“We were a late in life surprise,” Tripp said. “Our old man had put in twenty-two years at his job and was looking forward to early retirement, seeing as he’d always been smart with his money, made sure there was enough put back for my sisters to go to college if they wanted to, or at least jumpstart whatever venture they wanted. Our mom had been a housewife for the majority of their marriage, she’d gone to school online, received two degrees, and had plans for her future, plans that didn’t include us.”
Zakk was sure he knew where the story was going and hated that for Tripp and Winter, who must have been hurt when they learned all this.
“She didn’t believe in abortion, but she wasn’t willing to put her life on hold any longer,” Tripp said softly. “That’s exactly how she put it, too. Like we were roadblocks to her success. So, she had us, and she left us with our father to raise. Our sisters stayed near to help, instead of going away to school, or off into the world to start living their lives. They did what she wouldn’t, and they’re amazing. But I’d be lying if I said that Winter and I didn’t feel like our success came at their expense.”
“Do you ever see your mom?” Zakk asked.
Snorting, Tripp reached for his drink, draining half the mug before setting it down. “She popped in and out infrequently when we were small, and more often when we started getting a hint of fame, until Winter finally told her that he didn’t want to see her again and didn’t consider her our mother.”
“And you?
“Same, but I couldn’t say it. Right or wrong, she still gave birth to us, and I didn’t think it was Winter’s place to try and kick her out of our lives.”
“Hadn’t she already done that herself?”
Sighing, Tripp ran his fingers through his hair and met Zakk’s eyes, conflict clear as day in that mossy green.
“Can I ask you something, without you losing your shit on me?”
Nodding, Tripp tried to give him a little smile. “Go ahead.”
“Do you ever back Winter on anything?”
It wasn’t the question Tripp had been expecting. Zakk could tell by the way he blinked, mouth opening and then closing soundlessly, like he didn’t know what to say.
“I’m just wondering if you’d think about it differently, if you’d been the one who’d gotten the urge to speak up.”
When Tripp huffed, Zakk prepared for a confrontation, but all he followed it up with was a long, heavy sigh. “I’ve been wondering that myself lately. Wondering why it’s always got to be a matter of whose right or who messed up, and I’m starting to realize that I’m the only one of the two of us concerned about those things.”
“That should tell you something,” Zakk replied. “You know, when Winter showed up at the hospital, I could see the fear on his face. The arguments you’ve had lately, they didn’t matter to him, all he cared about was you. Don’t you think it’s time you started looking at him the same way?”
“I know, okay. You’re right. I need to do better. With him, and with you.”
“It’s good to hear you say it. But it’ll be better to watch you do it, ‘cause if you can’t, there isn’t going to be a me and you. There might not even be a you and Winter, and that would be the real shame right there.”
Tripp’s plate was empty and his face was pale. Point made, Zakk took the plate from his hands and set it aside along with his own.
“Scooch over,” Zakk told him pressing on his shoulder until Tripp got the point and made room. It might have been a tight fit, but there was no place Zakk would rather be. He just hoped Tripp’s newfound realization wouldn’t prove to be short-lived.
Chapter 8
The slip, slide and slow descent of stubborn
Thirteen hours into their road trip and Damien was up front with James, keeping him company while Tripp, Riley, Tavis and Zakk, watched movies on the flat screen. It was nice to just kick back with Tripp’s head in his lap, hair soft beneath Zakk’s fingers as he leisurely stroked it. It was hard to tell who was lulling to sleep faster, him or Tripp, whose eyelids had drooped a little more each time Zakk glanced down at him.
He couldn’t even remember which of the Tolkien movies they were on at this point, they’d just been mindlessly working their way through them, starting with the Hobbit ones, ‘cause it made no good god damned sense to any of them why they were made after the Lord of the Rings ones. This might have been The Fellowship of the Rings or maybe the last Hobbit one, but it had been so long since Tripp had seen them, he couldn’t recall which scenes were in which movie.
Doubtful he’d remember for the next time he saw them either, which, was kind of nice, really. It was like watching them for the first time every time he saw them. Someone, likely Riley, had started burning incense about three hours into the trip. Smoky swirls of Fizzy Pop and Isis, Wizard and Super Hits curled from the different burners. Tavis had a vape stick, something fruity with a hint of citrus. He’d never been one for vaping, but he’d readily accepted the dab pen every time Riley passed it his way.
You’d think, for a group of so-called rock gods, they’d have something more original for ringtones than the generic shit their phones came with, but as they’d all discovered, none of them had bothered assigning songs to their contact list. One trilled, one rang like an old rotary, while another just chimed over and over and none of them seemed to have a god damned clue which one their phone did. The result was everyone but Tripp grabbing for the basket on the table that they’d tossed their cell phones in.
Zakk’s had the flashing screen though, and he was shocked to see that it was Dez’s number illuminated on it. It was hard to make out what he was saying, what with, was that traffic in the background? That motherfucker better not be trying to drive and use the phone.
“Hang on, I can’t hear you, just, hang on,” Zakk said snatching up the remote and pausing the movie. “Okay, now what’s going on?”
Need you guys to pull in at the next rest stop. We’ll be there in a bit, we just, we need to get off the road.
The traffic made it difficult to get a read on his voice, though Zakk picked up a hint of anxiety that was starting to make him nervous.