“Perfect. Hold on a sec.” He turned around and closed the door behind him. When he re-emerged, he had his cap back on. “Let’s go, Goldilocks.”
He brushed past me and started walking down the stairs.What? Please, God, I can’t be in a car alone with him.“You don’t have to. I can go.”
He stopped and turned around, that creepy-ass smile back on his face. “Nonsense. Brotherly bonding time. I’ll help carry the shit.”
With that, he continued down the stairs and into the living room. I followed him, and we were met by Mom fussing in the dining room and Hank sitting on the sofa, reading.
Rafael approached them and said. “I’ll help Cody with the food. It’s the least I can do.” He said it as if it were the most generous act ever done in all of history. I rolled my eyes so hard it almost hurt my head.
“How sweet! I think it’s good for you two to get some quality time,” Mom replied.
I want this as much as I want someone to staple my head to the carpet.“Yeah. We’ll be back soon,” I replied through clenched teeth.
I made my way to the front door, the tension in my shoulders tightening as I braced myself for a car ride with my psycho stepbrother. A gasp stopped me in my tracks, and I turned to see Rafael standing in the middle of the living room, frozen. His typical shit-eating, douchey demeanor had vanished; he stood stiff as a board.
I slowly approached to see his usually tanned skin looking pale, and his eyes were locked on something. I followed his gaze to the picture on the mantle of him, Hank, and Mattie.
I don’t know why I did it. Perhaps a small part of me still wanted the boy in that picture to be my friend. Whatever the reason, I placed my hand on his shoulder.
Hank must have noticed because he stood up and said, “Raf. I know it’s—”
Rafael snapped out of it, shaking my hand away, and making a beeline for the door. “Let’s go, Cody.”
I looked at Hank and Mom for guidance.Should I go? Hank, do you want to go?I wanted Hank to go more than anything in the world. Rafael didn’t need me at that moment; he needed his Dad. But I heard him holler for me from outside, so I just ran out the door and followed.
With each step he took to the car, his body became increasingly tense. His fists clenched at his sides, and his shoulders rose and fell from his heavy breathing. He got in the passenger’s side and slammed the door. My hand felt clammy as I gripped the door handle and slunk into the driver’s seat.
As I started the car and pulled out of the driveway, Rafael typed on his phone. His breathing was ragged, and his leg bounced up and down as he tapped his foot on the floor. “Make a right on Allard Avenue.”
Allard Avenue?That would take us in the complete opposite direction from the restaurant. “That’s not the way to—”
“Do what I fucking told you, Cody!”
My heart nearly shattered my chest. I swallowed hard and turned onto Allard Avenue.
“Good. A left on Sickle.”
I didn’t ask any questions. Rafael looked unhinged, so I just followed him as he barked out directions. I didn’t know where he was taking us, but the look on his face told me just to do it. We turned down Quaker Ridge, and he said, “There it is. Pull over.”
A fucking liquor store.“Rafael, I’m not going in—”
“If you don’t pull over right now, I will snap your fucking neck and throw your body in a dumpster. Then, I’ll grab my booze, steal this car, get wasted and drive off afuckingbridge. Is that what you want?”
I won’t lie; at that moment, I was onboard with the bridge part of his scenario.
I pulled into the parking lot, and Rafael was out the door before I’d even come to a complete stop. He bolted into the shop, and I just sat there. The neon lights of the Wine and Spirits sign cast a red hue across the hood of the white Aston Martin Hank bought me. I couldn’t believe this. He hadn’t been here a whole day, and it was already happening. I bit my lower lip.Fuck. My. Life.
Rafael strode out of the shop and got into the car. He pulled the half pint of Smirnoff out of the brown bag, twisted the cap off, and started chugging.
“The fuck, dude! You can’t just drink like that in a car! That’s illegal,” I bellowed.
He coughed into his arm, then rolled his eyes. “Fuck off, Golden Boy.”
“How’d you even get that?” I questioned.
He took another sip, grimacing and wiping the booze from his lips. “I have a fake, dumbshit.”
I gripped the wheel hard as I bit the side of my mouth. This dude was asking for it. I was three seconds away from kicking his ass out and making him walk back home. That’s what I should have done. He was breaking the law! You couldn’t just drink in a fucking car like that. If we got pulled over,I’dbe in deep shit too. Maybe he didn’t give a flying fuck about his life, but I was pretty fond of mine. “So, what? You’re just going to get wasted while I drive around? My Mom is already freaking out about all of this. She feels like shit that she didn’t have a dinner ready for you, when we didn’t even know you would be living with us until six hours ago, and you’re just going to get totaled and destroy her whole night?”
