Chapter 13
“Guess whose moving back to town?” Todd asked as he spotted me while I did my presses. We were in my backyard. Davey’s mom had come home last week, and he was helping her get settled. Monta had come back with her after having been gone for nearly three months from her own home, and had thrown a fit at the condition of her house.
Jenny was back from staying with her friend, and was resenting having to once again share a room with her mother. Sandy was doing much better, and the extra time in the hospital while she got over the morphine addiction had actually given her extra time for intensive physical therapy that had her on the verge of being ready to go back to work instead of having weeks more of physical therapy.
“Who?” I asked Todd as I finished the set. Todd still came over two times a week to work out with us on the weight set, and was becoming a better friend with each passing week.
“Sean Rule.” He said with a grin and I was glad I’d just put the weights back on their holder because I would have dropped them otherwise.
“You’re kidding; I thought he and his family lived down south.” I said, trying not to show exactly how excited I was by the news.
“Yeah, well I just heard they’re moving back here over the summer.” Todd said. “I remember what you said about wanting to apologize to him for what you did back in freshman year, and now you’re going to get your chance. Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you beforehand.”
“Thanks.” I said sardonically.
“Okay, let’s get these set up for me.” Todd said, changing the subject. “I’m not a big fucking ape like you and Davey.”
“Well at least you’re no longer a pee-wee.” I said as I stood up and wrapped my hand around his biceps. He was definitely more toned there.
“Hey, hands off the merchandise or I’ll tell my best friend you’re playing around on him.” Todd teased, having already figured out Davey and I, of course his catching us making out one day in the garage helped him put two and two together.
“You’re just jealous.” I teased him back as we took off some of the weights for him to do his own set.
“Damn right I’m jealous, I should have had Davey.” Todd smirked. There was just enough bitterness in his voice that I knew he was partially serious, but the look in his eyes also told me that he was resigned to the fact that Davey was mine. That was a good thing, Todd was a good guy and I’d hate to have to set him straight on how things stood.
“Who wouldn’t be?” I said instead of something harsher and he chuckled before lying back on the bench and getting ready for his sets. Forty minutes later he was driving off in his beetle and I took my third shower of the day to clean off the sweat from our workout. Davey came home after dinner, and one look at his face had me worried. His eyes were red and puffy.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Mom asked as soon as she saw him enter the living room where we were watching television with Dad who’d actually gotten home earlier than normal.
“I… it’s my mom.” Davey stammered and mom was up off the couch and hugging him before guiding him over to sit next to me. His hand found mine and clasped it tightly.
“What’s wrong?” Dad asked. “I thought she was home from the hospital?”
“She is.” Davey sniffed, barely holding back the tears. “That’s what’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Mom asked while putting a hand on his shoulder.
“She… she’s already got a job lined up for as soon as the doctor clears her for work.” Davey sniffed again. “She’ll start in a couple of weeks and as soon as she does, she wants to move out of Nanny’s.”
“Shouldn’t that be a good thing?” I asked with a frown.
“It is.” Davey said with a heavy sigh. “The only problem is that she wants me to move back in with her.”
“Dear, she’s your mother; of course she wants her children home with her.” Mom said gently and Davey shook his head.
“That’s the thing, she’s not sure where we’re going to move.” Davey moaned softly. “Jenny wants to stay at Ceres High, that’s where all her friends are, and if mom gets a place in Ceres, that means I have to go to Ceres as well and I don’t want to go to that stupid school. Mom’s considering moving into a place in Downey’s district, but Jenny’s dead-set against it and I can’t make mom choose me over Jenny. It wouldn’t be right, I mean my sister’s been through so much – more than me – and she deserves to go to the school where her friends are.”
“So do you.” I said with a firm clasp of his hand in mine and he sighed.
“It wouldn’t matter anyway, because if she moved into Downey’s district it would be more expensive than the housing in Ceres.” Davey said with a sigh. “Either way, she won’t make enough money on her own, and Dad’s barely making enough to pay Grandma Jones the rent she charges him for staying with her. That means I’ll have to get a real job.”
“You already do work for me, that is a real job.” Dad said and Davey let out a bark of laughter.
