Chapter 10

Grease Monkey Conversations

"Dude, it's almost midnight, what the fuck are you still doing down here?" River asked as he rubbed his eyes and squinted against the brightness of the shop's overhead light.

Rumpled and sleep tousled, River looked like he always had when he'd creep into the living room at three in the morning to see what Haven had stayed up watching. It had always been Haven's favorite time of night. Everything silent and still in a way that had made it feel like he was the only one in the world.

"Installing the parts that finally showed up thirty-five minutes before closing time," Haven replied as he tightened the final nut in place. "I know Maddox is in a hurry to have his bike back, but tracking down the pieces has been a son of a bitch. I can only pause to make so many phone calls before I have to get back to fixing shit. Each series of calls puts me behind on other projects, so staying out here longer is the only way I can catch up."

"Thought you said Maddox was going to help you with that?" River muttered as he slumped against the wall and watched him put his tools away.

"I thought he was, too, but apparently he's got too much to do setting up his new store, not that I can blame him, it's gotta be a lot of work."

"It is."

"Another thing I'm sorry I couldn't help with."

"The next time you apologize for something I'm going to kick your ass on general principal."

"You try it, and I will blast you with the kitchen sprayer, just like when we were kids," Haven threatened. "Only now there is no one to stop me turning you into a drowned rat."

"I shall use a pot top as a shield and thwart your efforts, you dastardly bastard."

"That has got to be one of the worst pieces of B movie dialogue you've ever come up with."

"I'm pretty sure the the one about unleashing a colony of fire ants in your bedroom was worse."

"Hey, that was really creative for an eight-year-old," Haven pointed out. "I never told you this, but I spotted an ant on my windowsill like a day after you said that and spent the rest of the afternoon deep cleaning my bedroom just to make sure you didn't make good on your promise."

"The only reason I didn't was because it would have been impossible to keep them contained to one space," River admitted. "Could you imagine the look on mom's face if she'd gone to do the laundry and found them crawling out of the lint trap or sat down at her pottery wheel only to see three of them walking across the clay?"

"She'd have had both of our heads," Haven replied. "Yours for thinking it up and mine for driving you to that point with whatever stunt I'd pulled."

"You took my Cheshire Cat stuffie hostage."

Huffing, Haven shot a look at him. "I swear it wasn't me."

"Then why did I catch you sneaking it back into my bedroom?"

"I wasn't sneaking," Haven replied, still feeling a bit indignant after all these years.

Stuffies were sacred. He'd never have run off with his brother's favorite one.

"I found it way back on the top shelf of the linin closet when I was looking for an extra blanket," Haven said. "You know mom always kept the super soft ones up there in the hopes that we wouldn't snag them to use as capes and picnic blankets."

Laughing, River slid down the wall to sit on the concrete, tucking his knees up and wrapping his arms around them.

" River Reed O'Mally you get your ass down from that tree before you break your damn fool neck!" River remarked, parroting their mother's words.

" Better than Haven Haze, if you don't stop that right now, I'm going to blister your ass if you don't break it first! "

"In all fairness, you were the one leaping off the roof into the leaf pile every time Pops raked one up."

"And that big yellow blanket was awesome at slowing my descent."

"Until you gashed your arm."

"Only because I didn't see the rake laying on the other side," Haven admitted. "Pops felt awful about that, but it was my fault for not waiting to be sure that he was done."

River signed and flashed him a warm smile. "I've missed being able to talk to you without plexiglass in the way."

"Thank you for always showing up on visiting day."

"Thank me by saying you're done for the night, and we can go upstairs and dish up some of that hot and sour soup we made," River said. "I know I shouldn't be hungry after everything we ate but Chinese food is Chinese food, whether it's homemade or not. It's guaranteed to fill you up then leave you starving and ready for another batch a few hours later."

"Where did you learn to make dumplings and shrimp in lobster sauce, that's what I wanna know," Haven asked as he wiped down the last of his tools and placed them in their slot in the toolbox. "The last time I was witness to one of your kitchen exploits it involved tomato bits flying everywhere."

River huffed and glowered at him. "One time, one goddamn time I forget to put the top on the blender and you're never going to let me live it down. As for the shrimp, it's from a You Tube tutorial. So far, I've learned how to make garlic chicken, black pepper beef, beef and broccoli and fried rice."

"You can make fried rice, and you served us plain white rice with dinner? Why would you do that to me!"

"Tell you what, we can make a batch together tomorrow night, but that means you've got to close the shop on time and not be down here until even the possums have headed for their trees."

"I can do that. Don't have a reason to keep sticking around down here so late anyway."

And that kinda sucked, not that Haven was in the mood to dissect why he'd started to feel that way. The brusque way Maddox had spoken to him on the phone earlier, all demanding of a timetable one minute and half apologetic the next, had thrown him for a bit of a loop. He'd said having to replace some damaged merchandise meant that he didn't have the time to come down in the evenings anymore, but something in his tone seemed at odds with what he was saying.

It had left Haven uncertain of how to think or feel about the way his belly had fluttered with anticipation every time he'd looked at the clock to see how close he'd been to the end of the day and Maddox's arrival. Maybe it was a good thing the man keep his distance until Haven could get years' worth of repressed hormones in check and stop thirsting after him like he was an ice-cold blackberry lemonade with a wedge of lime.

