrugged and went out back. I hated to see him so down in the dumps so I followed him out and asked him if there was something special he wanted for dinner.

“Do you know how to make any Mexican food? We haven’t had that in a long time. Peter really likes it.”

He was not making it easy to get to know him.

“Sure, I can do that, but I wondered if there was anything I could do for you?”  

He looked at me with soulful eyes and I felt his pain. “You’re taking care of my brothers, that’s all I need.” He turned and quickly climbed the steps to Aaron’s apartment and went inside. Crap.

The alarm guys worked into the evening and Aaron sat with Peter in the living room figuring out how to use the security cameras with the laptop and Aaron’s iPhone. They were really cute geeking out like that. I fixed chicken enchiladas and received thanks from both of the boys and Aaron. Dinner was quiet. Both Aaron and Peter were still in a lot of pain. After dinner the boys went up to their room with the intention of playing computer games. I was taking some laundry up to their room when I heard them arguing.

“I don’t give a shit, Peter! If he says anything else about you I’m going to kick his ass. I don’t care if it gets me kicked off the team.”

I paused outside their door and then knocked. Patrick pulled the door opened, his expression startled.

“Hey guys, I got some of your clothes washed. I tried not to mix them with Aaron’s, but if you find any that aren’t yours, just put them back in the basket.”

He nodded, taking the basket from me.

“Thanks, Stevie,” they both muttered.

Shit. Now I was in a bad position. I didn’t want to rat him out to Aaron, but Aaron needed to know something was up. I went back downstairs to find Aaron deep in conversation on his cell.

“Right… Thanks for letting me know, Hammond. I’m sorry I won’t be there to help out...Sure… Tell Karen, hi for us… Alright, I will. And you let me know if anything else comes up, ok? I need your eyes and ears right now. Take care.” He put the phone down and dropped his head into his hands. He spoke without looking up.

“Jesus, the hits just keep on coming.” Thankfully Patrick’s coach did the ratting for me. “One of the defendant’s friends is on the team with Patrick and apparently they had words in the locker room. Dammit! How am I going to get him to keep a lid on it? Peter’s the more level-headed one, and he’s not there to diffuse the situation! Fuck! PATRICK!”

I felt awful for him.

Patrick came stomping down the steps.

“I just talked to Hammond,” Aaron growled. “He said you and another kid got into a little heated discussion in the locker room. Care to enlighten me?”

Patrick crossed his arms over his chest and got pissed. “What do you want to know? That John and Chris were really concerned about Peter and were hoping he’d be back soon? Sure, Asshole! That’s exactly how it went down. What did you think was going to happen?”

Aaron’s expression darkened and I watched his jaw twitch. “I told you to respect your brothers, Patrick. Watch your mouth! And as for the guys on your team? You have a problem, you talk to your coach. You can’t be fighting, bro! You just can’t, for so many reasons. I hate it that you are in this position, but you go to school and you keep your mouth shut, you hear me?”  

Patrick flinched and looked frustrated. “I’m not trying to get into a fight, but I can’t just stand there and take it when they call my brother a pussy for not showing his face at school.” He spoke in a quiet tone so Peter wouldn’t hear.

Aaron’s expression softened a little and he exhaled. “I’m sorry you are having to deal with all of this by yourself…”

“Yeah, well, I’m the only one who didn’t get hurt so it’s on me.” Patrick’s eyes looked wet and I realized right then that part of his dour mood was guilt.

“Patrick,” I cut in, looking to Aaron in apology. “None of this is your fault. None of this is anyone’s fault except for the idiots who made a stupid decision over the summer. Unfortunately, everyone else is having to pay for it. You two, Gretchen… Anita. I know you want to protect your brother, but desperate people will do desperate things to protect themselves. I hate to see you get hurt because of someone else’s bad decision.”

He looked at me in earnest and I knew he heard what I wasn’t saying as well. He nodded and looked back at Aaron. “I’m sorry, bro. I’ll try harder.”