“I’m sorry, Dad B.” Davey said. He’d started calling Dad that after the Hawaii trip and my father still smiled every time he heard Davey say it, even now. “I don’t mean that it’s not a real job just that I don’t make as much money doing it like I did at McDonald’s. Sure, I make more per hour, but I had a lot more hours and Mom will need that money to make rent and pay for food and all that.”
“What about your after-school activities and the stuff we’ve already planned for the summer?” I asked him and he frowned.
“I’m sorry, Brian, but I’m just not going to be able to do all that.” Davey said with a heavy sigh and a shake of his head. “Mom needs the extra money and I need to help her and Jenny first, before anything else. It just wouldn’t be right for me to do otherwise.”
“What about college, David?” Dad asked while I contemplated Davey. His mouth was set in a determined way that I knew all too well. He’d made up his mind, and right now there would be no moving him. He did grimace at dad’s question though.
“I can go to MJC part-time after I finish high school next year.” Davey said after a moment of thinking. He looked over at me sympathetically. “I know you wanted me to go to school with you, Brian, but you understand, don’t you? After Jenny graduates, mom won’t need my help anymore and then I can go meet you wherever you’re going to school. Credits from MJC will transfer, right?”
“Yes, they will.” I said with a sigh. “Are you sure about this? Davey I know you want to help them but is it worth the cost to yourself?”
“Of course it is.” Davey snorted indignantly.
“If that’s your decision, that’s your decision.” Dad said with a note of finality. “We’re going to miss having you around here, son.”
“I’ll still be around.” Davey said with a sad smile. “I mean, it’s not like I’m breaking up with Brian, and I really do appreciate everything you have all done for me so I’ll be here whenever I can get away.”
“You’re at least going to finish the year at Downey, right?” Mom asked.
“Yeah, and if we’re lucky, Mom will pick the place in Modesto so I can still go there.” Davey said with a little smile. “We can always continue using Nanny’s address for Jenny so she can go to Ceres, and either Mom or I can take her there in the mornings.”
“That would be good.” I said and squeezed Davey’s hand again.
“I’ve got some homework to do now if you don’t mind.” Davey said as he stood up. Both Mom and Dad gave him a hug before he went into his bedroom and I was left in the living room with my parents.
“What do you think, Brian?” Dad asked me softly when Davey was gone to his bedroom.
“He’s set on doing this.” I said with a shrug. “He obviously doesn’t like it, but he thinks it is the right thing to do, and he’ll do anything for his mother and sister.”
“Even after what his mother did when she brought him back to California?” Mom asked. I’d told her that part of the story and she’d been furious for most of that night.
“Even after that.” I answered her question. “Davey’s very forgiving when it comes to those he loves. You know he went to talk to his father last week, right?”
“He didn’t tell us that.” Dad said with surprise. “What happened?”
“His father was trying to make a go at selling medical equipment but the company folded.” I explained. “The man’s desperate for a job, and he asked Davey’s help in getting a job at the McDonald’s in Ceres.”
“Ouch.” Dad winced. “That must be hard for both of them.”
“Yeah, well Davey did it.” I said with a shake of my head. “His dad’s going to be hired at the Ceres restaurant and is being trained to be an Assistant Manager there.”
“I hope that works out for him.” Mom said.
“So what do we do about this?” Dad asked. “You know him better than us.”
“Right now there’s not much we can do.” I said with a shrug. “Except be there for him when he needs support, and make sure that he knows we care about him. He has to make his own decisions and he’ll resist any effort to persuade him differently as long as his mother keeps pushing this.”
“We can talk to her, then.” Mom said with a determined look. “She has to see this is not what’s best for Davey.”
“She’s even more stubborn than Davey.” I said with a short laugh.
“So we’ll just have to wait and see, and be there for David if he needs us.” Dad said and I looked at him with a question in my eyes that he understood. “Brian, I told you once that we felt sorry for him with the bad luck he’s had in life. Since we’ve gotten to know him, both your mother and I have found that we love him like he’s our second son.”
“Thanks, dad.” I said with affection.
