Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,7

good,” I say. “And everything went perfect.”

“It could have been a big problem though,” Les says.

“I fucking know that,” Mama says. “Hold your tongue, Les, or I’ll cut it off.”

Les looks pissed.

And Mama just walks away.

We all sit at the table in silence.

I look at Jolie.

Her eyes say I told you so but in a kind and loving way.

She looks ready to cry.

I still can’t imagine anything being wrong with Mama.

Les washes the dishes and Taz dries them.

I’m outside with Jolie, doing everything I can to keep touching her, holding her, and kissing her.

But I can tell something is off.

Something is eating at her.

She has every right to have that feeling.

“Just say it, sweetie,” I say to her. “Get it off your chest.”

“What happened with Mama?” she asks.

“I think you were sitting there and heard,” I say.

“So that’s it? You’re just leaving it at that, Mac?”

“At what?” I ask. “She made a mistake.”

“Does she ever make mistakes?”

I curl my lip. “I know you’re here right now, Jolie, and I know this-”

“No,” Jolie says. “Don’t play that card with me. It’s not about that. I heard what Les said. What you said. Les was going to shoot someone? What would have happened then? Would you have gotten hurt?”

I don’t need to answer that question.

Jolie already knows the answer to it.

She breaks away from me. “So bad enough I’m stuck here alone… and I worry about you every time you’re gone, Mac. I never know what you’re doing. Where you are. What’s going to happen. But now this? I told you before what I saw…”

“And I heard you, sweetie,” Mac says. “Just let it go.”

“Why? And for how long? Until someone gets hurt?”

Anger starts to climb through my body.

I take a deep breath. “This is for you, sweetie. What’s happening here. This is for you.”

“Don’t you dare say that to me,” Jolie says.

She turns and goes back into the house.

She slams the door.

I hang my head and sigh.

The door opens again and Mama steps outside.

I look at her.

There can’t be anything wrong here. Look at her. She looks normal. Yeah, she’s up there in age a little. So what if she made a mistake, right? Or what if the other people made the mistake? We don’t know the truth…

“She’s stuck here,” Mama says to me. “She’s tough. I heard her listening to Declan and I last night. I’m sure that’s got her stirred up.”

I nod. “She’ll be okay.”

“Everything will be,” Mama says. “I don’t want to scare her, Mac, but I want her to know what we’re doing for her. I would never do this for anyone else. You know that, right?”

“Oh, I know,” I say. “And I can never thank you enough for it.”

Mama smiles. “Anything for you, Mac. You’re like a son to me. And I see the way you look at her. It’s scary to see because I know what you would do for her.”

“Anything, Mama,” I say.

“And that’s what I’m doing too,” she says. “Anything for her.”

I give Mama a quick hug and then go back into the house.

I make it two steps before Les cuts me off.

He puts his hands to my chest and shoves me back.

He nods to me.

I look up, knowing Jolie is probably sitting on the edge of the bed, crying.

But first… Les and I have to finish this little situation between us.

I take a deep breath.

Then I throw the first punch.

Les gets one punch back at me.

My jaw throbs.

He grabs my shirt and drives me back against the wall.

I hit him in the stomach and he steps back.

I throw a roundhouse punch to his cheek, then grab his shirt and spin us around.

When I slam him against the wall, he punches me in the stomach.

I lose my breath for a few seconds but wrap my right arm around his head.

I turn and throw him down to the floor.

Les sweeps my feet and I crash down to the floor too.

We look at each other and smile.

Then we tangle up again and keep throwing rib punches until Mama starts yelling at us.

When we don’t stop, she gets the pancake flipper and starts smacking.

Ever have a pancake flipper smack you right at the back of your neck?

It feels like a goddamn jellyfish sting.

She smacks Les in the arm and we both let each other go.

We get to our feet.

Mama looks ready to kill us.

I go to walk by Les and pause.

I look at him and I hug him.

He hugs me back.

The situation is over.

Dead and gone.

I