6.

G ARVEY

Once I pulled up in the driveway of the familiar house, I turned off my motorcycle and looked around. There had been a few changes made since the last time I was here, but I was glad to see that the old porch swing where I’d spent countless hours was still hanging in place and surrounded by the plants my aunt loved and cared for.

I had just gotten off the bike and was standing still to let my muscles stretch out after such a long ride when I heard the familiar squeak of the screen door and looked up to find my great-aunt smiling at me.

“Garvey Forrester. You just made an old woman very happy.”

“You’re not old, Aunt Martha. You’re timeless,” I said. Before I could even get up the steps to her, Aunt Martha threw her arms around my neck for a long-awaited hug.

It was like going back in time. The small woman was a powerhouse, and every time she gave a hug, she did it like it might be the last time. It felt like a lifeline to me.

I held her tight for a full minute before she pulled away so she could look up at me. There were tears in her eyes when she said, “It’s about damn time you came home, Garvey.”

“It might be too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Martha decreed. “Come inside so we can get comfortable while we catch up. I just pulled some rolls out of the oven that I planned on serving with dinner, but I bet I can spare a few for you.”

As she opened the screen door, I asked, “Is Uncle Smokey home?”

“He’s not, but I’m sure he saw you ride by, so he will be soon.”

As she walked in ahead of me, I asked, “Is he down at the clubhouse?”

“I think he’s over at the garage, tinkering on something with the boys,” Martha explained.

By boys, I was sure she meant some of her sons, my father’s cousins who were the same age as him, but then again, she could be talking about any number of men, including her grandsons who were mostly around my age.

Before I walked into the house, I turned to look down the road where they’d built a huge garage to house all the cars and bikes the family owned and saw four men standing out front, looking our way. I knew it wouldn’t be long before at least one, if not all of them, appeared to check on Aunt Martha and see what stranger had the balls to drive up out of nowhere and bother the matriarch of the family.

I decided to ignore the inevitable as long as possible and followed my aunt inside but stopped short when I smelled the fresh rolls she’d been talking about. I knew that so many things had changed since I left the last time, but one thing would always remain the same.

Anyone that walked into Aunt Martha’s house as a welcomed guest was guaranteed an unlimited supply of iced tea or coffee and as many treats and goodies as their stomach could hold.

The ride through town had stirred up my emotions - the sight of buildings and landmarks that had been there for as long as I could remember made me nostalgic, and the new buildings made me excited to explore - but the delectable smells coming from Aunt Martha’s kitchen was what made me feel like I had finally come home.

I barely had time to sit down at the table before the front door opened. When I started to stand up, Martha reached across the bar and took my hand, holding me in place, as she looked toward the doorway and waited for one of her protectors to appear.

The man that stepped through the doorway first stopped abruptly, and the man behind him hit his back with a grunt before he pushed him out of the way so he could walk past him. When he took in what had made his brother stop, he stopped in his tracks, too, which made the men behind them start grumbling.

“Boys, are you thirsty?” Martha broke the silence as if there was nothing unusual about them finding me in her kitchen. I knew she did it in the hopes that they would take their cues from her demeanor and react accordingly.

“Holy shit. Garvey?” my dad’s cousin, Clem, asked as he studied my face. I hadn’t even considered that they might mistake me for my twin because I was sure that we looked different enough now that it would be easy to tell us apart. When I nodded, Clem rushed across the kitchen and pulled me off the stool, but not for the reason I thought it would be. Instead, he picked me up like a ragdoll and gave me a bear hug that threatened my oxygen intake. “What the fuck, man? Where did you come from?”

The second Clem let me go, his brother Kale yanked me toward him and slapped me on the back before he said, “It’s about fucking time!”

When he let me go, I saw that the two other men were just as surprised to see me and didn’t look nearly as pleased about my appearance. Daughtry and Bird had matching blank expressions and seemed to be studying me to make sure I was either real or not planning to rob them blind, which I sadly had to admit I’d done before.

“Garvey,” Daughtry said in his gravelly voice. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you,” I said before I looked at Bird. He nodded at me, and I knew that was all the greeting I’d likely get since his mom was just a few feet away and didn’t allow violence in her house.

