~Chapter 3~

~Mom's~

We spent a few hours at Jeremiah's talking with some of Evelyn's friends and people from the neighborhood who had come to the funeral to pay their respects. I spent a lot of time with Daniela and Amelia while the guys accepted condolences. Only a few people recognized me or spoke to me.

We walked outside a few hours later, planning to visit Evelyn's house; "You remember how to get there?" Bobby asked as he and Jack walked me to my car.

"Yeah but um…I'm just gonna stay for a little bit" I replied.

"Your not going to stay?" Jack asked.

"Stay where? At your moms?"

Bobby nodded; "What's wrong with that?"

"Well…I'm not…you know I don't have a room there or anything"

"It's better than a hotel" Bobby said; "We have room"

I unlocked and opened my drivers side door; "Fine" I said giving in.

The four of us pulled up outside Evelyn's house. I had a minor panic attack in the car thinking back to everything that had gone on in this house. The fights, the home cooked meals, the secrets, and the hours upon hours we all spent together. I grabbed my suitcase out of the backseat and walked up next to Bobby's car.

"Nice to be home" Bobby said slamming his car door.

"So, shit, Bobby, what've you been up to?" Jack asked.

"I'm a freaking college professor, Jack. What do you think I've been doing?"

"I doubt that" I said under my breath.

"Same old Bobby" Jeremiah laughing, shaking his head.

"What about you? You still sucking a little cock left and right, or what" Bobby teased Jack as we walked through the screen door into the enclosed porch.

As we walked in towards the front door of the house we heard a voice come from the darkness to the left; "Y'all ain't right leaving me out here in the cold like this" Jeremiah flicked on the light and we all looked towards the voice.

"Yo, little brother! You asshole!" Bobby yelled at Angel.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Get your ass over here!" Jeremiah said, messing with Angel.

"I missed my plane!" Angel explained.

"You missed our mother's funeral too, jarhead" Bobby said giving his brother a hug; "What's up?

"What's up with you?"

"What's up, boy?" Jeremiah said excitedly, as he hugged Angel.

"It's all good, man. Good to see you man"

Jack walked over to Angel and hugged him; "You shaved off the Afro, huh?"

"Jack!"

"Haven't seen you in forever"

"Yeah, I know" Angel said and started to pick up his bags.

"Hey Angel" I spoke up finally walking over to him.

Angel turned and looked at me with a big smile on his face; "Hey sweetie" he said hugging me; "Man, it's been too long"

"It has. You look good"

"You too" he said winking at me.

The five of us walked into Evelyn's house together for the first time in almost ten years. We stood there in silence looking around the house, and looking at each other with faces that screamed 'I can't believe this'. I looked to my right and had a flashback of Bobby's bags packed sitting there the day he left town. Jack must have known what I was thinking because he put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm gonna get me something to eat. Are y'all hungry?" Angel asked as he walked towards the kitchen, and Jeremiah sat on the couch in the living room.

"No, I'm gonna get some sleep" Bobby answered; "Jack, you take your old room, all right? Angel, take yours. Lexi you can take mine, I'm gonna sleep in Mom's room" he ordered as Jack, Bobby and I walked upstairs.

Bobby walked into Evelyn's room and turned on the light. He looked around the room and dropped his bag on the floor then turned and looked out into the hallway. I was standing there watching him with my arms crossed; "You gonna be alright in there?" I asked him raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'll be fine" he replied and shut the door.

I walked past Angel's room and saw him sitting on the bed looking around his old room. He looked up and saw me, then turned on the stereo that sat on the bookshelf. The sound of "I Wish It Would Rain" by the Temptations started wafting through the house.

I made my way to Bobby's old room and threw my suitcase on the bed. I unzipped it and took out a picture I brought with me. It was of all of us; Bobby, Angel, Jeremiah, Jack, Mark, and myself. It was taken only a few weeks before Mark died. I looked at it and brushed my finger over Mark's face. I found a spot on the dresser for it then looked around the room. I remember when Bobby left Evelyn said she couldn't change his room around because she knew he would one day come back to visit. She wanted all of her sons to know that this was always their home.

