Noah (6 page)

Another shove from my father slammed me back into the side of the house. “You need to not only apologize to your mother, but also to everyone here.”

“Fat chance. I ain’t apologizin’ for shit they do all the time. Don’t sit there and claim you and uncle Ty didn’t do the same shit. Do you even want to know why I did it?” I pointed toward Jake. “That little fucker was messin’ with –.”

He didn’t let me finish. “You know what Noah, it doesn’t even matter. Here lately you’ve been on my last damn nerve, boy. Get your shit straight, son. You hear me?”

“Dad, I’m tryin’ to tell you that I was protectin’ –.”

“Shut your mouth, Noah! There ain’t no reason to do somethin’ as stupid as you did. You know how important sports are to that kid’s future. He’s on a scholarship, for Christ sakes. This wasn’t the time or place, and you know it. Go home and settle down. Let your mother enjoy the rest of the night without drama for once. By mornin’ it will all be calm again and we can enjoy their visit.”

I shoved away from him and started walking. “This is why I can’t do this shit anymore,” I grumbled under my breath.

I felt him pull on the back of my shirt. “What did you say, son?”

And there we were.

Staring each other down like things always ended.

This time I was determined that I wasn’t backing down.

“I said I ain’t dealing with this SHIT anymore.”

I think the shock of me standing up to him caught him off guard. For a moment he stood there contemplating what to do or say to me. After looking around I discovered that the whole family was outside, watching us. I spotted Bells in the crowd and noticed her douche-bag boyfriend with his arm around her. I think it was at that moment when I just snapped.

I was tired of being pushed around by my dad, and expected to live my life a certain way. No matter what I did was never good enough for him. I wanted more out of life and this was my opportunity to let him and everyone else know it. “Speechless? Is that what you are, Dad?” I backed up more so he couldn’t hit me. “You heard me right. I’m sick of this place. I’m tired of you bossin’ me around and tellin’ me all that I do wrong. You want the god damn truth about it, well I’m tired of you. If I had a choice, I’d get the fuck out of here and never come back.” In my defense the last comment wasn’t true. There’s nothing more important to me than my family, and that sentence had guaranteed
that I’d never have their support again. Before my father could even say anything, I knew that to be true.

His cock-eyed look let me know that he was officially flabbergasted. He held up his hand and pointed toward the main gate of the ranch. “Pack your shit and get out then. You think you’re so much better without this family then go on. There ain’t no other place for you out there, Noah. You’ll come home cryin’ sooner or later.”

I walked past him, keeping my eyes on his the whole time. “Yeah, well see about that.”

“We certainly will.”

My mother came rushing to my side while I was climbing on the golf cart to head back to my place and pack my bags. “Noah, please don’t do anything stupid. Your dad is just mad, that’s all. He doesn’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to leave. This is your home. Just go home and sleep it off.”

“That’s just it, Mom. I don’t think I can be here any longer. Before all of this happened I was plannin’ on tellin’ him that. I ain’t happy here.”

She pulled on my arm when I started to move forward. I hit the brake and finally looked into her tear-filled eyes. I had to clench my jaw to hold in my emotions. My heart was beating like crazy after having words with my dad, but this was something entirely different. She was pulling at my heartstrings and there was nothing I could do about it.

Acting like a hard-ass came easy, but breaking my mother’s heart was something I couldn’t handle. I’d
promised myself a long time ago that I’d never let it happen again. One look into those blue eyes of hers and I knew it was too late. “Mom, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to ruin your party.”

“I don’t care about that,” she cried. “Where will you go?”

I reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it with mine and caressing the skin with my thumb. “I’ll find a place to call home. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a grown man. I’ll be fine.”

She cried harder, so much that I had to look away from her. I couldn’t stand seeing her so upset and being the culprit for making it happen. “This is your home,” she repeated.

I opened my mouth to speak and saw him coming toward us. Quickly, I glanced over at my mother and lifted her hand to my lips. After kissing it, I still held it while I spoke. “I’ll call you as soon as I get settled. I promise.”

“Noah, don’t –.”

“Let him go, Savanna. Just let him go. He’ll be back when he realizes how good he has it. You’ll see.”

I pulled away from them, leaving my mother to cry against my dad’s chest. It was difficult to stay collected when my adrenaline was heightened. Still, I kept my focus and knew that after I was packed and off the ranch I could stop and have a drink to calm down.

The worst part was over with. My dad knew the truth and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

                Noah

I’d no sooner
got back to my house and found a duffle bag when I heard someone coming in the back kitchen door. I didn’t stop gathering my things even when I heard the person approaching. “Noah, what the hell just happened?”

I turned to see my cousin standing in the doorway. “You know what was going on.”

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you? You knew that your dad would go off and you’d have a reason to speak your mind?”

“Not exactly.” I probably should have known, but I hadn’t considered it to be an option.

“Don’t give me that. You forget who you’re talkin’ to.”

“Whatever, Isabella. Don’t you have a boyfriend to tend to?”

