Dandelion

Four

"Ow! Ow! Mama, stop! I'm telling you the truth! I didn't do what the media said I did!" Greyson shouted as his mother, Ada, swatted him with a newspaper in the front yard of his family home. What made it so much worse was she ran out, hugged him, and then immediately pulled the newspaper out of her back pocket and started beating him in front of everyone with it. She shouted at him for being a fool, how she raised him better than that and honestly, she did.

"Oh, is that why you stayed over in Kinston for seven hours? You were afraid to come home and face me, weren't you? I raised you so much better than that, Greyson James Baxter!" She shouted as she continued to swat him without mercy. He could hear the guys laughing loudly behind them.

"Mama Ada, he wasn't in Kinston avoiding you. He was making googly eyes at a waitress that tried running him over this morning," Myrick laughed. Ada paused in beating him. Greyson processed Myrick's words and shot him a glare.

"Wait a minute, you saw her almost run me down and did nothing about it?" Greyson shouted in disbelief. Myrick shrugged as Jimmy, Hal, and Cordy all laughed at him still. Quinton stood at the opening of the bus, pursing his lips trying not to laugh. Jimmy straightened up slightly as he wiped away tears from his eyes. The lanky musician coughed, trying to catch his breath.

"Ah, shit, I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Also, we all had a bet going she would get out of the truck a whoop your ass," Jimmy chuckled.

"Language!" Greyson's mother scolded.

"Shit, sorry, no, wait, sorry," Jimmy quickly apologized. She politely smiled at them; Greyson turned to her once more.

"Mama, I'm telling you the truth, I didn't avoid you, and I promise on your blueberry pie I didn't sleep with a married woman," Greyson was practically begging her to believe him. Granted, he knew she wasn't naïve from his promiscuous ways, he wasn't the easiest kid to raise out of his siblings (nor was he the worst, but a close second to his sister Haley). However, she knew when he swore on that heaven sent pie that only she could bake perfectly, he was telling the truth. She narrowed her gaze slightly before she nodded once and huffed. She then swatted him once more behind the head with the rolled-up paper.

"Ow! What was that for? I told you the truth!" He halfway shouted.

"That's for not calling me and telling me you were coming," she snipped at him. She was smiling now though, so that was a definite good sign.

"Well, surprise?" Greyson smiled weakly back. Ada shook her head as she rolled her eyes.

"You and your sister are going to put me in an early grave, if not your father first. You know he saw the news the other night and nearly killed over right there in his recliner? Not to mention you said nothing of this over the phone when we spoke," she scolded, planting her hands on her hips. Greyson looked down at the ground, feeling like he was a child for the first time in years. He was relieved that they had only just heard about the scandal on the news, otherwise this situation would be entirely different.

"I promise, I didn't do anything and I have someone looking into the accusations. I at least know better than to be that stupid," Greyson said earnestly.

"I know that. I raised a decent hellion. I raised four decent hellions, but you and Haley sometimes... I could go ten rounds in a ring with you two," she said as she waved her arm about wildly.

"What'd Haley get into now?" Greyson asked nervously. When it came to his wild sister, there was no telling. Ada shook her head and sighed. A moment later the gold watch on her wrist started to beep.

"Oh my! We can talk about it on the way to Sophie's softball game, I'll be right back" his mother said exasperatedly. She turned and quickly ran back to her house. Greyson turned around to face his band with his arms crossed. He narrowed his gaze at Myrick.