Aaron motioned for him to come over and give him a hug, which he did. When he went back upstairs, Aaron spoke softly. “Let the shitstorm begin.”

Aaron

And boy did it! The next day at school, someone slashed a tire on the Camry. Patrick texted me so I told him to get his AAA card out and have Mr. San Juan help him, which he did. Vince also waited with Patrick until the tire was changed and he could drive home. I had Schroeder meet him and they got a new tire. The D.A. finally got back to me and said that yes, the three rapists would be having their day in court. I told him what had been going on and he told me he would personally look into the police reports and see what was happening in the investigation.

The day after that, Peter fought with me until I let him go with Patrick to school. The boys had no practice, so they were going to come home right after school. When they still weren’t home by 5:00, I started blowing up their phones until Peter finally called and said someone had slashed two of their tires and they were waiting for AAA again.

Thursday I got a call from Vince that there was an altercation in the hall by the boys’ lockers. Someone had written “snitches” on their lockers. The boys were fuming when they got home. I agreed with Stevie that I needed to call my parents.

Mom answered her cell phone. “Son, what is it? You sound troubled.”

I told her everything and she was very upset.

“I will make arrangements to come home as soon as I can. I will try to make your father stay here with his mother. They are having a lovely time and your father seems stronger than ever. I doubt he will stay if he thinks there is danger.”

We talked about it some more and she told me she would call me the next day.

Stevie was such a trooper. She put up with all of our moodiness, she cooked and cleaned, and she never lost her smile. At night, we laid side-by-side whispering to each other in the dark our hopes and dreams for the future. I tried to let her know every minute just how grateful I was for her sacrifice.

“It’s not a sacrifice,” she said. “I love you, Aaron. I want to take care of you and your family. I wish it were under different circumstances, sure, but I want to be here with you and your brothers.” She was saying and doing all the right things. I was still afraid.

Friday morning the boys left for school and Stevie was cleaning up after breakfast when the phone rang.

“Pops! It’s good to hear your voice.” He told me in no uncertain terms that he and Mom were coming home and there was to be no arguing.

“But Pops, I can handle this. Don’t cut your time short.”

He grumbled at me, “And how the hell d’ye expect me to relax when my boys aren’t safe! Yer Ma didn’t tell me until yesterday how hurt ye were! Dammit, son, I told ye I didn’t want you giving up yer life. The twins are my responsibility. Now ye just hold down the fort until I can get there, d’ye hear me? And then you are going to take care a’ that leg.”

I tried arguing to no avail. We hung up and I dropped my head onto the table. Then I dropped it a little harder for good measure.

“Just fucking fantastic!”

Stevie came and sat next to me. “I’m sorry, Aaron. I figured they would want to be here. It’s not your fault-”

“Then who the fuck is responsible? I let my brothers down! Hell, my little brother got his fucking face smashed in because I was too busy messing around with you.” I knew my little temper tantrum had gone too far when I saw her face fall.

“I’m sorry, Stevie. I didn’t mean-”

“It’s ok. You’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed that night. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. The bottom line is that it did happen and you have done the best you could to take care of your brothers in your parents’ absence. I just hate to see you beating yourself up over this.”

She was trying to make me feel better, but I didn’t want to feel better. I slammed my fist down on the table, already tired of being a fucking invalid.

“I just hate this!”

 She sat for a minute before going into the other room to pull out some more laundry. The house was cleaner than ever, the laundry was done and we’d been eating like kings, all because of Stevie. And I hated it. This isn’t how it was supposed to be. I started to tell her when I simultaneously heard the Camry pull up and my phone started ringing.

“Aaron? It’s Vince. Hey, your brothers apparently just had an altercation with some boys in the parking lot. Some kids reported it and we were headed out there when I saw them pull away-”

Stevie met them at the door and the two of them spilled inside, blood on their faces and clothes.

“What the fuck happened,” I yelled.

Stevie quietly grabbed ice packs from the freezer and started cleaning them up. Peter and Patrick were full of adrenaline.

