Ok, so now we get to the fun stuff with the Mercer boys! Enjoy!
I was hit with a rush of warm air and the sounds of a hockey game blasting from the television as I entered Miss Evelyn's house. I could smell food cooking and my mouth watered. I couldn't remember the last time I had had a home cooked meal that didn't consist of Ramen Noodles or Easy Mac.
"Right this way sweetie." Miss Evelyn gestured for me to follow her into a small bathroom. "Sit right here and I'll go get something to put on that eye of yours."
As I sat on the edge of the tub I took in my surroundings. The wall paper was cracking and flaking is some places, but from what I had seen this house was in much better shape than mine. I was rubbing at a scuff on the linoleum floor with the toe of my boot when a shadow fell over me. I froze, afraid to look up because I didn't want whoever it was to see my black eye. "Who are you?" I heard a deep voice ask and I slowly looked up as the guy turned to yell, "Hey Ma! There's some girl in the bathroom. You know somethin' about this?"
Miss Evelyn popped up behind the guy, who I recognized as the blonde boy I had seen before, with a bag of frozen peas in her hand. "Jack Mercer, of course I know there is 'some girl' in my bathroom," she said pushing past him. "Put these on your eye sweetie, you can help me defrost them a little before I put them in the casserole." She whispered with a wink as she turned to the boy. "Her name is Willow. Now give her some space Jackie. Go watch the game with your brothers or help me cook. We still have a lot of preparing to do for Thanksgiving tomorrow." She turned back to me as Jack left. "Now, would you like to tell me what caused that shiner and your busted lip?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.
I froze for a split second. I didn't want to tell her it was my dad. He had never hit me before and he probably wouldn't do it again. I didn't want her reporting him to the cops. I couldn't let anyone split us up. I cleared my throat and looked at her. "I ran into the doorframe. I wasn't lookin' while I was texting some friends from home and I'm still not used to the new house. When I looked up I ran smack into the corner of the doorframe and hit my face real hard on it. I was crying because it hurt and I was embarrassed." I answered quickly.
"Mmhhmm." She pursed her lips as she looked at me, clearly not believing my story, but not wanting to call me a liar. "You can use the sink and that washcloth to clean up your face and then you can keep those peas on your eye and watch the hockey game with the boys or you can come sit in the kitchen with me." And then she was gone.
Thanksgiving? Was it really Thanksgiving tomorrow? I guess we didn't celebrate last year because of what happened to Derek. Now that I think about it, we were at the beach for Thanksgiving. It was some weird tradition we had.
I stood up, took the peas off of my eye, and went to look in the mirror. "Damn Willow, you are looking rough." I whispered to myself. All around my right eye was dark with the forming bruise and I could barely keep the eye open. My lip was swollen too, but at least it had stopped bleeding. I splashed some water on my face to freshen up and then put the peas back over my eye. Poking my head out the door, I tried to decide where to go. Miss Evelyn had said I could either sit in the kitchen or watch the game with the boys. I didn't know that there were boys. I had always just thought it was the one guy, Jack was his name.
I couldn't decide where to go, but thankfully, seconds later, Miss Evelyn came to my rescue. "Why don't I introduce you to my sons Willow?"
"Ok." I said quietly with a nod of my head.
She gently took hold of my arm and led me into the living room. There were four guys in there, two white guys and two black. Her boys? I thought laughing to myself. The only one in this room who could qualify as a boy is Jack. The rest of these guys look like grown men.
"Willow, these are my sons. That's Bobby, he's my oldest, that's Jeremiah, that's Angel, and you've met Jack already." As she was introducing me, she had strategically placed us in front of the television that the guys were so intently watching.
"Ma! You're blocking the game!" The one she said was Bobby was craning his neck, trying to see around the little old lady.
"Bobby Mercer, where are your manners? Did you forget them all while you were gone? We have a guest and I am trying to introduce you to her." She put her hands on her hips and gave him a reprimanding look.
Bobby settled back on the couch. "Sorry Ma, what were you saying?"
"This is Willow Carter. She is Elaine Carter's granddaughter. Isn't that right sweetie?" She looked at me to make sure she had introduced me correctly.
I didn't know she had known my grandmother. Hell, I didn't even know the woman. "Yes ma'am." I said nodding my head. "Grandma Elaine was my dad's mom. She left him the house when she died. We moved here from Georgia about a year ago after…" I trailed off.
Miss Evelyn patted my shoulder and then turned to the guys. "Willow is going to sit with you guys until she feels a little better. So you boys make her feel at home you hear." And with that she turned and walked out of the room.