Davey was edgy around me all that night and the next morning, not quite sure about how I would take his decision. I may not have been happy about it, but I knew better than to try to force him to change his mind. Plans could be changed, and nothing about his decision would make my long-range plans untenable, it would just delay them a few years. When he finally realized that I wasn’t going to argue with him about his decisions, he warmed up a little.
That afternoon he went with his mother and sister to look at possible places for them to move. His mother wasn’t quite able to drive yet, so he took them in his car. I spent the time doing homework and some chores around the house. Dad got back just after six that night and we sat down for a quiet dinner with just the three of us. We were just finishing when there was a loud knock on the door, and I got up to answer it.
“Your parents home, Brian?” Pete Barrow asked with a frown as I opened the door.
“We’re just finishing up dinner, Mr. Barrow.” I answered in surprise and he grunted.
“Good, I’d like to talk to them, and you I guess.” He said grumpily.
“Come in, please.” I replied standing aside and feeling a little glimmer of amusement. Pete was probably as unhappy about things with Davey as we were, and I had a good idea that he was here to try to enlist our aid in changing Davey’s mind, or his mother’s, or both of them.
“Pete, what a surprise!” My mom said with delight as we entered the dining room. She got up and gave him a hug as well as a kiss on the cheek. Pete’s face softened at that and he was almost smiling as he turned to shake hands with my father.
“It’s nice to see you Brenda.” Pete said and he gave both of my parents a sharp look. “I’d like to talk to you both, and Brian too, if you don’t mind. It’s about Davey and that damn fool of a daughter of mine.”
“We’d be happy to talk with you.” Dad said with a smile.
“Can I get you anything?” Mom asked.
“Coffee, if you have some made.” Pete replied.
“I was actually getting ready to make some.” Mom said with a smile. “Why don’t I go ahead and get it started?”
“That’ll be fine if it’s no trouble.” Pete replied with a twinkle in his eye. He turned back to my father and a scowl flittered across his face. “I take it Davey’s told you about his mother’s fool idea?”
“Yes, he has.” Dad said as Mom went into the kitchen.
“I’ve done tried to talk sense into the two of them.” Pete grumped. “They’re both as stubborn as Monta, though.”
“Coffee will be ready in just a minute, Pete.” Mom said as he came back into the room and we all sat down at the table.
“Thanks, Brenda.” Pete said with a nod.
“I don’t see what we can do, but we’ll do anything we can to help David.” Dad said to Pete. “He’s a good young man with a bright future.”
“He is that.” Pete agreed. “The problem here is that Sandy and Monta are thinking about what’s best for Sandy and Jenny. That girl is starting to go a bit wild and needs more attention from her mother. What they aren’t doing is thinking about what’s best for Davey. If they did they wouldn’t be trying to drag him back and forcing him to give up his future so that Sandy can feel like she’s got her family again.”
“Part of the problem is David’s willingness to put off his future for them as well.” Mom said quietly before getting up to go into the kitchen and prepare the coffee. No one said anything until she came back with a tray of coffee and cups for everyone.
“That boy is frustrating sometimes.” Pete said with an explosive exhalation. “He goes and gets his back up when anyone criticizes his father and runs off in a temper, but then the moment Monta or Sandy ask him to do something for them he falls all over himself doing it, no matter what it costs him.”
“So the key here is getting Monta and Sandy to change their minds?” Dad asked.
“Yes, and that’s what makes it so hard.” Pete explained. “They get a fool idea in their head and they go with it without thinking things through.”
“Do you have any ideas on how to change their minds?” Mom asked and Pete shrugged.
“We just have to make them see what this’ll cost Davey and make them believe it’s not worth the cost.” Pete shrugged. For the next hour we discussed a few ideas, and it was decided that they’d be tried out when we went over to Pete’s house for dinner later in the week. He’d suggested that Monta should fix us a dinner as a ‘thank you’ for all the help we’d given them, and afterwards Pete would start up a conversation that we all hoped might change their minds. Pete left looking a little less dour than when he’d arrived, and Davey called to say that he’d be staying there in Ceres for the night.
