Rule(3)

I bolted up in the seat so fast that I smacked my head on the roof of the car.  I swore and rubbed the spot that made my head throb anymore.  “What?  What do you mean he got hurt?”  Rome was my older brother, he had three years on me and had been overseas for a good portion of the last six, but we were still tight and even if he didn’t like all the distance I put between me and my parents over the years if he was seriously injured I would have heard about it from him.

“I’m not sure; Margot said something happened to the convoy he was in when they were out on patrol.  He was in a pretty bad accident I guess.  She said his arm was broken and he had a few snapped ribs but she was pretty upset so I had a hard time understanding her when she called.”

“Rome would have called.”

“Rome is doped up and spent the last two days being debriefed, he asked your mom to call because you Archer boys are nothing if not persistent.  Margot told him that you wouldn’t answer but he kept telling her to try.”

My brother was hurt, but he was home and I didn’t know about it.  I closed my eyes again and let my head drop back against the headrest.  “Well hell, that’s good news I guess.”

“Are you going to go by and see your mom?”  I didn’t have to look at her to know that she had stiffened even more.  I could practically feel the tension rolling off of her in icy waves.

“No.”  She didn’t say more and I didn’t expect her to.  The Archers might not have been the closest, warmest bunch, but we didn’t have anything on the Landon’s.  Shaw’s family craped gold and breathed money, they also cheated and lied, were divorced and remarried and from what I had seen over the years had little need or interest in the biological daughter that came from a union figured out on a tax form rather than a bedroom.  I knew Shaw loved my house, loved my parents because it was the only semblance of normalcy she had ever experienced and I didn’t begrudge her that, in fact I appreciated the fact she took most of the heat off of me.  If Shaw was doing good in school, dating an affluent undergrad, living the life my parents had always wanted for their sons but had been denied they stayed off my case and since Rome was usually a continent away I was the only one they could get to so I took no shame in using Shaw as a buffer.

“Man I haven’t even talked to Rome in three months.  It’ll be awesome to see him.  I wonder if I can convince him to come spend some time in D-town with me and Nash.  He’s probably more than ready for a little bit of fun.”

She sighed again and moved to turn the radio back up a little bit.  “You’re twenty-two Rule, when are you going to stop acting like an indulgent teenager?  Did you even ask this one her name? In case you were wondering you smell like a mix between a distillery and a strip club.”

I snorted and let my eyes drift back shut.  “You’re nineteen, Shaw when are you going to stop living your life by everyone else’s standards?  My eighty-two year old grandma has more of a social calendar than you and I think she’s less uptight.”  I wasn’t going to tell her what she smelled like because it was sweet and lovely and I had no desire to be nice at the moment.

I could feel her glaring at me and I hid a grin.  “I like Ethel.”  Her tone was surly.

“Everybody likes Ethel.  She’s feisty and won’t take crap from anyone.  You could learn a thing or two from her.”

“Oh maybe I should just dye my hair pink, tattoo every visible surface of my body, shove a bunch of metal in my face and sleep with everything that moves, isn’t that your philosophy on how to live a rich and fulfilling life?”

That made me crank my eyes back open and the marching band in my head decided to go for round two.

“At least I’m doing what I want.  I know who and what I am Shaw, and I don’t make any apologies for it.  I hear plenty of Margot Archer coming out of your pretty mouth right now.”

Her mouth twisted down into a frown.  “Whatever, let’s just go back to ignoring each other, I just thought you should know about Rome, the Archer boys have never been big on surprises.”

She was right.  In my experience surprises were never a good thing, they usually resulted in someone getting pissed and me ending up in some kind of fight.  I loved my brother but I had to admit I was kind of irritated he hadn’t one, bothered to let me know he was hurt, and two, was still trying to force me to play nice with my folks.  I figured her plan to ignore each other the rest of the way was a winner so I slumped down as far as the sporty little car would allow and started to doze off.  I was only out for twenty minutes or so when her phone started singing The Civil Wars and jarred me awake.  I blinked gritty eyes and rubbed a hand over the scruff on my face.  If the hair didn’t piss mom off the fact I was too busy to shave for her precious brunch might just send her into hysterics.

“No, I told you I’m going to Brookside and won’t be back until late.”  I looked across the car at her and she must have felt my gaze because she looked at me quickly and I saw a little bit of pink work its way into her high cheeks.  “No Gabe, I told you I don’t have time and that I have a lab due.”  I couldn’t make out the words but whoever was on the other end of the phone sounded angry at her brush off.  I saw her fingers tighten on the phone.  “It’s none of your business; I have to go now, so I’ll talk to you later.”  She swiped a finger across the screen and tossed the fancy device into the cup holder by my knee.