She shoved me down while my back was turned. When I got to my footing she was standing behind me with her hands on her hips. “Noah Mitchell, are we usin’ full names tonight, because I can play that game too.”

Nobody except my mother called me by my full name. It wasn’t that I hated it. I just didn’t particularly like it being used. “Screw you.”

“Screw you! What is wrong with you? Did you even consider that I’m not goin’ to be able to move in now? My dad’s never goin’ to be alright with it.”

“Bells, I don’t give a shit about where you live. Hell, I don’t even have a place to live. Just go back to the party and leave me alone. I’m not in the mood for your opinions.” I stood up and tried to get past her, but she refused to budge.

“Dude, this is like that time when I called your girlfriend a whore and you didn’t talk to me for three months?”

I scrunched up my face. “No. It ain’t like that. We ain’t kids anymore.”

“Well you’re actin’ just like one.” I could almost see her blood boiling.

“Like I said before, you can leave. Where’s lover boy?” I hated him so much that mentioning his name pissed me off. “You better go run after him before he tries gettin’ into someone’s pants at the party. Hell, he’s probably already fucked one of our cousins already.”

Her hand made contact with my cheek, and while I put my hand up to coax away the sting, she kneed me right in the balls. I sank down holding myself while pain ripped through me. “What the hell is wrong with you, Noah?”

“He’s no good for you, and you know it.”

“You’ve got no room to judge. Your life is pretty fucked up right now.”

I sat up and reached for my cousin. The pain in her eyes let me know that my words were hurting her. Immediately I felt horrible. Of all the people in the world that I’d hurt were the two that were most dear to me. “Damn it. Bells, I’m sorry.”

“Save it.” She put her hand up. “We need to put our heads together to figure out where we’re goin’ to go.”

“We?”

“Yes, we. You think I’m goin’ to let you go without me? I want out too.  There’s got to be a place out there for us.”

I put my hands on her shoulders and looked right at her. “Bells, you ain’t goin’ with me. Stay here and watch the house. I’ll call you when I settle in somewhere.”

“You’re just goin’ to leave me? After everything we’ve been through? You’d leave me?”

“It ain’t like that and you know it.” I kissed the top of her head and backed away, grabbing my bag off of the bed. “This is somethin’ that I need to do on my own.”

“I just don’t understand where this is comin’ from. You don’t have to leave to figure things out. You’ve got your own house. Your mom and grandparents aren’t goin’ to let you just ride off into the sunset, Noah. You’ve got other choices.”

I turned and looked right at her. “Bells, you heard my dad. He wants me out, and I’m happy to oblige. I’ve lived under his rules for too damn long. In fact, if anyone is to blame for all of this, it’s him. I’m tired of his shit.”

She sat down on the couch and crossed her arms. As soon as I sat down beside her we heard someone coming in through the kitchen. When I saw her boyfriend standing there I lost it. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

Not only did he not turn around and leave, but he began to walk towards me. “I came for my girl. She don’t need to be around you when you’re acting like a tool.”

I cocked my brow and turned to look at my cousin. Why she was with such a loser was beyond me.

I got up in his face, looking down to his shorter level. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me.” He didn’t stand down.

I shoved him, giving him little time to get his footing. He tumbled back onto the kitchen floor. As he started to get up, I could hear Bells coming up from behind me. “Noah don’t!”

As soon as I turned to apologize, grab my bag and leave, I felt something hard smashing into the side of my face, just below my eye. I closed it and took the full blow before turning back to look at him. With his arm cocked back prepared for another punch, I caught him off guard, and shoved him with my head. We landed back down on the floor and I took advantage of the situation by ramming my fist directly into his jaw repeatedly. “You’re nothin’ but a lying cheater. You don’t deserve her. You never have and you never will.”

Bells was on my back in an instant. “Get off of him, Noah. You’ll kill him!”

I kept pounding my fist into his face, getting the release I needed from all of the drama that had conspired earlier. The harder I punched him the more I felt better about what I was doing.

My cousin screaming finally got my attention enough to stop. Her boyfriend’s head turned to the side as he fell unconscious. While turning to stand, I felt her smacking me in the chest. Tears ran down her face. “I hate you, Noah. How could you?”

“How could I?” I shook my head and grabbed the bag. “You’re just like the rest of them. If defendin’ the people I care about is wrong, then I don’t fuckin’ belong here. It was a fuckin’ prank, get over it already.”

Before walking out the door I looked back to see her trying to wake him. I was so pissed over it that I refused to say goodbye.

She’d made her choice, just like the rest of my family. I’d never be able to do anything right in their eyes and I was done trying to change that.

The brisk evening air filled the inside of my truck as I approached the main highway out of town. I had the music blaring for several reasons, but mostly to block out the sound of my cell phone constantly ringing.

The past couple of days had taken a toll on me and I was ready to walk away from it all.  Between my breakup with Perry, the problems with my dad, and now the drama with Bells, I knew that I had to get as far away from Kentucky as I could get.