Clem and Kale weren’t deterred by their brothers’ reticence and were still cheerful as they talked over one another to ask me questions.

“When did you get here?”

“Why didn’t Jesse mention you were coming home?”

“Just now,” I answered. “I drove straight through town to Martha’s.”

“It would make more sense to go see your own parents first.”

I looked over at Bird and replied, “They didn’t know I was coming.”

“So you surprised our mother first?” Daughtry asked.

“I wasn’t surprised at all. As a matter of fact, I’d like to think that I might have helped convince him to come home in the first place because I knew that he’d be welcomed back just like family should be,” Martha said with a completely neutral expression which meant she was trying to control her temper.

“I’m glad you’re home, Garvey, but I have to say that as soon as the excitement wears off, I’m probably going to take you out back and whip your ass for going radio silent and breaking your parents’ hearts,” Clem warned.

“There is that,” Kale said sadly. His emotions turned on a dime, something he was known for, and he slapped my back again before he said, “But right now, I’m glad to see you and I’m hungry, so we’ll get to all of that shit later.”

“I guess that gives me something to look forward to,” I muttered as I sat back down. Speaking to the men in general, I said, “You guys look good.”

“So do you,” Clem said cheerfully before he sat down next to me. “Of course, I’ve been looking at your reflection for years, but I have to say that you look a lot more like Corey now than you did the last time I saw you.”

“I’m sure I do.”

“It’s good to see that you’ve put on some weight,” Kale said as he reached for the glass of tea Martha set on the bar in front of him. “Are you keeping yourself in check? Working out regularly and all?”

“Yessir. Every morning like clockwork.”

“Are you clean and sober?” Bird asked, getting directly to the point, which had always been his way.

“Absolutely. I attend meetings regularly.”

“And he hosts them too,” Martha piped in. “Is that what you call it? Hosting? I guess I don’t know the exact terminology.”

“Generally, it’s called leading or chairing the meeting, and I do that, but when I’m there for my own sobriety, I’m just one of the guys.”

“Why else would you be there?” Daughtry asked.

“I’m a licensed substance abuse counselor, so I do one-on-one sessions with people who might need a little more support than just a regular meeting,” I explained.

“He’s got two degrees,” Martha boasted.

“They offered classes and such when I was locked up, but that wasn’t really my thing,” Clem admitted. “I took a few here and there, but just the mandatory ones.”

“Same,” Kale said after he took a sip of his tea. He turned in his chair and looked at Daughtry and Bird before he said, “Roll out the fucking welcome mat, boys. One of our own picked up the olive branch. If you don’t open your mind a little and get to know him again, I’m likely to snatch it out of his hand and beat the shit out of both of you with it.”

“Kale,” Martha said with a warning in her tone.

“We all did some stupid shit when we were kids, Mama. Some things more stupid than others, but then we grew up.” Kale looked at me and asked, “Have you grown up, boy?”

“Yessir, I’d like to think that I have.”

“And you served your time just like the rest of us,” Clem pointed out. “Are you planning to go back?”

“Does anyone ever really plan to go back?” I asked.

Clem chuckled before he said, “Not if they’ve got even an ounce of sense.”

“I found some of that while I was away, thank God, because I didn’t have a bit of it when I was young.”

“Ain’t that the damn truth?” Daughtry muttered before he put his hand out and rested it on my shoulder. He stared into my eyes for a few seconds before he said, “It’s good to see you well, son. In time, I’m sure I’ll find a way to be happy that you’re back, but for right now, I’ll just say welcome home.”

“Thank you.”

“When are you going to talk to your parents?” Bird asked.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet, but I figured I’d go see them as soon as I leave here.” I smiled at Martha and said, “I need a little carb boost to give me some courage.”

Martha, who had just set a basket of piping hot rolls on the counter, smiled at me and said, “Eat as many as you want. I’ll make more.”

“Does that go for all of us?” Clem asked as he reached for a roll and then picked up a butter knife. “You know how much I love these things.”