I stood there, awkwardly looking at the guys in front of me. Jeremiah and Angel had their own chairs while Jack and Bobby were on the couch. I shifted nervously and looked around, not quite sure what to do. The bag of frozen peas in my hand was slowly defrosting and had started to drip on the floor. Just as I was about to explode from the awkwardness in the room, Jack and Bobby scooted apart, making a spot for me on the couch. Bobby smiled and patted the now empty cushion next to him.
Breathing a sigh of relief I went and sat between the two Mercer boys and put the bag of peas back over my now throbbing eye.
"So, your name's Willow?" I heard Angel ask.
I nodded, not feeling like talking because it only made my lip hurt worse.
"Hmm, weird name." He said almost too quietly for me to hear.
I felt my face flush as the blood rushed to it. I had gotten a lot of crap for my name when I was little. Kids thought it was funny that I had the same name as a tree. "You're one to talk. Angel is a weirder name than Willow. Willows bend, but they don't break. That's why my mom named me that. Did they name you Angel because they wanted you to be something you aren't?" I shot back at him as I felt my face turn a deeper shade of red. I shouldn't have said that, but I couldn't help it. I didn't even know the guy well enough to say something like that, but I hated people making fun of my name when I liked it so much.
You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife as Angel and I looked at each other. I was about to get up and leave when I suddenly saw a flash of bright, white teeth and heard a laugh rumble from Angel. Picking up on Angel's laugh, all of the Mercer boys started to laugh. Jeremiah showed his big white teeth as he laughed and said "Oooohh Ma brought a feisty one home today."
Bobby nudged my arm with his fist as he laughed with his brothers. "I like you Willow. You could hold your own around here." He sank back into the couch, still laughing quietly as the other's laughter died down and their attention turned to the game once again.
"Hey, I'm sorry I said your name was weird." Angel said with a smile. "I was just joking."
I smiled back at him, "It's ok. I just got made fun of for it when I was little so I still get kind of defensive about it."
"Ooohh look at those dimples!" Bobby poked me on the cheek as I smiled. "Jackie, if you weren't such a fairy you could go for this one here."
I blushed and sank down into the couch a little, looking at Jack out of the corner of my eye. He looked just about as uncomfortable as I did and then he stood up quickly. "I'm gonna go see if Ma needs any help."
After the guys finished laughing at Jack and poking my dimples they settled down to watch the rest of the game.
As soon as the game finished, Miss Evelyn showed up in the doorway. "Dinner is ready boys. Willow, you are more than welcome to join us if you'd like to."
I shifted uncomfortably. "Oh I don't want to intrude Miss Evelyn." Actually, that is all I wanted to do. I was practically salivating just at the thought of a real home cooked meal, but I didn't want to seem desperate.
She shook her head, laughing. "Sweetie, I invited you so there is no way you are intruding. Hand me those peas and come sit with us. Oh and call me Miss Evie. Kids only call me Miss Evelyn when they are in trouble."
After I handed her the peas, I followed her and the boys into the dining room. There was only one empty chair left at the table, across from Jack and next to Miss Evie, so I sat in that one. I smiled to myself when I saw that there was already a plate piled high with food in front of my seat. She had been so confident I would stay for dinner that she had gone ahead and set a place for me.
"Let us say grace" Miss Evie reached her hands out and nodded for me to take one. Hesitating for a moment, I grabbed her hand at the same time Jack grabbed the other. I looked to my right and saw Angel reaching his hand out towards me and I took it. We all bowed our heads together and Miss Evie continued. "Lord, thank you for this food that you have given us. Thank you for Jack, who helped me make it and thank you for Jerry, Bobby, and Angel, who are going to eat all of it. And Lord, thank you for brining Willow to us tonight. We are so grateful. In your name, Amen."
We all dropped each other's hands and sat down after saying our "Amens". I picked up my fork and began eating quickly, enjoying every bite of the delicious food in front of me. I had cleaned off about half of my plate when I looked up. Everyone but Miss Evie was staring at me like I had sprouted another head. Then, Bobby broke the silence. "Damn girl, slow down. Your food isn't gonna run off of your plate."
The other Mercer boys snickered as their mother looked up quickly. "Bobby Mercer, watch your language!" She corrected.
"Sorry Ma." Bobby said laughing with his brothers and turning his attention back to his food.
I started eating my food slower, deciding to savor every bite instead of just wolfing it down.
Everyone finished eating their food and I went into the kitchen to help Miss Evie with the dishes.
"Oh Willow, you don't have to do that." She said as I started rinsing off dishes.
"It's no problem. It's the least I can do to thank you for that amazing food Miss Evie. It's been a while since I've had a meal like that." I said quietly, focusing on a stubborn piece of food that refused to let go of the plate.
Jack showed up next to me a second later. "You wash, I dry?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
Losing my voice for a second, I just stared at him. Then, realizing that I probably looked like a freak, just staring at him, I cleared my throat. "Yeah, that works! Thanks!" I said a little too enthusiastically. I kicked myself mentally for being such a spaz.
