Nine

I wasn’t big on spiritual beliefs. But at that moment, I was praying for a miracle to happen. A man drawn by chaos would find a way to create one, and I had never met such a man until now.

On the twentieth time, I chanted the prayer in my head, and a hand gripped my shoulder, making me look up at the new addition to our company. My prayer had been answered.

“I thought you had a meeting with your father,” Gabe stated without greeting Stephen. The mood he was in was palpable in the room.

“Is that why you all decided to head out and have fun without me?” he countered in challenge.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Lenna visibly flinch at the tone of Stephen’s voice.

“There was no need for us to find a reason to go out and have fun today. Don’t twist this situation based on how you see it.” Gabe defended, not even slightly intimidated by Stephen. “So why are you here? How did you even know we were here?”

“Can’t I be here to join my family?” He pointed out loudly, drawing more attention in our direction.

I felt Gabe tighten his grip on my shoulder, but I kept my face passive while allowing him to fight back the sore thumb.

“Shut that mouth of yours,” Gabe hissed softly. His voice was low enough that I wasn’t sure Stephen heard. But from the grim expression on his face, he got the message. “Get up! Leave Lenna and Gavin alone for today. We will see you when we get home,” he commanded.

“You can’t say that….” Stephen countered but was cut off when Gabe stepped forward, almost bumping the table.

My eyes darted at Gavin out of worry since he was in Stephen’s arms, and I saw Lenna’s hand never leaving his wrist. The little boy looked frightened yet kept calm, and I wanted so badly to tell him it was okay and to ruffle his hair for his bravery.

Stephen handed Gavin back to Lenna, who hurriedly took him away as Stephen mumbled a few profanities in defeat. “I want them home before five. Got it? And I will be visiting,” Stephen called out one last time as he left the table.

It wasn’t until Archie talked that I noticed his presence behind me. “I couldn’t believe the prick found out about today. Did you think someone followed us here or one of his goons saw us?”

“I saw Lenard when we were heading toward the lodge. I think it was him,” Gabe replied as he released his hand from my shoulder.

I was no longer interested in their conversation.

I leaned across the table and touched Lenna’s arm. She was planting light kisses on Gavin’s forehead while whispering to him, which I couldn’t hear. From the look of remorse on the little boy’s face, I knew she was giving him encouragement and assurance.

“Are you okay?” I asked her softly, interrupting their moment.

“I’m fine. Thank you for staying, but I apologize for letting you sit through it,” she replied guiltily. “I hope I didn’t ruin your day.”

“No. I had fun. Thank you for inviting me.”

She smiled at me before Gabe got our attention, and we decided it would be better to have our lunch in town. Before heading back, we bought a take-out meal for Gavin since he was famished.

Gabe treated us to some smoked ribs, and I wasn’t one to deny a mouth-watering temptation. So we stayed in the restaurant for a good hour, eating and chatting. After having our meal, they dropped me off at my place and parked the car at the curb near the house.

I was already out of the car when Lenna spoke up.

“It’s been a while since I saw this place. I bet it was a pain clearing out the mess,” she remarked softly, her hand brushing Gavin’s hair as he lay down on her lap.

I peered over the rolled-down window. “You bet. The place was snowing with dust.” I chuckled in agreement. “Thank you for today, again.”

“I hope we didn’t scare you off by bribing you with those smoked ribs,” Gabe interjected from the driver seat.

“Don’t worry, sir. I was bribed and pampered enough,” I humored for good measure.

“You should’ve gone mountain biking with us, Kyle,” Archie said, who seemed to find it insulting that I had missed out on the fun.

“Next time, Archie,” I called out in reply while evading giving him a definite answer.

I turned and walked toward the porch. Once I got to the top of the stairs, I noticed the car was still there. With a quick wave, I waited and watched the car drive away.

~

The following day, I headed out to work on an empty stomach. I had overslept since my mind kept wondering about Lenna and her relationship with Stephen. I wondered why Lenna couldn’t seem to get away from their relationship.

