SMK Too Close to Home Chapter 5 - Day 1

Brad Bentley House

"Yo, Philip. It's about time. What took you so long?" Brad opened the door and let him in.

"Sorry, Dude." Philip dropped his backpack on the floor, slipped out of his jacket, and hanged it on a hook near the door. "My mom's new husband was late coming home from work, so I had to skip out on dinner to make it over here on time."

"You mean, your stepdad?"

"Next time you call him my dad, step or otherwise, you might come away with a fat lip."

"Man, you've got your panties in a twist over this guy. That's twice today you've bitten my head off." Brad closed the door. "I thought you liked your mom's new boyfriend."

"That was before she married him without telling us." Philip picked up his bag and followed Brad into the kitchen.

Brad stopped and turned abruptly, eyes wide. "For real?"

"No, I made it up," Philip countered sarcastically. "Of course it's for real, Worm-brain."

Brad stared at him for a moment before deciding to let Philip's attitude slide. "Well, I've got just the thing to get your mind off all your troubles, Bro." Brad stood to the side to allow Philip to go into the kitchen first.

Philip's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. He looked over his shoulder at Brad, then back to the group of students from their class. "Dude! What's up? I thought we were studying for a Social Studies project."

"Study, schmuddy." Brad smiled. "My mom's working the night shift tonight, so I invited a few friends to cheer you up." He elbowed Philip in the ribs and winked. Pointing into the kitchen, he used a sing-song voice. "Melissa's here…"

And sure enough, there she was, standing by the kitchen island talking to another girl Philip had seen but didn't know yet. Melissa smiled over at him, and Brad gave him a little shove in her direction. Turning, Philip frowned at him but took the hint and walked over to her.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You're Melissa, right? You're in my Geometry class, second period."

She smiled again. "That's right. And you're Philip?"

"That's me." He looked at the other girl. "I don't think I have you in any classes. Are you new this year, too?"

The new girl smiled. "Yes. I'm Jennifer. My mom and I just moved into the area a few months ago."

"Cool."

Jennifer leaned down and pulled a dark brown bottle out of her backpack. "You wanna try some of this?"

Philip looked around, shocked to see that none of his friends were drinking sodas. He scratched the back of his head. "Uh, no thanks. My mom would totally pick up on something like that and ground me until Kingdom Come."

"Ah, come on. You're lookin' all uptight. You need something to help you chill."

Music by The Police came drifting in from the living room. "Leave him alone, Jennifer." Melissa took Philip's arm and began pulling him toward the music. "If he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it." Her hand slid down to entwine her fingers in his. "Come dance with me, Philip?"

Philip swallowed to relieve his dry mouth. "Yeah, sure," he smiled. Afterall, if his mother could keep secrets, why couldn't he?

Though it was only nine-thirty, her mother had already gone to her apartment over the garage for the night. And since Jamie was in his room studying for his history quiz, Lee and Amanda had turned in for the night as well; Lee was sore from whatever it was that happened at his meeting earlier and needed a good night's sleep.

She'd already changed into a mid-thigh length sleepshirt and was sitting in front of her mirror to brush her hair when Lee returned from the hallway bathroom. Carefully, he sat on the bed; his face contorted in pain when he bent to remove his socks.

She watched him in the mirror as he stood, stretched, winced, and then untucked his shirt and began unbuttoning it. "I'd ask you how your meeting went today, but I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Yeah." Lee grimaced, finished undoing the buttons, and pulled his belt off. "Oh, Amanda," he said on a sigh and walked up behind her to gently remove the brush from her hands. "I'm so glad you weren't there." He pulled the brush softly through the back of her hair. "The smoke was so thick in the room I could hardly breathe – and it wasn't just your every day nasty cigarette smoke." He reached down with one hand to gently palpate his abdomen. "Then there's the beating I took."

Even as she cringed at the picture he painted in her mind, Amanda closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the luxurious sensation of the brush going slowly threw her hair. "Ewe. I guess I'm glad I wasn't there, too then." Setting the brush down, Lee began massaging her shoulders. "Did you learn anything helpful?" She rolled her head as he continued to massage her stress away.

"Yeah, I think I did, but I'm not sure how the pieces fit together yet." Silently, he urged her to stand and turned her to face him. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned down, nuzzled his face into her neck, and kissed her shoulder. "But I do know how other things fit together…"

Amanda carefully wrapped her arms around his waist under his shirt and slid her hands up his back. "Hmmm…" She looked up at him. "…you feel up for a demonstration?"

He growled low in his throat and brought his mouth down on hers in a slow, deliberate, toe-curling kiss. Gently, he threaded his fingers up into the silky strands at the back of her head, and with the other hand he pressed her impossibly close to him. Well, as close as her baby-bump would allow. He caught his breath on a twinge of pain, but slowly walked backward, pulling her with him. He lifted his lips a fraction. "I'll manage."

Kissing her again, he turned her around so her back was toward the bed and urged her to sit on the edge. Hungry, he braced both hands against the mattress on either side of her, leaned in, and ran his tongue across her lips before dropping kisses on her chin and down the side of her neck. She slipped his shirt off his shoulders and down his arms – over one hand and then over the other. Somewhere in the back of his mind, as he used his body to press her back onto the mattress, it registered that he was thankful they'd rearranged their room so the bed wasn't against an inside wall. Her hands went into his hair on either side of his head as she offered him an intimate smile. Not willing to break the thick tension of anticipation enveloping them, he whispered. "I love you, Amanda."

