Promise Me

“Then go. What time will you be home?” I asked.

“No later than one a.m.” He was hopeful. Hell, what did I know? Was one a.m. too late for a nearly seventeen-year-old? I glanced at Skylar trying to get her opinion and she shrugged at me. A lot of help she was.

“No later than one,” I told him. “We’ll stop by your house and Nickolas can leave a note for your mom.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll see you guys at one.”

God, I hoped we were doing the right thing. We were new at this parenting thing.

**

Skylar stayed in the car with Maddie while I ran inside with Nickolas. They lived not far from the high school in older homes that were converted to duplexes years ago. We ran up the porch steps and he unlocked the door. He heard the voices and so did I. His mother was home.

“Oh shit,” Nickolas said.

“Go on,” I urged him. He opened the door. We walked in and I immediately shoved Nickolas behind me shaking my head at the scene that was in front of me. Delilah was higher than a kite. Riding some dude on the living room sofa. These kids would have walked in on this had we not told Dominick to go out tonight. As it was Nickolas caught a glimpse of her save for my quick reflexes. I shoved him through the door and closed it.

“Ronan,” she squealed leaning backwards like she was almost attempting a back bend. The guy held onto her thank god or she might have done a back flip off his cock.

“Delilah,” I said her name unable to keep the disgust out of my voice. “The kids are staying at my house tonight. All right with you?”

“Oh, that would be great,” she said. The high making her words flow slowly out of her mouth.

“Will you remember this in the morning?” I asked.

“I will dude,” the guy whose cock she was riding responded.

“Thanks,” I said. I turned and walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind me. “Ever happened before?” I asked Nickolas.

“A few times. Dominick has tried to convince her to keep it in the bedroom. He usually keeps us on the porch or takes us for pizza if he has the money, shouting at her to move it to her bedroom as we leave.”

I guided him back to my truck. I waited for him to climb inside. “Everything okay?” Skylar asked.

“Mom was getting fucked in the living room by one of her random dudes.”

“Nickolas, it isn’t right for you to talk about her that way,” I said. “Or for you to use that language.”

“Yeah but it’s okay for to fuck random dudes in the living room where we can just walk right in on this shit,” he snapped.

“No, it isn’t.” I could hear the hurt in his voice. This was affecting him more than the other two. I could hear it in his words. I could see the weight of the chip on his shoulder. The long term affects were starting to show in him.

Skylar kept looking at me then out the passenger window. When we arrived home she took off Maddie’s shoes and socks and removed her sweater and leggings but left on her underthings for her to sleep in. She tucked Maddie beneath the blankets. I did the heavy lifting for her. She was too pregnant to do anything else.

Nickolas was staring through the big picture window. He was too skinny for my sweats but he could roll my basketball shorts down a time or two at the waist and they fit him okay. “If she hadn’t been fucking around I could have gotten clothes for all of us,” he grumbled.

Skylar sat down beside him and placed her hand on his bent knee. I sat down beside her and peeked over her shoulder at Nickolas. “Want to talk?” She asked.

He nodded. “I want my brother to be able to get an education now. I want to follow him after my graduation. I don’t want him to have to wait for me to have a shot at college. I don’t want him to leave us with her to go to college himself. We’ve talked about it and that is why he won’t go. I want Maddie to have a good life. I don’t want her to see this shit.”

“I’m sorry,” Skylar said. “Maybe it’s time that Ronan and I sit down with Delilah and talk to her.”

He looked so troubled that my wife reached out and caressed his cheek. “What would you say to her?” He asked. Nick sounded so uncertain.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But something needs to be done. You guys can’t keep going on like this. It isn’t healthy.”

I had to agree but I didn’t know what we could even do.

**