Falling From Life

11

          We pull up to Steak and Shake and park in one of the spots. He gets up and as I get my helmet off he's turned around and facing me on his bike.

          "Are you even hungry?" I'm surprised.
         
          "Not really, more nervous than anything." He cocks his head at me and I know he wants to know why, but he also knows I want to tell him.

          "Me either, we can go to my place and talk about it, if you want to." I gave him a look and he put his hands up like he surrendered, "No ulterior motives, I'm not that kind of guy." I smiled.

          "How about since we came all this way we at least grab a milkshake or something?" He nods and we go inside, my legs are shaking. After we order, we climb back on his motorcycle and leave.

          We pull up to a small house with a side garage, where he parks his bike. We head inside the house and we're inside the kitchen where I set down the shakes. A black lab waddles into the kitchen, greying at the nose and around the eyes.

          "Hey, Onyx!" Mark pets his dog then turns to me, "This is Onyx, she's a little old, I've had her most of my life." He crouches down and hugs her and I smile. He reaches under one of the cabinets which causes Onyx to come over and sniff me. I pet her and she starts wagging her tail, so I crouch down and scratch behind her ears.

          "You're cute." She seems to smile at me and I smile back.

          "She really likes you." I look up at Mark surprised.

          "The only dog to ever like me is Marsden, so I'm surprised." We laugh and he gives her a treat and some meds, then we walk into the next room, the living room. Mark is turning on a couple lights as we go, and as we sit on the couch, Onyx joins us. We're on opposite ends facing each other with our shakes now in our hands and Onyx eating the cherries we gave her.

          "So what's on your mind, why are you nervous?" He was referring to what I had said earlier.

          "I went to the cops about my mom." He looked surprised, and before he could say anything i explained things in more detail about my childhood and how shes treated me because I knew he'd understand. He looked shocked and... angry.

          "I know I dont know you as well as all the rest of your friends do, but I'm really glad you did something, and I'm also glad your trust me enough to tell me. People like Sarah don't deserve children as wonderful as you, or your sisters for that matter."

          "You've said that before, why?"

          "I used to have a brother." I almost choke on my shake, "He ran away a few years ago because of my father, the police found him dead on the side of the road about a week after he did, around the time my father was on a 'business trip'." I notice his use of air quotes around the words business trip, "When he came home he didnt give a shit and told me it was better off that way. Not too long after the funeral, I found out where that bastard actually was, and hes the asshole that killed my little brother."