She smiled as she tugged his head down toward hers and whispered back. "I love you, too."

As Amanda lay in Lee's arms, she listened intently to the sounds of the quiet house. She could hear Lee's heart beating beneath her ear and his gentle snores, but what she hadn't heard was Philip coming home. Lifting her head, she glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table beside Lee. Ten-forty-five. She slid her eyelids closed and sighed. This was so unlike her elder son. Sure, he was a bit more of a rebel than Jamie, but he'd never before outright defied her like this.

She knew something was going on with him; he just wasn't himself. Maybe she should call the school principal, Mrs. Dennis, in the morning and ask some questions to see how school was going. She didn't want to admit it, but the possibility that the whole thing could be stemming from their new family dynamic would have to be explored. Strange. Philip had always been the one who adored Lee - almost to the point of hero-worship. Jamie had been the hard-to-convince one. But ever since the boys had gotten home from their dad's and found out about the secret marriage – and then about having a new baby in the family – things with Philip had been…different.

Feeling restless, Amanda slipped from Lee's warm embrace, crawled out of bed, and slipped her nightshirt back on.

"Manda?" The blankets rustled, and Lee groaned in pain as he pushed himself up to lean back on the headboard.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay, Sweetie." His voice was scratchy, and like a little boy he rubbed his fists over his eyes. "Are you okay? You need anything?"

Amanda sighed. "Philip's not home yet."

Lee glanced over at the clock. He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "He's only forty-five minutes late, Manda."

"That's just the point, Lee," she turned, frustrated. "He's late; he's never been late."

"Never?"

"Not once." Not knowing what to do, Amanda came back and sat on the edge of her side of the bed. She leaned her elbows on her thighs and rested her forehead in her hands. "I'm afraid we made a terrible mistake."

"Getting married?"

"No, of course not..." She turned to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile – one he probably couldn't see in the dark, so she reached out and caressed his chest with her hand. Immediately, his hand wrapped around hers. "…only in keeping it a secret."

The tell-tale creak from the next to the top stair announced Philip's arrival. Amanda stood to reach for her robe and walked around the bed. "Amanda, wait." Lee whispered and grabbed her hand as she passed his side of the bed and headed for the bedroom door.

She paused and looked at him. "I need to go talk to him," she whispered back and tried to tug her hand out of his.

"Amanda, hold on a minute." He held on, pulling her back toward him.

"Lee…"

"No, listen. This isn't the right time."

"Please don't take any offense at this, but how would you know when the right time is and when it isn't?"

Lee flinched in pain as he reached out with his other hand to grab hers. "Amanda, listen to me. I know I've never been a parent before, but I was a fifteen-year-old boy. Trust me. If you try to talk to him now, he's only going to get defensive and shut you out." He pulled her gently back toward the bed. "Let him sleep on it, and give yourself a chance to sleep on it, too." She came to the bed begrudgingly and sat down next to him. "Take the time to find the right moment to talk with him." He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Amanda let out a heavy, tired sigh and looked at him. "How d'you get so smart? You been reading a parenting book or something?"

Lee shook his head and smiled. "No, I just figure doing the exact opposite of what my uncle did is probably wise."

"Oh, I don't know. You turned out pretty good." She squeezed his fingers.

He brought her hands up to his lips. "That's because you came along."

"Oh, stop it." Amanda gave a stifled laugh. "Alright. I'll take your advice, Big Fella."

"Good." He flashed his dimples at her. "Now come back to bed, would you?"

Darn. He'd known as soon as he'd stepped on that dumb, creaky stair that he'd blown it. He hadn't had any alcohol at Brad's, so it's not like he was worried about his mother smelling that on his breath, but he'd never been late before. Not to mention he probably smelled like the cloying smoke he'd been choking on for the last several hours.

Philip crept down the hallway to the room he shared with Jamie. It's not that he really minded sharing a room, but if they were going to build an apartment over the garage for Grandma anyway, why couldn't he have had her old room? But, no. Not only did Mom have to get married, she'd had to start a whole new family, too. Now, the baby would get its own room instead of him and Jamie.

Philip turned the doorknob cautiously and tried to soundlessly open the door. He slipped in, slid his backpack off his shoulders, and opened the dresser drawer as quietly as possible to get his pajamas out.

"It's about time."

Philip didn't bother turning to face his brother. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

Jamie sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, what's up with you lately? You okay?"

Philip stripped down to his undershorts. Slipping one foot into his pajama pants and then the other, he pulled them on. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't have to explain myself to you is all."

"I'm not trying to get you to explain yourself, worm-brain; you're just acting all weird lately."

"Whatever." Philip slipped out to brush his teeth and came back a couple minutes later.

"Your clothes smell like smoke."

"Whad'ya do? Go sniff 'em like some kind of moron?" Philip flipped back the covers on his bed, climbed in, and turned his back toward his brother.

"No. Didn't need to. They reek; I can smell them from here."

"I'm done talkin'. Go to sleep, Jamie."

Jamie slipped back down between his sheets. "Fine. But don't think Mom or Grandma won't notice and go ballistic, Sherlock."