Patrick sneered, “We didn’t even make it into the fucking school. John and Chris and four other guys who weren’t students were waiting for us. They told us if we testified against their friends, they’d come for us again and this time, we wouldn’t walk away. I told them ‘we’re here now. Why wait?’ Jon took a swing at me so I took him out. Chris and Peter went at it and once Jon was down, I looked at the other four and they must have seen the teachers coming because they took off like a bunch of pussies.”

Oh, Jesus. This was beyond terrible.

“Vince? You still there? They’re here.” He said he’d already called the police and were taking statements from witnesses. “That’s all well and good, but why the fuck wasn’t anyone watching the parking lot, Vince? They could have been killed!”

Vince tried to calm me down, but I was done talking to him. I told him if he couldn’t keep my brothers safe, they weren’t going back to that school.

I barely heard Stevie telling me that they were ok, just some scrapes and Patrick had a fat lip. I sent them to their room and told them to stay there until the police arrived. I stood up and almost fell over trying to grab for my crutches.

“Aaron! Here, let me help you-”

“Help me what? Fuck! I can’t even do one simple thing! Keep my fucking brothers safe!”

I pushed away from her and hobbled out onto the back steps to wait for the cops Vince said he sent my way. I needed to get calm before I tried to talk to anyone. I felt so damn helpless.

Stevie

I felt so damn helpless! I’d cleaned and cooked so much for these boys and it wasn’t enough. I didn’t know what to do for Aaron so I gave him his space. I went into the living room and picked up what little mess was there. Cleaning was the only thing that had kept me sane this past week. Aaron grew more and more irritable as the twins’ troubles piled and piled. I gave him back rubs. I cooked their favorites. I tried to keep things moving, but in this, I felt like an outsider. Aaron was keeping me out and there was nothing I could do about it….Except for making a call.

“Hey Stevie, is he being an asshole already? I-”

“Schroeder is there any way you can come over?” I told him everything and he told me he’d call Callie to come over and mind the store with their new employee that he hadn’t even had a chance to tell Aaron about.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

When I came back in the kitchen, Aaron was talking to the cops on the porch so I did the only thing I knew to do. I made tea. I carried it out to him, but instead of taking it, he shot me an irritated look, and ignored the cup I was offering. Flustered, I poured it out in the sink, resisting the temptation to throw it at him. I figured that wouldn’t go over well with the cops there. I went up and got the brothers, who were lying in their beds staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, the police just got here-”

They both groaned loudly.

Peter said, “Not again! Do we have to…Duh, of course we do. Shit.”

Patrick was throwing a tennis ball against the wall. “Fuck that place, man. I’m not going back there. Hammond can kiss my ass. He should have done something about those guys when they first started shit with me. We’ll see if they have any sort of winning season without us.”

Peter murmured in agreement. And I suddenly had an idea.

I listened to the two of them gripe about their situation as they descended the stairs and went into the kitchen, where Aaron was sitting with two police officers. The boys sat down and gave their statements. When they finished, I showed the officer out and turned to see the three of them glaring.

“We’re not going back. That’s it. If they’re going to let jackasses like those guys stay, I’m not going back. Fuck it, I’ll just get my GED and get the fuck out, enroll at Ohlone.”

Aaron popped his knuckles and snarled, “Like hell you will. You’ll get your damn diploma if I have to take you to school myself and sit with you all day.”

Patrick snorted. “And what the fuck good are you going to do? You can’t even walk! No! I’m not putting Peter through any more of this. We’re not going back.”

Aaron was furious and his jaw muscle was twitching like crazy. “Mom and Pops will be home in two days. I suggest you lose GED from your vocabulary. That is unacceptable. We’ll find another way to get your diploma, but you’re getting your goddamned diploma!”  

The boys sat staring at him, the weight of the situation transcending their angst. Peter spoke softly, “We’re sorry, Aaron. I don’t want them to have to come home.”

