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My eyes followed Ben across the restaurant, and that’s when I saw Charlie. He was standing with another group of people he seemed to know, but one of the guys appeared to be giving him a hard time.
“Wait here,” Andy said as he left Laurel and I standing there.
By then, Ben had met up with Charlie. But he said something to the other guy instead, and it didn’t look like a friendly exchange. More words were spoken, and as Ben was trying to lead Charlie away, the other guy said something that made Ben stop. I was worried he was going to get into some type of altercation with the guy, so I was happy when he decided to shake it off and just walk away.
“Let’s go,” Ben said when he approached us. He barely waited for us and continued to walk.
“What was that all about?” I asked when I caught up with him.
“Just Charlie getting mixed up with the wrong people again.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Josh Keller. Biggest dealer in town. It’s because of him that Charlie got into all that crap.”
“So what did he want?”
By then, we were almost to the exit, and Ben decided to slow his pace. “Who knows, but I don’t want Charlie around those guys,” he answered quietly while the others caught up to us. “I’ll take you home,” he told Charlie.
Charlie nodded, we said our farewells to Andy and Laurel, and the three of made our way to Ben’s Jeep. It wasn’t until we were on Chester Avenue when Ben finally said, “What were you thinking, talking to those guys?”
“I didn’t make it a point to talk to them. I saw Kendra so I thought I’d say hi. I didn’t see Josh until he came over.”
“And what did he want?”
“Nothing, he just...I don’t know, said, ‘Hey,’ I guess.”
“Just ‘hey,’ huh?” Ben scoffed.
“Yeah,” Charlie replied angrily. “What, you think I’d be dumb enough to associate with the guy again? Thanks for the fucking confidence, man.”
“I trust you, Charlie; I don’t trust Josh.”
“You’d better damn well trust me,” Charlie growled. “You think I really want that life again, Ben? Huh? Are you out of your damn mind!”
“Don’t yell at me in here. You’re right in my ear.”
“Then don’t lecture me like I haven’t learned my lesson. I already feel like your retarded little brother.”
“Don’t use that word,” Ben muttered with a sigh, shaking his head. “And I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“Fine. Maybe not retarded, but I’m sure there are a few billion brain cells missing.”
A few minutes later, we dropped Charlie off at a dumpy apartment building. It reminded me of the first place my mom and I lived when we moved out of my grandparents’ house. Charlie said something about “home, sweet home” when he got out, and then he waved goodbye as he climbed a set of stairs.
Ben actually waited until Charlie was inside his apartment before we left. I thought that was sweet. He might have even walked him to his door had I not been there with him, and when I mentioned that to Ben, he sort of laughed.
“Yeah, I usually do. But it’s more out of habit because Charlie used to be paranoid that the Feds were waiting for him in his apartment.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Either that, or the Russians that wanted his plans for an invisible spy plane.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, but at the same time, I knew it wasn’t funny.
“It’s okay,” Ben said, realizing I felt bad. “We laugh about it now, but back then... Man, he was really bad, Nova. It’s one thing to see one of your best buddies get into trouble now and then, but to watch them literally destroy themselves...” I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. We drove in silence for a minute before he finally added, “Sorry, I normally wouldn’t say stuff like that to anyone, but Charlie said he told you, right?”
“That he was a junkie? Yeah, he mentioned it.”
The moon was almost full, and I leaned my head against the window to watch it through the trees.
“Charlie’s one of those demons I’ve had to face,” Ben admitted, breaking the silence. I looked at him, and he glanced at me, and then we took a left for the ranch. “It’s because of me he got into that shit, not Josh Keller.”
“You said you didn’t do drugs. I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t. But a lot of those people we hung around with in the racing scene—Josh, Keith, Kado—they had other business on the side. I used to race for Josh a lot—so did Austin. At the time, we were a little naïve to all that stuff. Charlie seemed to know more about it than we did, and it was because he was with those guys more than we were. Austin and I were busy racing, and Charlie was left to be raised by the wolves. He was kind of our shark, you know? He knew just how to rope people in for races, and he was great for business. Josh loved him, and I later realized he’d been giving Charlie freebies—drugs—all along.
