Taivon: Book Three of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Fourteen

The next morning, Taivon woke up in Pearl's and Isaiah's guest bed. The smell of breakfast and the sound of utensils clinking on plates were what caught his attention. That, and the stinging in his eyes – the same feeling he'd had when he'd woken up yesterday, with Pearl and Isaiah around him.

His stomach grumbled just then, reminding him of yesterday when the only thing he'd eaten had been a bowl of chicken soup. That had off set his calorie intake by at least three thousand. He hadn't even ran or lifted his weights yesterday. His meds still lay untouched in their bottles, too.

He tried not to get too stressed over it as he got out of bed and into the kitchen. His entire body felt sore, as if it were covered in bruises, but he ignored it and sat down at the kitchen table where Isaiah was eating a plateful of scrambled eggs.

“Morning, Taiv,” he spoke around a yellow mouthful as he read through the newspaper.

Taivon smiled and looked over to where Pearl stood by the stove. “Mornin'.”

“You feeling any better?” Pearl asked.

“Yeah. A lot better, actually. Thanks for letting me stay. I really needed that.”

“I'll fix you a plate.”

“Thanks.”

Within minutes, a plate full of eggs and bacon was set down in front of him. The bacon and the yolks of the eggs were loaded with fat, but Taivon promised himself he'd just run a few more extra miles this afternoon. He had to go see someone this morning.

Pearl smiled and sat down next to him. “So what do you have planned for today?”

“There's this cafe in Silver Gate, and I wanted to take Alix there. She seems like she likes coffee.”

“Is that her name? Alix?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Is it The Coffee Corner?”

“Yeah. I figure that we can play some board games there or something. I haven't played Tumbling Towers and Blokus in such a long time.”

“Here you go, hon.” Pearl held out three orange bottles to Isaiah.

Taivon watched the practiced and eased movements. Isaiah twisted the child proof cap, shook out each pill into his hand, popped them in his mouth, and then drank the capsules with the water. It reminded him so much of the medication he himself hadn't taken this morning or the previous one.

“I should really be heading back,” he told them.

“Drink your milk first, and then I'll take ya.”

After cleaning up the plate and chugging his milk, he helped Pearl do the dishes, despite her protest. She was so much like his mother, always trying to feed people and always insisting that just because she was old didn't mean she couldn't work.

“Stop by again. Okay, Taiv?” Her short body pulled his into a hug. “You're always welcome.”

“Thank you,” he told her and held her more tightly against himself. Tears formed in his eyes, but he shut them as hard as he could. “I really appreciate it.”

“Any time.” She pulled back and kissed his cheek. “We'll always be here.”

He kissed her back and with one last squeeze, Taivon followed Isaiah into the car. The ride was silent, but that was how it always was. Usually, Taivon appreciated the silence and how it brought him out of contact with the outside world, but now, it began to feel strange.

He felt as if a hand should be holding his or fingers should be tracing patterns on his arm. Alix's “handsiness” was her own form of speaking when he couldn't find the words. Taivon had a feeling that if he knew what to say back, she would be a non-stop talking machine.