"Not gonna let you go out there without takin" your back," he informed me.
That was cute. It was sweet. It was the right thing to do. It was also the wrong thing to do for a kid his age.
But I"d get to explaining that later.
I nabbed my phone, not thinking good thoughts at who the screen told me was calling.
I took the call and put it to my ear. "Ryker-"
"You get injected with a huge-a.s.s dose of stupid since I last saw you?" he asked on a mild bark.
He was watching.
Why was he watching?
f.u.c.k!
"Ry-"
"Told you that guy does not exist for you," he declared.
"I know, but Ry-"
"Won"t let him do s.h.i.t to the old broad. Anyway, the b.i.t.c.h went to church. She isn"t even there."
I closed my eyes in despair.
Of course. Tilly went to church every Sunday. Then she went out with her girls for lunch. She wouldn"t be home until at least two.
s.h.i.t.
"Now that you gave him an up close and personal, he"s gonna live and breathe findin" a way to tag your tight, round a.s.s," Ryker informed me.
"He has a woman," I informed him back.
"They"re havin" problems, so she"s gonna be history in about an hour, seein" as momma hot stuff two doors down, with a pair a" knockers made for squeezin" together and thrustin" a c.o.c.k into is his key to tradin" up in a big f.u.c.kin" way."
Uh...
Gross.
"Ryk-"
"Don"t know the games you and Merrick are playin", sister. What I do know is that if you don"t cool your s.h.i.t, I"m bringin" him in on this. And I know Merrick, babe. I know that brother better than you in ways he"ll hide from you, even if you both stop d.i.c.kin" around and sort your s.h.i.t out. He finds out what"s goin" down two doors from his b.i.t.c.h, he will lose his motherf.u.c.king mind. And Merrick"s a maverick. Merrick keeps a loose hold on messy. And Merrick"s brand o" messy makes me look adjusted. The only thing that would make Merrick lose hold on that is someone he digs bein" in a deep pile a" s.h.i.t. Man"ll stop at nothin" to dig you out, even if it buries him in the process. So listen up, Cher. Keep your a.s.s safe. Keep your kid safe. And keep the man you"re f.u.c.kin" around claimin" safe. Now we"re done and this conversation won"t be repeated. You don"t get smart real f.u.c.kin" fast, you know where I"ll go. And you"ll know, it gets ugly, it"s you made it that way."
He then disconnected.
I didn"t move, one hand to my phone at my ear, the other one curled around the edge of the sink, holding on like it was a lifeline.
He finds out what"s goin" down two doors from his b.i.t.c.h, he will lose his motherf.u.c.king mind.
What was going on?
Merrick keeps a loose hold on messy.
I knew that. I"d learned from a lot of experience, as well as making too many mistakes, how to read people.
The good ole boy Merry was surface. You could scratch through that using your fingernail and not a lot of effort.
Man"ll stop at nothin" to dig you out, even if it buries him in the process.
I knew that too.
s.h.i.t.
All that, and Tilly wasn"t even home.
"Mom?"
I drew in breath, dropped the phone from my ear, let go of the sink, and turned to see Ethan in the doorway.
"Don"t be mad, okay?" he asked, shifting and eyeing me anxiously. "I was tryin" to do the right thing."
I drew in another breath and forced my body to relax when I let it go.
Then I told him, "I know that, Ethan. And it was the right thing in one way. There"s nothin" wrong with you wantin" to look out for your momma. But it was also the wrong thing since I"d told you to stay inside."
He bit his lip.
I moved to him but didn"t crouch like I used to. He was getting tall, not quite there yet, but he needed to learn to use what he had. What he didn"t need was to learn how to put up with someone being condescending, crouching into him because he was a kid, even if they didn"t mean to be.
"You"re the man of this house," I told him and watched his chest expand with pride. "But, kid, you"re also still a kid. Ask Colt, Sul, Mike-any of them will tell you a man"s gotta know his strengths and his weaknesses. He"s gotta learn to judge situations right. And they"ll also tell you any kid who"s still a kid, no matter it sucks, no matter the situation scares them and they wanna help, they gotta do what their momma says."
His shoulders slumped.
G.o.d, most of the time, being a mom rocked.
It was just times like this when it absolutely didn"t.
Quickly, I continued, "In that situation, you shoulda got the phone and kept an eye on me through the window. You got a bad vibe, you could call Colt or the police or something. That way, you had my back but also did as I asked. But seein" as nothin" like that is gonna happen again, it doesn"t matter. Life is life. You learn from it. Today, you learned."
Gazing up at me, he nodded.
"Right," I muttered.
"That guy kinda seems like bad news. Are you sure nothin" like that is gonna happen again?"
"I think your read on him is right. He"s not a dude like the dudes we like to hang with, so both of us should keep our distance. But I also think his c.r.a.p is his, so if we do that, it"ll all be good."
He nodded again.