“When Austin started to feel some of the heat—you know, being around that crowd—it made him uncomfortable. He said we shouldn’t race for Josh anymore, especially because Josh seemed to get even crazier with his betting and his behavior started to get a little extreme. Too many bad things started to happen—fights, theft, too much rivalry—and the scene just changed for the worse. It wasn’t fun anymore.”
We pulled up to the guesthouse and Ben parked his Jeep by the fence.
“Without Austin, winning bets was even harder. I lost a lot of money, Josh lost a lot of money... Things went downhill. And because Josh wasn’t making as much street racing, he turned to dealing more often. And that’s when he started to use Charlie. I was so hooked on gambling that I couldn’t even see past my own greed. I had that mentality of, ‘Just one more race and I’ll be back on top.’ I didn’t even know Charlie had become so addicted. Pretty soon, he was living the life of a junkie—stealing from people, hocking people’s stuff, using every dime for his next fix... I didn’t know who he was anymore. I couldn’t talk to him—he was delusional half the time, unreasonable—and anything I said to Josh got me into trouble. He said he’d stop dealing to Charlie if I did this or if I did that. And yeah, it did work the first few times, but Charlie was too addicted and Josh knew that. It didn’t turn out well.”
I internalized the information. “And what about Austin?”
“Austin was smart and got out. By the time I wanted out, I’d already gotten myself into a load of trouble. Austin did help me out quite a bit, but when Charlie came around a couple times, looking for me to get him out of some sort of mess again, that’s when things got worse around here. No one wanted Charlie around because he was so messed up all the time, and couldn’t be trusted.”
“You said Charlie got into stuff like stealing from people and hocking things. You said you did that here at the ranch. Did Charlie have anything to do with that, too?”
Ben didn’t answer at first, but then replied, “Yeah, that’s who started it all. But Charlie wasn’t to blame entirely. I really did do it, too. I did it to dig myself out of gambling debts at first, and then I was desperate to get Charlie into rehab and did it some more. Not my proudest achievement.”
“But you’ve come clean about all of that, so it’s not something you still need to atone for.”
“No, but I still have regrets. I wish I could turn back the clock and—”
“Mistakes are made, Ben. That’s what refines us the most if we’ve actually learned from them.”
“I know but...” He sighed.
“Yeah, I understand. I also admire you.”
He chuckled until he realized I was serious. “What for?”
“It’s hard to fess up to things we’ve done wrong. And do you remember the first day we talked to each other?”
“How could I forget that?” He smiled. “You were covered in dirt and sweat... So beautiful.”
I laughed at his facetiousness. “Yeah, anyways, I was referring more to our conversation at the truck.”
“Okay.”
“I had no right to spout off my opinions like that. It wasn’t my place, and I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted, but I did aggravate the situation, too.”
“Yes, you did. But you already apologized for that.”
“Yeah, I suppose I did.” We sat in his Jeep for a few seconds in silence. Ben turned off the engine and then sighed. “It’s really true you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
I considered that for a second. “No, I guess you can’t. I mean on the outside something could be obvious, but you really don’t know what a person has been through unless you walk a mile in their shoes.”
“Ha, another cliché.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
He sighed again, and then slapped his thighs with his hands. “Well?” he asked, looking at me. “I’m ready to hit the sack. Wanna join me?”
I snorted, and then punched him in the arm when he laughed. We both stepped out of the Jeep and headed for the house. “I didn’t mean in the same sack.”
“Right.”
“I knew you were gonna punch me, but not that hard,” he said, rubbing his arm.
“Hm, maybe next time you’ll think twice.”
“Probably not. It’s too fun to get a reaction out of you.”
I punched him again, just to be a badass.
“Ow! Keep your hands to yourself!”
“No,” I argued, shifting into a boxing stance.
He shook his head at me with warning. “Oh, I don’t think you wanna start that, darlin’.”
I jabbed at him lightly, but he easily blocked it. “See, it all starts with easy girly stuff,” I said, lightly sparring with him again. “And then—” I went for it and slugged him right in the shoulder.
“Ow!”
“That seems to be the only word you know right now,” I teased.
