Nothing Special 03 - Here Comes Trouble (6 page)

“Hey. Can you wait outside in the truck, please? Just five minutes and I’ll be done here. Okay.” Ruxs pleaded, speeding up his pace washing the dishes. He couldn’t lose his shit right now.

“No, absolutely not. I’m going to help you clean up.” Green pulled up his sleeves.

Ruxs was vibrating inside. This was disastrous. “No. No. I don’t need any help, Green. I’m almost done. Just wait in the truck, I’ll be right out.”

He heard his mom’s bedroom door open and knew she was coming back to finish him off.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck
.

“I’m staying with you. I can see what’s happening with you, and I’m not going to do that. I’m not gonna bail on you, man.”

Ruxs combated the tears welling up in his eyes.
Goddamnit. Don’t you dare fuckin’ cry in front of him.

“Okay, y’all got to get the hell out now. I’m getting ready to have some company. Momma’s got her needs too,” she said nastily and Ruxs thought he was going to throw up.

Ruxs shook his head sadly. This whole situation was so pathetic. He was pathetic. But worse, he was pathetic in front of the one man that mattered the most to him. “Chris please go wait outside.”

“No,” Green growled back defiantly.

“Go.” Ruxs finally turned to look at his partner. A single tear fell from his cheek and he was so angry it did, he could barely get the word he needed to speak out of his mouth. He swallowed hard, and it finally escaped on a groan and a whisper, “Veto.”

Green’s eye’s softened and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He knew what that word meant. He had no choice. He had to go. His decision to stay had been officially forbidden.

Green climbed into his truck and slammed the door so hard he hoped he hadn’t caused any damage to it. He pounded the steering wheel with his fist. “Fuck! Fuck! You fuckin’ bitch!” he roared. Thank goodness his windows were up. Otherwise Ruxs may have heard him all the way inside the house. That witch better be glad he had a concrete no woman-beating rule because otherwise he would’ve choked the fuck out of her for hurting Ruxs like that.

Green had never seen someone so damn evil in all his life. Fuck those damn drugs. He’d been around drug addicts for far too long to believe that that was the sole cause of her hatred of her only son. No matter what Ruxs did, it was never good enough. He brought her food every damn month, since she used her county food stamps to buy drugs. He often had to pick up the slack to pay some of her bills. It seemed like something got cut off every three or four months and he had to stretch himself thin to help her. Ruxs cooked and cleaned. It was never e-fuckin-nough.

What was even more frustrating was he had no clue how to fix this for his friend. He’d never seen pain that deep. Damnit. Never seen him cry. Green held his hand to his chest. Oh god, that hurt him so deep. Ruxs meant so much to him, he was an integral part of his life. It was killing him to see him like that, to watch someone break down his beautiful spirit.

Green growled. He wanted to go back in there and curse her out like the malicious bitch she was. But he couldn’t. Ruxs used his veto power. It was something that they’d stumbled upon while goofing off. They were in his house playing pool and laughing like usual at one of their stupid stunts out in the streets. Green told him he should’ve overridden Ruxs’ decision. Called a veto, and maybe they wouldn’t have got in so much trouble. They’d laughed it off that night. But two weeks later Green had actually yelled that word –veto – when Ruxs was going to kill a drug dealer for raping a twelve-year-old girl as collection for a debt. To his astonishment, Ruxs had lowered his weapon and walked away. That was four years ago. Now veto power was something they both had and could use on the other. But it was only used in complete seriousness.

Green sat up taller when he saw Ruxs open the front door and his mom standing behind him. Her mouth was twisted as she yelled at her son’s back. Ruxs stepped out onto the porch and turned like he was going to say something in response but she immediately slammed the door in his face.

Green gritted his teeth and twisted the leather of his steering wheel beneath his hands. Ruxs’ head was low as he made his way back to the truck. It was too dark to see his eyes, but he knew the usually beautiful green orbs were now a dull, dead-grass green.