Hockey posters hung on the wall and some of his hockey equipment was still sitting in the corner. I looked over at the bed and cringed thinking of how many nights Bobby used to sneak me into the house when everyone was sleeping to spend the night with him. I decided I wasn't staying in the room and picked up my suitcase and the picture and walked down the hall towards Jack's room. When I passed the bathroom I thought I heard Bobby crying inside. I put my hand up to knock on the door, but then decided not to bother him.

When I got to Jack's room he was sitting on his bed with his back against the headboard, playing his guitar; "Hey Jack"

"Hey" he said without looking at me.

"Is it alright if I stay in your room?"

He stopped playing and looked at me; "What's wrong with Bobby's room?"

"Nothing. I just…don't want to be alone"

"Oh" he replied awkwardly; "Yeah it's fine"

I dropped my suitcase to the floor and put the picture back in, I pulled a hooded sweatshirt out and put it on. I sat down on the floor and looked at my nails awkwardly while Jack continued playing his guitar.

Bobby walked into Jack's room and sat down across from me, with his back against the bed; "You been crying in here, you little fairy?" he teased Jack.

"Leave it alone, man" Jack said, putting his guitar down.

"Still making a lot of racket on that freaking thing?"

"Yeah, still making a lot of racket"

"What about you?" Bobby asked looking at me.

"What? Am I still making a lot of racket on my guitar?"

"That's what I asked"

"No" I replied shaking my head; "I haven't really played in a few years" Bobby nodded; "Is it too weird in mom's room?"

"Oh, man. Way too weird. It's crazy. I mean, everything's exactly the same. She didn't change nothing in this house" he said looking around Jack's room.

Just then Jeremiah walked up to Jack's room and leaned on the doorframe; "Look at y'all" he said with a laugh.

"What?" Bobby asked confused.

"Nothing. I'm just happy to see you, man. Happy to see my brothers, that's all. You too Lexi"

I smiled; "Thanks Jer"

"I'm happy to see you too, Jerry" Bobby said reassuringly.

"I guess I'll stop by the grocery store and grab a turkey or something. Have a Thanksgiving dinner. Let's at least act like we're a real family. Mom would like that"

As we were talking Angel came out of his room, Jeremiah and Bobby turned to him; "Where you think your going?" Jeremiah asked.

"It's a little heavy in there. I'm gonna just go outside and get me a little air"

We all cracked up laughing; "You're full of shit, man. You can smell that ass from down the street, huh?" I teased and stood up and peered at Angel through the doorway.

"What are you talking about?" he asked defensively.

"What do you mean, what? Come on, what, man. You know exactly what we're talking about with La Vida Loca" Bobby added.

"Ain't nobody going to get no La Vida Loca nothing"

"She got a boyfriend" Jeremiah added.

"She got a boyfriend. She's got hard dick in her right now. She's screaming somebody else's name, and the last thing she's doing is thinking about your black ass. Leave it alone, man" Bobby said and sent Jack over the edge with laughter.

"I can't even believe y'all coming at me with this crazy shit, man" Angel said, still holding his ground about his "girlfriend"

"Yo, little brother she's nothing but trouble" Bobby protested.

"I'm standing here telling y'all right now, I'm not going to see that girl, and I'm not!" Angel demanded and with that, walked downstairs and out of the house.

Later that night after Jeremiah went back to his house and Bobby retreated into Evelyn's room Jack and I were still wide awake. Jack sat playing his guitar on his bed while I lay on the floor with a few pillows and a blanket.

"You really want to sleep on the floor?" he asked looking over at me.

"It's fine"

Jack put his guitar in it's case for the night; "You can sleep in the bed"

"No. Really Jack, it's fine"

"I insist"

"Then where are you going to sleep?"

Jack thought for a minute, looking around his room; "In the bed"

"Jack Mercer are you trying to get in bed with me" I joked at the obvious.

"Is it working?"

