I shrug. “Besides, if I lie to you, you’ll call me out. I have no reason to lie to you.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re stealing my bestie, aren’t you?” There’s a hint of sorrow in her tone, and maybe I’ve hit upon the truth of her prickliness toward me.
Shaking myhead, I glance toward Ellen’s closed bedroom door and drop my voice. “I promise you, Casey, I’ll never come between you two. Even if you and I end up hating each other. My step-dad is a total asshole and tries to control Mom’s friends. My brothers and I swore we’d never be like that.”
She reappraises me, her tone softening a smidge. “Why’d your parents get divorced?”
“Widowed,” I say, and shewinces.
“Sorry.”
“Dad died when I was sixteen. Car accident. We’re hoping she divorces this dick, but for now we’re trying to not get cut out of her life by him.”
Casey slowly nods. “Sucky parental units are sucky.”
“Amen.” I extend my hand to her. “I don’t know if Ellen and I will be together for another week or for life. But I want you and I to be friends. Please?”
I can see her consideringit. She finally shakes with me. “Deal.” Without releasing my hand she leans in close and drops her voice. “Keep in mind I’ve killed before. I won’t hesitate to do it again, if I think she’s in danger.”
I think she’s kidding, bravado that comes off sounding genuine, but I stay serious. “Duly noted.”
It wasn’t until decades later I learnedhowserious she was.
* * * *
Once Ellen’s ready to go,I move to open the front door for her and hold it, motioning for her to go first. Dad raised us right.
One of the things that pisses all three of us boys off is that our step-father will barge on ahead without waiting for Mom. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him hold a door for her, either.
I glance back to see Casey still studying me with that narrowed gaze and head-cock.
She hates me, but she’sgood at not showing it in front of Ellen, I’ll give her all due credit for that. She’ll make a damned good attorney. She’s got the poker face for it.
I really do want to be friends with her. I don’t want Ellen to feel uncomfortable when we’re around Casey.
Then again, I don’t know everything about Ellen’s past, or Casey’s. Maybe there’s something there that gives Casey due cause for acting asprotective as she does.
It’s information I’ll have to carefully tease out into the open at some point.
Right now, we’re only two weeks into this. There’s plenty of time for those kinds of deep discussions to happen.
Tonight, I’m taking Ellen to a restaurant in South Knoxville I found out about from my roommate. Even though I’m in my third year here, I still don’t know my way around very wellonce I get off-campus or away from my apartment.
I’m from outside of Nashville, but our dad was from Knoxville and earned his law degree at UTK. That’s where I wanted to go, and where my younger brother, Chase, who’s twenty, is also attending. He lives in a dorm, preferring to be there around all his friends. I work part-time on campus in the library to earn extra money.
Mom set aside Dad’slife insurance policy, and the insurance from the settlement from the accident, for us to all go to college, and we’ll be damned if we’ll waste it. Our youngest brother, Tyson, who’s nineteen, ended up with a partial scholarship to Vanderbilt over in Nashville. Neither of us blame him for wanting to go there.
Besides, he’s close to Mom in Nashville, and can get home several days a week to seeher.
Ellen’s family is from Memphis, but she earned a full-ride scholarship to UTK, lucky for me. She’s an education major and wants to teach special needs kids. She’s the youngest of four sisters, but she was an oopsie baby, as she likes to call herself. Her next oldest sister is eight years older than her, and she’s already graduated, works, got married, and has two kids. Her mom is sixty-two,and her dad is sixty-four. From what I gather, they’re both very conservative and set in their ways, as are her sisters.
Being the baby sister, though, she’s managed to escape that, somehow. She’s as liberal as I am, even though we’re both registered Republicans.
Fortunately, Ellen, and Casey, seem to share my political views.
I know very little about Casey, except that she is an expert atstretching her meager funds as far as possible, and she’s attending UTK on a scholarship.
I open and hold the car door for Ellen and wonder if Casey is watching us from the apartment’s living room window.
