MICHIGAN MERCERS
CHAPTER 2
BETA: D.A. Woods
INFO: www. livejournal/users/draycious
"Hey Bobby!" Angel called out when he got back downstairs.
"What?" he asked.
"You're not leaving until Jack is sorted out, are you?"
"Why do you even ask me that?" he said and began his hunt for food in the kitchen. He hadn't eaten much those days when he had been on the road. Angel followed him, he had always been big on the food. He also had a certain thing for chewing with his mouth open.
"You said to that person you spoke to on the phone that you'll come home as soon as possible."
"That, I intend to."
"Just so you know, Jack will take a while to straighten out. It's been two years man." Bobby got irritated by hearing that. What was that supposed to mean?
"Why the hell haven't you two assholes been doing anything sooner? Why do you load this shit over to me?" he asked and glared angrily at Angel. Angel had always been irresponsible, shit, he didn't really blame him but when it came to family, he would have thought Angel had a little bit more than collecting dust in his brain. Jerry was a father, he should be able to take care of his little brother at least.
"We've tried man, but what were we supposed to do? We've been trying to track down your ass since Jack clearly needs you. He has always turned to you. Besides that we've forced him into therapy."
Bobby couldn't help but laugh when he heard that. A Mercer in therapy?
"Oh I don't think that worked very well," he said with a laugh.
"It ain't funny man! We had to bribe the therapist not to press charges after Jack punched his teeth in!" Angel exclaimed. Bobby laughed harder at that and a few tears spilled.
"Yah!" Angel said.
"He's a Mercer alright!" Bobby said. Even trough he was angry, disappointed and much more at Jack he still loved him very much.
"Who is the guy up there?" Angel asked and meant Jared. Bobby threw him a nasty look and began to roam through the refrigerator.
"That's what I wanna know!" a voice exclaimed from behind them.
"I'll tell you Jerry, Angel. Just sit the fuck down out there. This will only take a minute," he said with his concentration of balancing various ingredients for a sandwich. They actually listened to him and went to the living room.
"Curious mother fuckers," he mumbled. He rubbed his hands together when he finished the sandwich. It looked ravishing. He made sure to grab the bottle of beer before he went out to his waiting brothers. He had really taken his time in the kitchen, mainly to irritate his brothers. They couldn't much argue with him since he was the one in control here. When he arrived they were broth looking at him impatiently. He gave them a smirk.
"You fucker! You are enjoying this, aren't yah?" Jerry accused.
"Hey, don't talk to me like that or I'll kick your black ass!" he threatened. That's right, tell them whose in charge here, he thought. They all fell silent. Bobby wasn't bothered with the stares he received, instead he calmly took a mouthful of beer and a bite of his sandwich. He began.
"All things you'll hear is between us and won't leave this room, got that?" he said seriously. They nodded. Before he had a change to continue a new voice joined in.
"Are you having the reunion party without me?" If his name hadn't been Bobby Mercer he might have jumped put of his skin in surprise. Bobby hurried to say something before the silence got any more awkward.
"If you want to listen, go ahead and sit your ass down, but I don't wanna hear shit from you." It was the first time he had spoken directly to Jack in two years. He still didn't look at him through. Jack sat down silently.
"His name is Jared. He is currently on the Bobby Mercer's special detox, so he looks like shit."
"Detox? You mean drugs?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, he's quitting. Looks like La Vida Loca haven't made you loose all your IQ in bed yet." He could see that Angel was fighting with himself not to respond to the jibe. "I am taking care of Jared, we go way back even through you've never heard me speak of him. You will not speak to him about his past, or our common history together. Either way he will tell you nothing but he might kick your asses. If so, don't come bitching to me. Consider this your warning… When I left two years ago I went to Jared and lived together with him. During that time I met my wife Maria and we married last year, nice and simple."
"Maria what?" Jerry asked.
"Mercer"
"Yeah I know, I meant before that and you know it!"
Bobby hesitated.
"Lopez," he finally said.
"LOPEZ" his bothers shouted in chorus. Angel began laughing as well as the others.
"Shut your big ass teeth!" he snapped at Jerry.
"Did you hear that? Bobby married a Spanish chica!" Angel yelled.
