“Is there an issue, Nate?” His voice was curt. Shit.
“Uh, well…”
“Yes?” Henry barked. He seemed to be a little impatient. I could feel it coming on. The Henry storm was about to hit, and it was looking bleak.
“I really don’t want to go out there.” Nate’s voice was quiet. Henry laughed, really laughed. He grabbed the bottle, and had himself another drink. Sophie and I looked at one another, then at Henry. We knew what was about to transpire.
“I’m sorry. I thought you just said you really didn’t want to go out there.” Henry jumped up and grabbed Nate by the collar. Oh, man, not again. “Listen here, you little prat…”
Sound the alarms. “Angry Henry” had returned. He was a mere inch from Nate’s face, who looked like he was on the verge of pissing himself. Nick was standing there, giggling.
“You will go out there, and you will help Sophie and Elaina! None of us want to be doing this! None of us!” I decided it may be time to save Nate from his wrath.
“Um, Henry?” I nervously grabbed his chilly arm.
“What?!” he screamed, not even turning around.
“Henry, I think we need to calm down just a teensy bit.” I pulled on his arm. “Come on. Let’s go chat for a minute.” Finally, he looked at me and then let go of Nate’s shirt, but not without a quick shove first. He shook my hand free from his arm. “Come on. Let’s go down the hall.”
Everyone watched with apprehension as we walked by. Henry was so angry, he was shaking.
Once we got to the kitchen, he pulled open the cabinets until he found the other bottle that was near empty. Then he stormed down the hall. He walked into the bedroom, and slammed the door behind us.
“Henry, listen. If he doesn’t want to go, don’t make him.” I was trying to keep my voice lowered. He drank what was left of the near empty bottle and then chucked it against the wall, causing me to jump. It dented the wall and shattered.
We needed to talk about managing his anger at some point. Preferably sooner rather than later, since he could no longer go to the gym. He opened the other bottle, and took another long pull from it. Nothing like a Southern Comfort chaser after some Walkers.
“He can’t just hang out here, like he’s hanging with his mates! This is not a swanky fucking lounge!” Henry was not trying to talk with a lowered voice.
“Let me finish, please, and keep your voice down. We don’t want him out there if he’s going to put us at risk. You saw what he did when he thought that boy bit me.” Henry took another drink. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish with drinking.
Whenever we went out, before all of this madness, it always involved booze in some way. I had seen him out drink pretty much everyone I knew. And whenever we had dinner at my apartment, it generally involved a bottle, or two, of wine. He fully stocked the kitchen with booze.
We stood in silence, looking in each other’s eyes for a minute.
“I think you’re right,” he said in a normal tone. I was in shock. He actually agreed with me. “I’ll go with you and Sophie.”
“No! Absolutely not! You’ve already been out two times today!” I was so angry at him that I forgot about trying to speak in a soft voice.
“I will be fine.” He clenched his jaw.
“Henry. Please. I don’t want you to be too tired.” Or drunk.
“I’ll be fine.” He sounded like a programmed machine.
“Then who will lead here at the apartment?”
“I will put Nick temporarily in charge.”
“You’re not a machine, Henry. Regardless of your training and what they did to you, you are not a goddamn machine. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to shoot you. You’re right about that.” I choked back a whimper.
“I can trust that Sophie will take care of me, if need be. I’m going, and that’s final.” He moved me away from the door and stormed out, while taking another long pull from the bottle. I followed behind, stunned. I don’t like “Angry Henry”, but now I had to deal with the possibility of “Drunk Angry Henry”?
“Sophie!” I yelled. “Henry said he’s going with us. You have got to talk him out of it.” She didn’t look surprised.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?” I mocked her accent and she scowled at me. My maturity shone bright again. “He won’t listen to me. You could at least try!”
“Once he makes up his mind, that’s what’s happening. I can’t change it. I never have been able to.”
“But he’s already been out twice today!”