Junior Year Box Set

“I don’t know. He’s your son. If you leave him with me, say goodbye to him, because he’ll disappear.”

Dad must have been pretty sure I wouldn’t actually kill him, but not a hundred percent. I expect he wanted Phil to see I was seriously pissed-off.

“Pack your things. You’re coming with me,” Dad said to Phil.

“But you’re not my dad,” Phil complained.

He couldn’t possibly have chosen anything worse to say, after what my dad had been through with my mom over this very topic. While my mom’s temper ranged all over the map, my dad had always been the calming voice in our family. Dad was the one to rein in my mom and, I hate to admit, me. But if you pissed him off, all bets were off. Phil was lucky I was there. My dad’s body began to coil up like an overtightened metal spring, and I reached out and used one of Shiggy’s pressure points to break Dad’s concentration.

“Dad, no!” I said.

The combination of the sudden pain and my voice caused him to turn to me instead of Phil. Phil realized he’d screwed up. I worried I would have to deal with him because I wasn’t sure he and Dad should be left alone. Then Dad showed me why he was my dad. He called Vickie, Phil’s mom. I don’t recall ever seeing a teenage boy crumble so quickly. It was clear from his reaction that when his mom found out, he was done.

I figured I’d better put on some clothes, so I grabbed my sweats and a sweatshirt.

“Dad, can you take him somewhere else? I have my own issues to deal with,” I said, tilting my head towards the bathroom door.

He nodded his understanding. There came a knock on my door. Dad answered it, and Vickie and Carl, Phil’s stepdad, were at the door.

“Get your things and come on,” Dad ordered.

Phil wouldn’t even look at me as his parents led out of the room. I didn’t blame him. I would’ve felt the same way if Greg had ratted me out like that. My dad would explain to him that he didn’t want to be around me when I lost my temper. Dad would also tell Phil that after I calmed down, I would probably not kill him. That didn’t mean that he and I wouldn’t have some words about making assumptions. If Greg had pulled that same thing, I would have probably just punched him and been done with it. He knew better. My problem with Phil was I didn’t think he understood.

After the door shut, Jan stuck her head out of the bathroom door to see if the coast was clear.

“Come on out and sit down,” I said, patting the bed next to me.

Jan tentatively came over and sat down next to me. I reached under her chin and made her look at me. She bit her bottom lip.

“Why didn’t you invite your brother to have sex with me?” she asked.

That was a strange question, so strange that I didn’t know how to answer her. It took me a moment to catch up. Jan hadn’t stopped when I told her to because she was used to using her body to get what she wanted. Apparently, she believed she could use sex to get whatever she wanted, and it would follow that I would share her with my brother.

I wasn’t necessarily opposed to casual sex; I’d proven that more than once. But something was wrong here.

“Did you want to have sex with Phil?” I asked.

“If you wanted me to, I would have.”

“That’s not what I asked. If you saw Phil in the lobby, would you ask him back to your room?”

“No, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you share me?”

“I would never share you with anyone. If you’re with me, you’re only with me.”

I will never understand women. Jan began to cry and latched onto me. I couldn’t figure out what I’d said to make her break down like that. My first reaction was to kick her out into the hall, but Tami told me never to go with my first reaction. My second thought was to call Tracy, the craziest person I knew, and a girl. She’d know what to do.

When Tracy came to my room, she looked at Jan and saw the desperate expression on my face.

“Here,” she said, handing me her room key. “I’ll deal with this. Pam could use some of your company. You have my room for the night.”

It took me less than a second to figure out I would rather spend time with Pam than deal with this mess. I gave Tracy a big kiss and then ran out into the hall. When I got to Pam and Tracy’s room, I smiled to see the door was open, stepped in, and found the place empty. I did what Duke would do when I told him to ‘find the kitty’: I checked all over the bedroom and bathroom, and Pam was nowhere to be found. Then the door opened. Pam had a bucket of ice and two Mountain Dews. She obviously could read my mind.

She opened the sodas, filled glasses with ice, and poured me a drink.

“Is Jan crazy?” I asked.

“You need to stay away from her.”

“Oh, really? And who should I hang out with?” I asked.

Pam giggled.

“Tracy said she wasn’t coming back,” I said.

Pam smiled at me.

“You do still like me,” she said.

“Oh, yes. I still like you,” I growled, and pulled her in for a kiss.