"And here we thought you didn't like Spanish Bobby, Sofi will be thrilled when he finds out about this!" Jerry said happily.
"Don't you dare!" Bobby said threatingly but it didn't have its desired effect.
"Or what Bobby? You'll swear at us in Spanish or something?" Jerry asked.
"Well I might," Bobby murmured. He had been yelled at enough to pick up a line or two.
"That was funny and all but we wanna know more, right Jerry?" Angel said and Jerry nodded. With his glare firmly in place he continued.
"She is having her baby in the hospital right now, unless she has already had it."
"Is it yours?" they all asked him immediately and he stared them down, daring them to ask him again. They didn't.
"I want to go back as soon as possible," he told them bluntly.
"Where exactly is that?" Angel asked. Jack had been surprisingly quiet so far.
"I live in LA now."
"LA!" they repeated.
"Yeah. It's a good place. I live in a good neighborhood and I've got myself a fairly good job. Life's good."
"What kind of job?" Jerry asked with interest, ever the proper one.
"I steel shit."
"BOBBY!"
"Well alright fine, I am working with teenagers."
"What, you Bobby? Get the fuck outta here! What do you do to them?" Jerry asked.
"Hey, I can handle teens you know, and if I don't I shoot them, but mostly I talk to them." His brothers shook their heads.
"Like what, a councilor?" Angel asked.
"Yeah exactly." he said and leaned forward. "I work for a private school. Jared got me in. Apparently some uncle of his did the owner a favor once so…" he trailed off, knowing that his brothers got it.
"… and they pay you for doing what, fucking them up even more? Bobby, do you even have any qualifications at all for this kind of job?" Jerry asked. Bobby shrugged carelessly.
"So what? I wing it." His bothers groaned as one. They knew all about that.
"Hey, no one have killed themselves yet so instead of sitting there giving me all kinds of shit you should praise me or something," he said, feeling slightly insulted. He wasn't that bad, was he?
"Yeah right!" Angel said. "It's only a matter of time brother, they will begin to drop dead all around you soon."
"There are so many thing in your story which doesn't add up Bobby," Jerry interrupted. Bobby knew there was. He couldn't tell them that he was married only because he wanted to save his own ass, neither could he tell them who Jared really was. It wouldn't work out well with his brothers if he did, he was sure of it. Besides, he very much wanted Jack to think he had moved on with his life, and that he wasn't still crying on the inside for what Jack had said to him. Neither did he want his brothers to think he had been gone two whole long years, doing no good.
"When are you leaving?" Jack suddenly asked.
"Are you that eager to get rid of me?" Bobby asked lightly while in reality it really hurt.
"Maybe," Jack said expressionless.
"Man, will you shut the fuck up!" Angel said.
"Angel!" Jerry scolded.
"Look, I will only be here for a couple of days. I want to go home as soon as possible so you don't need to worry about me being around much," he said bluntly to Jack and stared him right in the eyes. Jack was pale and he set his mouth in a thin line. Without warning Jack stood up and left without another word.
"What the hell…" Bobby said to himself.
"I told you he was acting weird," Angel said.
"That ain't weird, that's fucked up! Bobby said.
"Somehow it's all related to you Bobby," Jerry told him. "it must be. Every time we mention you name or when he calls out for you at night… why did you really leave us that day? We all know you were with Jack right before you left. What happened between you two?" Jerry asked him.
"Nothing. I told him I was BI, he told me he was gay and then he freaked for no reason." I also told him I was in love with him, he added silently in his own mind.
"There is more to it or else you wouldn't have left like that. It's not like you man," Angel said.
"You're right, it isn't. Bobby, you're usually confronting things straight away," Jerry agreed. Bobby sighed deeply.
"Look, you can think whatever the hell you want but I've already told you what happened. As we're getting no where with this I'll be upstairs, sleeping. Don't wake me up or I'll kill you, got that?" he said and his bothers agreed reluctantly.
As he walked past Jack's door upstairs he could have sworn he heard crying, but he didn't want to check that out. Two years ago and he wouldn't even have thought of it twice, but now he had drifted further away from his brothers than ever before.
"That's fucked up," he said as he entered his room. He had taken to sometimes talking to himself, it got lonely when Jared was dead to the world all the time.