Ricky

Meeting Rob

         “C’mon in,” he called. At that the door slowly opened and Ms. Wright came in, followed by a man that had to be Rob. His dark brown eyes showed coldness and he looked and acted like a soldier scorned with his short cut hair and the military stance. Ricky turned back to Drake, who was watching Rob fearfully.
         “Oh, Drake, darling! I’ve been so worried about you since you left!” Drake’s mom exclaimed, hurrying to her injured son’s side, obviously relieved to find Drake okay after nearly a year, if being in the hospital is considered being “okay”. At her exclamation, Ricky glanced over his shoulder at the stepfather who had ruined Drake’s life.
         “Oh, by the way, I’m Ricky. This is my brother Blayze. You must be Rob. We’ve heard about you,” Ricky introduced himself to Rob with a hint of threatening in his voice and a warning in his eyes, reaching to shake Rob’s hand. Rob quickly glanced at Drake angrily, but Drake was deliberately avoiding his stepfather’s glare, so Rob firmly shook Ricky’s hand. Actually, it was more like he was trying to break the teenager’s hand, but Ricky stared Rob straight in the eye coolly. Blayze watched this interaction calmly, knowing exactly what his brother was doing, testing Rob’s temper and warning him that the brothers knew why Drake ran and that it won’t happen again.
         “I talked to you in the principal’s office. Thank you so much for helping us get our son back,” she added when he turned and shook her hand. Ricky smiled weakly.
         “Of course, ma’am. My best friend should be able to have a home,” he told her. He glanced at Drake, who was not trying to ignore everyone but Blayze, who he was staring at.
         “Staring contest, bro. You know I’ll beat you, Drake,” Blayze told him. The two were now in an official staring contest. Drake’s mom looked confused when Blayze called her son “bro,” so she watched him curiously. Rob, however, was much more forward than his wife was.
         “Did you just call him ‘bro’, young man?” he questioned Blazye angrily. Ricky grinned and Blayze laughed, but never looked away from Drake.
         “Yeah, by the way, we adopted Drake, so he’s our little brother. Our parents practically adopted him, too,” Blayze told Rob. Drake’s mom gave a soft smile, showing Ricky that she was glad that her son had friends instead of being a loner in high school. Rob, on the other hand, didn’t look too pleased about possibly having the two brothers hanging around his house, but Blayze didn’t see the disgusted look and Ricky was simply amused by it.
         “C’mon, you guys. One of you has to look away soon,” Ricky told them. When neither of the starers responded, he tried a different tactic, standing up and sliding up to his brother, standing so only Blayze could hear him.
         “C’mon, Blayze, look away. It ain’t that hard. I know it isn’t. Just give in, big brother, you know you want to,” Ricky coaxed, with a whisper that sounded strangely demonic. At that, Blayze grinned evilly, but he still stared straight into Drake’s eyes, not showing any other signs that he’d heard Ricky, but Ricky knew that his brother had heard him.
         “Boys, quit it. I want you two out of here now. We haven’t seen our son for over a year,” Rob began, but Ricky didn’t like the way he was talking.
         “And whose fault is that?” Ricky interrupted angrily. "Who was it, exactly, that made him leave? Who scared this kid into leaving his mom and his home?” Ricky questioned harshly. Blayze knew the tone and he twisted to look at his brother, knowing that Ricky was about to get himself in trouble. Rob, once again, glared at Drake, knowing exactly what the boy had told his best friends, but Drake hadn’t looked at his stepfather since Rob had started talking when he’d first gotten there.
         “Young man, what are you insinuating? I had nothing to do with Drake leaving his home. That was completely his choice and a total surprise,” Rob argued, his eyes flaring with rage. Now Drake was even watching the argument, along with Blayze and Ms. Wright, who didn’t know what Ricky was talking about.
         “I’m insinuating that you ruined Drake’s life for no reason whatsoever! Most of us here know exactly what happened and why Drake ran away,” Ricky warned him. Through all this, Drake stayed silent, even though Ricky figured Drake would defend himself.
