Page 79 of Malaise

“At least this one’s legal, boy.”

He was testing me. He said I needed to know what I was getting into, and I guess trial by fire is the warning of choice for him.

“This one?” Tanya voices the words that echo through my head.

What the fuck does he mean, “this one”? How many have there been?

Deb laughs harder. The damn woman literally has to set her wine down before she spills it all over her figure-hugging dress.

“Meg.” I blink through the unwanted tears pooling in my eyes and look up at Tanya. When the hell did she get out of her seat? I shake my head clear and take her offered hand, allowing her to lead me from the room.

There’s no need to look behind me to know that Carver follows; I can practically feel the anger that radiates off him searing my back.

“Put the glass down, Meg. We’re getting the fuck out of here.” Tanya gestures to the cup I have a white-knuckled grip on.

I set it in the sink, catching Carver’s eye as I do. He stands off to the side, arms folded over his chest and a deep frown marring the face I’ve only seen the best of until now. Furious Carver is a damn intimidating Carver—just like his old man. I wonder if he knows just how much like the guy he is?

“Keys, arsehole.” Tanya holds her hand out and snatches the bunch away as he crosses her palm with them. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you somewhere where you can take a full breath, yeah?”

Deb still laughs as we step out the front door, his father yelling insults at her in an attempt to silence the woman. The chill of the night bites me hard as we trudge down the path and then the driveway in single file. Tanya leads, and Carver follows: a silent and sullen procession.

“What the fuck were you thinking, bro?” Tanya unleashes her fury on Carver as he unlatches the gate.

“You don’t need to know.”

“I think I do.”

“Bullshit! How about I tell you what I’m thinking now?”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“That’s it’s none of your fucking business!”

I back away, placing not only distance between them and me, but removing the thought that I could be siding with either of them if I were to accidently stand closer to one than the other.

“It’s my business when you bring a girl into our house knowing what the old man’s like.”

“She needs to see that,” Carver hollers back, jerking the gate open.

“Why? What the fuck were you trying to prove?” Tanya asks, storming toward the driver door of the Falcon. “What a right prick you can be?”

I rush through the gateway and for the car after Carver glares in my direction. He shuts the gate behind us, the metal clanging violently as he shoves the rod back in the ground harder than necessary.

“What the fuck did he mean by ‘this one’ being legal?” Tanya hollers out the car window at him.

“Nothing,” he bellows back, securing the gate.

“Why would he say it, if it’s nothing?”

“Because it would do this,” he shouts, jerking his hand toward the car. “He planted the seed of a lie, knowing it would fester no matter what I say now.”

My door is jerked open, and yet, he doesn’t look at me as he indicates I should get in.

“You don’t get it,” Carver mutters.

“Why?” Tanya turns the key, still yelling from inside the car. “Why the fuck wouldn’t I understand? Do I not live in the same house?”

Carver and I take our seats in unison, his door slamming shut while I carefully latch mine after me.