The Good Sister (34 page)

“Shit, he hasn’t talked to Will in even longer than that. He won’t talk to anyone. He pretty much cut all ties with friends. And if anyone from his unit or soldiering days even attempts to contact him, he shuts it down instantly.”

“I’m sorry, Donny.”

“Yeah. Hey, why don’t you come over for dinner?”

Dinner? Just she and Donny? It was too weird. She couldn’t even imagine how awkward a dating situation could be for the boy who used to take pleasure in how often he could burp her name or moon her. So… no. She couldn’t date Donny.

His eyes widened and he threw back his head in a laugh. He must have read the surprise and displeasure in her face. “No. Not a date. Just come over to my parents’ house. They’d love to see you. And honestly, I wonder if perhaps you couldn’t at least try to get Tony to talk. He always had the hots for you. Maybe that would cut through something that’s still alive in him. Maybe lose some of the apathy. Make him a little less of the asshole.”

A blush crept into her cheeks. Tony had the
hots for her? When? As if. No. No, there was no way Donny was correct about that statement. They never had such a relationship. There was never even one moment of awkwardness between Tony and her. So no, there was never a time he
liked
her. Not like that, at least. Not like having a crush. It was always she and Will. She was mooning over Will Hendricks ever since the seventh grade. And Tony knew that. He would never have felt anything romantic towards her. She was always Will’s. And he was the kind of guy who lived by staunch rules, like never coveting your best friend’s girl.

“You’re mistaken on that front.”

Donny grinned. “What? About Tony having a crush on you? No. I’m not. He liked you,  always. From seventh grade on. But you were always hung up on Will, so he had to settle for being your friend.”

“He told you that?”

“Yeah, right. No. It’s just a fact. I knew it. My parents knew it. Will knew it.”

“Will did not.”

“Will was not dumb or blind. He sure as shit knew, he just ignored it so he could still be Tony’s best friend. Just as Tony ignored it so he could still be Will’s. And yours.”

Her brain felt like it would explode in her head. In five minutes, Donny managed to rewrite her entire teens and early twenties. Those were not her truths and experiences. There was just no way.

“Well, he sure doesn’t want to see me now.”

“He doesn’t want to see anyone. Don’t take it personally. In fact, try to be different than everyone else. Don’t let him pull this shit with you. It’s all shit, designed to protect his injured, fragile ego because he lost his arm. The thing is: he lost his arm, not his life, but he’s living as if he did, and seems prepared to live the rest of his life that way.”

She pressed her lips together, her heart twisting at the tragic circumstances of Tony and his former life. He used to grin all the time. He liked to drink beer and shoot darts. He liked to dance. He liked to play golf. He liked to shoot his guns at the shooting range. He liked to do a million things. 

“I’ll come. If you can convince him to let me, and you clear it beforehand with your mom. Here’s my number. Call me if you really think I could help.”

Donny turned towards his cart with shrug. “Well, you sure as shit can’t hurt. Nothing could get worse for him.”

Stupid fucking brother.
What was he doing? Why was he taking so long? Just finish eye-fucking Gretchen and come already. He wanted to leave. He was tired of being here. He was tired of being stared at. He was tired of his brother’s cheerful, happy flirting. He would, no doubt, get her damn number. Well sure. Fine. Great. She was probably a great lay. Good for Donny. He just wanted to
go and now.

Donny finally rounded the corner of the aisle, pushing the cart and coming to a stop where Tony stood waiting by a cash register.

“Took you long enough. What did you do? Get her number?” Tony snarled. He turned his face so his brother couldn’t see the disgust. As if he cared. Why should he care whom Gretchen went out with? Fucked? Screwed? He’d already tolerated her doing his best friend for years. He even discussed it with Will. And often heard them, for Christ’s sake, any number of times he stayed overnight in their then, very small, and thin-walled apartment.

Will Hendricks. The name tasted like ashes in his mouth. Will and he had been best friends their entire lives. Even after Gretchen Moore entered their sphere. They were young, hormone-filled
boys and both of them liked her. They got into a fistfight over her in eighth grade. And then… Gretchen simply chose Will. They started dating their freshman year, and never broke up. That was that. He got to speak at their wedding, and toasted their engagement. He drove them to dances and double dates with women he never could remember the names of.

When Will joined the Army, so did Tony. He followed Will, because he and Will were inseparable and both wanted to serve their country. It seemed the only thing to do beyond high school and Will always talked about it. That was all there was for Will: being a soldier. And Tony  had no other prospects, so why not become a soldier? His grades sucked; there was no college in store for him. He thought about entering a trade school and becoming a plumber like his old man, but it never resonated with him. Going to war to kill the enemy seemed a lot more interesting to him at the age of eighteen.

His mother wept when he came home and told her he joined up. It went on for days and every time he left after a furlough. She worried about him year after year. She never got used to it. She was proud, but nonetheless terrified for him.

He didn’t understand why. Nothing could happen to him. No. No way. Surprisingly, especially to him, he became a damn fine soldier. Not a Will Hendricks perhaps, but a solid, trustworthy, hardworking soldier. Will went on to join Special Forces; and Tony served proudly as an infantry soldier with the 82
nd
Airborne. He became a sergeant and was proud of it. He wasn’t like Will, who was a heroic, accomplished soldier with plenty of ambition to climb as far up the Army command chain as he could. Tony had no such designs or desires; he just wanted to be a good soldier.

