Free A Tapless Shoulder by Mark McCann Page B

was doing. Now that Mom’s gone, all he does is
drink. I thought it would be a smart thing for me to do. Yeah,
well, no matter how much thought I put into it; smart just isn’t my
thing.” I shook my head. “Tonight was no different, to a degree: my
dad, yes, was drunk as could be.” I paused and stared at her. I
faked a smile, as though to say her beauty did indeed make me feel
better. She smiled back sympathetically and I laughed. “You know
how my dad mildly chuckles at everything; I keep meaning to pay
attention when I’m around him because, being away from it now, when
I say the word, chuckle, I have no idea what that actually means or
sounds like. That man could make falling down a flight of stairs,
while laughing his head off about it, be the quietest thing ever.”
I looked at Katie with a very blank look. It was like I said; here
I am, then quickly jumped away to content I deemed to be much
safer. Her blank and listening face became mangled by
confusion.
    “ That’s – you’re – what ?”
    “ Sorry, I guess I just thought I’d share that with you
before we got into the thick of it. Anyway, on our way to my dad’s,
Nate got into a fight with not one but two guys. So there was that. You know; it amazes me how
functional my dad is when he’s drunk, right up till he hits the
floor. Seriously, he was, like, correcting grammar one second, and
on the floor the very next. I think a chuckle finally did him in:
it bent him over past the point of no return. I don’t know: it was
very… different. As for the effed up phone call, I don’t care; it
wasn’t a threat like Nate got, so I’m not – it’s not in my head.” I
stopped and looked at Katie for an answer, but she hadn’t one. She
actually looked like she had even more questions now than when the
story began.
    “ Wait, so you
guys got in a fight with someone?” She asked; as she tried to put
together the pieces to the puzzle I was slowly scattering before
her.
    I shook my
head, “No,” I said, “no, I
didn’t . It was just what I
said, but with less gloss. Nate hopped out and beat up some; I
don’t even know, twenty year olds, maybe.” Pauses were
unintentionally becoming safe havens for me; segues into the
off-topic or already mentioned. I rubbed her leg. “I mean, fuck, I
thought maybe, just maybe, I’d have the courage to have a real talk
with my dad, you know: heart to heart, father to son. I just
watched Nate beat up two guys because they had bandanas.” My hand
came up like something finally made sense. “They were probably
farmers! Nate was all, they
showed me their colours .
Yeah, they were probably saying, hey, we’re farmers; don’t punch us
in the face. And what does Nate go and do? Yes, exactly, he punches
them in the face.” Katie’s eyes were wide and she had her hand to
her mouth. I nodded and added quietly, “No more baby carrots for
him.”
    “ What the
hell is wrong with Nate?” she asked, frowning with
disapproval.
    “ Who knows;
maybe nothing, maybe lots. That’s… ancient history too,” I said and
waved it away with my hand.
    “ You mean there’s more ? You mean you
managed to get into something else after death threats and fighting
in the streets?” she asked, unsure if she should be fascinated or
frightened by this.
    “ Oh yeah,
we’re not even close, so far; that was just the tip, the horrible,
God awful tip,” I said and turned my gaze from her to the wall in
front of me.
    “ Why, what
happened?” Her curiosity was mounting with each word I used to
explain it away.
    “ Man, oh, man, well,” I took a deep breath; I was holding my
head now like it was going to come apart. “We eventually made it to
my dad’s. Uh, of course, he was completely hammered, just trashed , but what else is new? Not a big deal: a problem, of
course, but, well, you know what I mean. It’s been like this since
mom died. Why would it suddenly matter now? We should do something
soon though, or move away.”
    “ Okay,