When I got to the store, Benji was nowhere in sight, yet the sign Open was at the door. I was about to call him when a teenage boy, around the age of thirteen to fifteen, walked up from the back. He hadn’t noticed my arrival from the headphones he had on. Since the store was empty, it didn’t take a while for him to notice me. Once I reached the middle of the aisle, the boy looked up and stopped. It took him a moment to respond, and he took off his headphones.

“Hey… Ah… Do you need some help finding something?” he asked, stammering to find the right words.

“I’m good,” I responded, studying the boy’s features for a second. “How may I help you?” I countered.

“What? Why would I need your help?” His eyebrows creased in confusion.

“What were you’re doing back there?” I replied with another question and gestured toward the direction he came.

“What do you mean?” he probed again, his expression turning serious.

Before I could question the boy’s suspicious activity, Benji entered the store with a box in hand, grunting from its weight.

“Kyle. You’re here,” he greeted as his eyes wandered toward the boy. “I see you’ve gotten acquainted with my grandson already.”

“Wait! He’s the guy you told me about, Pops!” The boy exclaimed in surprise as he studied me. His expression turned from wary to friendly as he approached me. Then he held out his hand. “I’m Brent. Nice to meet you!”

I accepted his hand and lightly shook it. “Kyle. Nice to meet you, Brent.”

“He is going to be working here, Kyle. It’s his punishment for getting a one-week expulsion from school,” Benji grumbled as he placed the box by the cashier counter. “When your father hears about this, you’d be glad I took you in, kid.”

“This time, Pops, it wasn’t my fault. I just got caught in the crowd and couldn’t defend myself. Mr. Quinton held a grudge against me for blowing up the fuse in chemistry class. What was the point in having an experiment and learning something if you don’t experiment?” Brent argued in his defense.

“You almost burned down the school kid,” Benji reasoned back with conviction.

“They were just overreacting,” Brent mumbled as he headed up toward the counter.

I chuckled at the kid’s free-spirited nature. The store would be a little livelier with him here.

“How was the trip yesterday?” Benji turned his hawk-eye on me. “Anything interesting that happened?”

“Nothing that would interest you,” I responded evasively and headed to the backroom for my store apron.

“I doubt that! That wasn’t what I heard from Gabe last night,” he called out, his words luring me like bait.

I stopped and turned slightly in his direction, studying his smug face.

“I saw him last night, and the topic came up,” he added, and I turned completely toward his direction in frustration.

“What did he say?” I asked and sighed in defeat.

“It wasn’t what he said but how he said it.” Benji smiled before he continued. “You did great by staying with Lenna.”

I nodded in response.

After he said those words, Benji headed toward the back room with a wave. I stared at his retreating back, and a small, proud smile escaped my guarded lips. All that self-doubt I had bottled up yesterday and last night was gone.

In a good mood once again, I started working around the store. Brent was capable of operating the register after I monitored him serving at least five customers in the morning. As afternoon approached and the day came close, I grabbed the bucket and mop to clean up before closing time. Around seven, we entertained our last customer with Benji by the counter while Brent helped me restock a few products on the shelves.

“We’ll finish up everything here, Kyle. You can go and eat your dinner now,” Benji stated.

“Thank you,” I replied while tugging the end of the tie from my work apron. Then, I turned to Brent, who was kneeling while restocking the lower shelf. “Are you going to be okay here?”

The boy looked up with a satisfied smile. “I can finish these up. Besides, the more work I do, the lesser days my punishment would be.”

“Not this time, kid. A few hours ago, I got a call from your father, and he is pissed,” Benji interjected.

“What? Why didn't you share that information with me a few hours ago, Pops?” Brent stood up and stared at his grandfather in disbelief.

“I forgot.” Benji brushed off in reply.

“You’re not senile, Pops.”

“You better remember it next time you do something crazy again.”