I bit my lip nervously. There was a time when I would have been over the moon with happiness that Jack wanted to share a bed with me but after the tragedy that surrounded the day, and the past drama with Bobby I didn't know if sleeping in a bed with another Mercer brother was the smartest thing to do; Fine. But don't touch me"

I got in Jack's bed and moved all the way against the wall. Jack got in and moved all the way against the edge; "See? Not so bad" he said laughing.

I rolled over and propped my head up with a few pillows; "So how's your band working out since the last time I talked to you?"

"It's going pretty good"

I nodded awkwardly; "There's something I always wanted to talk to you about but I wanted to wait until we were together-"

"Yeah?" he asked smiling the warmest smile I've seen all day at me.

"Um…did you ever…"

"Jack!" Bobby yelled walking into Jack's room, noticing the both of us in bed talking; "What the fuck?"

Jack and I nonchalantly looked over at Bobby; "What?" I asked.

"What's the problem?" Jack said.

"I thought you were staying in my room?" Bobby asked looking at me.

"Nah. Too many memories"

"So you jump in bed with Jackie over here?"

"Bobby it's just a place to sleep. I'll probably sleep on the couch tomorrow or something"

Jack shot me a somewhat disappointed look; "What do you want anyway?" he asked turning back to Bobby.

"Just to say goodnight. But it looks like you two are already having one"

"What's it to you Bobby?" I asked glaring at him.

"Nothing" he said shaking his head; "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Jack and I both yelled happily.

"What was that about?" Jack asked giving me a confused look.

"Oh…I don't know" I stammered. Jack glared at me; "What?"

"Nothing"

"No, not 'nothing', you want to say something. I can tell"

"No…"

"Spit it out Jack! If you have something to say to me, just say it!"

"Have you and Bobby ever slept together?"

I froze. What would give Jack the idea that Bobby and I slept together? Were we that obvious back in the day? Did Bobby tell him? Did Angel know? Did Jeremiah? "No"

"Liar"

"No!"

"Lexi…"

"Jack…"

"I know"

"What?" I asked in desperation; "Know what? There is nothing to know"

"My window overlooks the street"

"So? What does that mean?"

"There were a million nights I would see you hanging around outside"

"Well…I liked to walk at night and…"

Jack interrupted me; "One night I thought you were going to come in so I snuck downstairs to open the door" he continued; "You weren't there so I went outside to look for you, and when I came back I saw you and Bobby walking upstairs together. He used to sneak you in through the back didn't he?"

I was in shock. Jack knew the whole time; "Yeah" I finally whispered; "But why does it matter?"

Just then Jack looked like a deer in headlights, I don't think he was expecting me to ask him such a direct question; "It doesn't" he said calmly; "I just wanna know if my assumptions were right after all these years. That's all"

"Would you think any less of me if I slept with Bobby?"

"No!" Jack said surprised; "Why would you even think that?"

"Well…he is your brother"

"Nah, I don't think it's that big of a deal, it was a long time ago"

I smiled at him; "Good"

"'Good'?" Jack repeated; "So that means you did!"

"Whatever. Yes fine. We did" I said giving in, laughing; "I feel awful"

"Why?"

"Being in the house again reminds me that she was in the room next to his sleeping while we…were together. I feel horrible"

"Do you feel illegal too?" he teased.

"Hey. You can't rape the willing" I joked with a big smile on my face.

Jack laughed; "Your gross" he said and threw a pillow at me.

Just then we heard tires squealing, gun shots, and Angel and Sofi screaming outside the house; "What the hell is that?" I asked as Jack and I jumped out of the bed and looked out his window.

"How serious are you with this dude?" Angel yelled to Sofi, running with her holding her hand.

"We're serious!" she yelled back as the car turned and drove down the street.

"Oh, shit! Come on, in here"

Jack and I turned and looked out his bedroom door and heard Angel and Sofi downstairs come through the front door; "If Bobby was pissed before…he's going to be really pissed now" I said laughing, getting back in bed.

"So…what did you want to talk about?" Jack asked eagerly.

"What?"

"You were going to ask me something"

"Oh yeah" I said remembering; "Um…can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm sorry, I'm just really tired"

He looked disappointed; "Yeah. That's fine"

"Goodnight Jack" I said and leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Night"