When Love Beckons

A/N: I know that people have been reading my story because I\'m now up to 118, and I know that not everyone reviews, but could you pleeeaaasseee review my story? My muse lives on that, and the fact that I only have one... he\'s not doing so good. I need ideas too, criticism, questions, ANYTHING you want. If you review mine, then I\'ll be sure to review your story as well.
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Riley’s mom was pleased to see me when she came downstairs the next morning, and stuffed myself, Riley, and his two sisters – cute nine year old girls named Jillian and Rachel – full with a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon and biscuits. My breakfast usually consisted of cereal and a cigarette, so all there was to eat momentarily overwhelmed me.

I called up Parker and told him to come pick us up; he sounded a little bleary, but agreed, and I gave him Riley’s address.

His mother went off to take Jillian and Rachel to school, so the two of us had some time alone. We left our bags by the front door and settled close together on the bench. I edged closer to him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. Someone might see us, but I didn’t care. Astoria, though small, had its own gay bashers, but I didn’t think they’d be up at 6:30 in the morning.

“You haven’t given me a good morning kiss,” I said after a few minutes of silence, and I felt him shift and tighten his arm; I automatically tilted my head up. As soon as I did a full, warm mouth covered mine. The kiss was soft, sweet, and gentle; everything a ‘good morning’ kiss should be.

The only thing that pulled us apart before we were ready was the blare of a car horn, and we both looked up to see Parker’s green SUV in the driveway. The three of them – Parker, Lauren and Logan –knew I was gay, and they wouldn’t mind adding another fag to their numbers.

We gathered our bags and headed to the car. The door was thrown open and we crawled in, settling on either side of Lauren, who gave me a knowing grin. As I closed the door, I decided to ignore her ‘I told you so’ look she sent my way.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, except that the soccer team was announced – and Riley, as I had told him, was part of it. I wanted to hug him, but I resisted; I had to resist all day as well, keeping to the arm-over-the-shoulder, things most straight guys did. After school, Riley had practice, and I didn’t feel like going home, so I stayed around to watch.

Afterwards, when a sweaty, flushed Riley ambled over and scrubbed his face with a towel, I called Parker to see if he was still at school. Luckily he was; he had detention and just recently got out. I asked if he could take both of us home; Riley didn’t have a car, and I had left mine at home. He agreed to it, as long as I paid him for gas.

Parker drove us to Riley’s house and dropped him off. We had exchanged numbers and he promised to call me tonight. I went from the backseat to the front and shouted a goodbye to him through the window. He waved at us before going inside.

Halfway to my house my phone vibrated in my pocket and I dug it out.

“Hello?”

“Devin?” It was my sister, Jocelyn – Joss to most people. “Can you come pick me up?”

I glanced over at the radio clock; it was a little after 4:30. “Where are you?”

“At school.”

She was in an all-day kindergarten, but our mom was supposed to of picked her up an hour and a half ago. “Mom hasn’t picked you up yet?”

“No…” her voice sounded puzzled and sad, and I bit back my anger – not at her, but to the drunkard of a parent we had.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Joss. Give me ten minutes.”

I hung up and sunk deeper into my seat, my good mood gone. Parker didn’t ask what had happened; he didn’t have to. He had heard it. I dug my keys out of my pocket (I always kept a spare, in case I ever left them in the house and didn’t want to go back inside) as well as a ten and passed it to Parker, who gave me a wave before backing out.

I unlocked the car and stuck the keys in the ignition. I hit reverse too hard in my anger, so I shot backwards and slammed on my brakes. I had reason to be pissed off; my mom had left my five-year-old sister at school a lot longer then she was supposed to.

I had cooled down by the time I reached the elementary school. Joss wasn’t outside; I figured she was in the principle’s office waiting. I killed the ignition and tucked my keys into my pocket before heading up the stairs and through the door. I had been here more then our parents ever were, and I knew my way to the office.

Sure enough, Joss was sitting infront of the secretary’s desk, swinging her legs back and forth. The principal, Mrs. Martin, sat beside her. I thought my sister was a cute girl, long dark hair and pale skin, slender if not a little short, with the same blue eyes I had, but hers were a shade darker.

“Joss.” She looked up, then hopped off the chair and trotted to me. She hugged me around the middle and I petted her; Mrs. Martin watched the exchange before she stood up, smoothing out her black skirt.

“Devin, if I could speak with you in my office…?”

I ushered Joss back to her seat, then followed the principal into her office, closing the door behind me before sitting down. I toyed with my lip ring while I waited for Mrs. Martin to straighten papers out, before she placed her hands delicately on the desktop.

“You’re close to Joss, aren’t you?” When I nodded, she continued. “I’m concerned about her. She’s doing well in school, but always arrives early and stays late. Yes,” she said when I opened my mouth, “I know that you’re in high school and are busy, but her attitude has gone… down. Her teacher has noticed she is quieter in class and more withdrawn and being careless with her work and tests. Is there anything… at home that would be the cause of this change?”
I figured I knew the exact reason; our parents. Our father was rarely home, out on business trips, and our mother drank often, more then once bringing home guys just a few years older then me when our dad was gone, I didn’t think she knew about our problems, and I didn’t feel like telling her; there was nothing that could fix it.

