Run Away Child

Brother meets boyfriend?

“Okay so Kyle is. Anyone else?”

A few of them said they are and the rest said that they were going home. I got up and started cleaning up. I threw away the trash and walked to the room. I grabbed all of the extra blankets and pillows. I walked back to the living room to see them wrestling.

“Jordan, stop.”

"But why?”

“Wanna sleep out here with them?”

“Yes and no.”

“Cool. Here are the blankets and I'm going to bed in my bed since you are sleeping out here.”

I handed Kyle the pillows and blankets and walked to the room. A few seconds I heard Jordan come running to the room. He picked me up and slammed me on the bed. He grabbed the lingerie and hid it. Then he got on the bed and pinned me.

“Tap out.”

“Oh, that’s cute. You think I will tap out.”

“I will make you.”

“Baby, I have older brothers that are wrestlers. All of my siblings play football and wrestle actually. And I did professional boxing.”

“I'm bigger than you.”

“So were all of my opponents.”

I moved my leg so it was over his. I shifted over pushing all of my weight on the right side of his body knocking him over onto the bed and I got on top of him. I pinned his hands behind his head and locked his legs between mine so he literally couldn’t move.

“So, who’s going to make who tap out?”

The boys walked in and saw that he was in a submission move that was hard to get out of.

“Jordan, I can't believe this is going to be the first time you tap out.”

“I'm not tapping out.”

“If you don’t, I could break your leg in five different spots right now.”

“You wouldn’t because you know that would end my career.”

“Very true.”

I got closer to him and whispered.

“But there are other things that I could do.”

“Don’t you dare.”

I started laughing. He tried getting out but it didn’t work out. 

“Just tap out and none of us will say anything.”

“Nope.”

He moved one of his arms just enough to grab my wrist. From there I knew that he was going to get out. He twisted my wrist with one hand and used the other to flip me off of him. He was on top of me again and put me in a submission move.

“Tap.”

“No.”

I moved my legs up and kneed him in the chest. I got on him again and I started kissing his neck. 

“Sophia!”

It went downhill from there. He moved me off of him and dropped to the floor.

“There are people in here!”

“Didn’t stop you at the party.”

He glared at me.

“Wait, did you just do what I think you just did?”

“If what you were thinking is kiss his neck and get him hard so he lost by default, yes.”

“That’s dirty.”

“I still won. That’s all that matters.”

“You did that in front of his boys too.”

“Yep. Now yall need to get out of my room so we can all go to bed.”

They laughed and filed out of the room. Jordan got up and he was furious.

“You just had to do that didn’t you.”

“It was funny. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow I promise. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Fine.”

He got up and walked to the bathroom and finished getting ready for bed. He came back and lied down on his side of the bed. I lied down and turned the lamp off. 

“Come here.”

I pulled him closer so he was lying on my chest and was holding me. I played with his hair and rubbed his head. 

“I'm sorry.”

“It’s whatever.”

“It’s not whatever. I don’t like it when you get mad at me as much as me getting mad at you.”

“Let’s not talk about it. Like you said, you will make it up to me tomorrow.”

“Yep, I'm taking you out and when we come back there will be a surprise for you.”

“Then I'm going to have to top that for your birthday in two days.”

“How did you know?”

“I remembered.”

“Don’t do something extra. I hate my birthday.”

“Why?”

“Well that is a topic for another day. Good night.”

“That’s not fair.”

“It’s just something I don’t like talking about. Can we please just go to sleep?”

“Yes.”

He kissed my stomach causing me to giggle. He then laid his head on it and fell asleep. I fell asleep shortly after he did and something just felt off. I woke up before Jordan did so I got up and walked to the kitchen. The boys were standing there sharing a pot of coffee and talking.

“Good morning Sophia.”

“Good morning.”

“Josh has something he wants to show you.”

“Dear lord.”

Josh pulled out his phone and showed me the funniest and cutest photo of me and Jordan sleeping and cuddling.

“That’s terrifyingly adorable. When did you take this?”