"Now, I gotta finish gettin" ready, honey. You good to go to your gram"s?" I asked.
"Yeah, Mom."
"Right, let"s get to that part of our day."
He grinned at me and got out of the doorway.
I took in another breath and headed to my bedroom.
Monday Night Whether it was intentionally good timing or not, Trent phoned at the perfect moment, right before I was about to slide out of my car and hit work for the night shift.
He"d texted twice more since the first two.
I"d been blowing him off.
I needed to stop doing that so he"d leave me alone. He also needed to think on things and I needed to give him the things he needed to think about.
So I took the call with a "Hey, Trent."
"Texted you a million times, Cheryl," he exaggerated.
"I know. I"m sorry. Things were busy," I semi-lied.
"Ethan told me he"s not comin" to see me and Peg this weekend," he shared irately.
I beat back a sigh.
"As you know, Trent, this gig is Ethan"s," I replied. "He gets to decide when he wants to see you. He"s back at school now so it"s sleepover time, and the good stuff happens with his buds on weekends."
"He needs to spend time with his father."
Trent said the words, but they came right out of Peggy"s mouth.
"All right, I gotta get to work in a minute, but you should know, Ethan and I had a talk about you and Peg wantin" to spend more time with him and he doesn"t like that idea. He digs you. Your wife. Your kids. But he"s feelin" the need to take things with you slow and that"s his call. So if he needs s.p.a.ce, you"re gonna give it to him."
"He"s a kid, Cheryl. He doesn"t get to make those calls."
More Peggy.
"He"s a kid, Trent, you"re right. But he isn"t five. He"s nearly eleven. He knows his own mind, what he wants, what feels good to him. He"s at a time where he"s gotta explore makin" his own decisions and how that plays out. We gotta let him."
"He"s too young to start that kind of thing. He needs guidance," father of the century Trent Schott educated me.
I sought patience (not my strong suit) and returned, "I"m not sayin" he doesn"t need guidance. I"m just sayin" he needs some freedom and s.p.a.ce."
"He can have all the freedom and s.p.a.ce he wants when he"s thirty. Now, bein" a kid, he needs his old man helpin" him learn to be a man."
And more Peggy.
But it would be Peggy teaching him to be a man.
The thought turned my stomach and I clenched my teeth to beat back my response to that.
This, unfortunately, allowed Trent to carry on.
"You need to tell him he"s gotta come and stay with Peg and me. This weekend. We"ll pick him up from your place at five thirty on Friday."
"That"s not gonna happen, Trent."
"Then I"ll tell him, and if he"s not there, just sayin", Cheryl, that"s a mistake you don"t wanna make."
"Okay," I snapped, having had enough. "This is the deal-you got no rights in this situation, Trent. Not until a judge says what rights you got. You wanna drag my son through that, I can guaran-d.a.m.n-tee you that you"re gonna drive him further away from you than you already are, pushin" me with this s.h.i.t. Now, we can avoid that and do right by Ethan if we calm down, sit down, talk somethin" through that"ll work for all of us, and by "all of us," I mean it works for Ethan. But he"s tellin" you right now he needs a break. That gives us a golden opportunity to sort s.h.i.t out so when he"s ready for more, we got it set up with an understanding between us how that"s gonna go."
"Pushin" you with this?" he asked. "You tell him we pushed?"
We.
She wasn"t even there when he pushed.
G.o.d, there was no Trent.
It was only Trent and Peggy.
Which meant there was only Peggy.
"I don"t lie to my kid," I shared. "So yeah, I told him the good news that his dad likes hangin" with him, but that came with the bad news that his dad did not respect me by communicatin" that right. That is not my issue. You f.u.c.ked that up."
"You"re tryin" to turn my son from me. From me and Peg."
Me and Peg.
Barf.
"No, Trent, you don"t see what"s happenin" here. I"m tryin" to tell you that you are f.u.c.kin" this up, and I"m also givin" you advice on how not to do that. You decide not to take it, you bear the consequences."
"Peg and me show at your place Friday, Cheryl, my son isn"t there, you"ll hear from our attorney," he warned.
Like he had an attorney.
"Whatever, Trent. It isn"t like you haven"t put me through the wringer before. Not like he"s a stupid kid and doesn"t know the life he"s led, I led, part of that bein" because of the choices you made. Do it again. You"re such a dumb f.u.c.k you don"t see I"m a sc.r.a.pper, especially when it comes to my kid, and I always come out standing, your mistake. But to save you some time and gas money, my kid is not gonna be at my house on Friday at five thirty for you to pick him up. Ethan"ll let you know when he"s ready. Until then, last advice I give, wait for him to come around. You do, you"ll be golden. You don"t, you risk losin" him forever."
I disconnected, threw my phone in my purse, and hauled my a.s.s out to go to work.
I did this hoping we"d have a busy night. I needed a ton of tips.