“It’s too fucking late. What’s done is done-”

“What if there is another way,” I said softly. All three heads flipped around to look at me. I gulped. “How about home school? There are several programs in the area. I could find one and I’d be happy to help-”

“Thanks, Stevie, but we’ll figure this out,” Aaron snapped.

I couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d slapped me. He’d effectively told me I wasn’t part of the family and therefore I had nothing to offer. I lifted my chin and excused myself. I hurried to the front of the house and was about to run upstairs when I heard Schroeder’s voice. I sighed. Hopefully Aaron would listen to him, since he’d just made it clear he wouldn’t be listening to me.

Aaron

“Stevie called me, man. I’m so sorry.” I sent the boys to their room again and told them to stay put for now. They were looking at me with disgust and I couldn’t figure out just why I was suddenly the depository of their anger.

“Yeah, we’ve had a helluva week. How’s the store?”  He looked at me like I was George W. Bush’s slower relative.

“The store is fine. What the hell has gotten into you?”  

I exhaled long and hard, wishing I could get up and move. “Look, Schroeder, I’ve just had my two idiot twin brothers tell me they want to drop out of school. They got busted up this morning by some bastards who are trying to keep them from testifying in that rape case. My fucking parents are coming home day after tomorrow because I have proven that I can’t handle shit on my own. And Stevie’s here trying to fix shit. Fuck! Stevie…” I was so unfair to her. I needed to find her and apologize.

“Yeah. Fuck you, McShane. She called me because she was worried about you. Once again, you’re hard fucking head is trying to do it all yourself without any help. Did you ever once wonder why she was still here when I’m pretty sure you’ve been a royal pain in the ass? Because she fucking loves you! Because you were patient with her when she needed it. So what the fuck is your problem now?”

I looked down at the floor. He was right. I needed to get up and go find her. So why was I just sitting here?

“I’m afraid to trust her, man. She’s already proven she’ll run.”

Schroeder kicked a chair and slammed his hand down in front of me. “Has she run this week?”  

And that was really the bottom line. She’d stayed with me through the worst week of my life and I was accusing her of running.

I pushed myself up to standing and reached for my crutches. Schroeder watched me without offering to help. Yeah, I was busted.

It took forever, but I finally made it up the steps on my ass. When I got up to the bedroom, Stevie was packing her bag.

“Stevie, I’m sorry-”

“I’m just going to stay in Grandma McShane’s room until your parents get home. My offer still stands to home school the boys if you need another option for them.” She didn’t look at me once. She wasn’t running. She was giving me space. She was giving me a whole lot of space.

The next two days went by too fast. She cooked, she cleaned, she helped the boys with their homework, and she worked in Pops’ garden. She was sweet to me, but she was hurt. I did that. She had to have heard me talking to Schroeder. Or maybe I was just that much of a shit to her that I’d done this all on my own.

She went to the airport in the Camry on Monday to pick up my parents and was going to have them drop her at her place on their way back. I heard all of this from Schroeder. He came by to stay with me while she was gone. I flipped out.

“What’s she going to do about a car? She won’t be able to get around!” What the hell was I going to do? She took my heart with her. I was such an asshole. My life was spinning out of control and everyone was pissed at me, including my parents. I had to hear it from them when they got home.

“Being a man means asking for and accepting help, son. She offered, which is an even more precious gift, and if she’ll still do it, we’re going to take her up on her offer to home school the boys, at least until the trial is over. You can go back to minding your store once you can get around with that leg.” Pops was laying down the law.

Mom went a little easier on me, but not much. “Son, you must make things right with Stevie. Whether you two stay together or not, you need to let her know what a gift she gave you by taking care of you all when you needed her. She’s devastated.”

I finally allowed myself to break down and cry. Mom listened to me and held my hand.

“You are being tested, son, and I’m terribly sorry it has been so difficult. But you did the best you could and your father and I are grateful. There is no blame here, do you hear me?”

I knew I should take her at her word, but I was miserable.