CHAPTER5
Fuck me, my dog; how could I have gone all this time without checking on him? I am a bad parent. Okay, so Rex is just a dog, but he's mine; I'd saved him from that killing zone in L.A; well, okay, it wasn't just me, but his bitch of a mother didn't count, bitch is dead, nuff said.
Anyway, after I had gone terminator on my house, I had found Rex cowering in the laundry room whining, shit almost broke my heart, so I'd made arrangements to have him sent home to grandma's house. I knew my mom would take good care of him; my mom is a dog person, but still, he was my responsibility; I should've done better, damn.
He must be wondering what the fuck was going on in his world, the two people who took care of him had been missing for a week, poor little thing, and of course, my little show must've scarred him for life, shit.
* * *
I wason my way home, the drive was a good six hours, but it would do me good and help clear my head. I planned on driving right through; no pit stops; heaven forbid I should stop for gas or something and see a Tab and lose my fucking shit. Nah, better not risk it until I was civilized again.
I had my iPod blasting my warrior tunes, all gangsta shit; I had Ice Cube gangsta rap made me do it on repeat; shit was hot. Uhm, maybe I shouldn't be listening to this shit right now cause shit really made me feel like fucking somebody's shit up. Oh, I knew my day was coming. No way was I letting that motherfucker Terry Poole get one over on me; the first chance I get, I'm gonna go Sparta on his ass. "I'm motherfucking Maddox biatch." Shit, did I just say that out loud?
CHAPTER6
Home, yeah, um, why was it that as soon as I saw the gates of home, I felt like crying? Dude, when did you grow a vagina? Grow a motherfucking pair. Okay, heads up, Maddox, you can do this shit. Yeah, but how do you face your nearest and dearest when you feel like a piece of shit? They knew, more than anyone else anywhere they knew what she was to me, what we were together, what we all thought would be forever. They knew about great grandma's ring that I had resized for her. Oh shit, I felt bile rising in my throat. No, Gage, you most definitely do not need a drink; hooch will not solve your problems. Oh yeah, did I mention that I've been talking to myself a lot since this shit happened? If it weren’t me doing it, I would find this shit hilarious, but since it is me, I can't say that it's so funny.
I drove down the long-ass driveway to the monstrosity I was raised in; it looked like every light in that motherfucker was blazing. Before I could turn the car off, the front door was thrown open, and a whirlwind descended; I barely got the door open before I was holding my sister in my arms. Shit, she was crying.
"Okay, Tiffany, it's okay." I held her close and comforted her the best I could while watching the rest of my family, including her husband Derrick, coming down the steps. She pulled back in my arms, shaking her head while drying her tears. She opened her mouth as if to speak but then just shook her head and squeezed me as tight as her little arms could. I kissed the top of her head and passed her off to Derrick as my mother took her place.
"Welcome home, son; it's all going to be fine now; come on inside." My dad patted my back as I passed him; Brian was surprisingly quiet, which I don't think I had ever seen; Connie had red-rimmed eyes as she reached over to kiss my cheek. I heard feet scrambling on the marble floors as we entered and knelt down to give my baby some love.
"Hey Rex, hey boy, how you doing?"
"He cried the whole first day he was here, but Zeus and Xerxes have been keeping him busy, so he finally settled in." Mom bent to kiss my head as she went towards the kitchen.
I roughhoused with my dog, just happy as shit that he still remembered me and wasn't mad at me for deserting him. I followed the family into the kitchen where mom had a spread going on; she'd made my favorite, lasagna with Parmesan garlic bread. My stomach growled, and my mouth watered; I felt hunger for the first time in days. No one mentioned the fuckery that was my life as we gathered around the kitchen table eating, but every once in a while, I would catch Brian looking at me. The last time I looked, he inclined his head towards the backyard. Alrighty then.
"Mom, this is amazing. Thanks; thank all of you for being here; it really means a lot to me."
My family lived close to each other, all within an hour of here, but they all had their own lives. Brian ran the construction side of the family biz, Derrick was an Architect, Tiffany had her own designing company, and Connie stayed home with my nephew Jonathan; before that, she ran her own mechanic shop of all things. The fact that they were all here on a weeknight meant they had probably taken time off from their own lives to be here for me, and where was I? Hiding away like a jackass.
I decided to put Brian out of his misery and followed him outside while mom and the girls cleared the dishes and cleaned up. I wasn't at all surprised when Derrick and pops followed us outside. It was powwow time.