I managed to get Davey to go with me to lunch the next day at school. He’d been acting a bit sheepish all day, as if he expected me to be angry, but relaxed as we sat down in the diner we’d driven to in my car. As the waitress brought our plates and we dug in, he lowered his guard.
“Did you find a good place yesterday?” I asked as he took a bite of his sandwich. He frowned as he chewed and then swallowed.
“Yeah, but the one we can afford best is in Ceres.” He said with a shrug. “It’s only two bedrooms, but it’s affordable. I’d have liked the one in Modesto, but it was just too expensive.”
“Even with you working?” I asked him, trying not to show my true feelings about all this.
“It sucks, but it’s for the best.” Davey said with a sigh. “Mom wants us all together again, and she’s got a point. We might have been able to afford the bigger place in Modesto, but Janice won’t hire me back.”
“Why not?” I asked while frowning at the bitterness in his voice. “I thought they really needed people?”
“They did, but after I left she hired two people to replace me and the other restaurant hired someone else as well so they don’t need me to fill in there either.” Davey’s voice was sour, but I tried not to show my smile.
“It took them hiring two people to replace you?” I asked him while letting my smile show slightly, hoping he’d not think I was happy he’d not been hired back.
“Yeah, well, and then I’d asked her a week ago to help my dad get a job at the McDonald’s in Ceres and they hired him so there’s no job for me there.” Davey grumped, but he did smile a bit at the compliment.
“What are you going to do now?” I asked him as I took a bite of my salad.
“I heard the Burger King in Ceres was hiring.” He said with a shrug. “Janice said she’d give me a good recommendation.”
“Have you thought about doing something besides fast food?” I asked him. “You’ve been doing office work for dad, right?”
“Uh huh, but it’s hard to find that kind of job while going to school.” Davey answered with another frown.
“We’ll think of something.” I said confidently and the smile came back to his face.
“I know you’re probably upset that I’m turning my back on you and your folks after all you’ve done for me.” Davey said a few minutes later after we were mostly done with our food. The waitress refilled our glasses of water while I shook my head.
“You’re not turning your back on us.” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. “They are your family so I understand.”
“You sure?” Davey asked and I smiled.
“The question is are you sure?” I asked and he frowned at me while sighing and leaning back in the booth.
“I’m sure.” Davey said with false bravado in his voice, and under my stare he quickly deflated, sagging against the back of the booth on his side. “Damn it, you know, don’t you? It’s tearing me up inside and I hate this.”
“I’m sorry.” I said as I chuckled. The situation was funny, in a way.
“What are you laughing at?” He asked sourly.
“Sorry, it’s just that it’s weird being on this side of the conversation.” I said and he squinted at me with his blue eyes for a moment.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“Let’s just say I remember spending a few decades with a man who knew me at times better than I did.” I said with a shrug. “He knew me from so many other lifetimes that at times it was like I couldn’t fool him no matter how hard I tried.”
“Now you know me that way.” Davey said with a slow smile.
“Well, yes and no.” I admitted with a shrug.
“What do you mean?” Davey asked.
“Well, the Davey I knew, he had all the experiences you’ve had, but he’d lived a hundred years since the first time he was seventeen.” I explained. “I knew the person he’d become through all the experiences you’re going through now, and well, you’re already a little different than he was.”
“How’s that?” Davey frowned.
“Well, by this time, that Davey had already been kicked out of Downey.” I answered softly and almost winced at the frown on his face and the way a little line furrowed between his eyebrows.
“Why was I, him, kicked out?” Davey asked.
“Because he kept missing classes to work two jobs.” I answered. “He just quit going altogether when he got a promotion at that McDonald’s, and they kicked him out. I remember how embarrassed he was to tell me that they’d transferred his enrollment to a continuation school and he didn’t even know about it until he showed up at school one day after not going for three weeks.”
“That must have sucked.” Davey said with a shake of his head. “Why’d he do that?”
“Because his, your, mother and sister needed the money.” I said with a shrug.
“What are you trying to say?” He said with an accusatory tone. “You trying to say I’m about to make the same mistake he did?”