“I went in there to ask Jordan a question but I saw you two were passed out and cuddling so I didn’t say anything but I took a picture.”

“Send that to me please.”

“Yep. also, look at my story.”

“Snapchat or i********:?”

“Snapchat. I don’t post on my i********: story.”

I went on Snapchat and watched his story. It was a video of us and the caption said, “Homie and his girl makes me feel extra single.” I couldn’t help but to laugh.

“That’s cute. Can I have a cup of MY coffee?”

“Yep.”

They moved out of my way and I made a cup of coffee.

“Don’t drink all of Jordan’s creamer. He will literally kill every single one of you.”

“Do you drink it?”

“I don’t drink my coffee with creamer.”

“You are weird.”

“Whatever. You said that last night about my brownie and ice cream but you stopped talking about it when you tried it.”

“True.”

Jordan walked in and wrapped his arms around me.

“What are we talking about?”

“Not drinking your creamer so they don’t die.”

“That sounds like something that would happen if someone drank all of my creamer.”

“Exactly.”

He kissed my cheek and made a cup of coffee.

“Well, nice talking to you guys but I have to get ready.”

“Okay, see you in a few minutes.”

I walked away with my coffee and shut the bedroom door. I opened the closet and picked out a black tank top that said “NIRVANA” on it with their signature smiley face on it. I pulled out a black and yellow plaid skirt. Mirza bought me some fishnets to wear with it because it put the whole “E-girl” look together. 

I looked in the mirror and I thought that it looked really cute. I took a picture and sent it to the girls chat and everyone said that I looked really cute. I walked to the bathroom and put on some make-up and did my hair. I brushed my teeth and walked back to the room to put a pair of socks on. After I put my socks on I walked out to the living room and Jordan saw me.

“Hold up.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Who are you and where is my girlfriend?”

“Haha, comedian. I'm trying something new. Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it.”

“Alright then.”

I kissed him and walked to the living room closet and put on my leather ankle boots. 

“Well okay then Sophia. Looking like a E-girl over here.”

“Shut up.”

“You look good though. Not even going to lie.”

“Well thank you.”

Kyle smiled and left to go home. Jordan walked over to me and handed me the keys.

“You are driving today.”

“Deal. Thank you.”

“My baby is driving my baby.”

I chuckled and grabbed my bag. I walked outside and sat in the car. I started her up and she sounded beautiful. 

“He’s letting you drive her?”

I looked over and it was Josh.

“Jesus Josh. You scared me.”

“Sorry. But seriously, he’s letting you drive her?”

“Yep. he’s let me drive her once before.”

“Wow he loves you.”

“Yep. Now get to school.”

“Okay mom.”

“Want me to get out and fight you?”

“Nope. Heading to school. But seriously though. You and Jordan are the parents of the group.”

“I can’t stand you.”

I rolled the window up and waited for Jordan. He walked out and so did the rest of the boys. He locked the door and came trotting downstairs. He got in and looked at me. He smiled and put his hand on my thigh.

“Ready to go?”

“Was waiting on you like I do every morning.”

“Are you trying to tell me that I take a long time to get ready?”

“Yeah. I am a girl and I take less time getting ready than you.”

“Wow.”

“What? At least I'm a loyal and honest girlfriend unlike Miranda.”

“That was shady!”

“Don’t act like it wasn’t true or funny.”

He started laughing and pulled out his phone. I put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking lot. I put it in drive and drove us to school. We got there and I parked in our usual spot. Everyone was shocked to see that I was the one that was driving and my outfit. 

I walked with Jordan around the school like normal and afterwards I walked to class. I got a few people staring at me but I really didn’t care. I walked past Serina and her girls and I saw that she was wearing a brace. I couldn’t help but to laugh. I was almost to class when my phone started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Sophia. It’s your brother.”

“Which one?”

“Your favorite.”

“Jokes on you, I don’t have a favorite. So this is probably Michael because he is the only one that wants to be everyone's favorite.”

