Strong (Stage Dive 4.50)

“You didn’t say anything about what exactly?” asked Mal, twirling a drumstick in one hand. “Not holding out on us are you, dude?”

The kid froze.

“Can’t hold out on your fellow band members. That’s not cool.”

His brows drew in. “I’m a solo act.”

“Yeah,” said Mal. “But I’m playing on your album under my awesome new secret name, Sticks McGee. Ingenious, right?”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Ben didn’t even bother to look up from where he was busily making notes on a pad of paper. “You’re playing uncredited like we decided. I don’t want any of the attention taken away from Adam. It’s his debut album.”

“Fine, whatever. But he still has to tell us what he knows.” Given they were both around the same height, Mal couldn’t quite loom over the kid. But he certainly tried. Peer pressure at its finest. “Is Marty a screamer? Likes to make farm animal noises in bed? Or no, did she say mean things during sex and make Sam cry? C’mon, what went down? You can tell me.”

My hands bunched into fists. “Mal…”

“What? No,” stammered Adam. “She just…I mean, it’s not even a big deal and…it was just an accident.”

“Not another word.” Normally, violence wasn’t my thing. But I might punch someone. “I mean it.”

Ben just shook his head.

David looked vaguely confused.

Jimmy, meanwhile, was now wearing quite a broad smile. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” I lied with much vehemence. “Nothing happened!”

“Adam, my boy.” Mal continued to twirl the stick in a vaguely threatening manner. “Don’t make me use the drumsticks of death on you. It’s not a nice way to go.”

The children laughed and clapped at the idiot drummer’s display. Like he needed any encouragement. But Adam’s gaze kept darting between me and Mal, trying to decide whose wrath would be mightier and scarier. And since Mal stood closer, I lost.

“She just got the room wrong, is all,” Adam blurted out, finally. “Thought mine was Sam’s and stumbled in a little drunk.”

I hung my head and covered my face. So I missed seeing Sam stride into the room, assessing the situation in an instant. Or perhaps our voices had carried.

Mal’s hyena cackle filled the big room. “Oh. My. God. You poor young innocent thing to have to face down Marty’s lusts all alone in the dark like that. Were you terrified? I know I would have been. Tell me more.”

Sam sighed, crouching down behind me. What should have been a comfort was not on account of how he actually fucking told them. “Then she slapped him on the ass and declared it was booty call time. Fortunately I had, however, heard her enter the building and intervened.”

“What’d you do, Sam? What’d you do?”

“I threw the slightly intoxicated lady in question over my shoulder and told young Adam to go back to sleep since I’d be dealing with the situation,” said Sam, who I now officially hated. Unfortunately, ex-Navy SEAL. So when I tried to jab him with my elbow, he simply caught it and gave me a smile. “Sorry, love. But I’m afraid that story was always going to get out. Especially once Adam opened his mouth and Malcolm caught wind of it. Best that they hear about it now, have their laugh, and then get on with their lives.”

“How could you?” I growled.

“It’s going to be all right.”

“They’re never going to let me live this down.”

My brother shook his head, mumbling something about neither wanting nor needing to know about my sex life. I hadn’t wanted him, or any of the others, to know either. And I couldn’t even bring myself to see what expression David had on his face. But while Jimmy had the manners to at least turn his head away to chuckle, Mal was outright crying from laughing so hard. “We really aren’t. We’re going to give you shit about this forever and ever.”

“No, you’re not,” said Sam simply. “Because if you do, I’ll accidentally hurt you sometime when you least expect it.”

“Y-you’ll hurt me?”

“Yes.”

“Are we talking really bad like blood and stuff?” asked Mal. “Or just a little bad like a stubbed toe or something? Because that would probably be worth it.”