“No, I’m just telling you what I know happened.” I replied calmly. Davey upset, as he was now, had to be handled carefully or he’d push back hard. “You are your own person, and your life is already different than his. I don’t know for sure what will happen if you do what you’re talking about now. Davey, remember, this timeline is different than the one I knew, and it’s different already than the one that Davey told me about. Every day we live is part of a new timeline, and I don’t know what’s going to happen with you and me. I know what I want to happen, not what will.”
“Why is it always about what other people want from me?” Davey snorted with a look of angst on his face. “What is it you want?”
“I want to live my life with you.” I said simply with a slight shrug of my shoulders. “I want to grow old with you, be a part of your life and have me always be a part of yours.”
“What if I don’t want that?” He asked and for a moment my heart stopped at the thought. The first few thoughts that came to my head I quickly bit back, and took a deep breath. Davey was watching me closely, and I knew this was an important moment.
“Then I’ll have to respect your wishes no matter how much I don’t like it.” I said slowly and he narrowed his eyes.
“You won’t try to convince me otherwise?” He said disbelievingly as I snorted.
“Of course I will!” I snapped with a bit of irritation. “I’ll make damn sure you know what you’re giving up if you choose to walk away from me, from us, but it’s your damn choice to make no matter what I think about it.”
“But don’t you have a say in… this?” He asked me and I looked at him with confusion for a moment before I realized what he was asking.
“I made that choice a long time ago from my perspective, Davey Jones.” I told him. “In all those years, I’ve never regretted my choice to live my life with you, either the you I knew before or the you I’m getting to know now.”
“I don’t understand it.” Davey admitted softly. “How two men can love each other the way you obviously love me, or him, or both of us, I don’t understand.”
“You will.” I assured him and he smiled softly for a moment.
“It scares me that I believe you when you say stuff like that, and for a moment I think I can be happy like this, living with another guy.” He said with a heavy sigh. “Then that other voice comes back, and it tells me I’m sinning and I’m going to hell unless I repent, and I think about what happens when Mom, or Dad, or god forbid, Nanny and Papa find out.”
“They’ll go berserk at first, but eventually they’ll realize they love you.” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. “You’ll have fights with them, and then they’ll come around, telling you that they love you no matter what. At first they’ll be standoffish, and then they’ll gradually become more and more accepting until they accept me just as they would have if I was a woman you’d married that they didn’t quite approve of, but that made you happy.”
“Like a catholic?” Davey snorted and I laughed. He looked at his watch and frowned. “We better get going. We’re almost late for class.”
After school he left to go out with his mother and sister. It was fairly apparent his mother had decided on the Ceres location, and that they were going to do the last bit of paperwork for that. I had a few hours after school, and some time to myself to really think about this, and to make some decisions. When Mom and Dad were both home, I had a long conversation with them and presented my ideas. The timing of everything was fortuitous, and as we drove to Ceres, we made the stop at the convenience store on Yosemite Boulevard.
“You sure about this?” Mom asked as she put the little slip of paper in the card we had gotten for Davey’s mother.
“Yes.” I assured her.
“Aren’t you meddling?” Dad asked as we pulled back onto the road. The airport looked odd without the corporate jet hangars, I noticed with a small corner of my brain. “How does this affect the timeline and your plans?”
“It helps Davey, that’s what’s important.” I said firmly. “It keeps things on track with my plans.”
“But, how do you know his mother will make the right choices?” Mom asked.
“That’s where you come in.” I said firmly. “She needs friends, Mom. You and her got along real well in the last timeline. There’s no reason you shouldn’t get along in this one. You worked for her for a long while there.”
“I did?” Mom asked with a frown.
“Yes, and you both made a lot of money.” I said with a slight smile. “Mom, she’s been a pastor’s wife since she was out of high school. Along the way she’s held a lot of other jobs, but she was always the wife of a preacher. That made her isolated in a way, from other women her age. I remember Davey talking about how happy he was to see her with so many friends her own age in the last timeline. In a way, that kind of describes his parents. Both of them lived lives that were filled with other people, but they were isolated in one way or another for the most part, at least until the last timeline.”
“For some reason that makes some sense.” Dad said with a shake of his head.
