Before the Car | Escapes #0.5

Chapter 2

"So, got a girl yet?" Charlie asked as I sat across from him in the boat. He fiddled with his fishing rod.

"Not yet," I responded, bored. Fishing wasn't my thing, but he insisted on taking me. "You?"

He smiled. "I got a real hottie. She's got the perfect proportions, and she's sweet. I think she may be the one."

I nodded. "Congrats." What did her body have to do with her being the one? I never thought about the body type I'd like. Obviously, I was more attracted to certain girls, but when I found the right girl for me, I wanted to fall in love with her. Yet another way we were different. I found I was happier finding this out about him. "Did you bring her to meet the family?"

"Gosh, no. We're not that serious. We've only been dating six months. I don't want to scare her off. She did ask to come, though. I told her next time and she was good with that."

She probably wasn't, but I kept the thought to myself. "Well, next time, then. I'd like to meet her." If there would even be a next time. I'd never known him to keep a girl around for a whole year. 

"She'll be gone before then, I bet you." He chuckled. "They usually can't handle it when you try to spread the love."

I did my best to keep my expression neutral. Cheating was something I'd never do. For him to say it like it was something good, it made my stomach queasy. I felt bad for his girl. This was probably my favorite way in which I was different. When I was with someone, I was devoted, heart and soul. There was no way I'd so much as look at someone else. 

Conversation slowly petered out, as it always did with us, and I was grateful. I didn't want to know more about him. I knew enough to not like him. When we were little, I looked up to him because he was more outspoken about what he wanted, and he wanted everything. He wanted to run the grocery store chain, even though it belonged to his uncle. To have the girl I liked back when we were teenagers and I brought my girlfriend with me to a reunion. 

She wasn't mine by the time we left. He escorted her home.

Charlie and I were oil and water, and I didn't realize it until my 20s. By then, though, I was too late to win any favor. Aunt Darlene had her mind made up and I couldn't figure out how to get her to see me. 

"Think we got enough fish," Charlie announced what felt like an eternity later. "No thanks to you, cuz. You didn't manage to catch even one."

"Not all of us can be good at fishing," I responded as I started the engine. "If we were, it wouldn't be a type."

He grinned at me. "True. Chicks dig a man that can provide. That's why you should learn to do more outdoors stuff. Hunting, for example. You should come hunting with me and the guys. We always come home with something. Jes can catch anything. He's mastered the art of the hunt."

I forced a smile. "As fun as that sounds, I'll have to pass. I'm not really the outdoorsy type. My preference is a job indoors."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved a dismissive hand at me. "We all want to be the man in charge. Look, a bit of advice from an assistant manager to a future assistant manager." He leaned forward, likely aiming to be conspiratorial, but there was no chance I would think of it that way. "You're going to always have that one employee that's going to push the limits. You're going to grab them by the chops and lay down the law. I know it seems hard, but you're going to have to man up and do the job." He clapped my shoulder a couple times before returning to a lounging position. 

"Thanks, man." I gagged internally. Thanking him was the last thing I wanted to do. Fortunately, the boat ride was over soon and I could get away from him. I hoped, anyway.

"You got the cooler, right, bud?" Charlie asked as I tied up the boat. 

"Um." I glanced at the large two-person cooler that sat in the boat, packed with fish and water. I was about to respond when he cut me off.

"Cool. Meet you inside!" He jogged off, leaving my words to die on my tongue.

I had this. I could do it. How hard could a two-person job be, anyway? I finished tying up the boat and lifted one of the handles of the cooler. I drug it across the boat and sat it down to hop up on the pier. I reached down to pick up the cooler, but quickly realized I couldn't do it that way - all the water and fish would pour out of it. The angle was way too steep for one person to pick it up and put it on the dock. 

Great. I would have to leave it and go ask for help. If it was just fish, it wouldn't have been much of a problem. I could still lift it, but I would have hurt myself trying to lift it that high. Sighing, I stood and went in search of someone. 

Our reunions were usually old people, but sometimes my other cousins came just to show their face or to show off who they were dating. Or, in the case of my only girl cousin, to show off her new husband. Fortunately, the husband loved coming to these things, so I found him standing with his arm around his wife's waist, talking with the people surrounding Aunt Darlene. 

She was obviously the matriarch of the family. Everyone looked to her for what to do. The reason for that was that she had raised her baby sister, who eventually passed away of cancer when her kids were small. She took in those kids - my dad, his brother, and their sister - and raised them. A lot of the kids saw her as their grandmother, even though she was their aunt. I think because my parents raised me knowing she was my aunt and not my grandmother, she wasn't fond of me. 

As I sidled up to the group, she cut her eyes at me and gave me a dirty look. Everyone followed her gaze to me and I froze. Being the center of attention wasn't fun when I didn't want to even be noticed. I should have known that her eyes were as sharp as ever. "Oh, there you are," she said with a fake smile. 

I returned the smile, fakeness and all. "Hello, Aunt Darlene. I see you're doing well today." 

She huffed and looked over at Charlie, who was standing near her. "Did you boys have fun fishing?"

He smirked over at me. "I had fun, but he couldn't catch anything again."

She shot me a look of disappointment before turning back to Charlie. "Well, I hope you caught enough for us all to have some this evening."

"I think I did. The cooler is full. Speaking of, where is it?" He looked over at me, smug.

"It's in the boat. I need help getting it out," I said pointedly.

Charlie rolled his eyes and sat on the couch next to his grandmother. "I caught all the fish, so I'm worn out. Surely you can bring it inside yourself." I bit my tongue, instead turning to go find my father. As I was about to walk out of the living room, he called out to my back, "Make sure you don't spill anything!" Laughter followed me from the room, though it sounded forced.

Though, whether it was or not, it didn't feel good. It was also the norm. If I wasn't being ignored and they weren't acting like I didn't exist, then they were making fun of me. It was the sad truth. 

I found my dad in the kitchen, inspecting the ingredients that someone brought in from a local grocery store chain. "Hey, Dad," I said as I walked in. "Remind me why I come here?"

"Because you love your old man," he responded without looking up. "What happened this time? Making fun of you for not catching anything?"

I felt my face warm up. "Did you hear?"

He nodded and looked up with a sympathetic smile. "I'll come help you, just a moment." He frowned at something he was looking at before putting it down. "The dock, right?" I nodded and he followed me down to the water. "You know," he began as I hopped down into the boat, "I think you are a good man. You had a rough start, lost your way for a little bit, but you have a good heart. A really good heart. You're my first choice to head up the business despite what they all say. I'm not just saying that because you're my son, either."

We shared a smile as I lifted the cooler. He grabbed a handle and we slid it onto the dock. "Thanks," I said, climbing up to stand beside him. I paused before adding, "Not just for helping with the cooler." He pat me on my back, evoking a small smile from me. I looked over and saw him looking proudly at me. He'd always been my biggest supporter, and right that moment, I needed it. It was all I could do to not hug him since he wasn't a hugger. That was all Mom.