         "I didn’t do anything to Drake! I certainly didn’t ruin his life, like you claim!” Rob retorted angrily, but before it went any further, Drake finally put his thoughts in.
         “Rob, you know he’s right, you know exactly what he’s talking about, so stop arguing. I don’t wanna deal with you right now, so could you please just leave? Just go,” Drake ordered, turning Rob’s attention to him instead of Ricky. Everyone looked at Drake, but he wouldn’t look anyone straight in the eye.
         “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea right now,” Blayze agreed, but Ricky stayed silent, anger clouding his eyes. Drake’s mom wasn’t quite sure who to agree with.
         “Rob, honey, maybe you should go get something to eat or get some fresh air. Give the boys a chance to cool down a little, please,” she asked him politely, obviously trying not to take sides just yet. Rob glanced at her and simply shook his head before he stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. Drake sighed with relief and laid back down.
         “Okay, Drake, why don’t you explain all of this to me? I’d really like to know what’s going on, hon,” Ms. Wright told her son.
         “Ma, you know me and Rob have never gotten along, yet you went and married him anyway. I don’t know how in the world he managed to convince you that he’s so perfect and such a family man when he had been blaming every little thing on me and turning you against me as long as you’ve known him, but I’m tired of it. You need to know the truth about him,” Drake informed his mom. The look in her eyes saddened Ricky because he knew that her view of her husband and her life was about to be changed drastically. Drake put his head in his hand for a little bit, then he looked up at her.
         “Hey, Drake, you want me and Blayze to leave for a little bit or something?” Ricky asked, unsure of how he was going to handle this because he didn’t want to intrude on the family. Drake turned to his best friend and shook his head gently.
         “Ricky, I don’t want you to have any more reason to fight Rob, but I think you oughta hear this. Blayze, just be sure to keep a close eye on him and keep his temper in check, okay?” Drake asked him with a worried tone. Blayze just nodded and slid over to sit on the windowsill, watching his adopted brother argue within himself.
         “Okay, Drake, I’ll be good, I promise,” Ricky told him, breaking the momentary silence. Drake sighed, then his internal debate seemed to be over.
         “All right, then. Mom, when you met Rob, he seemed all right to me, but once you guys got closer, he realized that he didn’t have to be nice to me, so he stopped. He wasn’t really mean to me; he just ignored me most of the time. I could live with that because when he did talk to me, it was spiteful. He hated me for no real reason as far as I could tell. I gave up talking to him for a while, but then the fighting started. He told me not to hang out with any of my friends anymore and we’d argue about that and about school, grades, my attitude, just about anything he didn’t like about me, which was a lot. We fought almost everyday, just yelling back and forth, sometimes for hours at a time. One day, though, he was in a really bad mood and told me to do something for him, but I told him to leave me alone and stop telling me what to do, so he punched me and his ring busted my lip open.” At that point, Drake was interrupted by his mom gasping.
         “Sweetie, why didn’t you ever tell me this? I could’ve done something for you,” she told him with tears in her eyes. Drake just looked at her sadly. Ricky and Blayze glanced at each other and they knew that Rob was going to regret ever meeting Ms. Wright, but they had to plan it around their promises to Drake, which was gonna be hard. They both turned back to Drake when he began to talk again.
         “Mom, there wasn’t much you could’ve done about it. You were finally happy and I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin that. Besides, as long as he didn’t hit you, I was fine. If he’d ever raised his hand to you, it’d be a different story, but he never did. Not while I was there, anyway, and I figured he’d change now that I’m gone,” Drake added.
         “Drake, I know this is random, but how long did you put up with that before he made you leave?” Ricky asked him, curious, Drake glanced over at the teen that changed attitudes as soon as he left school, then he turned to look out the window, but instead, he looked straight into Blayze’s light blue eyes. Blayze’s eyes showed concern enough to prompt Drake into answering.