“You both have friends that you do things with all the time.” I pointed out to them. “There are the Rushes, the Walkers, the Bettencourts, and a few others. All friends you’ve had for years and years.”
“Speaking of them, what’s going on between Brandon, Trevor, and you?” Mom asked with a little frown as we entered Ceres proper. How many times had I driven this route with Davey in the last time as we visited his mother’s parents, and his father’s mother? The two sets of family literally lived ‘right around the corner’ from each other. Most people would consider it a blessing to have grandparents so close to each other, but I knew from a lifetime of experience that it was both a blessing and a curse.
Then again, we’d followed a similar example buying both our Washington and our Modesto homes so close to his and my parents’ homes. My how the boys had loved that, trudging from house to house to get Christmas presents and candy from their different sets of grandparents. It was amazing how spoiled they had been, and yet turned out to be such fine young men.
“Brian?” Mom’s voice was concerned as she looked at me in the back seat of the car. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to cry.”
“I was just remembering something about… about the boys.” I murmured softly and she frowned softly, but there was sympathy in her eyes.
“How do you deal with that?” She asked me. “I would die if I lost you because I…”
“I didn’t lose them.” I said vehemently. “They might be born again in this timeline, but they at least lived long, full lives in the last one.”
“But it still hurts.” Mom stated and I nodded.
“About Trevor and Brandon.” I said, picking up her question. “They’re just being… teenagers. Don’t worry, it’ll take a little time, but we’ll be back to being friends the way we’ve always been.”
“That’s good to hear.” Dad said firmly as we pulled onto Myrtlewood and approached Pete and Monta’s house. Monta answered the door, and we were welcomed inside. Shantill was there, with her infant daughter, as were Davey’s mother, his sister, and one of Jenny’s friends. The house was crowded with all these people, and I couldn’t blame Sandy for wanting to move out.
“My, you’re as big as Davey.” Monta said with a bright smile as she tried to push some Kool-Aid into my hand. I took it with a smile.
“Thank you, ma’am.” I said with a smile. “Where is he?”
“Oh, he got called for a job interview!” Monta said with a smile.
“He did?” My voice almost cracked at that, and I noticed how Dad’s face flickered into a frown. Unfortunately, so did Davey’s mom and she frowned as well. There was no doubt in my mind they were frowning for different reasons though.
“Yes he did!” Monta said, totally oblivious to the undercurrents in the kitchen and dining room area of her home. Pete was standing in the doorway that separated the area from the living room, and he was frowning as well.
“Monta talked to her old shift supervisor at the cannery.” Pete grumbled with an intense look at dad. “She thinks he can get an evening and weekend shift there.”
“They pay good, and he can work more during the summer.” Davey’s mother said with a defensive tone.
“That was very nice of you to get him an interview.” Dad said to Monta who practically beamed.
“Well, he’s a good boy.” She said. “He’s always doing his best for his mother and sister.”
“It smells so good in here.” Mom said to change the subject, and Monta went on to tell Mom what she was cooking.
“Davey will like going to Ceres next year.” Jenny said as I moved into the family room. It had once been the garage, but Pete had converted it into a huge family room years ago. I noticed Davey’s bed off in the corner and tried not to frown at the idea of him having to sleep down there.
“Really?” I said, not quite sure what to make of her tone. This young teenager was nothing like the Jenny Jones I had known in the last timeline. She was an odd mix of adult and childish behaviors. One moment she would be more mature than her age, and then the next a spoiled brat. The Jenny I had known had always been supremely confident, gregarious, and an overall joy to be around. This Jenny would be similar, and then go into a pout, or a fit of rage that I wasn’t sure how to deal with. Tonight she seemed, edgy, almost jealous in a way.
“Yeah, so you probably won’t be seeing as much of him.” She said.
“That won’t change us being friends.” I said calmly. She frowned and walked away, taking her friend Stacey with her. That was a bit of a relief because Stacey was giving me an all too familiar look through her eyelashes.
“Do you know my brother, Christopher?” Shantill asked me as she came into the family room, having left her daughter in Pete’s arms.
