My house was built on my parents’ property, so I knew it would be easy for them to run over and take care of things while I was gone, but I didn’t want to bother them with it. I’d built my house on that piece of land partly because I couldn’t imagine leaving the forest that had saved me when I was a kid and partly because I knew my parents would never leave, and eventually they’d need me close. Both my mom and dad were still young and getting around fine, but my dad had been a logger for thirty years before he’d partially retired, and I knew that the day was coming when he’d have trouble. Logging wasn’t easy on a body. The pure physicality of the job would ensure that my dad’s joints and bones wouldn’t age gracefully, even if that same job had kept him fit well into his fifties.
My phone rang as I was cooking dinner with what was left in my fridge, and I answered it without picking it up off the counter.
“Hello?” I answered, barely paying attention.
“Trev?” Anita called. “Why can I barely hear you?”
“You’re on speakerphone, what’s up?” I asked, wrinkling my nose as I realized the broccoli I’d been ready to throw in the skillet was slimy on the bottom. Shit.
Ani was my cousin Bram’s girlfriend, but she’d also been one of the foster kids my uncle and aunt took in when we were teenagers, so I’d known her for half of my life. She was a little bit crude, made off-color jokes that were rarely appropriate, and never let you get away with anything. She was also one of my best friends. Ani was the type who’d fight with you until she was out of breath, then defend you to others as soon as she’d inhaled again.
“Me and Arielle are bored,” she said. “Bram’s working late, so we’re coming over.”
“You had dinner?” I asked, looking over my pitiful stir-fry.
“Yeah.”
“All right,” I said, nodding. “See you in a few.”
“Actually, I’m outside the house.”
I laughed and turned the burner down before heading to the front door. “Why didn’t you just knock?”
“Well, I didn’t want to just show up if you were beating the meat or something,” she answered, disconnecting as I threw open the front door.
“You think I’d answer my phone if I was masturbating?” I asked as she carried her baby girl, Arielle, up the front steps.
“Hey,” she scolded, covering Arielle’s ear with her hand. “Watch the language!”
“Pretty sure with the amount of ‘fuck’s you use in a conversation, you can’t bitch about other people’s language,” I replied, stealing Arielle as they reached me. “Hey, sweet thing.”
I turned and led the way into my house, not bothering to wait for Ani as she kicked off her shoes at the front door. She could find her way to the kitchen just fine considering the amount of time she’d spent at my house, and she’d look at me like I was an alien if I tried to play host.
“Leaving tomorrow, huh?” she asked, as she entered the kitchen.
“That’s the plan. I’m leaving early as hell so I can knock out most of the drive before noon.”
“Good call,” she said, glancing into my dinner pan and wrinkling her nose. “You’re gonna stop for the night?”
“Yeah.” I handed Arielle to her and went back to cooking. “I could probably make it by late tomorrow night, but there’s no reason to rush.”
“Dragging your feet a bit now that it’s here?”
“Not at all,” I argued. “But there’s no reason to make myself miserable getting there when I don’t have to.”
“Word,” she said, sitting down at the table. “Although, getting up just to drive another full day is going to suck.”
“That whole drive blows. At least I’m not bringing any of the kids with me.”
“True that,” she said, nodding. “You’d have to stop every two hours so someone could pee.”
“I’ll just bring some plastic bottles.”
“There’s a visual I’d never hoped to have.”
I laughed and dished up my dinner as she pulled out a toy for Arielle to play with and got more comfortable in her chair. As soon as I sat down across from her, she was staring at me closely.
“You ready for this?” she asked seriously, bouncing Arielle a little on her lap.
“I’ll deal with that as it comes,” I replied with a shrug. “Just hoping she’s not a complete shit show.”
“I doubt it,” Ani said, shaking her head.
“What, like Hen ever picked normal chicks to go home with? The guy was a magnet for weirdos.”
“Henry’s a fuck,” she replied. “Leaving his kid like he did…but I don’t think he’s a fuck that would leave his kid with a shitty parent.”
“Hell, I feel like I didn’t know him at all,” I mumbled. “I have no idea what he would have done.”