         “About four months. He beat me almost every day, but he learned how to do it without leaving marks, so I didn’t have to think up excuses all the time. Once he made me leave, the lack of pain was strange, but I managed to fix that by wandering onto gang turf too often. Now, though, I know where each gang lives and where they hang out, so I avoid some certain gangs and hang out with some others,” Drake informed them. His mom had tears streaming down her cheeks, but she was also soaking in everything her son was telling his visitors. Ricky didn’t really know what to say about all the things he had been told about Drake’s life so far, but he knew it was harder for Drake to spill everything that he had kept secret for almost a year. Drake had probably worked hard to keep his secret and now he was telling his friends and his mom about how bad Rob had treated Drake.
         “So, Drake, what kind of grades have you been getting? I have to ask,” Blayze explained, always checking up on his adopted little brother. At that, the mood lightened and the other two boys laughed, cheering up Ms. Wright.
         “Hmm, I think I’m getting A’s and B’s mostly. Couldn’t tell you for sure, though. Why’d you ask?” Drake questioned, turning the attention over to the oldest brother. Ricky even looked at his brother, obviously wondering the same thing Drake had asked. Blayze didn’t answer right away; he turned slightly and glanced at the gray, bleakness outside before he explained the strange question.
         “I was wondering how going back is going to affect your grades and schoolwork. If your grades go down, I’ll have to talk to Rob, but don’t get any ideas about framing him. Ricky, you’re gonna be checking up on Drake,” Blayze told his little brother, who turned back to Drake.
         “I’m gonna be checkin’ up on you, kid. You better be careful,” Ricky warned his friend, shaking his finger at Drake playfully. Drake’s eyes got wide and he put a hand up, actually looking somewhat scared, but then those two began laughing and the spectators joined in, making the mood a lot lighter in that hospital room. Ricky always enjoyed making people laugh and, outside of school, being serious just didn’t suit him, so he felt better once he and Drake began joking around again. At school, though, Ricky quite enjoyed being serious and misleading everyone except Drake.
         “Okay, Blayze, I’ll try to keep my grades up. Hopefully, I’ll be staying at the same school,” Drake commented as he glanced at his mom for reassurance. She smiled and nodded, answering the implied question. Drake smiled and settled back happily.
         All the sudden, the door swung open quickly, making Ricky jump because he was the closest to it. Rob strolled in with a satisfied look on his face, glaring at Ricky and Blayze. The two brothers glanced at each other, then over at Drake, who was watching Rob nervously.
         “Well, it’s safe to take Drake home,” Rob told them, explaining the reason for his satisfaction. Ricky knew that Rob would fall back into his old ways once Drake was out of sight of the two brothers.
         “Drake Mom, where exactly is home?” Ricky asked, using the nickname Drake had used for Ricky’s mom until he’d been over enough to just call her “Mom”.
         “Home is on Gold Street. Do you know where that is?” Ms. Wright asked Ricky, who thought, but couldn’t remember the street. He shook his head, but Blayze answered, too.
         “I know where that is. It’s on the other side of town, little brother. The club, um, Star is on that street,” Blayze told them. Ricky rolled his eyes.
         “Leave it to Blayze to know the city by its clubs,” he joked, making Blayze shoot another evil grin in his brother’s direction. Ricky made it obvious that he was avoiding Blayze’s gaze, so Drake laughed at them.
         “C’mon, Drake, you’ve gotta get changed so we can get you out of here and back home. The whole neighborhood knows that you’re coming home, so they’re waiting for you,” Rob informed his stepson, sounding almost nice.
         “Okay, okay, I’m workin’ on it! Dude, I don’t have to get changed, they never gave me one of those hospital gown things. I just gotta grab my stuff, then we can go,” Drake added, sliding over the bar and off the bed. They had unhooked the wires when Drake had regained consciousness. Everyone in the room watched Drake, then Ricky remembered something he’d wanted to talk to his best friend about.
         “Hey, Drake, you know my cell number, right? I know you call a lot, but that doesn’t mean you have it memorized,” he explained. Drake turned to him and quoted a phone number, obviously it was right because Ricky nodded.
         “If you need anything, man, just call me or Blayze,” Ricky added when Blayze shot his brother a look.