“Correct and that hurt.”

“What’s up?”

“Are you at school?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Come out through the front and you can bring your boyfriend if the two of you are still together.”

“Why?”

“Well, I can’t hang out with you tomorrow on your birthday so I figured that I would spend the day before your birthday with you. I have a business trip and I leave tonight sadly. So meet me outside.”

“Okay. I’ll call him.”

“Okay.”

I hung up and called Jordan.

“What’s up baby?”

“Michael wants us to hang out with him today. As in right now. He’s waiting for us.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. But meet us in the main lobby.”

“Okay.”

I hung up and texted Michael.

“Hey meet us inside the school. Main lobby.”

“Okay. Be there in a minute.”

Jordan came running.

“Is he here yet?”

“Walking inside right now.”

We waited a few seconds and we saw my oldest brother. He is 6’7, built like a linebacker, mixed, and jet black hair. He was wearing his favorite leather jacket meaning he rode his motorcycle. He is the stereotypical highschool bad-boy even though he is twenty-three.

“He is intimidating. He makes me look like a teddy bear.”

“Well, you are a teddy bear. Just formed by a God.”

“He looks like a God.”

“You are my God.”

He looked at me and bit his lip. I looked around and saw every girl staring at him.

“Hello sister.”

I smiled and ran over to him. I gave him a hug and he picked me up. He shook me a little bit then set me down.

“So this must be Jordan right?”

“Yep. Nice to meet the oldest brother Michael.”

“You bet I am. So is she riding with me or you?”

“Neither. He is riding with me because I am driving.”

“Since when?”

“Since dad took us out in the country when we were kids and taught us how to drive.”

“That was years ago. You still know how?”

“She really does. She has been driving my car for the past few days and nothing bad has happened surprisingly.”

They started laughing.

“Haha, wanna sleep on the couch?”

“Nope. Pass on that one.”

“Wait, you live together?”

“Yep. Mom didn’t tell you that I moved out?”

“Oh, no. I haven’t talked to her since my graduation.”

“Wow. that’s a long time.”

“Well none of her kids like her other than Andrew but he is too young to understand things like this.”

“Very true. So, where are we going?”

“First I wanna go to the ice cream shop and get something there then go to ‘Birds Park’ across from there. Like old times.”

“Deal! I loved it when you and Jacob would take me there. We would get ice cream and go play at the park with you friends. Sometimes I would bring bread for the birds.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

We left the school and I was right, he rode his motorcycle. I got in the car and started it. Jordan got in and sat down.

“So your brothers don’t like your mom?”

“None of us do other than Andrew but he doesn’t understand everything since he is eight.”

“Yeah. There are huge age gaps and really small age gaps between you and your brothers.”

“You really think that my mom popped out eight kids? No, Jacob was adopted and so was Cam. Michael is my half brother, we share the same mom, and Andrew is my full brother. KC was also adopted and Jayden is our God brother. We still count him because he was taken in by our mom because his mom lost the house because she was addicted to drugs and she couldn’t take care of herself let alone her kid. And finally our youngest brother Richie is also my full brother.”

“That is a lot of boys.”

“I know. Welcome to my life.”

“This is going to suck.”

“Well you met two of them and both of them like you. So that is two out of seven.”

“Five more to go.”

“Yep. good math.”

He looked at me and mockingly laughed at me. I pulled out of the parking lot and started driving to this little ice cream shop that my brothers and I practically grew up at. I parked the car and walked to the front waiting for my brother and Jordan. They walked up laughing about something and I am just happy that they are getting along. I walked to the window and looked at the ice cream menu.

“What do you think about chocolate mint?”

“I love chocolate mint.”

“Alright.”

We stood there talking about the different flavors and the little old man walked over from behind the counter and I realized that he is the same man that has worked there my whole life. His name was Doug but we always called him Uncle Doug because he was always a part of our lives.

“Hey Uncle Doug.”

“Sophia? Is that you?”

“In the flesh. And guess who’s with me?”

