Torn - Part Four (The Torn Series) (9 page)

“That ain’t your mother’s pie,” Dad said when we brought out the lemon meringue.

“It’s not,” I said, exchanging a glance with Tony, “I never learned her recipe.”

“Maybe if that bitch hadn’t run out on us we’d have some fucking decent dessert.” With a swing of his arm, he sent the pie tumbling from the table. It landed on the carpet with a sad, wet splat.

“Mom died, Dad, don’t you remember?” I said. Tony helped him to his feet.

“Ungrateful bitch, she was,” he muttered, eyes distant.

“Time to relax, Dad, come on,” Tony said. He caught my eye and nodded toward the pie.

My mind was a jumble as I cleaned it up. Tony returned just a minute later and sat in Dad’s seat, watching me pick pie crust out of the rug. “He’s resting,” he said.

“He really forgot that she died?”

“Most of the time he remembers. He was always afraid that she would just walk out on him, though. Always. I guess the fear and the reality got mixed up in his head somewhere.”

“Fuck.” I sat back on my heels. “I’m sorry, man,” I said, “I had no idea this was going on. I’ve been such a piece of shit…”

Tony smirked. “Don’t be sorry. Fighting feels good. I needed someone to take this out on.”

“Well.” Somehow I didn’t think this was the death of our fights. We’d never be best friends. But we could learn how to work together once in a while.

I filled Riley in later that night, once I’d finally gone home. A scribbled note with a laundry schedule sat heavily in my pocket.

Shit
. It was like my whole reality had tilted.

But the sound of her voice brought me back.

“You’re doing the right thing,” she said. “A good thing. You’re a good man, Mallet.” I wasn’t. But I hoped this meant that eventually I would be. It was the only positive outcome to hope for. “So you guys are still gonna fight?”

“Fuck yes,” I said, smiling. “We’ve been planning this for too long.” Somehow the prospect of losing seemed a lot less offensive. Not that I would lose. “What’d your sister say to my idea?”

“About second Christmas? She’s in, she’s coming.”

“And?”

“And we’ll sing,” she said grudgingly.

“Oh, man. I can’t wait.” That was exactly the good news I needed to hear at the end of such a shitty day.

CHAPTER 9

I don’t know why it’s so shocking that I knew a bit of basic cooking, but that’s how people reacted when they found out.

That was exactly how Katherine reacted when Riley brought her inside. They found me in the kitchen rubbing down the roast. Katherine’s eyes went wide and she exclaimed, “You can cook?”

I spanked the hunk of meat with a lascivious wink. “I can do lots of things.”

Riley rolled her eyes and laughed.

Surly sat out in the living room with Lockett. And with Jen. The tension in the air was thick, but the theme of the holidays seemed to be getting past our ugly pasts - especially when it came to family. And I considered Surly family. Which meant I’d have to start trying to get along with Jen.

Riley seemed completely unfazed by it. “I have you and I have my sister,” she’d said when I ran it by her, “I’ll be fine.”

Their greeting had been frosty, but Jen was keeping it low key from what I could tell. She sipped on a beer and chatted quietly with Surly and Lockett. She’d even brought cookies. I was willing to accept it as a peace offering.

With Jen came Robin. She proclaimed herself a pro with a knife and set to chopping up the vegetables at record speed.

I’d even invited Tony. I struggled over that decision for several long nights, driving Riley crazy over the phone with lists of reasons that I didn’t want to invite him. She’d listened patiently and let me vent. And then I’d invited him anyway.

It should have been like a gas leak just waiting for a spark, but somehow it was working. Katherine stored her bag away in my room and got pulled into Lockett’s conversation. Tony lurked outside the kitchen, sipping a beer and watching Robin’s samurai chopping skills.

And Riley was with me. “You’re running out of room in the fridge,” she said.

“Maybe if you hadn’t made so many pies…”

“Should I leave them on the fire escape? It’s cold enough out.”

“And let the pigeons have them?”

“Never!”

I’d be so glad when the match was over. I could finally cut back on practice, just a little, and spend more time with her.

I found myself sitting at the head of the table once all the food was out. We’d had to pick up cheap folding tables and chairs from the nearby junk stores but no one seemed to mind the rickety setup - or if they did, they were smart enough to keep their comments to themselves.

“Are we supposed to say grace or something?” Tony asked, looking up and down the table at everyone. Lockett sat at the opposite end, “the other head of the table,” as he’d declared. He only shrugged at Tony.

Performing some prayer or ritual over the food wasn’t my thing, but if someone else wanted to…

“Why don’t we let Surly announce his big news, instead,” Jen said, nudging her brother with her shoulder.

Surly’s eyes flickered toward me. “I got signed,” he said.

I leaned forward, gaping. “For real?” Lockett’s and Tony’s jaws had dropped, too. “Tell me you’re not joking.”

“I’m not joking.” And Surly smiled. Fucking Surly. With a name that described his personality, with an expression that perpetually wore shadows, he smiled.

“When did this happen?” Lockett asked.

“They tracked me down after that fight last month.” The last one we’d done, where the cops had picked us up. Recruiters had been there? I was suddenly even more pissed that my match had been interrupted.

But I was thrilled for my friend. “Shit, man! That’s awesome!”

