Chapter 7
1082 Words
After a light skate, an intense team meeting, and a carb-loaded lunch, I jump back in my car and head home, chugging a protein shake. I arrive at the house but can’t pull onto the driveway because Jack is whizzing around on the road and my mom and dad got him for his birthday.
I beep the horn and he scoots up onto the grass.
“Damien, Damien. How did it go? Are you ready? Mom says we need to go out for a few hours because you need your nap. She’s taking me to get my hair cut, so I’m smart for your first game.”
Jack is talking a mile a minute as I open the car door and get out.
“That’s a good idea. Then when you get back, it will be nearly time to go.”
He sits on the step, nodding his head in agreement, unclipping the straps of his skates.
“I’m really trying with my time. I think at night, Mom sometimes tells me it’s later than it is.”
I laugh and hear Charlotte choke on the water she just took a sip of as I walk in through the front door.
“That kid is somethin’ else.”
“Yeah, I wonder where he gets it from,” she teases.
Smiling, I wrap my arm around her shoulder.
“Are you doing okay, Charlotte? Is everything good at school?”
As a guidance counselor at a local high school, she’s tried and tested every day by teenage issues—identity, drugs, online bullying, exam stress, s*x. I definitely couldn’t do what she does.
“Yes, fine.” She nods. “I wanted to tell you that my attorney emailed me and it looks like we can move forward a little even though no one can get a hold of him, so we’ll be out of your hair in no time.”
I have to swallow the tirade of obscenities I want to shout.
“Three goddamn years is a long time to drag a divorce out, Charlotte. I’m glad you’ll soon get the closure you need, but you don’t have to rush to leave. I love having you both here.”
My teeth grind of their own volition when I try to fathom how this piece of s**t could leave Jack the way he did. He’s the best f*****g kid anyone could ask for. And Charlotte? She’s incredible.
My brothers, cousins, and I have had to be talked down many times by my father, with him insisting that Adrian would get his comeuppance without any of us losing our livelihoods. He knows if we got our hands on him, we wouldn’t be able to stop.
Charlotte and I are the eldest of five and have three younger brothers. We’re very close, and when Adrian started f*****g Charlotte about, it affected us all. Hurt one of us, hurt all of us. Cross one, cross us all.
She heaves a sigh.
“Yeah, I know, Case, but we’ve cramped your style for long enough, and I know how much you like entertaining.”
She wiggles her eyebrows at her innuendo.
“Don’t sweat it, Charlotte. That’s what hotel rooms are for.”
She gasps and punches me in the arm.
“You’re a pig, Damien Kingsley. I’m telling Mama.”
“He’s not a pig, Mom, he’s a Wolf!” Jack shouts as he comes bounding through the foyer.
“I hate that he’s stopped calling me mommy,” she pouts.
I look down at him and then back to her.
“Hey, first grade is a big deal. He’s almost a man.”
“Yeah, Mom. I’m almost a man.”
She pops a hip and stares him down.
“Oh, okay, I see. So does this mean that my ‘young man’ doesn’t want to stop by Freezie on his way home from the barber shop?”
Jack’s eyes light up.
“Mom, even men eat ice cream,” he insists.
We both laugh as my sister readies Jack to leave and I pad back up to my room. I take off all my clothes, climb into bed, and then try to fall asleep.
My mind ticks over the Devils’ favored defensive attacks and at some point, I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, I’m being woken up by my alarm again.
I walk across to my bathroom and turn on the hot tap, stepping under the waterfall for a while. I consider beating one out but think better of it; I want to be fired up for tonight. After washing my body and drying off, I put on my boxers and then head for my walk-in closet.
Jack shouts for me and runs into my room. When I turn around, he’s decked out in the dark grey suit I had made for him that matches mine.
“What ya doing, kiddo? Aren’t you wearing your jersey today?”
“I am, but I asked Mom if it was okay to wear this and then change like the team does.”
Taken aback, I shake my head, smiling wide.
“Well, okay then. Watch out girls, Jackie Boy is in the house.”
We high five and he stays while I get changed. I mess with my hair in the mirror and see Jack running his fingers through his.
“I think we’re ready,” I exclaim and he nods as we both turn and then head out of my room.
Charlotte stands at the bottom of the stairs, laden down with bags that I take from her. She’s got a Wolves jersey that she had custom made. It says ‘Kingsley—the other half’ on the back, because my dad always says that we’re two sides of the same coin.
I look at her blue eyes that are the same as mine. She’s tall for a girl, but I still have a good five inches on her.
She seems so deflated and my twin senses tingle, but she flashes me a big smile and asks,
“Are you ready to go?”
“Let’s do this.”
I nod to Jack, and he begins to shout.
“YOU CAN’T BEAT US, YOU CAN’T BEAT US!”
His clapping is on point as he repeats his chant all the way to the car. Gunner joins in as he walks up the driveway and heads for the passenger side.
- Writer
