Wood & Iron

Chapter 16

Adam Wood had gotten pretty good at feigning normalcy on the outside, even when everything inside him was a chaotic mess. At 9:03, he pulled the fire pit from the side of the house and dragged it out into the cul-de-sac. By 9:10, the logs were catching fire, and the other garage doors were open. But the entire time, all he could think about was that voicemail.

It wasn't uncommon for the men to make it outside on Friday night before their wives. Maybe it was a primitive desire to be in nature, or maybe it was a selfish move to keep from having to put the kids to bed, but the fact that Quincy, Benji, and Adam were outside before their spouses wasn't a reason to sound any alarm.

Adam watched as Quincy took the drinks from the refrigerator and put them in the cooler. There were many times when Adam was jealous of Quincy. Back when Adam was dealing with the stress of the club potentially closing, he looked at his best friend with envy. He wondered what it would be like to do his work through a screen, in his boxers if he wanted to, while everyone else in his company seemed completely disembodied two time zones away. And on a day like today, after Evie's message that wouldn't stop replaying in his head, he longed for his friend's lot.

"Happy Friday."

Quincy cracked open two of the three bottles in his hand before handing one to his best friend.

"Happy Friday," Adam echoed back to him as they clinked the glass together before taking a swig.

They watched silently as Benji meandered through his garage, looking for the camping chairs.

"You have a good week?"

The question surprised Adam. It wasn't the words, but the way he said them. Something felt off.

"Uh... it was ok, I guess."

If the question itself didn't make Adam uncomfortable, the way that Quincy was looking at him certainly did. It was as if he were trying to read Adam. Did Benji talk to him?

"How about you? How's the smoothie business?" Adam tried to deflect the attention away from him, and it seemed to work, as Quincy's face softened and he looked at the fire with relief.

"People are still convinced that it's better for them than ice cream, so I guess it's gonna be alright."

Benji watched his brother and his next-door neighbor at the fire from inside the garage. They weren't much more than a silhouette, though the glow from the fire occasionally lit up one of their faces.

Benji thought of Dr. Solomon and all he'd been learning about himself and his family of origin over his lunch break. Deep down, he could hear the doctor's voice in his head; no one truly wants to go through things alone. Benji's heart was breaking for his older brother. Not only was his wife cheating on him, but he was holding it in. I can't let him go through this alone.

Benji had hoped to have a moment alone with his brother before the chairs around the fire were filled, but maybe this was better. If he didn't want Adam to go through Alex's infidelity alone, who better to be there to help than Adam's best friend?

He carried two Adirondack chairs from his garage toward the street, suddenly buoyed with a confidence he didn't know he had inside him.

"Hey guys," he grunted as he sat the chairs down.

"Happy Friday." Quincy handed him a beer, and they each tapped their bottle to the others.

"Happy Friday," the other two repeated.

It's now or never, Benji thought.

"Hey Adam," he said as they all fell back into their chairs. "About earlier today..."