Brett stared after his son. There was a finality to his son's voice he'd never heard before. A blankness to those dark
eyes he'd never seen. And, somewhere deep inside - it scared him. That the boy really was serious. That he really
was leaving for good. And this wasn't just one more trick in their long line of arguments. Brett took a step after him,
opened his mouth to say... something. And then his hands, still shaking, fisted at his sides and his face went ugly.
"Fine!" He shouted. "You want it that way, fine! I don't need you! None of this fucking family needs you! And don't
think you can coming running back when things fall through for you either! We're done! You walk out now you might
as well keep walking because you're not welcome anymore! Just you remember that when you come crawling back
looking for help, you shit! You walk away now and you can kiss any support from your family goodbye!!"
He wasn't going to go after the boy! God damn him to Hell before he'd chase after that brat and beg him to come
back! Let him walk away thinking he'd hurt his father! Be damned if Brett would let him have that satisfaction!
He wanted to snap back and say his family hadn't helped him out with a damned thing in his life, and certainly not his
father. That it would be a cold day in hell before he depended on any of them for anything. But he stopped before he
did and smiled tightly at Andi. "Through the house." He said, ignoring his father as he went up the steps two at a time,
past Vanessa.
"And that's not cruel?" She said to Andi as she passed. What that boy did to her husband was cruel and unnecessary.
"Shut up." Hector said to Vanessa, hearing that part. "All that goes for you too. Go spread your martyrdom
somewhere else."
"That's wisdom." Andi answered Vanessa as she opened the sliding glass door. Her eyes met the older woman's, her
hand in Hector's. "Something the rest of the family could stand to use." And then they were through into the house
and she was sliding the door closed behind them. Catching her last glimpse of a man standing all alone and
powerless in the middle of an empty lawn.
Cassie was sitting tensely in a chair and looked over in surprise when the door shut without a slam. Because - even
sliding glass doors could slam. And tiny little faces turned from the imaginary lion father on the TV screen to look,
various degrees of tension and pain in every set of eyes. Andi gave them a soft smile, stooping down to ruffle hair
lightly and press kisses to small round cheeks.
"We're going home now, my lovelies." She told them warmly. "But we'll see each of you again, yeah?"
Brett, standing out in the yard, just stared. That was it? That was how it ended? After all this time... He found his heart
was beating faster than it should. What did he do now? It was the closest to sober he'd been in years and he
suddenly realized - what did he do now? He blinked several times and found his throat unexpectedly tight. Felt an
ache in his chest. He cleared his throat. Looked back at the herd of sheep that called themselves his family all
huddled together on the porch. Pansies. The whole lot of them.
"Where's my beer?" He demanded. Raised his voice. "God damn it, Vanessa, get me a beer!"
Hector felt tired. If he and his father had been in a physical fight in the middle of the lawn, he wouldn't have been this
tired. "Come on, guys." He said as he heard his stepmother coming into the kitchen to get his father another beer. He
also didn't miss the glare, the 'this is all YOUR fault' glare, shot in his direction. He went down into the group of kids as
the movie played in the back ground. "Hey, none of that." He said, seeing the looks on all the kids faces. "It's over. No
more yelling and screaming today, not from me, I promise."
"That's because you're leaving." Josh said. Smart kid, Hector thought.
"Sometimes, knowing when to leave before things get even worse, takes more courage than staying until things get to
that really bad point." Hector said carefully. "But tell you what. This weekend, on Friday, I'll pick you up from school."
"On the bike?"
"On the bike." Hector said and looked at Cassandra, who nodded. "We'll have some guy time, okay?"
"Okay."
"Come on, give me a hug, big man." Hector said and hugged his nephew. He hugged all his nieces and nephews,
kissed his remaining sisters and said his apologies to Dee. "Come on, let's go." He said to Andi.
Andi just nodded. More than ready. She was pretty sure they'd done over and above what could be expected of them.
And... Hector looked so tired. Sounded so tired. She simply slipped her hand back into his and walked with him as
they went out the front door.
Then she slipped an arm around him. In no way slowing their exit down or trying to stop it. Just - being there. When
they reached the bike she simply waited until he'd sat down before sliding on behind him. Wrapping her arms around
him and resting her head against the back of his shoulder.
"I love you." She whispered softly.
"Love you." He said and sighed. "The good news is we shouldn't have to go through this again. I think I just got myself
disinvited from just about everything." He held her arms that were around him for a moment before putting on his
helmet. "Come on, let's see how fast this beast can put some distance between him and me."
He had closed everything down with his father, but surprisingly the closure wasn't there. Just...echoes. Of everything
that Brett had said to him. Over and over in his ears and he could only hope the noise from the bike would drown it
out.
