Page 13 of Your Love

“For Mom?” She shakes her head wildly.

“Thanks a lot, Paisley,” Mom jokes from the other side of the kitchen counter.

“Who is it for then?” I ask.

She flips it over, and on the back, she draws a picture of a woman with reddish hair, blue eyes, and a wide smile.

I can’t help but grin. “You want me to give this to the lady who gave you the flowers?” I ask.

She nods.

“Well, guess what? I met her today. She goes to school with me.” Paisley’s eyes go wide with excitement. “Her name is Kerri.”

She grips the colored pencil in her hand and writes “C-A-R-E-Y” underneath the vase of flowers and looks at me expectantly.

“Sure,” I say with a shrug. “I’m not sure how to spell her name, but this is a good guess.”

She smiles proudly and shoves it toward me. I chuckle and take the picture. “I’ll give it to her tomorrow, okay?” The thing about my sister is that even without words, she communicates her needs and wants very effectively.

The next day I meet up with some of the guys in the parking lot before school. We’re standing around talking about nothing in particular when Taz pulls up with Sascha in the passenger side of his truck.

What the fuck?

As soon as they exit the truck, Ivy approaches Sascha and they chat for a minute or so before heading inside. Meanwhile, Taz saunters over to us.

“What’s up, boys?” He says casually. Delzy tilts his head in the direction where the girls are walking and raises his eyebrows in question.

“So, yeah. I live with Sascha Bell now,” he says, and then walks away, leaving us standing in place with our mouths gaping open. Now we have to sit through four periods of class wondering what in the hell is going on until lunch.

When the bell finally rings announcing lunchtime, Ivy and Sascha are nowhere to be found, so Taz, Delzy, and I head to a local place to grab some burgers.

We patiently order and then take our seats in a booth while Taz quietly sips on his milkshake, still giving us nothing, while dried blood darkens his split and swollen lip. Delzy and I stare at him, waiting for him to elaborate on the bomb he dropped earlier this morning. Just before I’m ready to reach across and grab him by the shirt to demand answers, he starts talking.

“Brian stole all of the money I’ve been saving, and we ended up getting into a fight.”

My pulse quickens, and adrenaline floods my body, making my nerves jumpy. “He took everything?” I ask.

“Yep,” Taz replies, with an emphasis on the popping sound of the ‘p.’

“Did you win the fight?” Delzy asks, gesturing to Taz’s right eye, which has blossomed into a mottled purple and green bruise.

“Fuck, yeah, I did,” Taz says. “But he’s all messed up on coke, and my dad is never home, so it’s for the best that I don’t stay there right now.”

My muscles coil with tension as my molars grind together in frustration. Brian is Taz’s big brother. His job is to look after him and take care of whatever he needs. He’s always managed to fail at it, but stealing from Taz is going too far.

“I’m going to beat your brother’s ass,” Delzy threatens.

“No, you’re not,” I reply. “Because I am.” I’m not joking. If they think I’m being hyperbolic, they’re sadly misinformed. I have every intention of kicking that dude’s teeth in. I don’t engage in a lot of fights, on the ice or otherwise. As a goalie, I stay out of scuffles and do my job unless I’m needed. But Taz is like a brother to me—an annoying, shit-head-brother, but a brother nonetheless. He deserves a family who cares about him. I’m grateful the Bell family has taken him in. That is the best place he can be right now.

Taz shakes his head. “Neither of you are going to do shit. Do you understand?”

I lean back in my seat, cross my arms over my chest, and meet his stare.

“I’m serious, boys. It’s not worth it. I’m out of there. I want it to be done,” he explains. I understand his point, but it doesn’t stop the anger I’m experiencing.

“What about your dad?” Delzy asks.

“Haven’t heard a word from him,” he replies.