For a moment, Haven let his eyes skim around the shop, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. As he crossed the room to check the lock on the rolling bay doors, he tried not to think back to the feast of chicken alfredo pasta, bread sticks and tiramisu Maddox had brought over from Pasta Pete's the night after they'd had pizza and wings. Of course, telling himself not to think about it meant his brain rushed to replay every detail, including the moment Maddox had brushed a fingertip along the corner of his lip to brush a streak of sticky sweetness away. That he'd flicked his tongue out and licked at the speck of dessert, then sucked that finger into his mouth like he had when Maddox had been feeding him pizza, was the last thought he needed in his head right now, especially with River a few feet away, asking him again if he was ready to head up to their apartment.

"Fine," Haven grumbled. "But I doubt I'll be ready to crash anytime soon."

"That's fine, after the nap I just had, I'm ready to put a movie on, roll a couple and just chill."

"Got any particular movie in mind?"

"Figured I'd let you choose tonight after how good of a sport you were about Sunday's Mothra movie marathon."

Groaning, Haven rolled his eyes, rearranged the clipboards holding his repair orders, and finally deemed the shop ready to close for the night.

Well, morning if the hands on the clock were any indication.

Was it really a quarter past one?

Pulling his phone from his pocket revealed that the wall clock was indeed correct, and that he hadn't received so much as a text from Maddox, despite the man's previous tendency to send him weird and slightly disturbing memes at all hours of the night.

"Okay, what gives, you look like you did the day you discovered that your favorite breakfast cereal wasn't really made up of miniature French Toast pieces."

"You just had to be the one to point that out, too, didn't you?" Haven asked.

"You started it when you told me that Cookie Crisp wasn't made of tiny cookies."

Laughing, Haven shook his head at his brother, grateful for the amazing childhoods they'd had. Growing up together had meant he'd always had a playmate and a built-in fall guy in the comedy act that had been their adolescence. From being lit up by bees for trying to steal their honey, while dressed in their furry Pooh and Piglet Halloween costumes, to the first awkward double date between River and Morrow and Haven and Jeremy, they'd seen each other through some triumphs and failures. Which was what made it so easy for him to cross the room, offer his brother a hand up, and flip off the light to the shop, all while spilling his guts about the evenings with Maddox and the way he'd started to wonder if the man had been showing up to flirt with him as much has he'd been popping in to check on his bike.

"Hate to tell you this bro, but this whole adulting thing has different rules to it," River explained. "You don't get to see your best friend or boyfriend every day the way we could when we were back in school. You've got to learn how to schedule time together. Or you could try turning the tables on him."

"How so?"

"Well, he dropped in here several nights in a row. Why don't you help me make supper tomorrow, then take enough over to Maddox's to share with him while he works. Sometimes people just need to see that they aren't the only ones putting in the effort."

"And if he's not interested in me dropping in?"

"Then at least you'd have your answers."

Sighing, Haven couldn't deny that his brother's words had merit. "True."

"Alright then. Do you think he's a pepper steak kind of guy, or a bourbon chicken one?" River asked. "Ohh, I found some awesome tutorials I've been meaning to try for honey garlic shrimp and Mongolian beef too."

"How hard would it be to make the fried rice, bourbon chicken, honey garlic shrimp and Mongolian beef so I cover all my basis."

"Not long at all if you're willing to do the bulk of the chopping."

"Bet."

"You did leave one base uncovered though," River remarked as they reached the door to their apartment and stepped inside a space smelling of patchouli and lavender essential oils.

Calming. It was the same aroma that had filled their home as they'd been growing up. Haven inhaled and sighed contently as he stretched his arms over his head and felt his shoulder pop.

"Which one was that?" Haven asked as he dropped into what he'd come to view as his seat in their living room.

Soft, overstuffed, and wide enough that he could sprawl sideways in it and let it cradle him while he kicked back and zoned in on the bright colors waltzing over the television screen, the chair was perfect. Oh yeah, that reminded him, it was his turn to choose the movie.

"Which streaming service do you have?"

"More like which don't I have," River admitted. "You tell me the vibe you're after and I'll pull up the best service."

"Cartoons?"

"Then it's a good thing I have The Cartoon Network and Disney Plus."

"Hell yeah!"

River cued up Disney Plus, then passed the remote to Haven to page through the movies while he went to heat them both some soup and the homemade crab Rangoon they'd whipped up, complete with a plum dipping sauce.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Haven squirmed in his seat, wiggling happily when he spotted Cars and immediately clicked on it.

"Oh nice!" River said as the opening montage kicked off.

Haven burned his tongue spooning soup into his mouth before it was cool enough to consume and hardly felt it, his attention so dialed in to the movie he'd longed to see since he'd gotten out.

"Anytime you wanna watch something, just pull up the menu and search the sites until you find what you're after," River said, missing his mouth with a crab Rangoon as Lightning McQueen went roaring around the track. "Just do me a favor and warn a guy if you're gonna pull up the porn network. Jerking off is not one of those experiences to be shared between siblings."

Laughing, Haven ducked his head, the ends of his hair dipping into his bowl as his shaking shook a little soup from it into the dishcloth he'd spread across his lap. At least it wasn't the blanket or the t-shirt he already needed to toss in the wash along with the rest of his clothes. He'd have probably scorched himself with how hot his brother had heated it.

"I could see how they would be awkward," Haven admitted as he blotted the soup from his hair.

"No shit."

There was no need for conversation after that as they both settled in to enjoy the movie, good food, and the kind of companionship Haven had longed for during the long years he'd sat behind bars, wishing to go back to the night his world had imploded.