She nodded against him before straightening and pulling on her own helmet. Tucking in close around him again. To
hold him close.
There had been some - vicious things said. Hurtful, hateful things meant to wound and tear. You didn't simply walk
away from that and forget. But for the moment she didn't think he wanted to talk about it. She understood that. And it
was all right with her. As he started the bike she rested her chin across his shoulder. Wanting nothing more than to
hold him and help him find some kind of peace.
"Let's just go." She offered. "As far as the road goes. Just to see. Let's just get lost for now."
"Sounds good to me." He said before he took off onto the street, behaving and not tearing up his sister's lawn as he
had threatened to before when the mood was still good.
He could have sworn, he would swear on it, that out of the corner of his vision he saw his father staring after him as
he rode down the street.
But he was keen to her suggestion, and they rode until it was time for a fill up, down to the coast, right outside New
Orleans, a quieter part on the gulf. He pulled into a gas station.
"You realize, I don't have a change of clothes, right?" He said with a laugh as he unscrewed the gas cap.. "Was this
your way into trapping me into shopping?"
Yes, he was shoving it all back into a forgotten corner of his mind.
She smiled back at him. Sometimes you had to let things sit for a while before you tried to touch them. Right now
Hector didn't need to be reminded. He needed to pretend it hadn't happened. She understood that and it was all right.
Which didn't mean she was going to simply ignore it or let it sit inside him and fester forever either though. She just
knew that, right now, he needed to be clear of it first.
"Well..." she let the word go long and looked over at the blue/green water that could just barely be glimpsed through
the trees. "I didn't exactly remember to bring a swimming suit either." She shot him a look from the corners of her
eyes. Surely there was someone quiet around here. Somewhere private without phones or noise or close neighbors.
Somewhere it could just be the two of them and a chance to forget the rest of the world. Maybe she should ask the
clerk at the counter. Middle of nowhere petrol station might just know of a middle of nowhere place on the water.
"We're either going to have to stop for something" she looked at him with a smile. "Or we're just going to have to do
without."
"No swim suit...I like that idea." He said. "Okay, let me go pay and see what we can find." He said once he was done
filling up the bike. They'd been riding on fumes, barely making it to this gas station. He pulled his wallet out as they
went into the store and handed the man at the counter the money.
"Road trip?" The man asked. They looked like a mismatched pair. The man was in dress clothes, the girl in jeans, and
they were on a motor cycle at dusk.
"Something like that. And just as unplanned." Hector admitted with a chuckle. "Hey, listen, there a nice private place
around here somewhere?"
The man gave the two a once over and smirked to himself. "Three miles down, take a left. Then take the first right,
then the next right, keep going until it gets all gravelly and no longer paved. Tackle and bait shop, rents out fishing
cabins. Thanks to the recent hurricane, fishing ain't been too good, but they might have some place dry. You'll pass a
Wal-Mart on the way if you want to get some clothes and food."
"Thanks."
Andi was chuckling as they got back on the bike. Because... a backwoods fishing cabin sounded just about right. She
wound her arms around Hector again and enjoyed the feel of the road underneath them and the wind whipping by
and the foreign heavy dampness in the air.
They did stop at the Wal-Mart and Andi swung off the bike first. She could have just as easily left him outside and
made a quick run for what they needed. But... she didn't want him to have to be alone. She'd already shed her helmet
and now she curled her fingers around the front of his jacket. Stepping in close to look at him.
"Let me treat." She asked softly. "All of this. And the cabin. Please?" It wasn't a matter of money. Of all things, Andi
actually had a very easy time taking money people gave her. It was the way she'd grown up, everything either
provided by faceless strangers overseas or simply done without. But - she wanted to give him something. A gift. And
the where of it was a part of the how of it to her. She wanted to give him an escape. From everything. Just for a little
while.
He sighed and understood the reasons behind it, her reasons and nodded. "Okay, but remember. Bike. No trunk. Just
your bag and some saddle bags really." He said with a chuckle. "So as much as you hate it, probably the ready made
prepared meals in a box would be good. And tuna fish. I like tuna fish." He said as he put an arm around her
shoulders to lead her into the Wal-Mart.
"Let's see, food, drink, clothes...it's not an isolated forgotten island after all. Quiet and private doesn't mean no
stragglers or real fishermen." He reminded her. "Luckily it’s hot." Which meant the clothes wouldn't be big and bulky.
Andi slipped her arms around his waist and smiled.
"I suppose we'll bow to having to wear clothing then." She teased with a chuckle. She honestly didn't think herself very
impressive without clothes anyway though Hector's opinion on that matter warmed her deep inside and often made
her forget completely that she was lacking lush curves or a proper bust line. "All right then." She agreed as they
strolled into the store proper. "We'll eat macaroni and cheese out of the box and fish out of a can. It will be camping.