He loved Will. As if he were his brother.

But then…Will quit! He fucking quit the Army! The day Will announced it, Tony turned and walked away without a word. How could Will just quit? He was the reason they chose to do it. He was the one who loved it. He was destined to become a great, high-ranking leader in the Army. He was that good at it. But he just up and quit.

After that, he moved to butt fuck nowhere, and now had a wife and kid. He worked a nine to five job, as a civilian. He was a hard-working family man that Tony never imagined he’d ever be.
Will never even attempted to be that way for Gretchen, but did so for his second wife.

Tony had no opinion of her. Jessie Bains was merely a name to him of the woman his best friend married before he checked out of his life, and the Army. He never really heard or understood the entire story. There was more to it than Will told him. Maybe he just didn’t want to know. What mattered to him was that it made Will quit the service, abandoning the only life and calling he ever liked. And now, it was the lifestyle and career that Tony always wanted. But Will left, and Tony hadn’t answered any of his correspondence since that day.

He sure as fuck didn’t try to explain to Will what it felt like to have your arm blown off while tossing a football back and forth with half of your platoon. One moment he was laughing, watching the ball twirling towards him, his arms outstretched to catch it, the sun frying his eyeballs, and the next… everything was black.

He woke up in a hospital bed with his arm gone.

What did one say after that? Nothing.

He sometimes wished it happened in a nobler way. Maybe if he’d had a gun in his hand, instead of a football, and was fighting at the time, it might’ve felt different. Maybe even better.

He scoffed,
yeah, right
. As if anything could make the sensation of your flesh melting off your bones feel better.

Still, returning here, and trying to live amongst civilians wasn’t going very well. People ran around, worried about their Halloween costumes, what to buy for dinner, whether to go organic or not, or what color to paint their overpriced houses. It was all so stupid to him. He couldn’t get over how mundane they seemed. His own parents, and even his brother included. They were worried about mortgages on houses they didn’t need. They worried about traffic, or if it might rain tomorrow. What shit! It was nothing real and nothing that mattered. Nothing about his life here mattered.

Donny shoved the cart into the line for the cashier. He rarely scowled, glared or even ceased smiling except with Tony. “I invited her to dinner. With Mom. I thought Mom would like to see her. Don’t worry your sorry ass, since you most likely scared her away.”

He flinched.
Gretchen
. He really never wanted to see her again. Not with his empty sleeve hole, and his lopsided shirt. Fuck no.

Still… “What did she say?”

Donny started throwing groceries onto the conveyor belt, only stopping to glare at Tony. “She said yes. Yes, if it was okay with your sensitive, little-girl ass. So is it, Tony? Is it okay? Do you think you could let an old friend come over without letting the usual crass, bullshit spew from your mouth?”

Tony spun on his heel and stormed out of the store. Let Donny bag his own stupid groceries. That was beside the point; most of the groceries were for him. And his mother was buying them.

The Best Friend
is to be release in 2014… Check
my website
for updates.

The Zenith Trilogy:

Zenith Falling, Book #1-
Kindle Buy Link

T
he Zenith Trilogy: the fall, rise and ultimate success of the rock band Zenith.

Along the way, lives are destroyed in addiction, betrayal and rejection.
 Redemption and love is both lost and found, as the destiny of this band rules the lives of those who most believe in it…

Joelle married Rob Williams, lead singer of the rock band
Zenith
, before she was old enough to know better. She has spent years following
Zenith
around, while they struggle to become rock stars. Only now, alcoholism has replaced the talent that once was going to make Rob a legend… leaving Joelle’s life spiraling out of control. The problem is there isn’t a soul in the world that cares, including her husband.

Nick Lassiter is a powerful business magnate in Seattle, Washington and was acquainted with Joelle long ago, before she became Joelle Williams. Nick’s return to Joelle’s life gives her a link to a world outside of
Zenith
. A world that starts to become far more appealing than the crazy, alcohol-soaked one she lives in. Until the fateful night when her entire life implodes and Nick is the only person she has to run to. Joelle soon sees only one thing clearly: Nick Lassiter has become so much more than just a friend who can save her.

When
Zenith
 disbands and Rob tries to get sober, Joelle begins to discover her own identity outside of
Zenith
, and the person she finds is nothing like the young, fragile girl who needed rescuing when Nick first met her. Who she discovers just might be a woman worth loving.

Zenith Rising, Book #2:
Kindle Buy Link

Dr. Erica Heathersby is the last person Spencer Mattox, ex-band member of
Zenith,
should ever be attracted to. When Erica offers Spencer a job, he resents her for it, because she is successful in her career, her life, and as a person, in ways Spencer believes he can never be. But Erica soon finds her medical practice the target of political debate, and herself the target of someone's violent desires. Erica turns to Spencer for protection, which develops into a relationship that neither of them is prepared for. Erica knows that in order to keep Spencer from destroying what they have built together; she has to overcome the devastating past he tries to hide. But then again, none of it will matter, if Erica doesn't survive what is fast becoming someone's deadly intentions towards her.