“What happens now?” Lockett asked. “Do you get a real trainer?”

“Hey,” I protested.

“A real trainer, sorry Mal. Most of their events are down near Atlantic City but their guy is willing to work with me in Hoboken.” That was good - he wouldn’t need to move out of the city to commute there.

“Will you be on television?” Riley asked.

“Local TV, maybe,” he shrugged.

“But he’ll be an even bigger big shot one day,” I said. “This is just the first step.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “It’s not like I’ll be making much, either. But still. It’s what we worked for. Couldn’t have done it without you, man.”

I cleared my throat. “Well. Thanks. And congrats, seriously.” Everyone around the table congratulated him. The poor guy was definitely uncomfortable under all that attention, but he deserved it.

“That’s not all,” he said, cutting everyone off with a wave of his hand. “I convinced the guy to come to your fight.”

Tony and I exchanged a look. “Seriously?” Tony asked. I couldn’t tell if he was hopeful or not. We’d never talked about our careers.

Surly nodded.

“Shit,” Tony said, his shoulders shaking with laughter, “I guess I should have trained more.”

“Too late now,” I winked. The fight was just two days away. “Eat up, bro.”

He still laughed. There was no denying his grin - he
was
hopeful. He did have dreams of going professional, just like I did. “Someone pass me the potatoes. Shit.”

I was hopeful, too, but only cautiously. I was getting better every day, especially now that I’d regained all of my motion. My ribs had healed to a dull ache that I could definitely deal with.

But I wasn’t in my absolute top form - not like Surly was. It wasn’t that I wasn’t working hard enough. I’d just had too much time off.

Riley shot me a small smile from her spot to my right. “You’ll kill it,” she said, reading the worry on my face.

I didn’t know about that but I put on a confident face. I did know that Tony and I had to strategize. Going for the old thirty-second knockout was off the table if either of us wanted to impress this recruiter.

I ran it by him after we finished eating. The girls insisted on washing the dishes since I’d done a majority of the cooking, and I was too eager to speak with Tony to argue.

“What did the guy say?” I asked Surly, “What was it about your fight that made him notice you?”

“He didn’t say anything specific. Sorry, Mal. I’m not sure what kind of advice to give you guys.”

“No worries, dude, its thanks to you this guy is coming at all.”

“I will say don’t practice together tomorrow,” Surly said, “Even though its so close. If they get a sniff that anything’s been choreographed at all, they’ll be gone before you even knew they were there.”

Tony shrugged at me. “We’ll just fight,” he said, “Same as we planned. Give the audience something to cheer for and then just go for it.”

“We should get to a second round at the very least,” I said, “No quick knockouts. Deal?”

“Yeah. Makes sense.”

Our conversation ended when Riley and Katherine dragged two chairs to the front of the room. Riley had her guitar. She looked nervous for just a moment - until she tuned her strings. Then a familiar peaceful expression spread over her face.

I was especially surprised she was going through with this considering that Jen was there, but I was thrilled. Riley didn’t seem worried at all. Not when her fingers got into position and she strummed a few chords. That was where she belonged. That was where she was at home.

“Thanks for tolerating this,” she joked. Everyone else had settled on the couch or on the floor in front of it. I pulled a chair over, next to where Surly perched on the couch’s arm.

They started with We Need a Little Christmas. I wished I could say that it brought back happy childhood holiday memories, but those were few and far between.

It didn’t matter. We were making new ones. Better ones. Their voices blended as if they’d been singing together their entire lives. And maybe they had, at least for a time. They harmonized perfectly to my untrained ears.

I clapped and whistled when they finished the song and moved on to another. I watched her play and sing and smile, listened to her voice, and suddenly all at once, I realized what was happening.

Holy fuck. I’m in love with her
.

God, I was so in over my head. It wasn’t something I ever expected or was the least bit prepared for. But once the word was in my head I recognized it as true.

Should I tell her? Oh, God
. There’d be tears, wouldn’t there. Happy tears, though. Much as I grimaced and teased her, I didn’t mind that kind that much.

She smiled at me through White Christmas and I knew I had to tell her. Before I won or lost the fight. Before I won or lost the attention of Surly’s recruiter. Before things changed, for better or for worse. I had to tell her right away.

○●○●○●○●○

I drew her inside my room once almost everyone had left. Lockett whistled from the couch and Katherine gave us an admonishing look from the kitchen. Riley protested - she and Katherine wanted to get back to her apartment soon.

“What is it?” she asked, “Did you like our performance?”

I shut the door. “It was perfect.”

Then I kissed her, hard, summoning up all the passion I’d felt watching her earlier. She squeaked at first, surprised at the onslaught, then returned the kiss with a heat of her own, sliding her tongue along mine and grasping my arms tight.

“Mmm,” she said when I finally backed off. “I’ll have to book another show soon if that’s the going rate.”

“Move in with me.” It wasn’t what I’d planned on saying when I dragged her through the door, but its what came out.

Her eyes went wide. “Mallet, I…”

“What?” I smirked. “No smart joke now?”

“No.” She was still bewildered. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I mean it. Move in with me.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“But, I don’t know what.” Her eyes met mine. “I can’t say I haven’t thought about it,” she said, “What it would be like. And how much easier things would be.”