We washed and dried in silence for a few minutes until Jack finally broke the silence. "So how come I haven't seen you around if you have been here for a year now?" He asked, looking unsure about his decision to speak.
"I've been homeschooled ever since we moved here. I needed to be at home to take care of my dad; he hasn't been doing so well since we moved here. I'm thinking about starting regular in the spring though. Dad can handle himself now." I said the last part quietly, gritting my teeth in anger. Sure I didn't want Dad to get in trouble for slipping up and hitting me this once, but that didn't mean I wasn't mad at him.
Jack nodded his head and didn't say anything else. I guess that was all the conversation he required and I was just fine with that.
After finishing the dishes, I figured it was time to go home. I headed towards the door and turned to say goodbye when Miss Evie handed me a plate of food covered with saran wrap. "Oh, thanks, I don't need it though." I said blushing.
"Take it sweetie; these boys don't need any more food." She said with a smile. "Bobby, Jackie, why don't you two walk Willow home. I don't want her walking by herself at this time of night."
Jack and Bobby nodded and walked towards me, but Miss Evie grabbed Bobby by the arm and whispered something in his ear before letting him go. He looked at me, no doubt taking in the glory of my black eye and busted lip, and then looked back at his mother, nodding before walking over to me. "Come on small fry." He said putting an arm around me and steering me out the door. "Come on Fairy!" He shouted over his shoulder to Jack, who quickly caught up with us.
The three of us walked side by side down the street, our feet leaving tracks in the snow. The wind blew past us, cutting through my sweater, and I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering as I pulled my sleeves over my freezing fingers. Suddenly, I felt something warm come over my shoulders and smelled a faint smell of leather. I looked up and saw that it was Jack's jacket around me. "Thanks Jack." I said quietly, pulling the jacket tighter around me.
He looked me in the eye for a second and shrugged. "You need it more than I do. Southerners can't handle the cold."
I thought he smiled for a split second, but I could have imagined it. Jack didn't seem like the type to go around handing out smiles to everyone.
We finally reached my house and I handed Jack his jacket when we reached the bottom step of the porch. "Thanks for the jacket and thanks for walking me home guys." I said with a smile.
Just as I finished speaking, the front door burst open, revealing my father standing in the doorway, red-faced and in a rage. "Where the hell have you been Willow?" He yelled. Bobby stepped in front of me and Jack stood a little closer to me. "Who the hell are these guys? Willow, who are you bringing to my house?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything Bobby spoke up. "Sir, we're Evelyn Mercer's boys. I'm Bobby and this is Jack." He said gesturing behind him. "Willow was just over at our house eating some food and we wanted to walk her back to make sure she got back safe."
"We don't need your help! Willow doesn't need your food!" Dad was really in top form tonight. He started to walk towards us, but he had really had too much to drink because the movement caused him to lose his balance and fall forward on the porch.
"Daddy!" I shouted as I pushed past Bobby and ran up the step towards my dad. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing. "Damnit Daddy. What are you doing to yourself?" I whispered as I felt tears begin to gather in my eyes. I looked up at Bobby and Jack, eyes pleading. "Can you help me get him inside? I just need to get him on the couch. Please?" My voice shook as I looked first Bobby, then Jack in the eyes.
Jack looked scared, like he was remembering something terrible, but he broke out of it as Bobby touched him on the shoulder. They came up the stairs and picked up my dad, Bobby at his shoulders and Jack at his feet. I held the door open as they took him inside and set him on the couch. Jack backed up quickly, like he was afraid of my dad and what he might do if he woke up. He jumped a little as I put my hand on his arm. "Thanks Jack. You too Bobby." I said, turning to look at Bobby who was now by the door.
"No problem." Jack said quickly, heading over to the door.
I walked over to close and lock the door behind them. As I reached for the knob, Bobby grabbed by arm and looked me in the eye, looking deadly serious. "If you ever need any help, just yell. One of us will hear you. Ma wanted me to tell you that you ever need a safe place to stay you're always welcome at our house. Okay?"
I nodded my head. "Thank you." He let go of my arm and turned to go. "Bobby?" I called after him. "Can you guys not say anything about my dad? Please? I've got it under control. If things get too bad then I will tell someone."
Bobby and Jack both looked at me, sad looks on their faces as they nodded.
I stood in the doorway, watching them walk away and thanking God for sending me the Mercers in case I needed them.
Thanks so much for reading! Review if you wish (getting reviews really motivates me to write, but I'll still write without them). I already have a couple of chapters written, but it will usually be a few days between updates because I am taking a summer class and working two jobs. Rough times.