“He went to Downey didn’t he?” I asked and she smiled with a look very similar to the one Stacey had been giving me. Since I remembered having to dodge roving hands from another Shantill, I made sure to leave as much distance as possible. Luckily, I was saved by Mom calling me to help set the table for Monta.
Dinner was nice, even with the undercurrents running through the room. For some reason, it seemed Jenny was jealous of me for the amount of time Davey spent at our house. Stacey and Shantill took turns trying to pass me more food while giving each other murderous looks, and Davey’s mother kept giving my mother and father defensive looks as if she was worried about them looking down on her.
“I’m home.” Davey’s voice called out when dinner was almost over, and there was a flurry of activity as Monta got up and set an extra place at the table for him, putting him next to me.
“Well, what did he say?” His mother asked after he’d gotten settled.
“I’ve got a job starting in two weeks, if school will approve the work permit.” Davey said with a shrug. Monta cheered, as did Jenny and his mother.
“Congratulations, Davey.” Dad said after his immediate family had gotten done doing the same thing.
“Thanks, Mr. B.” Davey said with a slight smile.
“Why does the school have to approve you working there?” His sister asked after a few minutes.
“It’s all the heavy machinery.” Davey said with a shrug. “Normally you can’t work there until you’re eighteen, but, well, because of Nanny having worked there, they’ll risk hiring me. I’ll talk the school counselor into it, don’t worry. They pay almost eight dollars an hour! That’s over twice minimum wage. I can get about four hours a night during the week, and then a full day on Saturday and Sunday.”
“You’ll have a couple days off a week, won’t you?” Mom asked with a frown.
“Um, well, I’ll need all the hours I can get.” Davey said. “I’m sure I’ll get a day or two off every couple of weeks.”
“Yes, well, don’t wear yourself out.” Pete said, making a point to draw attention to his left hand. It was missing the two middle fingers. He’d lost them in an accident at a job site when he’d made a stupid mistake because he was working too long and had gotten too tired. “That heavy machinery will suck in a hand, or your arm and chop it right off without a second thought.”
“I know, Papa.” Davey said in a long drawl, but there was a look in the back of his eyes that said Pete’s warning had reminded him that bad things could happen.
When everyone had finished dinner, we moved into the family room. Monta served coffee for herself, Pete, and Dad. Mom and Davey’s mom were drinking hot tea while Davey and I were having water. Jenny had gone to her friend’s house, and Shantill was on the phone with one of her male friends. The conversation had started casually, with Sandy talking about the house in Ceres that they had applied for earlier that day.
“Oh my, it’s time for the drawing!” Monta exclaimed when she noticed the time. She got up and went over to the big screen television, turning it on and changing the channel.
“I swear you waste more money on that than I care to imagine!” Pete grumbled before turning to my father. “Both her and Sandy like to play that Lotto junk!”
“That reminds me!” Mom said with a slight smile as she dug into her purse. She took out the card we’d signed earlier and that she’d sealed in the car. “Sandy, we are so glad you’re feeling better. We got you this card.”
“Thank you, Brenda.” Sandy said with a smile as she opened the envelop just as the lottery drawing came on television. She opened the card as the third ball popped up and the number was called. A slip of paper fell out of the opened card and she bent to pick it up. “A lottery ticket!”
“Yes, Davey mentioned how you like to play.” Mom said with a disingenuous smile while Davey gave me a suddenly suspicious look while the fourth ball popped up with its number.
“Would you look at that, it’s got all four numbers!” Sandy exclaimed, suddenly on the edge of her seat and looking between the ticket and the television with excitement.
“I’ve got none!” Monta called out as she came flying out of her Lazyboy chair to look over Sandy’s shoulder at the lottery ticket. When the fifth number appeared, she started jumping up and down. “That’s five!”
“Oh my.” Sandy Jones said softly as the final number appeared on the screen, just as I remembered from another timeline. Sandy and my mother had both bought tickets to that drawing, and I’d joined that timeline’s Davey in teasing them after they’d lost. This time though, Sandy Jones had just won nine million dollars, and was screaming her head off while her son gave me a look filled with suspicion.
This story brought to you by a lot of hard editing from Emoe, and
beta-reading by Trebs.
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