It had been a few weeks since I came to live with my best friend's family (by that I just mean her estranged father who heroically swooped in, to our rescue.) Despite being separated for most of her life, her father had been more than kind and accommodating, allowing a disabled veteran and his 18-year-old son to move into the furnished basement of his newly purchased McMansion. For that, I would be forever grateful.
I had made myself a workstation, sitting just under the vent. This was so I could craft my projects without leaving my father's side, while also taking in the fresh air of Upstate New York. This, unfortunately, gave me a front-row seat to my childhood friend offering herself like a buffet to a bunch of older guys. (I could hear five distinct voices.) They called her all manner of names, but she just laughed like a teen girl trying to act cool to a bunch of frat boys.
I quickly turned away, attempting to focus on my project. I managed to locate some scrap materials and a set of tools.
A little while later I could hear her tapping on the metal grate. "Hi, Marcus."
"Hi, Becca."
"What'cha doing?" Becca said in her best Harley Quinn impression. She was still the same wise-ass tomboy who used to protect me from bullies at the orphanage.
"Just making something." I could hear her fidgeting with something in her hand; cigarettes, paper money, maybe even drugs.
"What are you making?"
My mind went blank for a moment. "A wheelchair."
"Your dad doesn't have a wheelchair?" she asked, taking an audible drag off her cigarette. "He's missing a leg after all."
I took a breath to steady my overboiling rage. Why the fuck was she talking like that? "We had to leave everything behind," I said calmly. she already knew my story; she knew what my father and I were fleeing.
"My dad let you use his tools?"
I froze, realizing I had not thought to ask. I had been too tired from foraging for material; metal, plastic, rubber, anything I could use to construct a chair that would at least stand up under its own weight. "If I break anything I'll pay for it."
"Whatever," she said taking a loud drag off her cigarette. "He's rich, he doesn't care. And he likes you. You're like the child he never paid for," she chuckled. "No, wait that's me." Her hatred for him was evident. "Just don't tell him you saw me."
"I didn't." Technically she was on the other side of the vent.
"Good because I'm going to try to sell a few of my dad's medals."
"Yeah, right." Jayden Michael Lorri was an Olympic-level martial artist (six gold, two silvers, and a single bronze, all while representing his home country of Ireland.) He made his impressive fortune as a champion MMA fighter, living and working all around the globe. This was why Becca only met him in person a little over a year ago.
"Yeah, I am right," she replied in a mocking tone. "There's a scrap metal kiosk at the mall, one of those cash for gold places. I figure if I can smash the medals against a rock, or something, it should be all good."
"Right, good luck with that." Becca's behavior was disgusting. Her father just wanted to have a relationship with her, but she saw him as the bad guy. It wasn't his fault her alcoholic American-born mother never told him he had a daughter.
"Whatever." Becca scoffed and walked off into the distance. I just had to hope she would do the right thing and not get us kicked out.
Emotionally exhausted, I gave up on my project for the time being. My father was asleep in the living room turned bedroom, and it had been well over an hour since I'd checked on him.
I washed my hands with a nearby garden hose. When I returned to my father's room, Jay was already there. From the open doorway, he appeared to be naked, holding my father in his arms. With his tan, post-workout body, and black hair worn in a fauxhawk, Jay could pass for a personal trainer or a really cool physical therapist.
"I'm just going to help you stretch a bit," the man said in his thick Irish accent. "Just tell me if it becomes too painful."
My father nodded. His thick blonde facial hair was in need of a trim, but his blue eyes made him look angelic. The image reminded me of the famous statue of Mary holding the limp body of Jesus after he was removed from the cross. "Have you seen my boy?"
Jay looked up, his eyes meeting mine. "He just stepped out, I'm sure he'll be back shortly."
My father nodded, unable to hide the tears in his eyes. "You're a good man, you've done far more than even God ever requires," he swallowed hard, choking down what little moisture he had in his throat. "Please take care of my son. Help him become a strong, compassionate person, someone who can live up to their potential." He closed his eyes. "I don't know what I'm saying, this is just the ramblings of a dying man. I guess," my father paused, blinking tears from his eyes. "Don't let the world break his spirit."
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to tell him yourself." There was something comforting about his accent. Becca always said he sounded like an angry drunken stereotype, but I had never even seen him take a sip of alcohol. To me, he seemed kind, like a regal knight or a maybe even a priest.
"I doubt he'd take advice from me. Not after all that's happened. I failed him as a father, as a man."
"Hello, Mr. Lorri," I said, somewhat nervously. Would it have been more polite to leave and come back later? "I thought you were upstairs in the gym? I mean not that you can't come down here, it's your house after all." I ended my awkward statement with a forced laugh.
"As I feared, your father has a touch of fever," Jay said.
"You came down to check on us?" I asked. This would have been the ideal time to ask about the tools, but I lost my nerve before I got the chance.
"Yes, Marcus," Jay said, his voice attempting to wash away the bizarre drama of what he just heard. "I'm going to see if I have anything I can give him for the pain."