He shook his head at me again. “You’d better watch it, little girl.”
“Or what?” I taunted, back to barely sparring.
“Or you’re gonna be crying for my mom in a second.”
I laughed at that, since I occasionally did tease Clara when she acted like my “mom.”
“Oh, come on, Benny. You afraid to fight a girl?”
“Pretty much. Especially you, since you’re a devil child.”
“That’s right. Cheap shots, titty twisters, and bitch slaps...that’s what I’m good at—”
He made a move and grabbed my wrists.
“Ahh! Hey,” I grumbled, trying to keep him from getting the advantage. He got behind me anyway and held his arms around mine so I couldn’t do anything with them.
“You think you’re so tough.”
I squirmed to get free but wasn’t successful. “Mo-om!” I play hollered.
That made him laugh. “No one’s gonna help you now.”
I struggled some more, even trying to use my legs as leverage to free myself, but he was just too strong. “Okay, farm boy. You win.”
“Farm boy?”
“Yes, Clark Kent. You can let go of me now.”
“Oh, so you can come at me again?”
“I won’t, I promise.” I couldn’t say it without giggling, and Ben laughed too.
“Right,” he answered wryly.
“I have to pee really bad. I’m gonna pee my pants.”
“That’s your problem.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You started this. You can’t finish it?”
I was calm for a few seconds, trying to figure out my next move. I let my body completely relax, and Ben laughed again.
“That’s not going to work, either.”
“What’s not going to work?”
“The surprise assault that’s supposed to happen next.”
I tried to think of a new tactic but couldn’t. “Okay, I honestly give up. Truly.”
“Mmhmm.”
“I do. Because I really have to go to the bathroom.”
He was quiet for a few seconds, and I was sure he was considering it, but instead of releasing me, he only changed his hold so he was holding me with one arm. “You have to go to the bathroom, huh?” he asked, poking me in the ribs.
“Oh! Don’t you dare tickle me, Ben!”
“Why not?” He dug a few more fingers into my side, and it made me squeal. “You’re not ticklish, are you?”
“Stop it! I will smother you in your sleep!” I threatened.
That made him laugh even more. “You promise?”
“Let go! I’m seriously gonna—”
The front door opened, and Clara was standing there with confusion as she watched us struggle on the lawn.
“Mom! Help!” I pleaded.
“No, she’s being really naughty!” Ben protested. “Don’t listen to her!”
“He’s bigger than me! Look at him! What could I possibly do to him?”
Clara had a huge smile on her face, thoroughly amused, and then Heath joined her in the doorway.
“Dad, help!” I cried. “Get the belt! Beat him!”
“She’s full of lies. She’ll punch me the second I let go.”
“Nova, what’d we tell you about punching people?” Heath asked gruffly.
“Oh? Oh, really? You wanna know what your son said to me? You wanna know what started this whole—”
Ben covered my mouth with his hand so I couldn’t say anymore, but I moved my head around so he couldn’t cover it for long.
“He asked me if I—”
“Fine,” Ben grumbled, letting me go with a playful shove.
“He asked you if what?” Clara asked, glaring at him.
I smiled victoriously at Ben, gloating, and he rolled his eyes.
“You win,” he told me, shaking his head at my facetiousness. “You happy?”
“Yes, very.”
“Do you know what time it is?” Clara asked us.
Neither of us answered when we entered the dark house, but after we were all inside, Ben whispered, “Time for the old folks to get back to bed?”
I punched him again. “That was rude.”
“Ow,” he growled quietly. “You really want to start this again? You see that?” he asked his parents.
“See what?” Heath replied, shutting the door.
“Jeez, my family hates me,” Ben complained, heading up the stairs. “You all gang up on me...”
I was quietly snickering, and when I heard his bedroom door shut, I said, “I’m really sorry about all the noise.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Clara replied, and she softly laughed. “We were still up anyways.”
“You were? After midnight?”
“Well, our children weren’t in yet,” she replied. “I can’t sleep unless I know everyone’s home safely. Goodnight, sweetie.”
She patted my arm on her way by, and Heath also said goodnight.
I smiled, and as I made my way upstairs, I felt truly thankful for such a great night.