Martha, who was still irritated at her sons, said, “As long as you are acting like family should, forgiving the ones we love who just want to make things right, then you can have as many as you want.”

Bird reached for a roll, his eyes never leaving Martha’s, and he said, “Then it looks like you’re gonna run out of rolls.”

Martha smiled at him before she said, “Good. I’ll make more.”

◆◆◆

GARVEY

I checked my watch and saw that if my parents still kept the same schedule they had when I was living at home, they’d be sitting down to dinner in about ten minutes. I wasn’t sure if that was still their routine since my mom no longer ran the bar she’d inherited from my grandparents a few years before I was born, but I guessed it was worth a try.

I didn’t know who I should see first - my brother, my sister, or my parents. I decided that I’d go see my parents first so they could see me without visible injuries. I knew without a doubt that I’d get walloped by both of my siblings, just hopefully not at the same time.

I had spoken to Martha and then Smokey when he arrived about how they thought this should go down. They both agreed that there really wasn’t an easy way for me to do this, so appearing at my parents’ door just like I had at Martha’s was probably the best way to go.

I wasn’t sure what my parents' reaction would be, but even if they slammed the door in my face, at least I’d get to see them for a second before it happened.

I pulled up in front of the house and parked my bike at an angle but didn’t take my time looking around like I had at Martha’s. The sound of motorcycles on my parents' street wasn’t as common as it was out there, and one or both of them had probably heard my arrival.

I knew it wasn’t rare for one of my dad’s cousins, the Forrester men who had greeted me at Martha’s, to visit with my parents, but my guess was that they usually called first. As I walked up the sidewalk to the front porch, I took a few deep, calming breaths while I gave myself a little mental pep talk.

I had just stepped up onto the porch when the front door opened and I saw my mom for the first time since my trial. I stopped in my tracks at the look of fear on her face. I hated that her first response to seeing me wasn’t joy, but I understood it. I put them through hell for years before I was finally locked up, so it made perfect sense that she didn’t want to go through that again.

She pushed the glass door open and walked out onto the porch and stopped close enough to me that she had to lean her head back to look up into my face.

“Hi, Mom,” I said quietly, my voice choking with emotion that I couldn’t control no matter how hard I tried.

Mom rested her hands on my chest and looked down at them before she slid them up to my shoulders and gripped me like a lifeline. She released her hold and ran her hands across my collarbone to my neck before she followed it up to hold my face in her hands. Her eyes finally met mine, and my tears raced hers to fall first.

Finally, she whispered, “Are you my Garvey again?” When I nodded, she smiled and said, “It’s so good to see you, baby.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I . . .”

Mom shook her head and interrupted me. “Not right now, sweetheart. Let me look at you and make sure I’m not going to wake up from this dream.” There was a comfortable silence between us as Mom studied my face, her thumbs rubbing back and forth over my cheeks before she whispered, “You look so good, Garvey. So healthy and whole. I worried that you never would again.”

“It took some time, but once I finally got serious about staying clean, I worked on recovering not just my mental health, but my body too.”

“God, I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Mom threw her arms around my neck and hugged me as she sobbed, and I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face to fall on her hair. I was finally able to get myself in check, but I couldn’t let her go to wipe my face. I wasn’t sure she’d even let me if I tried.

When she was able to speak through her tears, she said, “There’s been a piece of my heart missing for years and years, but you put it back where it’s supposed to be.”

“I promise I won’t break it again.”

“If you do, I'll kick your ass and then let you mend it one more time. I’ll do that over and over as long as I’m breathing.”

“I have a feeling Dad won’t be quite as understanding.”

“You’d be wrong,” I heard my dad’s voice say from somewhere to my left. I lifted my head and looked that way where I saw him leaning against the corner of the house. He rubbed his eyes, and I gathered that he’d been just as emotional as my mom and wondered how long he’d been standing there.

He walked over to join us, but Mom still had such a tight grip on me that I couldn’t stand up straight to face him. Dad didn’t seem to mind, though. He put one arm around Mom and one arm around me so he could join in the hug, and for the first time in my life, I heard my father weep - a sound I never wanted to hear again.