Part Five

Kelley sat in his Escalade and rubbed the raw knuckles of his hand. Hanson had passed out and Kelley had left him like that, blood on his face and spatters on the wall. He had seen red when he mentioned Marley’s name.

Even if she was mean and rude, she was still his sister. He wasn’t driving to the house he grew up in though. He needed to see someone else first, needed to clarify a few things. He didn’t have far to go, just another four blocks from Hanson’s house.

The empty garage told him that her parents weren’t at home so Kelley rang the doorbell instead of sneaking in like he’d done with Hanson. Kelley stuck his hands in his jacket and waited as he heard Norah yell at the dog.

The door opened and Kelley turned to face her, her gasp audible in the quiet night. “Kelley … what are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

Norah opened the door wider and Kelley stepped inside, the house warm and sterile at the same time. “Are you okay? Your dad told mine what happened. What happened to your face?”

“Do you actually know what happened?”

Norah shifted on her feet. “He said you attacked him, went feral like a wild animal, threatened to harm your mother and he had to kick you out.”

Kelley laughed and it sounded dangerously low to Norah’s ears. “He showed me a video of you on your hands and knees.”

Norah sat down unsteadily, almost not reaching the sofa and lowered her head. “I see.”

“I can help you, Norah.” Kelley knelt down next to her, their eyes almost at the same level.

“Help me? So we can share the backseat of your car?”

“I’m not sleeping in my car. Where do you think I’ve been all these weeks?”

“I don’t know, Kelley, it’s not like you reached out or anything.”

“And it’s not like you’ve been sleeping with my best friend for a year.”

Norah at least had the decency to look guilty and Kelley sighed as he pushed himself to his feet and sat down next to her. “You wouldn’t understand, Kelley.”

“Try me, Norah. I could understand better than you think.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“I want to help you, Norah, because damnit I love you, I’ve loved you for two years even if you cheated, it doesn’t matter right now. I can get you out of here, you only need to trust me.”

Norah pulled her hand out of his grasp and then she lifted her head. “I don’t need help, Kelley. That’s what you don’t understand. Everything that gets done to me in that room is with my consent. I like sex, a lot of sex. I was only with you because our fathers thought it might help ease you into the lifestyle. I never loved you, Kelley. I care about you, yes, but not love. You’re not my hero because I don’t need one and just for the record every time you had sex with me I kept picturing your father’s face to get off.”

“Wow … I hope you know what you’re doing because there will come a day when they grow tired of your over used vagina and they’ll kick you to the curb.”

Kelley stood up from the sofa and left Norah’s house without looking back. The truth hurt because he had loved her, did love her. Two years she’d played him, they’d all played him, even Hanson, his so called best friend.

He’d been such an idiot. He’d kept his head down, never got into trouble. He’d kept his grades up, played football, treated his parents with respect … to what? To get kicked while he was down. To find out his father was basically a pedophile.

He drove his Escalade through the gates of the house on the hill, the codes still working. Two men stepped from either side of the house as he got out of his car. He didn’t know them, they’d never before had security at the house.

“You need to leave.” The man was slightly taller than he was with bulk that showed more muscle than anything else. The type of guy that Jesse had once been.

“I want to see my sister.”

“You haven’t been cleared to access this house.”

Kelley tried to push forward when the front door opened. Charles Alexander stood there for a few seconds before walking down the four large steps and towards Kelley. “I just want to see Marley.”

Charles Alexander was up close and personal now and Kelley looked down to the gun pressing uncomfortably into his side. “Marley doesn’t need your help. If you set foot on this property again I’ll have you shot for the trespasser you’ll be. I’ll say it again, you’re no son of mine and if you want your mother to keep her pretty little neck, you’ll stay away.”

“I won’t allow you to touch Marley like that!”

“Marley has no clue what goes on behind closed doors. She’s like my own daughter, I’d never touch her.”

Charles walked away from him, the gun nowhere in sight now. He paused at the front door and spoke without turning around. “Take the trash out, gentlemen.” The door closed behind him and Kelley was shoved backwards forcefully.

Kelley left the house feeling despondent. There wasn’t much he could do, Charles had threatened to kill his mother and Kelley didn’t believe for one second that he wouldn’t go through with it. He wasn’t at all the man Kelley had thought he was.

Nobody was who he thought they were. He had been living in a world of his own making, assuming his friends were his friends meanwhile they were all screwing Norah behind his back. There was nothing he could do until his mother left that house of her own accord.

The next week found Kelley in a dark mood, a hole he didn’t want to climb out of. Jesse had tried talking to him but other than ‘nothing’s what it seems’, he couldn’t get anything else out of him. Kelley felt used and useless, both at the same time.

He knew he had to get his act together. School started the next day and Jesse had helped him to enroll in Yorkdare Public School for his senior year. He had no idea what awaited him there. Did he have actual enemies at Public? Sure, they were competitive when it came to football and the pranks where never ending, but enemies?