“Why is that Michael?”

“Hey Uncle Doug! It’s been a long time.”

“It has, hasn't it. I can’t believe the two of you are all grown up now. Feels like yesterday you were just little kids ordering cones and going to the park.”

“Yeah, those were the best days of my life. Well today we are reliving our youth.”

“Well, order what you want and it’s on me. My longest customers.”

“Are you sure Doug?”

“Absolutely, just make me a promise.”

“Anything.”

“Come by more often and when you have kids, keep that tradition alive for me. I'm going to pass any day now and I would like to see you kids more often.”

I looked at Doug and my eyes watered.

“Of course Doug.”

“Well are you just going to stand there or are you going to meet me at the back and give me a hug?”

I laughed and ran to the back. I heard Michael and Jordan laughing and running behind me. Doug walked out and he looked up at us.

“Boy you two have gotten tall over the years.”

I smiled and gave him a hug.

“And who is this young man?”

“This is my boyfriend Jordan.”

“Well Jordan, treat this young lady with the most respect.”

“I will. I love her to much.”

Doug smiled and walked back inside. We walked back to the front and ordered our usual cones that we would always get. I got plain chocolate and Michael got vanilla. Jordan got his favorite which was chocolate mint ice cream. We sat in the front and ate our ice cream before we went to the park. I wanted a picture with Jordan, Michael, and Doug so I asked Doug to come out and had someone take our picture. Doug’s smile was from ear to ear and he was so happy. 

“Well, you kids go and have fun and remember our promise.”

“Of course Uncle Doug. I have never broken one of our promises.”

“Good girl. Still going to LSU?”

“Yep, I have had my heart set on it my whole life.”

“I know, you sat out here for hours one day doing hardcore research.”

“Sounds like my sister.”

“Well okay two more years and off to college you go.”

“Well I will be back. I could never forget about the man that helped me become the person that I am today.”

He smiled and nodded.

“Well we have to get on our way. It was really good seeing you again Uncle Doug.”

“It was good seeing you again.”

We walked across the street and went to the park. There were a bunch of kids and their parents there. When we were younger there weren’t that many people at this park. I took off running and jumped on the playground. I started climbing up and went down the slide.

I fell off because I slid down way faster than I thought I would and both of them started laughing super hard. Michael fell over because of how hard he was laughing. This little boy ran over to me and he was the cutest and sweetest thing ever.

“Are you okay Miss?”

“I'm quite alright. Thank you.”

“My momma told me that if I ever saw a lady fall that I should run over to see if she would like some help.”

“Well your momma is raising you the right way. Listen to her.”

“I like your accent.”

“Well thank you. It's a country accent.”

“Where are you from?”

“Lynchburg, Tennessee.”

“That’s far from here.”

“It is. But I like it here better.”

A lady came running over to us.

“I am so sorry. Danny over here just couldn’t help but to run off.”

“It’s quite alright. Your boy right here is a sweet little thing.”

“Well thank you. I'm trying to raise him right.”

“Well as soon as I fell off of the slide, my brother and boyfriend didn’t help me but your boy came running and tried to help me.”

She looked at the grown men on the ground laughing and then looked at her son who was smiling.

“Well, that is quite hilarious.”

“Momma the nice lady has a country accent.”

“I can tell Danny.”

I smiled and got down on my knees.

“Can I have a hug before you go?”

He wrapped his arms around me and I gave him a little squeeze. I let go of him and they left. I got up and walked over to them.

“Are you done acting like toddlers? That six year old was more mature than the both of you combine.”

They looked at each other and started giggling again. I wanted to challenge them when they were distracted.

“Race you two to the lake.”

I took off running to the lake and started climbing down the rocks and everything to get to our spot that we would go to so we could fish and hang out. Shortly after they trailed down the rocks and out of breath.

“Not fair. We were distracted.”

“I know.”

I sat down on a rock and started throwing rocks into the water. It was beautiful and peaceful.

“It hasn’t changed a day in all of these years.”

