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I understood intimately the feelings of being different, feeling like you didn’t belong. For a long time after Maple’s birth, I’d felt like an outsider looking in on the life I once had. The life I no longer quite fit into. To handle that, I’d chosen to pretend, while Cyrus chose to disappear.
Grabbing his face, I said, “Cy, I love you.” My right eye twitched.
“Thank you. I know that was painful for you to say.”
“I’m a sucky communicator. But I love you not just because you’re my big brother but because you’re an impressive human being.”
“And a really good dancer?”
“Stop, that’s just too far. Look, we’re the adults and we get to make the rules, so if you need to hear ‘I love you’ more often, I can do that.”
The front door opened, and Edison walked in looking half awake. He took in the hideous furniture, which he would agree was a crime against humanity—and Cy and I holding hands like we were about to perform a ritual. “What the fuck?”
“Edison!” I shouted. “Cy and I have something we wanna tell you.”
My baby brother dropped his backpack. “It better not be some dumb shit.”
Cyrus and I smiled and said in unison, “We love you.”
The corners of Eddy’s eyes crinkled. He was clearly unsure if he was being punked. But, being the sweet, sensitive soul he was, eventually he beamed. “Aww, I love you guys too.” Running toward us, he practically jumped into our laps, pulling Cy and me into a hug.
Close to midnight, a neighbor called saying that when they drove past my parents’ house on their way home, it’d looked like someone with a flashlight was sneaking around the property. It was probably kids, or maybe someone hoping to grab free construction materials at my family’s expense. Whoever it was would be in for a rude awakening, because I was headed over to the house, strapped and prepared to act. I parked at the end of the long driveway so as not to announce my presence. A light glowing from the porch let me know the neighbor was correct—something suspicious was indeed going on.
Reaching for my Browning pistol, I creeped onto the property, taking cover behind a tree a few feet away. Aiming my gun at the front porch, I yelled, “You’ve got five seconds to get off my motherfucking property before I start blasting! One, two, three—”
“Dial!” Ozzie shouted. “Don’t shoot! I come in peace!”
I relaxed at the sound of his voice. Locking the safety, I holstered my gun. “Ozzie, what the fuck are you doing here this late?”
“Apparently trying not to get shot.”
I hurried toward the house, my head on a swivel. “Where’s Maple?”
“She’s asleep inside.” Ozzie met me at the bottom step. “How’d you know I was here?”
“Mr. Kemp called saying he thought someone was on the property.”
“And you decided to come investigate alone?”
“I can handle myself.”
“Wrong answer. You call me and I handle it.”
“I’m not fragile.”
“To me, you’re a precious gem. One I’m not looking to part with anytime soon.”
My stance softened at the kindness of his words. “You don’t have to worry about that.” Ozzie leaned down, and I hooked my arm around his neck. When he straightened his back, my feet left the ground. “I missed you.”
“What did you miss?”
“The smell of you. I like that your scent is slowly taking over my house. It makes me feel safe.”
Oz whispered over my lips, “You’re always safe with me, darling.” I opened my mouth and welcomed him inside. When he’d said he had stuff to take care of and couldn’t spend the night, I had found myself moping around the house, looking for shit to occupy my time.
“You couldn’t make time for me because you were over here stalking around my parents’ place?” I asked.
“I was hoping to get this done tonight.”
