“Man, you look like shit,” Bobby said as they approached the table.
“Hey, watch it, junior. I can still kick your ass,” Riley said as he and Alex sat down.
“I wasn’t being a smartass. You really don’t look good,” Bobby clarified, looking concerned.
“I just haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Speaking of sleeping…” Alex began turning towards him.
From his tone, Riley could already tell he wasn’t going to like what he said.
“Where exactly did you sleep last night, Cassanova?”
Riley was silent as he looked over the menu, completely ignoring Alex.
“Where did he sleep?” Jason asked Alex, looking confused.
When no one answered Jason looked at all three of them and asked, “What am I missing?”
Hazel, their waitress, appeared with a carafe of coffee and four cups. She put the cups down, poured them each coffee, and then pulled out her pad and pencil to take their order. Even though Hazel was pushing seventy and had known them her entire life, she still blushed when Alex asked if she was still taking her Pilates class.
When she moved away from the table, Jason asked once again, “What’s going on? Where did you sleep?”
Riley did not want to discuss this, so he took a drink of his coffee.
Alex, never one to let something drop, chimed in, “Maybe we're asking the wrong question. There may not have been a lot of sleeping going on.”
Riley shook his head. He knew if he let him see he was getting to him it would only make things worse, but he was having a tough time hiding his frustration.
“How was the honeymoon?” Riley asked Jason in a clear attempt to change the subject.
“Great,” Jason answered before asking again, “Where were you last night? And why am I the last to know?”
Alex nodded his head towards Jason, “Gotta love middle child syndrome.”
Jason gave him a look that clearly telegraphed how unamused he was.
Alex smiled, “All I know is that after that little slideshow yesterday Rambo over here pulled me into the kitchen and wanted to kick my ass for 'hanging all over Chelle' at your wedding.”
“If I had wanted to kick your ass, you would've got your ass kicked.”
“Hey, look who decided to join the conversation.” Alex smiled smugly.
“You spent the night with Chelle?” Jason sounded genuinely shocked. “Does Eddie know you hooked up with his sister?”
“She is not a hook-up.” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. Great, he all but admitted that something had happened between him and Chelle.
Jason’s eyes grew wide, “Holy shit! You love her.”
Riley took another drink of his coffee.
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Alex shook his head in disgust, “You’re droppin like flies. First Bobby, then Jason, now you. What? Is there something in the water? I better stick with bottled just to be safe.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Bobby asked sounding much older and wiser than his twenty-four years.
Damn, Riley thought, the kid didn’t say much but when he did he got right to the point.
“Nothing. I’m leaving.”
“That’s your big plan. Just leave.” Alex mocked.
Riley shrugged.
“Well, good, then. I'll tell you the truth. All this talk of me and Chelle has made me think...might not be a bad idea. I might want to get to know her a little better,” Alex goaded Riley.
Riley knew Alex was just trying to push his buttons, but that didn’t change the fact he wanted to punch him in his face. His hands flexed.
Jason, always the peacemaker spoke up, “Alex, stop being a dick.”
Hazel came bustling out of the kitchen with a large tray of their food. After distributing it all she said, “It’s so good to see all of you boys in one place. I bet your mama’s lookin down from heaven just as pleased as punch with how you all turned out.”
As she moved away from the table, an awkward silence fell. They never discussed their mom.
Bobby broke the silence, “What was she like? I don’t really remember her.”
Jason and Riley looked at each other, and then Jason said reluctantly, “She was sad a lot, and when she wasn’t sad, she was really happy. She would stay up for three days straight and then be in bed for weeks.”
“I remember that,” Alex said quietly. “She was never a normal mom.”
“Some people just aren’t cut out to have a family.” Riley added.
They ate their food in silence, a pall having fallen on their mood of lightly-combative camaraderie. Riley remembered the times he had shared with his mom, good and bad. Now that he thought about it, there had been more good times than he would have estimated.