“I know. It’s like time just froze when we were here.”

“This is where I had my first kiss.”

“Yeah, with my best friend at the time.”

“He kissed me. Not the other way around and at least I told you and didn’t date him unlike you when you dated my best friend.”

“I didn’t know and I said that I was sorry for that.”

“Changing subjects before we try to drown each other like we used to.”

“Good idea.”

I looked at Jordan and he looked concerned.

“I told you that I was that most sane person in the family other than our step dad and Andrew. They stopped nine out of ten fights that happened.”

“They could never stop you and mom. That’s a fact.”

“Very true. But once it would get physical that’s when they would drag me outside and bring mom to her room. And I would have to apologize even though she started literally every fight.”

“Well you don’t have to worry about her now because you have a restraining order on her and we live together.”

“Huh?”

Jordan and I looked at each other and I was scared for his life.

“Did you just say you live together and you have a restraining order on mom?”

“Yes but hear me out.”

“Please come up with a reason why I shouldn’t kill the two of you right here and right now.”

“At first I was living with Mirza. I sorta took off and tried to leave because a few people were telling me that I was a destructive person and I was going to ruin any chance that Jordan had at going to the NFL. he found me and we had a really deep conversation and he brought up that he wanted to move out of his parents house and get an apartment and wanted me to live with him. So we live together.”

“Okay. And your hair? I wanted to say something earlier.”

“Revenge on mom. She always loved my hair to be long and natural. So I had it cut and dyed. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it looks good on you.”

“Well thank you.”

“Okay so here is another question. Have you two had s*x?”

Jordan and I went blank.

“I'm going to take that as a yes.”

“Don’t talk. You lost your virginity to my best friend and took hers a week after dating your freshman year.”

“Wow, just going to call me out like that.”

I laughed a little bit.

“I'm not mad because I'm not your father. But please just be careful. I don’t want to be an uncle just yet but I am going to be a father soon.”

I looked at him to see if he was serious.

“Is Veronica pregnant?”

“Four months.”

“And you are just now telling me?!”

I got up and punched him. He laughed then pulled me into a hug.

“I'm going to be an aunt!”

“And a Godmother.”

“Seriously? You want me to be the Godmother?”

“I wouldn’t trust my kid with anyone other than you.”

He pulled out his phone and showed me the test that she took that confirmed it and the scan that showed the baby in her stomach.

“I'm so happy for you! Is that why you wanted to spend today with us?”

“Well I really do have a business trip tomorrow but this is part of it. And she is meeting us for dinner after she gets off of work. I canceled all of my meetings and my assistant is taking all of my calls.”

“All for your baby sister.”

“You aren’t a baby anymore that’s for sure.”

“She acts like a five year old all the time. Anytime we go out she orders the same thing.”

“Chicken tenders and fries with a unsweetened tea and lemon.”

They said it at the same time and I looked at them utterly shocked.

“Am I really that predictable?”

“You really are though.”

“Ouch, that hurt.”

They laughed at me and we hung out at that little spot at the river for a few hours. It started getting dark so we walked back to the car and the motorcycle. We got back to the ice cream shop and got into the car. Michael texted me the address and we left. We drove past our old house and the apartment building that I used to live in when we first moved here from Tennessee. 

“So what is this restaurant called?”

“You will find out when we get there.”

“Mean.”

“Nope. Are you having fun?”

“Honestly, yeah. I love your brother, he is super cool.”

“Well who do you think I get it from?”

He chuckled.

“I know we didn’t get that alone time that you wanted today.”

“It’s okay. This is still really fun and I get to know your family more.”

He put his hand on my thigh and squeezed. He pulled out his phone and started texting someone.

“Who are you texting?”

“Mirza, she was wondering where we went and what was going on.”

“Why didn’t she text me?”

“She did.”

I pulled my phone out and sure enough there were four missed calls and at least twelve new messages.

“Well alright then.”

I sat my phone back down and continued driving. I drove through Kankakee and Jordan looked confused.

“Where are we?”