He spent days cooped up in the motel room, lying in bed, the old television on but the sound muted. He kept thinking of how things had turned out like it had. He wouldn’t go back to his old life, knowing what he knew.

“Kelley!” The pounding on the door was louder now.

Kelley sat up with a grunt, rubbed a hand through his hair and yanked the door open. “What?”

“Enough moping. Either you tell me what the hell is wrong with you or I’ll beat it out of you.”

Kelley looked Jesse in the eye. “You’ll beat it out of me?”

Jesse gave him a half smile, the only way Jesse smiled at all and nodded his head. “Or we can go grab dinner at Lucy’s.”

“Fine, I’ll meet you there.”

Kelley closed the door and stood there for a few seconds. “I don’t hear the shower, kid!”

He laughed then and headed to the bathroom. When he opened the door of his room half an hour later Jesse was gone and he smiled. Jesse never gave up, it was one of the things Kelley admired most about him.

Jesse sat in their usual booth at the back of the diner and Kelley slid into the booth across from him where he sat with a lime milkshake in front of him. He opened the menu even though he already knew what they’d order, the only thing on the menu to fill them up in one go.

“Two mixed grills?” Chante was the regular waitress and she worked every day. She was in her thirties had two boys and worked double shifts every day just to keep them fed and clothed.

“Thanks, Chante, and a Pepsi for the kid.”

Kelley smiled again because only Jesse called him a kid with his height and build. It was also thanks to Jesse’s training that he had filled out like he had. He wasn’t a typical ectomorph quarterback anymore. Chante left their table with a nod and slapped their order down on the little window that the cook used.

“Are you worried about tomorrow?” Jesse broke the ice first and Kelley took a deep breath.

“Should I be? I mean, Private and Public have never been friends but I really don’t know what to expect when I set foot in their turf tomorrow.”

Jesse nodded his head slowly. “It’s true that a lot of people have beef with your dad but you’re not him, Kelley, and people will realize that.”

“So I’m going to get my ass kicked on the first day.”

Jesse laughed then and Kelley couldn’t help smiling. “Can they kick your ass now?”

“Anybody can kick anybody’s ass, nobody’s untouchable.”

“Wise words, kid, now tell me what’s been eating you up all week.”

Chante returned with his Pepsi and then returned with their food. Kelley folded his arms on the table as Jesse closed his eyes and prayed for his food. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jesse, the man had already proven his worth a dozen times over. Kelley hadn’t told him what he was going to do in the first place.

“I beat up my best friend.” Kelley shook his head. “My ex best friend.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Yeah, it felt good. He’d been screwing my girlfriend behind my back for a year and then he told me he was already part of their sick little club, that I wasn’t good enough to be one of them.”

“It’s a good thing you found out, were you screwing her too? You don’t really look like a virgin to me.”

“What does a virgin look like?”

Jesse huffed out a laugh then. “Not like you.”

Kelley grinned as Jesse slurped his milkshake. “I was careful. I went to go see her too. I told her I didn’t care that she cheated, I still loved her and I’d help her to get out.”

“What did she say?” Jesse could already guess her answer since Kelley had been dark and moody ever since their conversation that night.

“She told me she liked it, wanted it even. I wasn’t wrong with my first assessment, she’s not a victim, she’s a willing participant. She told me thinking of my dad while we had sex is what got her off.”

“That’s rough, Kelley, was your dick too small for her?”

Chante dropped the ketchup bottle on the table as she looked at Jesse and Kelley choked on his Pepsi, his eyes wide. “I’m no expert, but the way he fills out his jeans, I’d say no.”

Jesse laughed loudly as Chante walked away after saying her piece and Kelley’s ears burned with embarrassment. “And that’s why I love this place.”

“Damn, Jesse.” Kelley laughed too as Chante turned around and winked at him. “I wasn’t a big enough asshole according to her.”

“It’s good to know you fill out them jeans nicely.” Kelley laughed again as Jesse finished his milkshake.

Kelley felt lighter that night as he lay in bed. He’d never had a chip on his shoulder or thought that he was better than anyone else because he’d grown up rich. He wasn’t rich now, he was surviving. His mother had talked about an inheritance he could claim at eighteen but he had no idea what she’d been talking about.

Kelley sat in his Escalade as he looked at the parking lot of the school. He’d gotten his class schedule and locker combination the previous week. He wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and climbed out, pulling the baseball cap low over his face.

He had ten minutes before he had to be in his Homeroom. The hallways were packed but nobody really paid any attention to him. He was tall yes but so were a lot of football players. He got a few curious looks and he knew it was because of the semicircular scar around his eye. Jesse had said that it made him look dangerous and Kelley kind of liked that.

“Are you lost, pretty boy?” Kelley turned around slowly and looked at the boy who had cracked his ribs in their last football match and Mason James who had spoken to him.