Page 48 of Teach Me How
“But I’ve heard some of the stories from that court battle. I can’t blame our dads for cutting him out of their lives and it ain’t got shit to do with him being gay. He was downright mean in court. You can’t come back from that.”
“It’s the chicken or the egg.”
“What?”
“Grandpa was gone. They could have sided with their own brother. Made things right.”
“Did he even give them a chance to do that?”
I pause. “I really don’t know.”
“Whole thing is pretty fucked up, if you ask me.” Bo leans back. “I don’t think Cody and I would ever fight like that, but I bet our dads didn’t see themselves fighting like dogs, either.”
“Yeah. I think Mitch and I could handle it, but who knows? I hope we’d do the right thing.”
“We will. We have a pretty good example of what happens when you don’t play nice.”
“Yeah.”
He glances at me. “I heard Mitch is coming back this weekend. He coming over for the game?”
“Yeah. That’s the plan.”
He nods. “I’ll let Cody know. He’ll want to come out to see him.”
I’m looking forward to seeing Mitch. Now that he’s in Denver, it’s few and far between that we can get together. We aren’t perfect and we fight like all brothers do.
But I’d sooner give him the entire farm, every last dime, than cut him out of my life.
That’s the only good thing that came out of our parent’s fuck up.
31.
Reese
I almost didn’t come out to watch the game at Josh’s.
But I was going nutty sitting around in my apartment, so at the last second, I shuffled into my car and hit the road.
It’s so strange pulling down this long gravel drive. For the entire length of my adolescence, this was home. But that’s in the past. This is Josh’s house, now.
I park next to a long line of gleaming pickup trucks, proof that Josh’s buddies are already here.
Skyler’s truck is there, too. My heart pulses weakly at that. Maybe he can soothe some of the ache in my heart.
I stop on the sidewalk, watching that old tire swing sway in the breeze. There’s this sense of yearning that makes me almost nauseous. I have this feeling ofwantso strong it hurts, but I can’t put my finger on what it is I’m longing for.
I’m homesick, I know that much. Nostalgic for a place that doesn’t exist anymore, to a place I can’t go back to.
Under that tree, our favorite dog Bella is buried. And up in that bedroom, I taped boy band pictures to the wall, singing while I worked on my homework.
It’s funny. I’m an independent woman, struggling to make it in this world. Putting up a fierce fight. But the second I come back here, I’m thirteen again. Braces and everything.
Mitch swings the front door open. “You coming in or what?”
Of the two brothers, Mitch is probably the prettier one. He keeps his jaw clean-shaven. His hair is cut close, a buzzed scalp with artfully styled length on top. He leans against the railing, watching me climb the last few steps.
He looks minty fresh, while I look like I just crawled out from under a bridge. Oversized zip-up hoodie, jean shorts, and a messy top bun. No makeup, because I could not gather up my give-a-shit to bother with it.