*****
"Hey, Mom. What's going on?" Seth asks as he walks in with Marissa.
"Hey, not much."
"Ryan's not chilling with you in the big house?" Seth asks.
"Not so much. He said he wants to be alone," Kirsten replies.
"Everything okay?" Marissa asks. "I mean…can I go check on him?"
"Actually, I just came back from there and he said to tell you that he'll call you later…" Kirsten explains.
Marissa flushes. "He doesn't want to talk to me?"
"Honey, he's having a really rough time and…" Kirsten starts.
"No, that's okay. I'll see you later, Seth. Tell Ryan I stopped by," Marissa leaves in a rush, not wanting Kirsten to see her tears.
"She's worried about him. He hasn't called her since it happened. He hasn't talked to her at all," Seth tells Kirsten.
"One of Ryan's friends came by to see him today. At first, it seemed like she was good for him, but something happened and he asked her to leave. Sandy won't tell me what happened, but apparently she was an ex-girlfriend of Ryan's and they had an argument. He barely spoke to me when I just went down."
"Wait. A friend from Chino? Who was it?" Seth asks, surprised.
"Theresa," Kirsten replies. "A pretty girl. You'll have to ask Ryan about her," She adds.
"Can I try to talk to him?" Seth asks.
"Sure. He specifically asked not to see Marissa. I didn't mean to upset her, but I don't want to upset Ryan any further either. Take him some juice…" Kirsten suggests.
"He didn't eat today?" Seth asks quietly.
"He ate but he got sick. At least we think so. He's not talking to us," Kirsten says quietly.
"I'm on the way," Seth nods. He takes a bottle of juice and a bag of chips. He knocks on the door to the poolhouse but no one answers.
"Seth. Stop knocking."
Seth follows Ryan's voice around the poolhouse to the edge of the yard. Ryan is smoking a cigarette on a patch of grass in the shadows of the poolhouse. "Hey."
"Hey."
"What are you doing?"
"You dad said I couldn't go for a walk and I felt like I was going to run around and smash all the windows out of the poolhouse," Ryan replies quietly. He inhales deeply off his cigarette.
"I thought Mom confiscated your smokes," Seth says.
"She did. Don't rat me out, Seth…"
"I won't. Marissa came by…" Seth starts and Ryan turns away from him, covering his face. "Hey, what's that mean?"
"I don't want to talk about it…" Ryan mutters.
"And who's this mysterious Theresa?" Seth continues.
"Just drop it, Seth."
"Ooh, Dad already pumped you for information, I see. Did he get any further?" Seth asks. He holds out the bottle of juice and Ryan accepts it.
"He got what he wanted," Ryan mutters.
"So you're not talking to me either?" Seth asks after a beat.
"Theresa heard about Trey. She came, at first, to see if I was okay. Or that's what I thought…" Ryan mumbles.
"Yeah?"
"But…she also came to say goodbye. She's moving," Ryan adds.
"What's so wrong with that?"
"Let's just say I couldn't give her the goodbye that she wanted and drop it," Ryan says quietly.
"Ryan…" Seth hesitates, confused.
"Just drop it, dude. This day sucks," Ryan sighs.
"Damn. Drink that juice, Ryan. Wash the cigarettes off your breath," Seth urges.
Ryan opens the juice and guzzles the bottle. He hands the empty bottle back to him.
"Thanks. So, I can see you're getting restless. You want me to work my magic on mom and get you released?" Seth asks.
"They're not going to let me go anywhere…" Ryan mutters.
"Maybe not by yourself, but I'm your official after school chaperone. If you want out, I can get you out. Give me ten minutes," Seth promises. He disappears into the main house.
*****
Seth returns to the poolhouse with a big smile on his face. "Done. Get your jacket."
"Seth, where are we going?" Ryan asks as he grabs his jacket.
"I never thought I'd be saying this, but we're going to Luke's," Seth replies. "Mom was talking to him on the phone when I walked in so I took full advantage. No drinking. No smoking. No fun of any kind is allowed, but at least you get out of here," Seth shrugs.
"Thanks, man. I mean it. Thanks a lot," Ryan nods.
"No problem. You owe me, though. Making me hang out with Luke," Seth jokes.
*****
Luke is glad to see Ryan. Seth settles down in front of the playstation while Ryan stands outside and watches Luke cook burgers on the barbecue.
"So, man. How're you doing?" Luke asks.
"Eh. Not so hot," Ryan replies honestly.
"That letter from your mom was pretty harsh. Have you talked to her?" Luke asks quietly.
"Nah. I don't think we have anything to say to each other," Ryan shrugs.
Luke flips a burger. Ryan lights a cigarette and lies down in a pool chair.
"You going to punch me if I ask you anything else?" Luke smiles.
"Nah. I just might not answer. It's nothing personal…"
"Yeah, I know. You just don't talk much. I get it," Luke replies.
"Really? 'Cause everyone else I know just wants to pump me for information," Ryan remarks.
"I think they're probably just worried about you, dude. You're not the easiest guy to read, you know?" Luke asks.
"Yeah, I know. But talking doesn't solve anything…"
"But at least it gives the Cohens some insight into what to do. You never say anything, dude. How are they supposed to know what you need if you don't tell them?" Luke asks.
"I get it, Luke," Ryan sighs.
"So. What's this deal with your brother? You were pretty freaked out about him, and considering he's dead, I understand completely…but…I don't get why you think this is your fault," Luke says.
"You wouldn't understand," Ryan mutters.
"I guess not, if you don't explain it to me," Luke shrugs.
Ryan sighs. He knows that Luke is genuinely concerned about him. Everyone is. He just doesn't like having his emotions on public display. He's trained himself to appear emotionless. It always kept him out of trouble. Even when he couldn't control his voice and he talked back, he always made his face blank. He puts an arm across his face.
"Okay, then, at least I tried," Luke mutters.
"I'm thinking," Ryan sighs.
"Oh. How's that work for you?"
Ryan gives him the finger.
"Figured," Luke jokes.
"My brother was in trouble. He owed some people money. He needed me to do something for him, something that would fuck up my probation if I got busted and I said no."
"Sounds like you made the right choice," Luke says quietly.
"Yeah, but they killed him. He told me that they were going to kill him and I still didn't help him," Ryan replies.
"Okay, man. That sucks. Why would he ask you to do something that dangerous?" Luke asks.
"Because. He didn't have anyone else to ask," Ryan replies.
"But, man, you're a kid. You're sixteen and you're dealing with grown-up problems. That's not cool. It's not your fault that your brother didn't have anyone else to ask, it was his problem, not yours. Damn, don't you have enough to deal with?" Luke questions.
"Yeah, but I'm his family…"
"If you had a problem and you had asked him for help…"
"He was in jail…"
"But if he wasn't? Would he have helped you?"
Ryan shrugs.
"So why do you have to stick to rules that no one else in your family sticks to? Seems like to me that you've been cleaning up your family's messes for too long. Family…it's what you make it. There's no rules written in stone that you have to obey, it's different for everyone's family," Luke says.
"In my family…shit…"
"It's rough having two families to deal with," Luke says.
"Yeah," Ryan sighs.
"Are we going to eat sometime this century?" Seth yells through the door.
"Can it, Cohen," Luke yells back. Ryan laughs. Luke glares at him.
"Sorry. I just can't believe that you guys weren't friends before I came here," Ryan smiles.
*****