Once I’d driven west for a good hour, I pulled the truck over and grabbed a coin out of the ash tray.

“Heads is north. Tails is south.”

I flipped the coin in the air and watched as it landed on heads. Then I just sat there staring at it for a long time. I don’t know why I was questioning it, but something was telling me that heading north was a bad idea. Since all of my decisions were said to be bad, I figured to go against my better judgment and head there anyway. After all, I had plenty of time on my hands; time that was going to require me to think, which was something I really didn’t want to do.

Once I hit the Ohio border I started to feel tired. Since I had my own money, and plenty of it, I knew I could stop and get a room somewhere without having to count the change in my truck.

My phone had died, so asking my cell phone to find me a place to eat wasn’t an option. I had to follow the road signs and hope that I ended up at a good place, where I
could at least have a beer and a hot meal.

Leave it to me to pick the most abandoned roads to travel on. It took nearly another whole hour before I came to any place that served food. The old roadhouse was located right off the main highway. The dim lit parking lot with only a few cars let me know that I was definitely still in the boonies.

Upon walking into the establishment, I spotted the bar and made my way over to it. A man, looking to be around my age came forward, giving me a once over, before taking my order. He handed me a menu while he went to grab me a beer. After ordering a steak, I took my beverage over to one of the tables located toward the back of the building. I wasn’t trying to be inconspicuous, because I knew I didn’t know anyone around. It was just that I didn’t want to be bothered with conversation.

While waiting for my food, I noticed a young woman arguing with the bartender. She was wearing a baseball cap that kept me from seeing her face. A long ponytail of dark brown hair was pulled through the back of the hat. The man was pointing his fingers in her face, and after a few choice words, she retreated into a back room.

About that same time I realized that I’d left my wallet in the glove compartment of my truck. I approached the bar, at first to let him know that I wasn’t skipping out on my bill, and then he had to run his mouth.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. My wallet is in the truck.”

“Sure, man. Did you hear that bitch just now? I tell ya, women are only good for one thing and that’s fucking. Other than that they need to keep their mouths shut.”

“We all have our opinions.” I wasn’t trying to start with the bartender. All I wanted was my meal and a couple drinks to calm me down, but drama always seemed to follow me, no matter where I went.

It only took a second for me to get what I needed from my truck. I’d grabbed my wallet and started making my way back into the restaurant when I saw the same girl leaned against the building. She was crying and had her hands over her face.

I had every intention of walking by her and minding my own business. I was already running from my own problems and had no interest in taking on someone else’s. With my hand on the door I heard her calling out to me. “Hey you. Got a light?”

She held a cigarette up to her lips while she waited.

I held up my hands. “No, I don’t. Smokin’s bad for you anyway, don’t you know that?”

“Waking up every morning is apparently bad for me. This little cigarette won’t do shit.”

“Bad day?” I don’t know why I asked, because I sure as hell didn’t care. Still, she was a female, and even though she was hiding it under baggy clothes, I could tell she had a nice figure.

She let out an air-filled laugh. “Bad everything.”

“Yeah, it’s goin’ around.” I started to turn to go back inside. “You know, don’t listen to that dick inside. He’s a douche.”

“Hold up.” She waited for me to look at her before continuing. “You’re not from around here are you?”

“Just passin’ through. Does it matter?”

I watched her arms cross over her chest. She looked down, denying me a chance to see the color of her eyes. It was funny to me how she was hiding her body with a loose t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. “This town sucks. I was just going to tell you to keep on driving. There’s nothing here worth stopping for. Trust me, I’ve been here my whole life.”

I should have just walked away. It wasn’t like I owed her or anyone else anything. After my meal I’d get in my truck and keep on driving. The highway would lead me to my future, I just knew it. “Sorry your havin’ a bad day. Mine hasn’t been all that great either. When it rains it fuckin’ pours.” I kicked a couple rocks around while I spoke, noticing that the music had stopped playing inside as the songs changed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a dinner to eat.”

“Not if I don’t bring it out to you.” Her snarky words were without emotion.

“Now, why would you go and say that? You don’t even know me, so why make me suffer. It ain’t like I’m the one that pissed you off. In fact, I just told you that I had a shitty day.”

She shook her head. “Forget it! Your order will be out in a few minutes.”

She walked inside through the back door leaving me alone outside. I stood there for a few minutes looking at the cigarette on the ground. It wasn’t like I wanted one,
but more that wanted something to take the edge off of how I was feeling. My temper was still flaring even hours after my altercation with my father. If I remained tense, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep later on.

As soon as I got back inside I order a couple shots of whiskey, before making my way back to my seat.

Just like she’d promised, my steak dinner was delivered. Even in the poor lit establishment I could finally see her face enough to know that she was cute and maybe not as young as I’d first assumed. While handing me the shots I noticed that she bit her fingernails. It made me think about my sister, Christian. Though extremely beautiful, she never could kick that habit. When I was finally settled somewhere I would call her and have her come visit me.