With an ice box." She gave him a smile. "Better than the food at the Red Cross camp."
The clothing was actually very easy to pick up. Possibly not Suz standard but that was just fine with Andi. For the food
she teased Hector into picking it out. Not because, despite what she did when given unlimited time, she wasn't familiar
with 'fast food' but because she had no idea about the American versions of it.
"Or the base for that matter. Only time we had really good food was when you either somehow conned it out of the
kitchen staff, or the Deltas went hunting. Problem is here, you're the kitchen staff and I didn't bring any weaponry." He
said with a chuckle as they went into the food aisle and he picked out different types of easy to make, little
preparation needed food. The stuff he more or less lived on at home anyway before he convinced her to come with
him.
He laughed as they waited in the checkout line. "And I just realized...we're completely incommunicado from everyone.
Talk about luck!"
"Well, if I'm the kitchen staff, you'll just have to bribe me instead." She answered him with a grin. Curiously watching
what he picked out and threw into the basket. Despite her preference for 'real' meals, she'd lived at university and
then her Grandda afterward, not to mention practically living out of the emergency room after that. Food in a box was
very familiar. It was a sign of luxury that she was getting to make meals from scratch as often as she did now.
It was a sign of luxury that she was getting away with a great deal lately. For the first time in a very, very long time,
there was actually time enough for everything. And she was very aware of how rare and precious that was.
She handed over her card as the clerk ran their things and looked up at him. "Then I'm glad neither of us keep up
with the times and actually has a cell phone." She smiled. "It would be a shame to have to bury it in the sand." If
anyone deserved a break from everything it was Hector. She intended to spoil him for the next few days. But... they
were his family... She stepped in to him, sliding her arms around his ribs and lifted her face. "But there is a pay phone
outside. If you wanted to call."
"Hmmm." He said, pretending to think about that. "I could call Dee, and she'd probably start to cry. I could call Beth
and then get the royal inquisition for ruining the party in my own little way. I could call Cass, and get a combination of
those. If I called Pete, who knows who'd pick up and if I called Sara, I'd be calling his house, and that's not something I
want to do so...." He kissed her lightly. "They can start putting my face on milk cartons for all I care at this point. I'll let
them calm down a bit before I try that."
He knew how much of a stir he was likely to have caused. He didn't regret it, but he also wasn't going to go out of his
way to stir up the hornet's nest even more. Sometimes, being MIA was a good thing!
She suspected, just given what she'd seen so far, NOT being able to immediately contact Hector and do all of the
above threatened things would probably cork off specific members of his family even more.
And she wasn't sorry about that.
She thought they deserved to be corked off. To think about their brother instead of themselves for a change. She
was still having a hard time letting them go because they'd just stood there and let what had happened with his father
happen. Worse, that apparently, they let it happen every time. Why didn't anyone stop it before it got that far? Or,
knowing it was going to get that far, why did they provide situations where it was bound to happen anyway? She
couldn't exactly say they didn't deserve Hector if they were going to let him be hurt that way. Because they were family
and she knew there were things about it she didn't understand. But she could still think it.
She touched the tip of her nose lightly to his.
"Then let them wait." She agreed softly. Taking her card when the clerk cleared her throat and sliding it into his pants
pocket while she kissed him gently again. "We'll escape for a little while instead."
He grabbed one of the bags with his free hand. "Sounds good. A tactical and strategic retreat is never a bad thing."
He said as he reluctantly released her to start gathering the bags and such. "Peace and quiet. Sounds good to me.
And hey, a beach with no sharks, can't beat that either."
They headed back to the bike where he packed some in the saddle bags and folded the clothes up nice and small to
fit in her backpack. "We just have to be back by Friday."
"For Josh." She agreed as she held the bags while he packed everything away in its place. She'd thought she was
good at packing herself but it was amazing how small and compact he could make everything. Like pieces of a puzzle.
Then she shouldered the pack and slipped on the bike behind him, wrapping her arms around him so that her hands
rested over his chest and the steady beat of his heart.
She rested her chin across his shoulder and pressed a kiss to the edge of his jaw line.
"Now let's just hope we can find this mysterious land of empty fishing shacks."
The cabins actually were quite a way off the 'beaten track' and Andi was starting to wonder if they were just going to
drive until they hit the water. But just as the sun was getting ready to set and it looked like that was exactly what was
going to happen, they turned a corner in the gravel and dirt road and saw a cabin, its lights still on, with a dirt road
that only barely clung to the name winding away behind it. Toward the water. As they swung off the bike the door
opened and a small old man with wispy white hair stepped out onto the porch.