The Secret (Boston's Best 1)

Chapter Fifty-Six

Matt

"Dude I don't care what fuckin' Vogue or whatever is sayin', you look like a fuckin' idiot." Darius says to Alex.

To Alex who is currently wearing red jeans and a striped shirt with Vans.

Like the idiot he is.

"I don't know, man," I lean back and rest my arm on the back on Darius' expensive leather couch. "He's kinda rocking it. It looks like Louis Tomlinson in 2011."

Alex rolls his eyes and throws a pillow at me, "Shut up, Matt. Lucie made me wear it. I lost a bet."

"Lucie?" Felix asks, from where he's standing in the kitchen –yeah, D's rich enough to have a small kitchen in his bedroom, "I thought you were still with Ben. I liked him, he was good for you."

"Nah, I dumped him like two weeks ago. Luce works at that 7-Eleven beside Dunkin and Seiyo Sushi on Washington Street. Met her there a few days ago."

"And what does her working at a convenience store have to do with you looking like you're in a boy band?" Darius asks him.

"She dared me to send an explicit picture to someone that I will not be naming, and if I didn't do it then she gets to choose my clothes for the week." He sighs and gestures at his outfit, "Obviously I didn't do it, but you know how I feel about a bet."

"Only people with small dicks back out of them." We all say unanimously.

"Dude," Darius starts laughing, "You look like my old Aunt Priscilla after she got drunk at cousin Aston's wedding."

Felix walks back towards us, glass of water in hand, and sits down beside me on the couch. "Ellos son pantalones muy feos."

"Huh?" Alex raises his eyebrows at Felix.

"Your trousers are really ugly."

"How did you pass Spanish?" I ask him bewildered at his lack of knowledge of the language.

He shrugs, "I was getting A's from my teachers in everything else and Spanish wasn't necessary for me but Señorita Owens was getting A pluses from me."

"You're disgusting." I shake my head.

"I know."

"Siete tutti degli idioti a volte." Felix mumbles.

"Fucking stupid woman! Have you ever done anything right even once in your life Kaweria? No? Didn't fucking think so, you stupid little bitch!"

We all turn our heads at the shout that comes from downstairs of the huge building Darius lives in.

D is on his feet but doesn't move for a second until something that sounds like glass shattering breaks and he runs out the door, quicker than I've seen him move in my whole life.

Alex, Felix, and I all stand up, unsure if we should follow him or not.

Darius has always been pretty reserved about telling anyone about his home life. All we all really know is that his mother is a saint, his dad's a dick, and his mom's too wrapped up in her own fantasy of what their family used to be to leave him. D's words not mine.

I hear the shouting start up again but this time it's Darius' loud voice that carries up the stairs to us and soon his father shouts back.

We all seem to collectively agree to leave the issue to them, it's a family matter and we shouldn't get involved.

The guys start to clean up the mess we made and they pack up all our of shit and I head out to the hall to grab my phone that I left out there earlier when D's dog was chasing me.

When I find my phone just as I'm about to walk back to D's room I see Zene, his little sister –I say little but she's and five foot ten inches and fifteen, sitting at the top of the massive staircase.

I sit down beside her and hold out my fist, "What's up, Zen?"

She returns the fist bump and shrugs, "I wish mom would just leave him, Matt. I don't understand why she still puts up with it."

"I don't know, Zen. She probably just thinks that she's making the right choice for you and D. Maybe she just thinks you guys want to be around your dad and getting a divorce would limit the amount of time you'd see him?" I suggest.

She rolls her eyes, "No, she knows how we feel. We've both sat her down a good few times over the past few years trying to persuade her to leave him. She's just delusional," She mumbles, "Ever since Dam, her heads been stuck in the clouds."

"What do you mean?"

Zene looks at me, confused, "Do you not know–?"

She gets cut off by her brother starting to come up the stairs. He looks at me, "You mind givin' us a minute?"

I nod and walk around the corridor of the hall, and I don't mean to eavesdrop but they're talking and I'm still here.

"I swear to god, Zen, the second I have enough of my own money I'm gettin' you and mom out of here and fucking far away from that shithead."

"Mom said you can't curse around me."

"Don't give me that little innocent youngest child act, I've heard how you be talkin' when you're round with your friends."

She pauses for a second and then quietly says, "What was it about this time?"

I hear him exhale and I'm gonna guess he's hugging her, "Don't worry about it. I've got everything handled. I've got my plan, just give me like two more years, max."

I reach his bedroom and now can't hear the rest of their conversation.

Alex and Felix are sitting on the couch on their phones. Alex looks up as I enter the room, "Yo, where'd you go?"

I hold up my phone that has no case on it because I lost it in Dubai. "Left my phone outside."

He nods and I sit by them both and we all chat for a few minutes before Darius comes back in, looking less pissed off than he did but still really pissed.

He shakes his head and sighs, "Sorry about that."

"You wanna talk about it?" Felix asks.

"Nah, man. Thanks though." He rubs a hand across his head, "Zene is gonna stay at her friend's place for a few days and mom's gonna go on some retreat with some wifves from the club, so I'm gonna try and chill him out by the time they get back. Can we all leave though. I don't want to be here right now."

We all stand up and head out of his house and onto the busy streets of Beacon Hill and we just walk in silence for a few minutes, giving D the time to sort out whatever he's feeling.

Alex and Felix are walking ahead and Darius is beside me. He shakes his head and quietly says, "I fucking hate him, man. After everything we all went through and he can't even pretend to be kind to his own family."

I stay silent letting his words just pour out, "He can find it in him to be nice to all of the press and his teammates and people at all the galas and clubs, but not his own fucking family? It's messed up."

I nod, "It is."

"I don't want my mom or Zene living there with him anymore, he's spiralling and it'll only get worse like it has for the past six years. But I can't do shit about it because mom's in denial and Zen's only fifteen."

"I'm not going to try and be motivational or anything or try and give you some life changing advice because I can't even imagine what you're dealing with. But, D, you are one of the smartest guys I know, and if anyone can figure out a way to help his family it's gonna be you."

He pats me on the back and tightly smiles at me, "Thanks, dude."

I nod and we walk in silence following Alex and he leads us to a Dunkin.

And as we're all talking and laughing and helping Darius forget his shit, I can't help but think that he hasn't told us the full truth behind what's going on.