Loyalties - Ike Koffin (OC)

• Three •

Ike reappears a half hour later wearing a worried expression whilst obnoxiously chewing his gum with sweat lining his creased forehead. His gaze sweeps the room before landing on his brother who is dancing around like a prat with Dave's toupee atop his head. Then he calls out to him with a hand wiping at his face with frustration.

"Mother's here," he informs Addley whilst shifting his attention onto those of us lay on the floor.

My eyes briefly meets his own, connecting for a second longer than he had with the others. Though as soon he realises that he's lingering on me, he quickly shifts to look at his brother once more. "She's not going to be happy," he comments further with a shake of his head whilst he again makes his way upstairs to greet his mother.

"What you gon' tell her Ike?!" Addley once more asks worriedly, panic lining his tone, "huh? What you gon' tell her?"

Again, the door slamming shut is the only response he receives. Meanwhile, the groups anxiety and fear as a whole soars through the roof as we share nervous glances with one another. Beth and I look at one another and immediately with no words spoken on either end, we know things are about to take a drastic turn for the worse.

****

The footsteps echo slowly to begin with as two people descend down the stairs towards us. We all lift our heads with anticipation to look at the woman who raised these men, the woman who now steps down from the last step whilst accepting Ike's hand that he offers to help her.

Her short brown hair sways as she turns her head and scans us with an expression that is hard to read, she looks normal, sweet and innocent which I find to be the most chilling part of all this. Her blue eyes linger on our figures before she moves towards Addley with clear disapproval.

"Addley," she speaks with a firm motherly tone whilst lifting a hand to remove the toupee from his head. "This is unacceptable," she scolds with a shake of her head causing Addley's gaze to lower to the floor like a child.

He shuffles awkwardly on the spot, face red with humiliation from being told off by his mother in front of those he has been tormenting and threatening for the last hour. It's an odd thing to witness, especially given the situation.

"I swear sometimes you boys are just little savages," her tone is soft as she addresses him, hardly the tone of some vicious thief or killer.

But it isn't until she turns to us and frowns that I find myself truly taken aback by her. She looks unhappy with our current position and takes to addressing us personally with a kind tone that seeks to offer comfort and reassurance though I'm certain none of us feel either one of those two things.

"Please, please get up. Make yourselves comfortable. I don't want you laying there." She turns to her oldest son, "Ike," she gestures to us, instructing him to help us to our feet which he quickly makes a move to do.

I lift myself up onto my knees with the rag still in hand, "Bella," the voice is deep and immediately familiar, my name rolls off their tongue in a way that warms my chest as I tilt my head upwards to look at the hand he has outstretched towards me with a small barely visible smile.

I take a moment to study it before placing my own trembling one into his large one, then with a gentle tug, I'm on my feet and looking up at him slightly. Our eyes hold gazes silently, my hand still resting in his as neither one of us make an obvious effort to move. I feel that warmth, that attraction towards him draw me in. I feel it intensifying with every moment spent in his company, I yearn to learn more about him, to reach beneath this persona and the act his mother has him play.

He is a good man beneath all this, I see it.

"Anna," the voice belongs to Beth as she calls to me from her position on the sofa beside the rest of her friends and her husband.