Ruxs smelled like bleach. His shirt was completely ruined from the chemical’s stains.
His favorite shirt.
“Can you take me to my apartment please?” Ruxs’ voice was a pained drawl.

He knew it. Green got back on the interstate. “Hey. I’m making food for Curtis, remember. I know you don’t want to miss that.” Green smiled. Ruxs didn’t need him looking at him with sorrow. He was sure his partner was feeling sorry enough for himself.

“Yeah, uh. Just tell Curtis that something came up and I had some business to handle.” Ruxs countered, still staring out the window.

Green kept thinking. There was no damn way he was letting Ruxs out of his sight tonight. “You’re not going to help him with that honors math test he has tomorrow? Remember he asked you about it earlier this week? You can help him while I cook. You know I can’t understand that calculus with trig math. He’d fail for sure. You’re the math genius.”

Green thought he’d seen a quirk of his friend’s mouth because of the compliment but he wasn’t sure. “After you guys are done and Curtis leaves; I’ll take you home after that, okay.” Green was already taking the off-ramp to his place before Ruxs could try to argue it. He bought himself a little time before he had to come up with his next stall tactic. 

“Man. Don’t those rolls smell good, Ruxs?” Curtis grinned, craning his head to watch Green in the kitchen.

“Yeah, they sure do. Concentrate, buddy. We’re almost done.” Ruxs finished writing out another practice problem for Curtis and turned the paper around for him to complete it. Ruxs took another swig of his beer while watching Curtis work the complex problem. Damn, the boy was so smart it never ceased to amaze him. He was in all honors classes. He rarely needed help with the others, but Pre-Calculus with Trigonometry was a pain in the ass. Newton probably needed tutoring with that class. Ruxs didn’t ever mind helping Curtis. He was a math major in college. He’d had plenty of practice.

Green came over and set a small plate of salami, olive and Colby cheese rolls in front of him. It was Ruxs’ favorite appetizer. He mustered a little smile for his friend. He was trying. Curtis reached over and tried to grab one but Ruxs tapped his knuckle with his pencil. “Ah, ah, ah.” He tsked teasingly. “Finish the problem first.”

Green chuckled at them. “Dinner in ten, fellas.” He turned to walk away, lightly running his fingers along the back of Ruxs’ neck as he went. It felt good. Too good. He was careful not to squirm in his chair.

They ate on TV trays in front of the huge television so they didn’t miss a moment of the game. During one of the commercials Green asked Curtis how his mom was doing.

He wiped his rosy mouth with his napkin before answering softly. “She doesn’t have much time left. The doctors say days. I helped her sign the DNR a couple months ago, ya know.”

Ruxs patted Curtis on his shoulder in comfort. “That was a brave thing to do, buddy.”

Curtis nodded his head up and down. He gave them a watery smile. “It’s time. I’ve said goodbye. It’s time for her to rest. She fought a good fight. I promised her I’d be a good man. I told her she could go now. Go be with grandma. A place where she never had to feel pain again.”

“I’m proud of you, Curtis.” Green pulled Curtis to him, placing a tender kiss on the top of his soft blonde hair.

“Thanks Green.” Curtis sat back up. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you guys. Never would’ve made it through these last couple of years. All of ya.”

Gosh this kid was awesome. That’s why all of them were crazy about him. They finished Green’s pot roast – damn it was good – now they were on to the famous cinnamon rolls. Curtis had a huge heaping of ice cream and two large rolls on his plate. Where the hell did he put it all? The kid was lean and tall. Ruxs was actually laughing, watching Curtis stuff his mouth with the sticky rolls. He would probably eat them all if Ruxs didn’t stop him. Green could never deny the sweet boy anything; Ruxs was the one that kept him in line. The second time Curtis got a speeding ticket, Ruxs had actually made him sit in traffic court for two days and listen to the whole docket – which was a horrible punishment – before he gave him his keys back.

