Him & I

Desperate Man

Yeah, I'm a half-cock, full-tilt
Scarred hands to the hilt
Don't push me, grown ass man
Yeah, flashin' light caution
Careful where you cross, son
'Til she comes back again
Yeah hey, what can I say?
I'm a desperate man
——Desperate Man, Eric Church

December 19, 2018

Grayson was sitting in front of his locker, royally annoyed.  They'd made a last minute decision to assign him to the Stars and send him to Vegas for their game the next night. 

This was getting seriously old.  But it wasn't like he had a choice.  At least they'd told him that because of the late notice he could fly to Vegas the next morning, instead of tonight. 

The concerning part was that the Stars were playing in a scouting showcase.  That could mean that the Jazz were considering trading him and wanted him to show well to increase his value.  Grayson felt like an indentured servant, although he knew that he was a well paid one.

He was sticking around to watch the game with the Warriors.  If Connor hadn't been visiting, he would have told Cait to meet him at home and he'd have shut off the television and his damn phone and yanked her into their bedroom. But he knew Connor would want to go to the game. And he couldn't really yank Cait into the bedroom and ignore her brother.

He was really starting to get sick of this shit. 

*****

Connor was stunned, the sound of the airbags deploying still ringing in his ears. He gasped, breathing heavily. And turned to his left to look at his sister, who was slumped toward him.

Cait looked like a doll that had been tossed aside. But there was blood on her head and her face. Connor started to shake. "Cait?" he whispered. "Cait, please wake up," he said quickly.

She let out a small sound, but that was it. Connor grabbed his phone. But there wasn't any cell reception. He took several deep breaths. Took inventory. He wasn't bleeding anywhere, felt okay. And he needed to get help.

Connor scrambled out of the passenger door, shaking and trying not to cry. His sister needed him to be calm right now, he told himself. He wanted to start screaming for help.

There had been cell service on the road. He started in that direction, but then reached back and grabbed Cait's phone too. He knew her lock code, 010117, had seen her enter it enough times, when her fingers were cold and it didn't recognize her thumbprint. Maybe one phone would get better reception than the other.

Getting up the bank was tough and he slid back down a few times. But he managed it.

*****

"Why are we taking the back way home anyhow?" Phil asked Meghan.

"Because it's a pretty drive in the snow," Meghan responded with her bright smile in his direction.

Phil's phone suddenly buzzed and he saw the name on his SUV's Bluetooth screen.

"Champ?" he asked, hitting the button to answer. "Everything okay?"

"Phil," Connor was almost sobbing. "Help. You gotta help me."

"Connor, where are you?" Phil asked frantically, slamming on the brakes. "What happened?"