Part Four

‘Not going to school today’ – Samantha.

I saw the text as I headed out of my room with my backpack and found Mac and Jett already stuffing their faces. I didn’t have much of an appetite and they both noticed as I pushed the half full plate away after taking a few bites.

“What’s up with you?” Mac asked me.

“Samantha,” I said and they both looked at me.

“Bare your heart brother, I’ll be your Dr. Phil,” Jett said as I glared at him.

“I went back to her house last night,” I said as Jett interrupted me.

“Ah true to your rep brother, you move quickly,” he said suggestively as I smiled and shook my head.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jett,” Mac said to him.

“Anyway, she has no heating in the house or food,” I said and Mac stopped eating.

“What?” he asked me as he looked at his plate.

“That’s not right,” Jett said.

“I thought she lived with her sister?” Mac asked.

“Yeah but her scent’s very faint, she hasn’t been there in at least a month,” I said to him.

“Is Samantha going to school today?” Jett asked me.

“No, I think she’s still sick, and I’m pretty sure she only ate half of the soup to save some for today,” I said as both of them pushed their plates away.

“I see a shopping trip in our near future,” Mac said and Jett smiled.

“Let’s go, we’ll make breakfast at her house,” Jett said and we all stood up.

“Have a good day,” Finley said as she winked at me when I walked past her towards the front door.

“It’s going to be an awesome day!” Jett said loudly as he cracked his knuckles.

“I don’t want to know,” she said as we laughed.

“Mom, if the school calls…” I said and she turned around to look at me.

“Yeah I remember you three playing football outside and catching quite the cold,” she said and then turned around and walked into the dining hall.

“Your mom’s awesome,” Jett said as he flung his arm around my shoulder.

“She loves us,” Mac said.

We reached the truck and headed away from the pack house and towards town. We didn’t have to wait long in front of the grocery store and Mac and Jett both grabbed a trolley each. They looked ready to go aisle dashing with the determined looks on their faces.

They let loose and soon both trolleys were piled high with groceries and Mac and I went in search of Jett and found him in the toiletries aisle. He had actually picked items neither Mac nor I had thought of, washing powder, cleaning products, toilet paper and at that moment he was standing in front of the feminine hygiene products.

“What are you doing?” Mac asked him.

“Uhm, she’s a girl,” he said.

“We know she’s a girl,” Mac said as I caught on and started to laugh.

“Shit, do I really need to explain this?” Jett laughed as I nodded my head.

“Explain what, dumbass?” Mac asked him.

“Don’t you have Biology?” he asked and I laughed louder, “once a month girls…. you know.”

“Oh!” Mac said as he looked around with a red face.

“Do you think….?” he asked as he looked at me.

“I don’t know man,” I said as I walked away with Mac following closely on my heels.

“It’s not something to be ashamed about you know! I’m sure this is something boyfriends do!” Jett yelled as we reached the cashier.

The girl at the check out counter looked at us as Mac started unloading our trolley and Jett sauntered up to us and picked up two boxes from his trolley and I wanted to die.

“The small box or the extra-large box? How long does the flow last in any way?” he asked as he looked at us and the girl started to laugh.

“Just take both,” Mac hissed at him.

“I’m sorry, am I ruining your street cred here?” Jett asked him as he stood with his hands in his sides.

“We don’t know him,” Mac said as I started bagging the groceries.

“That’s not what you said this morning, well I’m not sure what you said this morning, your mouth was kinda full as you stood on your knees in front of me,” Jett said.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Mac said to him and jumped over the trolley as Jett started to run.

“Cash or card?” the girl asked me as she tried to contain her laughter.

“Card,” I said as she continued scanning items and I continued bagging them.

Mac and Jett came back five minutes later with a basket laden with chips and chocolates and cookies as they both gave me a grin and started unpacking it as I shook my head again.

“Aren’t you guys the Jags?” she asked Mac suddenly.

“Yeah, I’m the big mouth, he’s the pretty face and Griff’s the brooding one,” Jett said as Mac smacked him behind his head again.

“One day Mac, I swear one day…” he said as Mac laughed.

“Knock it off and go load the groceries in the car while I pay,” I said as they started waging a trolley war with each other.

“Are they always like that?” she asked me as I handed her my card.

“Sadly yes,” I said.

“You’re not as mean and vicious as people say,” she said as she swiped it and I entered my pin.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” I said to her as I walked outside where Mac lay face down in the trolley and Jett ran up and down the parking lot pushing him.

“Idiots,” I mumbled to myself as I climbed into the truck.

“Uhm Griff,” Jett started as he squeezed himself into the partition between the two front seats from the back.

“What?”

“Have you thought about how she might feel when you arrive at her house with all this stuff, she might think that you pity her,” he said.

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not leaving her in that house without any food, I don’t care if she’s mad,” I said.

“Okay,” he said.

“Any ideas wise ass?” Mac asked him.

“We should chloroform her and then pack all the groceries away while she’s knocked out and leave, then when she wakes up she’ll have no idea who it was and she won’t feel so bad,” Jett said.

“For a smart guy you’re a real idiot sometimes,” I said to him as Mac and I laughed.

“So no chloroform?” he asked as we laughed again.

“Where would we even get chloroform?” Mac asked him.

“In my bag,” Jett said as Mac turned in his seat.

“Why do you have chloroform with you?” he asked him with wide eyes.

“You never know man,” he said as I continued to just shake my head.

“I’m telling Connor,” Mac said.

“Then I’ll tell Archer about Maggy,” Jett said.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Mac said.

“Wouldn’t I?” Jett mused as they tried tackling each other between the front and back seats.

“Keep it down, we’re here,” I said as I parked in the driveway and climbed out.

They followed me onto the porch and Mac veered off to the back of the house as I listened for any noises through the front door. The house was deathly quiet and I stepped back as Jett bent down on one knee and began picking the lock.

“We’re in,” he said softly. Mac shook his head at me the moment he came around the corner and we all walked inside.

I took the stairs, skipping the first one that creaked and walked to her bedroom door. Her scent was heavy there and I cracked the door open. She was still asleep, almost in the same position as last night and I left her and closed the door quietly.

“She’s asleep, let’s bring in the groceries and start unpacking,” I said.

“Uhm, I’m going to need your truck,” Jett said.

“For?” I asked him.

“It’s a surprise,” he said as I threw the keys to him and we continued to carry the bags inside.

Jett left just as we unloaded the last bag and Mac and I walked inside and started to unpack all the groceries. After a while Mac left me alone in the kitchen to carry on and I heard him on the basement stairs and then some swearing.

“Got it,” Mac said as he closed the basement door behind him and wiped the dust from his face.

“Got what?” I asked him.

“The heating in here’s gone to shit and my quick fix will only last a while, it’s not a permanent solution, we’ll need to get someone in here to fix it properly,” he said as he washed his hands at the sink.

“Get on it,” I said to him as he nodded.

“What do you think Jett’s up to?” he asked me.

“Not a clue,” I said to him.

“Okay pancakes and bacon and soup?” Mac asked me.

“Why not,” I said to him as he started opening cupboards to get bowls as I took out the ingredients.

Mac started on the pancakes as I fried the bacon and made coffee for us.  I started on the vegetables as the chicken boiled and I had to call my mom twice to ask her how to make chicken soup. She sent me a text with the steps and I’d never loved her as much as in that moment.

We were laughing and joking as Mac flipped the pancakes when I suddenly froze with the knife in my hands and we both looked towards the door.

“Uhm, what are you doing in my house?” Samantha asked as she watched us with wide eyes.

“Breakfast,” Mac said and turned back to the stove.

“Morning,” I said and smiled.