Ruxs looked up from Curtis’ devouring and saw Green staring at him as he reclined in his La-Z-Boy. He watched him for a few seconds, neither of them breaking eye contact. But when Green winked at him, he had to turn his head. Green had winked at him a million times since they’d been friends, but fuck it. It felt different now… sexy.

It was nearing ten and all of them were stuffed full as ticks. “I got to head out guys. Got school tomorrow. Ugh. Thank god tomorrow is Friday.” Curtis grumbled, heaving his way up from where he lay sprawled on the couch.

“Hey, buddy it’s late. Why don’t you crash on the pullout in the weight room, again? Get a good night’s sleep for your test tomorrow, instead of driving thirty minutes home. You can borrow one of my T-shirts in the morning,” Ruxs suggested.

“I’m not gonna argue with that. I actually like that pullout.” Curtis yawned. “But I have my clean laundry in my car from today, so I won’t have to wear your T-shirt again. It looked like a doggone dress on me.”

“Gain some weight.” Ruxs threw a throw pillow at him.

“Lose some weight.” He threw it back.

“Night guys,” he yelled taking the stairs two at a time. “Love y’all.”

“Love you too, bud,” Green yelled.

“Night,” Ruxs said.

The room was silent, just the low murmur of Sports Center coming from the television. Ruxs’ eyes were on the sports announcers but he wasn’t listening to them. He could feel Green’s strong presence. It called to him. He heard him rustling in his chair and turned to look in his direction. Green was still reclined all the way back. He was looking at the TV, his eyes heavy, one hand down inside his lounge pants. Ruxs could see his hand moving.
Oh my God.
Ruxs had an urge to rub his own aching balls. Shit. Poor things. They’d been sorely neglected for months.

He couldn’t take another second of this inner turmoil. He rose up and Green’s eyes tracked him all the way to the kitchen. He pulled out a shot glass and poured a drink of Jack and dumped it back. He let the strong liquid burn down his chest, enjoying the feeling of something else for a few minutes that wasn’t lust-fueled. He quickly poured another and threw it back, wincing this time.

“You have to get up early. Do you think that’s a good idea?” Green was right behind him.

“What are you? My mother.”
Fuck
. Ruxs regretted it as soon as he said it. That was completely fucked up and if the harsh breath that gusted from Green’s mouth was any indication, he wasn’t pleased by it either.

Green’s voice was stern when he finally spoke. “I’m going to let that slide this time, because you had a bad day.” He yanked hard on Ruxs’ shoulder, spinning him around to face him. He stepped in close to him, his dark eyes were like simmering charcoal. “But don’t you ever say that to me again. I don’t even want my name mentioned with hers.”

“I’m sorry,” Ruxs said in a hushed murmur. He cast his eyes down and stared at the floor. He didn’t want to ostracize his only friend. Lashing out at him wasn’t going to help.  “I know you think I’m a pathetic shit for going over there all the time and letting her do that —”

“You know I’d never think that about you.” Green cut him off.

“I didn’t want you there.” Ruxs’ voice quivered with emotion. His gut clenched when he thought of Green seeing him cry. He was a big guy and such a badass on the streets. He grinned in the face of danger. Flipped his middle finger up at death. Thrived in a good shoot-out. But let his mom call him useless and he turned into a crying pussy.

Green’s hands rubbed his sore shoulders. He was so wound up with tension he didn’t think he could even turn his head without grimacing. His partner worked those strong hands around to the back of his neck, kneading the soft tissue back there. Ruxs kept his head down. It felt so fuckin’ good; he wanted to lay his head in the crook of Green’s shoulder and bury himself in that intoxicating fragrance.

“Hey, why don’t you go on up. Take a quick shower. I’ll turn everything off down here and then come up and finish this,” Green said softly, his massage moving just beneath his hairline.

Ruxs didn’t know if he could tolerate Green giving him a full on massage right now. But it felt too good to decline. “Okay.”