Chapter 6

Stevie McGabe

My parents’ favorite topic of conversation recently was the ongoings of the house next door. I get it, their friends were going through some terrible times, but it meant that every night over dinner, Grayson and I had to sit through the trials and tribulations of one Darryl Nelson.

Abi had been in for a barrage of tests, and from what my mom was saying, it wasn’t going smoothly. Her doctors were still no closer to finding out what was wrong, and the stress of not knowing anything was taking its toll.

Jake was in bits, trying to be strong for Abi, looking after Vinnie, and being supportive of Darryl—who was not making it easy at all.

Most nights he would disappear for hours, rocking up drunk and pretty belligerent from what I could gather. Jake was spending a lot of time with my mom, the two of them always on the phone to each other if they weren’t physically together.

I wander into the kitchen with a rumbling stomach, flashing a small smile at my mom who was curled up in the breakfast nook with her phone pressed to her ear.

She gives me an absent-minded wave, chewing on her bottom lip as she listens intently to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

As I pull open the refrigerator door and stand bathed in the soothing light, perusing the shelves for something to snack on, I hear my mom hitch in a deep breath.

“Oh no…Jake…” Her voice breaks, and when I sneak a look over my shoulder at her, tears are streaming unchecked down her cheeks, her fist pressed against her mouth as she tries to keep her sobs inside. “Mmmhmmm….mmmhmmm…’kay.”

She drops her phone onto the table and buries her face in her folded arms. “Mom?” I cautiously step towards her, my search for food forgotten. “W-what’s wrong?”

“A-abi…it’s…they’ve said it’s cancer.” I swallow the painful lump which suddenly forms in my throat and wrap my arms around my heartbroken mother, but my thoughts immediately flit to Darryl.

***

The next few days, I can’t help but hover around, eavesdropping whenever I can on my parents’ conversations.

Grayson was at football camp most days, which was a good thing with all the high tension at the moment. Abi was starting treatment, and my mom was taking time off work to go to all her appointments.

Jake wasn’t coping well at all, choosing to bury himself with work rather than face what was going on, much to my mom’s chagrin.

“He’s being so fucking stubborn!” My mom explodes, slamming her phone down on the kitchen counter, and I press my back up against the wall next to the doorway.

“George,” my dad warns.

“No, AJ, I’m sick to death of him hiding his head in the fucking sand when something bad happens! Abi needs him now more than ever, and he’s being a little pussy!” I can hear her pacing back and forth on the tiled floor, and my dad sighs.

“You can’t get involved, honey. You can be supportive, but you have to let them figure everything else out themselves.”

“I feel like shaking Darryl, acting like as much of a shithead as his dad. Abi is terrified to tell him about her diagnosis for fear of what he’s going to do,” What do they think he’ll do?! “Jake said he’s been getting fucked up with those losers that terrorize the park.” I shudder.

Those losers were really bad news, a small group always terrorizing anyone who dared disturb them while they smoked and drank by the playground every night.

Their leader, Hunter, was a high school dropout, and had been in and out of juvie and jail for the last couple of years. I had heard rumors that he liked getting people to fight for his entertainment before he allowed them to buy drugs off him.

I’m guessing that’s where Darryl had been getting the cuts and bruises he’d shown up sporting on several occasions.

“Yeah, he said that to me, too.” I hear my dad’s fingernails scrape roughly over the scruff on his chin. “Do you think I should try talking to him?”

“No,” my mom sighs. “I think if we try to push Darryl, he will push back twice as hard. After everything they went through with him last year, I don’t want anything like that to happen again.”

What happened last year? Granted, I used to roll my eyes and tell my parents I didn’t want to hear anything about Darryl, but I assumed if anything really bad happened that they would tell me regardless.

I peel myself off the wall, and tiptoe to the front door, quietly sneaking outside. The normally peaceful neighborhood was filled with angry drumbeats and paradiddles.

I walk around the parked cars towards next door's garage, and find a sweaty Darryl situated behind a drumkit like a rock king.

His hair was clinging to the sweat on his forehead, his eyes closed as he played along to some screaming brutal heavy metal music which made me wince. The air was filled with the scent of masculinity and something that was just pure Darryl.

My foot catches a watering can and somehow, he hears the noise over the cacophony of wailing pouring out of his speaker and his green eyes spring open, narrowing as he spots me lurking in the doorway. He leans over and clicks off the music, the garage silent except for his panting.

I clear my throat, feeling my cheeks burning under his death stare. “You’re sounding really good.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Darryl shakes his head, standing up and tucking his drumsticks in his back pocket. He stalks towards me, swiping his hair back off his forehead with a large hand. Oh my…large hands really get me hot under the collar!

“Don’t try to act like you give a shit now,” he says quietly into my ear as he pushes past me, disappearing into his house, the front door slamming shut behind him.

***

It was a roasting Sunday, and Grayson didn’t have camp, so we’d packed ourselves up and gone to our grandad’s house as he had a pool. I sent a text to our older sister, Carrie, to see if she wanted to come hang out, and she said she’d see us there.

Gray had been talking my ear off on the walk over about his new friend he’d made this summer, and about how excited he was to be finally starting high school. “You’ll soon change your mind about that, dude,” I laugh.

“Nah,” he pushes at my shoulder with a grin. “I’m gonna be on the football team, and with dad being the coach it means I’m definitely going to get to play every frikkin’ week!

It’s gonna be awesome! I’m gonna rule that school like dad did.” He grins widely showcasing his straight white teeth which he has never needed a brace to get. Lucky guy.

I roll my eyes at his enthusiasm, letting us into grandad’s house without knocking. “Grandad?”

“Stevie!” I melt into the hug he wraps me up in. “And Grayson! You guys go have some fun out back; Helen was just getting the others some snacks and drinks, so we’ll bring them right out to you.”

Others? I freeze as I get to the French doors which open up onto the back patio and swimming pool, which is currently home to Darryl and Vinnie. Great!

Just what I needed, the grumpiest guy in all of San Francisco when all I wanted to do was relax with my brother and sister. Although I should have expected to see them here—our grandfathers were as close friends as our parents.

They owned a business together and had lived together since Darryl’s grandparents had gotten divorced when his dad was in high school.

James had gotten remarried a few years ago and my grandad, Jimmy, had taken over the basement, leaving the rest of the house to James and Helen.

If I thought a dressed Darryl was sexy, that was nothing compared to a half-naked, dripping wet Darryl. I feel like my breath has actually been stolen as I watch him pull himself out of the pool, his toned tattooed arms rippling at the effort.

Drips of water run down his chest, over the defined ridges of his stomach. My lower stomach clenches as I notice his nipples are both pierced with silver barbells which have something hanging off them, just brushing the bottom of his pecs, which swing slightly as he moves.

“Hey Darryl! Hey Vinnie!” Grayson rips his shirt off, bounding over and cannonballing into the clear water, making Vinnie squeal. He was a quiet kid, always had been, but Gray was one of the few people who brought him out of his shell.

Darryl shoots me a dirty look as he walks round to the diving platform, launching himself effortlessly off the top and disappearing under the water again. This was going to be a fun day…not!