The Good Son by Carolyn Mills (free e reader txt) 📗

“Do you know what I think? I think you need to find a healthy outlet for your anger. I’d like to meet with you again to discuss some coping strategies. Together, we can try to nip this in the bud before it gets ugly.”

“Are we done, then?”

He nodded and I stood up to leave. At the door, I turned back to face him. “Thank you,” I said. It was nice of him to want to help me. It wasn’t his fault that he was as clueless as everyone else.

I never did go back to see Mr. Flagg to discuss coping strategies, but I told Mom that I’d met with him and that we’d had a good talk and that I was going to try really hard not to get into any more fights. And I did take his advice to heart, for the record, about finding an outlet for my anger, which is why that spring I tried out for the rugby team. As it turned out, I made a pretty good lock.

“WELL, WELL, WELL, LOOK WHO made the rugby team. I gotta tell you, I’m kinda impressed. Surprised, but also impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you!” Ricky slapped me on the back and turned to Mom. “What are you feeding this girl? She’s going to be taller than me soon.”

“And better looking,” I added.

“You’ll never have my looks, sweetheart. And no matter how tall you get, you’ll always be my little sister.” He drilled his knuckle into the back of my head to prove his point and I swatted his hand away. I could see Mom watching me, probably worried that I’d punch him in the face if he pushed too far.

Ricky had come down from Leeville for one of his sporadic dinners with us, and Mom was cooking his favourite meal: homemade mac and cheese. She always catered to him when he dropped by, which bugged me, even though she’d been doing it for years.

“I’ll try to make it to one of your games,” Ricky said, and despite my best efforts, I was flattered that he’d even want to.

BEING ON THE RUGBY TEAM had its advantages. At the end of the year, I was invited to my first party — the whole team was invited, but still. It was a field party, out at Kendra Vardy’s property, and I was actually looking forward to going. I knew there would be a bonfire, but other than that I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

“You sure you don’t want to go?” I asked Walter as we grabbed two cans of Dr. Pepper from Richter’s convenience store. Now that I wasn’t getting into fights all the time, we’d started hanging out regularly again. We spent a lot of time roaming around town, just walking and talking.

“I have a chemistry assignment to finish,” Walter said.

“Okay, nerd.” Most of the girls on the rugby team were going so I wasn’t worried about not having anyone to talk to, but it would have been nice to have Walter there too. I didn’t usually have much to say to the other girls on the team.

The night of the party, I was nervous as I got ready. I didn’t know what to wear, then decided on jeans and a hoodie, because it was still cold at night. I spent a long time trying to decide what to do with my hair before pulling it into a ponytail since it would just get messed up anyway if I wore it down.

A few people were setting up tents in the Vardy’s field when Mom dropped me off. I quickly joined a small group of girls from the team and I was standing with them trying to look cool when I noticed Ricky over by the fence, pulling a beer out of a giant blue cooler. What the hell? I didn’t even know he was in town.

Suzy, one of the girls from the team, followed my gaze. “Isn’t that your brother? Like how old is he anyway? Doesn’t he have anything better to do?”

Ricky was twenty-three and as far as I could tell everyone else at the party was clearly still in high school. When he noticed me, Ricky held up his beer can in a greeting before being swallowed by a threesome of girls who looked like they were headed to the beach judging by their outfits. One of them, a redhead wearing a pair of exceptionally short shorts, draped her arm over Ricky’s shoulder as she and her friends led him away.

Suddenly I didn’t want to be at this party. But I couldn’t exactly call Mom to come and get me right after she’d dropped me off, so I wandered over to the firepit and sat on one of the logs that had been arranged around it. There were a few other people sitting at the fire, but I didn’t know who any of them were and no one seemed to notice me staring glumly at the flames. Eventually, someone sat down beside me. He was tall, and cute in a clean-cut kind of way. He reached his hands out toward the fire.

“It’s colder than I expected,” he said. “Wish I’d brought a jacket.”

“It is cold,” I agreed. “But I’ve seen people walking around in shorts and tank tops.”

He laughed. “I know exactly who you’re talking about. Trust me, they’ll find ways to stay warm.” He paused. “I’m Tommy. I’ve seen you on the rugby field. I play soccer, so I pass by you pretty much every day.”

“My name’s Zoe,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Are you always this formal, Zoe?”

“No, I just —”

I would have kept talking, but the redhead I’d seen earlier with Ricky stumbled past the firepit and it was obvious, even in the flickering light, that she was crying. There was a commotion as her friends caught up with her and tried to put their arms around her.

“He’s such an asshole!” she shrieked.