Roads weren’t the safest in these parts. Actually, few streets in California were after dark. In today’s world, it was better to be cautious and not travel on foot at night.
“Kev, I’m home,” I hollered, shutting the door with my hip. The burgers and fries I picked up on the way home from the hospital were making my mouth water. “Kevin?”
I gritted my teeth, placed the bags on our small two-person table and my tote bag on a chair. If that little punk wasn’t in his room, I would make good on my threat of grounding him and taking his cell phone away.
I should have never given him a cell phone when he turned thirteen, but I was trying to do everything to brighten his day. It was his first birthday without our parents, and we weren’t handling the loss very well.
Two years later, we still weren’t doing all that great.
My parents would have been furious with me for giving him afancyphone. They were old-school and didn’t believe in carrying around a phone. Plus, my mom had been a stay-at-home mom. Our dad was a truck driver and would be gone for days at a time. Someone needed to be home for me and my brother.
When I was born, Mom quit her job. She’d been a receptionist at a dental office. Dad had picked up extra deliveries to make up for the loss of her income. We managed and I had a wonderful childhood.
My parents had wanted a big family, but my mom had struggled with infertility. It had taken sixteen years after me before their miracle baby was born.
I went to the little miracle’s room and found it empty.
“You are so getting grounded, you little punk!” After a twelve-hour shift at the hospital, the last thing I needed was to come home to an empty house.
Clearly, I was failing as his guardian.
I returned to the dining table and dug out my device and texted him…
Kelly: Where are you????
Plucking some fries out of the greasy brown bag, I shoved them into my mouth and paced the length of the room, which wasn’t very long.
We’d only been back in San Diablo a couple of months and Kevin had settled right in. Unlike my brother, it didn’t feel like home to me, especially without my parents.
After their death, I’d selfishly pulled Kevin out of his school and moved him into mine and Brock’s one-bedroom apartment. Kevvy had hated sleeping on the couch and had complained about “hearing us.” He didn’t like the city and begged to go back home.
But small-town living wasn’t for me. I’d left San Diablo to attend college and get my nursing degree. I wanted more. Bigger and better things. City life. And I never planned on moving back.
The best day of my life was getting in at UCFS Health, one of the top hospitals in the nation. For eight years, I’d been living my dream.
Bitterness tried to find its way onto my tongue, but I swallowed that poison. My brother had spiraled out of control in San Francisco. He hated me for forcing him to leave his friends and the only town he’d ever known. After my breakup with Brock, it was easier to pick up and move.
I didn’t regret my decision. Not yet anyway.
“Come on, Kev. Text me back.” I pressed my palm against my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Next, tears stung my eyes.
I wasn’t all that worried about my brother’s safety, only a little. He’d been hanging out with his friends since the day we moved back. And from what I remember, not much of anything happened in this town.
Then again, things could have changed considerably in twelve years. There was a motorcycle club I’d seen around town. Kevin had mentioned them a few times. The Kings of Anarchy MC was cooler than cool according to my brother.
My emotional response had more to do with my exhaustion. I just wanted to eat my burger, wash off the germs in the shower, and crawl into my bed. But there was nobody else to help. I was all my brother had to depend on.
It didn’t help matters that my twelve-hour shift at the hospital had sucked balls. We were short-staffed. All hands were on deck in the emergency room when it got packed with sick and injured patients.
Apparently, the hospital conditions hadn’t changed in years. People didn’t care about working in a rural community and most of the positions were twelve-hour shifts. The pay sucked, too.
I was the idiot who’d taken a hefty pay cut. They must have felt like they hit the lottery when I accepted the offer and had more experience than many of the other nurses.
Grumbling curse words, I thought about how my life had drastically changed. At thirty years old, I should have been living my best life. Dating. Clubbing. Traveling the world.
Brock’s face flashed behind my eyes. I’d foolishly thought he was my forever, but after Kevin moved in with us, our relationship took a nosedive.
At first, Brock tried to be supportive and understanding. Then his work picked up and he started coming home later and later. Not that I had noticed much, too busy trying to focus on my brother and my own grieving.