I watched their banter in amusement before returning my work apron. Once I was done, I excused myself and headed across the street to Carol’s diner for a quick bite. Since it was past the dinner rush hour, my meal was served quicker. I finished my meal in under fifteen minutes and jogged back across the street where my truck was parked for most of the day. I gave Benji and Brent, who had just closed the front door of the store, one last quick wave before I jumped in the truck. From there, I drove back home.

Two blocks away from my street, the traffic light turned red, stopping me across the bakeshop, and out of impulse, my eyes wandered toward it.

Most stores in the street were closed, and based on the week that I had stayed in town, I noted how all businesses started to close their stores around nine—with the exemption of bars and twenty-four-hour fast food stores and cafés.

For a moment, my heart sank as I watched the dim light on the bakeshop, but then the front door of the shop opened. And on cue, there she was in her work uniform with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Seeing her for the first time today felt like we hadn’t spent the whole day together yesterday.

I glanced back at the traffic light, which hadn’t changed for the last few seconds I watched her. There were only a few moments left to decide, but it wasn’t a tough one. Glancing through my side mirror, I saw an almost empty street, so I slowly parked the truck in the nearest spot.

I hadn’t noticed anything unusual around her until it was too late. Then, as I turned off the truck’s ignition, I faintly heard her shouting. When I looked up, Stephen stood in front of her, gripping her wrist like a metal clamp. Lenna didn’t just stand by, though. She relentlessly tugged her arm away from him, and her voice continued to echo in the background in defiance.

“Let me go, Stephen! Let me go!”

There was a time that I would have hesitated, but now that I had seen her and after the events yesterday, the doubt subsided like it hadn’t existed in my thoughts. I jumped out of the truck with my fist balled up and jogged toward their direction.

Thirty reasons not to start a brawl rushed through my head. Then, before my heart decided to take the risk, Lenna caught a glimpse of me at the last second. Even if our eyes met only a second, the interaction changed my decision. Instead of attacking him, I spoke up and made my presence known.

“Hey! You heard the lady. Let her go, goddammit!” My voice tinged with anger and venom. Even I felt like I was hearing a different person.

Stephen spun around at the same time. His eyes were filled with annoyance. He was about to reply, but Lenna pulled away from him from the moment I distracted him. Finally free of his hold, Lenna took a calculated step with her right hand balled up. Then, her right hook connected with Stephen’s cheek in one swift move.

The impact stunned both of us.

Briefly, Stephen reached up a hand to soothe the part Lenna hit. But then he was able to compose himself and was about to retaliate and hit her back. In the spur of the moment, I grabbed his hand that was about to smack her and pushed him away.

“Don’t you even dare!” I hissed in a warning and watched him stumble from my sudden attack.

“Who the fucking hell do you think you are?” Stephen yelled back, fuming in rage.

I was about to reply when Lenna grabbed my arm and spoke in my stead, “He’s with me. If you think I would do whatever you say because of Gavin, you are way in your head. If you fight me for his custody, I won’t hesitate for a second to fight back. You don’t deserve his praise or his love.”

“Don’t think I would forget this even if you come crawling back to me when you no longer have enough money for his expenses,” Stephen threatened.

“Like you even paid me a cent since I gave birth to him,” Lenna countered coolly before turning away from him. “Don’t you dare come back here just to see me? Even if I don’t want it, he is still your son. If you actually want to see him, then you can find me.”

At her words, everything turned silent. Lenna didn’t wait for his response. Instead, she dragged me away. It took a second to understand where she was headed until my eyes landed on my truck.

“You wouldn’t mind if I hitch a ride home, would you?” Her voice was almost a whisper beside me.

“Are you sure it is home you want to go to right now?” I inquired, peering at her hand that still gripped my arm.

“I’m not sure myself.”

“I saw a café still open.”

Her hand tightened for a second before she let go. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Without looking at me, Lenna headed toward the front passenger door as I got inside the driver's seat. I took a quick glance in the direction where we left Stephen. He was standing with a brooding look, and he remained unmoving like a vulture studying its prey. I didn’t back down from his stare until I heard Lenna’s side of the door close. After tonight, I knew I had put myself in a game I no longer intended to lose.