         “Got it, bro. Believe me. I’ll call one of you guys,” Drake assured them as he grabbed up his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. He then slid over a little so he was standing right by the window, next to Blayze. Drake turned and held out his hand, but Blayze ignored that and pulled his adopted brother into a hug. Drake laughed as he pulled away from Blayze and walked over to Ricky. Those two had a handshake that’d put gang-bangers to shame and they looked each other in the eye because they had their greeting memorized by now.
         “Let’s go, Drake. We don’t have all day, young man,” Rob cut in, the anger back in his voice. Ms. Wright and her husband had been watching their son say good-bye to his friends. Drake turned to them, his happiness at being with his friends showed in his eyes, but it faded when he saw Rob’s angry glare.
         “Okay, then, we’re outta here. We’ll be right behind you guys,” Blayze told Drake and his mom, making a point not to look at Rob. Ricky knew that Blayze didn’t consider Rob part of that family and Ricky didn’t blame him at all. Rob was first out the door, followed by his wife, but Drake hung back to talk to the brothers. Blayze strolled over and closed the door while Drake’s parents were talking and walking away. Blayze leaned on the door and Ricky was still sitting on the chair next to the now-empty bed and Drake was standing between them. Drake sighed, then he glanced at the door.
         “Okay, I have one gangster’s phone, so if I need you, I’ll send you a text message. If it’s an emergency, it’ll just say 911 because I won’t be able to write more if Rob’s about to kill me,” Drake told them, sobering the moment.
         “All right, that’s a good way to do it,” Ricky complimented Drake as Blayze opened the door again. Ricky joined Blayze at the door and saw Rob heading towards them angrily, so Ricky slid out into the hall to head him off, staying between Rob and Drake as Drake joined Ricky and Blayze in the hall.
         "We’re coming, Rob, we were just talking,” Drake told his oncoming step dad, who didn’t seem to calm down at all.
         “I’m done with waiting for you, Drake, let’s just go now,” Rob ordered Drake, but Ricky stepped in.
         “Dude, you waited a whole minute! And don’t even say you waited a year because you’re the one who told him not to come back,” Ricky added when Rob opened his mouth to retort. Ricky’s temper was starting to flare again and if Rob kept going, Ricky was gonna snap and there was no turning back then.
         “Young man, don’t you dare talk back to me! I’m the adult here, so you should respect me!” Rob spat as the four walked out into the parking lot. It was colder than it had been and it finally bit into Ricky’s skin, but now he was too angry to notice it. He stopped walking and turned to Rob.
         “You might be an adult age wise, but you’re acting extremely immature, so I don’t have to respect an immature, bad-tempered little brat!” Ricky exclaimed, his anger obviously scaring Drake, who stepped back slightly. Blayze, on the other hand, stepped between his brother and Rob, facing Ricky, using Ricky’s trick of standing so only one person could hear the whispers.
         “Ricky, calm down, kid. If you snap, you’re gonna get in a lot of trouble and you know it. You’ve gotta back down, okay? Go to the car and wait for me. I won’t be long,” Blayze added. Ricky glanced past his brother, straight into Rob’s angry brown eyes and realized that Blayze could more easily reprimand Rob without losing his temper.
         “Fine, just don’t go easy on him. I’ll talk to you later, Drake,” Ricky called to his best friend as he slid around Blayze and avoided Rob’s glare while he was walking to the Mustang.
         “Ricky, I’ll call you later, okay?” Drake called to Ricky’s back and Ricky simply waved to acknowledge that he’d heard Drake, but kept walking. As he was going to the car, Ms. Wright was heading back towards her family and Blayze. She was almost there when Blayze replaced his brother, ordering Rob.
         “Okay, Rob, Ricky’s right. You need to grow up and stop using Drake as your punching bag. And don’t even say it, I’m not in the mood to argue,” Blayze added when Rob began to say something, stopping whatever Rob wanted to say. With that, Blayze strolled away, heading towards Ricky and the Mustang, but as soon as he saw Ricky leaning against the car, he also noticed that something was wrong.