We drove through downtown Knoxville, heading south. So much of the town had changed, but it still felt exactly the same. Knoxville had always had that small-town charm where everyone knew each other, for better or for worse. And unfortunately, my family didn’t exactly fly under the radar.
Back in the day, my brother was the star of the football team. In a town like Knoxville, that was a pretty big fucking deal. Not to mention that many generations of our family had lived in town, and my parents were some notorious criminals in their own right.
Though most of that didn’t matter anymore. Mom and Dad were both dead, and the cousins had all moved away. People were tired of Knoxville, the drugs and the crime, and they were running away.
But not everyone. I recognized a few staples from the old days still out and about. It was strange, but it felt wrong somehow.
“Where are we going?” Hartley asked.
“Seeing my brother.”
“He live nearby?”
“We’re close.”
“Okay, fine. After that, can you take me to my place? I need a proper shower and a change of clothes.”
“After that, we’re stopping at a friend’s house. Then I’ll take you home.”
She sighed. “I’m not a big fan of being held hostage, you know.”
“You’re free to run off whenever you want, girl,” I said, smirking at her. “But the second you do, the Mafia will be after your pretty ass.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled.
I laughed, not able to hide my amusement at her. The girl had so much fire, and she wasn’t even hiding her anger at being trapped with me. That only made me fucking harder.
It didn’t take long to get to where we were going. I pulled up the drive and savored the look on Hartley’s face as we stopped in the road.
“You didn’t tell me he was dead,” she said softly. “Shit, Travis, I’m sorry.”
I looked out over the old Knoxville graveyard and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “He died a long time ago, back in high school.”
“How’d it happen?”
“He got fucked up one night and drove his truck home. Ironically enough, another drunk driver smashed into him, and they both got killed.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said again, and climbed out of the car.
I walked through the rows and finally stopped in front of Ray’s grave. He was buried next to Mom and Dad, though he died before they had a chance to. I hadn’t been back to see his gravestone since the day I enlisted, and frankly I never meant to come back.
Ray’s death nearly broke me. I looked up to my older brother the way younger brothers did. I thought he was a fucking golden god, an idol worth praising. He was a football hero, a popular jock, good looking and smart.
Except he wasn’t. He was an entitled dumbass who thought he was immortal. He got drunk and drove his truck, and he got killed because of it.
“You want to be alone?”
I glanced back at Hartley. “Nah. Come meet my family.”
She walked up behind me. “I have to admit, this is a little weird.”
I laughed. “You think it’s normal for me? I never planned on you coming here, but I came home for this, and so I’m getting it over with.”
“How long’s it been?”
“Over five years.”
“Really? You haven’t been home in over five years?”
“Really. I’ve been busy.”
“Busy being a SEAL,” she said.
I looked back at her and paused, caught by the way the light struck her hair. “That’s right,” I said.
“How’d your parents go?” she asked.
“Mom of lung cancer, Dad of an overdose about a month after she passed.”
“I’m sorry. That’s a lot of tragedy for one family.”
“Shit, my parents were assholes. They were criminals and addicts, lived their lives real hard. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did.”
“And your brother?”
I frowned, looking down at his grave. “He didn’t deserve this,” I said slowly, “but he was an asshole too.”
She cocked her head at me. “What about you? Are you an asshole, just like your family?”
“Maybe,” I said, turning to her. “Guess you’ll just have to find out.”
She looked at me for a second, a puzzled expression in her eyes. I grinned at her and started walking back toward the car. “Come on,” I said.
“Wait. Don’t you want to visit more?”
“I did what I came to do,” I said. “Let’s go.”
She sighed and followed me. We climbed back into the car and I started the engine. She looked over at me. “Are you just going to drag me around behind you until this is all done?”