“I’m sorry for being late,” I said, deciding to ignore her question. “I thought our mom would’ve picked her up; if I knew she wasn’t going to I would’ve been here earlier. I’ll do better next time.”

She steepled her fingers together and regarded me over them; I returned her gaze evenly, resisting the urge to chew on my piercing again.

“All right,” she said at last, sifting through a stack of papers. “I’m sure the two of you would like to go home.”

I nodded and stood up, muttering a goodbye to her and gratefully left, gathering Joss up and slinging her bag over my shoulder. I carried her outside and opened the passenger door, buckling her in and setting the bag at her feet. I got in and started the engine; looking over at her, I ruffled her hair.

“How about some ice cream?”

She lit up like most five year olds would at the offer of sugar. “Yeah!’

We stopped at Custard Cabin, a local ice cream parlor, and split a sundae. Really, I had a few bites and the cherry while Joss at the rest. Back in the car, I turned on the radio to her favorite station with children songs that I never learned the names of.

When we got back home, my mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway. That didn’t mean I had any luck; sometimes she kept it in the garage. I unlocked the house and Joss trotted inside, calling for our dog, a lab puppy named Jasmine. She came bounding down the stairs, yapping and shaking her tail so hard she almost fell over. Joss ran with her into the playroom, and I went into the kitchen to see if our mom might of left a note explaining why she hadn’t picked Joss up.

But I had no such luck; the only thing written in her delicate (though slightly shaky) cursive was a grocery list. I opened the fridge and pushed aside her wine coolers to grab a coke. Closing the door with my hip, I popped open the can and went into the playroom.

Joss was wrestling around with Jasmine, but stopped when she saw me. “Play with me!”

I felt like being alone or calling Riley, but I did oblige to her. I ended up spinning her around twice, then she dragged me outside into the backyard, Jasmine following.

Our back yard was pretty big; a good-sized pool at one end, a play fort (complete with a swing set) at the other, and a deck holding a grill and several lawn chairs near the back door. Pity that it was hardly ever used.

I pushed Joss on the swing set until she got bored and bounced on the trampoline while I sat on the deck watching her. Eventually she got tired and I went with her back inside. While she sat in the living room watching TV, I went upstairs to try and do some homework. I had slogged through almost all of it before I heard the door downstairs open. I’d have to talk to her sooner or later, so I stacked my books beside my bed and headed downstairs.

My mom was already in the kitchen when I came down, writing something on a piece of paper.

“Mom?”

She looked up at me and laid her pen down. You could call her pretty, I guess, if you were into botox-stiff faces and plastic surgery to erase the fact that she was turning forty-six and an alcoholic. I had inherited her blue eyes, though not her auburn hair. “What?”

“Why didn’t you pick Joss up after school?”

She looked at me blankly for a moment, and then pressed a hand to her forehead. “I forgot to call you and say that I couldn’t pick her up. I was busy—“

“Getting drunk?”

Her lips thinned at my comment. “I was at a book signing and talking to my editor about a sequel.”

My mom’s first novel, Bloody Rose, had launched her into immediate fame, though in my opinion it was just like any other novel; murder, intrigue, betrayal, though it didn’t have a fairy-tale ending. Maybe that was why it had done so well.

“How could you turn out another novel when you drink so much?”

“I don’t want your lecturing, Devin. I’m your mother and a grown woman.”

“Then why do I have to take care of Joss all the time?”

She stared at me for a few minutes, trying to decide whether or not to ground me or slap me. She must of realized by now that those would only piss me off, because she only stood up and pulled out a twenty and handed it to me. “Order pizza for you two. I’m going out. Your father will be home tomorrow from London.”

My father was the owner of an international business and had a possible merging with a booming business in England. At least my mom would be sober for a while and not bring home any more guys young enough to be my brothers. My dad wasn’t stupid, he had to know about the cheating, and the only reason they didn’t break up was because of the court hassle. My mom didn’t want to give up the money or the comfortable lifestyle either.

I ordered pizza for dinner and ate it while watching Peter Pan with Joss. Halfway through the movie the phone rang, and I took our plates to the kitchen before answering it. “Hello?”

“Hey Dev, its Riley. Is something wrong?’

There must have been something in my voice. “Nah, I’m just tired.”

“You want me to let you go?”

“’Course not. I want to talk to you.”

We ended up talking for an hour or so, before I reluctantly told him that I had to help my sister get ready for bed. I was relieved that he didn’t ask why my mom didn’t do it. He only said goodnight and hung up.”

Joss had restarted the movie, but I turned if off and announced that she needed a bath. I carried her upstairs and deposited her on the marble sink while I ran the water. Testing it to make sure it wasn’t too hot, I helped her down off the sink. She undressed and got in, washing herself before I wrapped her up in a towel and carried her to her room.

After she had changed and combed her hair, she bounced onto the bed and asked me to read to her. As it turned out, I read to her five times, twice from her favorite book, before she finally fell asleep. I covered her up and turned out the light before heading to my own room.

I stripped down to my boxers and slid under the covers, grabbing my ipod from the beside table. I had planned to listen to it for only a while, but it was after 1 am before I finally turned off the light and went to sleep.