Carson Hughes
It wasn't surprising that cars already lined the street by the time I got to Logan's house the next day. His extended family was always early for these events, effectively pissing the hosts off.
There was a chorus of noise and voices coming from the backyard, so I made my way into the house with the hopes of meeting up with Logan in there before having to greet the rest of his family.
The only one in the house was Val, who was in the kitchen still preparing food for her early guests.
"Need any help?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "No, I'm doing this as slowly as possible so I don't have to go out there."
I chuckled, leaning against the counter across from her.
"I don't blame you," I told her.
"They've been here for almost an hour already," Val said with an irritated expression. "And just expected us to be ready for them."
Even I was a little earlier than they told me to be here. It was still about twenty minutes before this thing was actually supposed to start.
Just then, Vinny tiptoed down the stairs, glancing out the window as if he was making sure he wouldn't be seen. He walked over to Val and took food out of the bowl she was preparing.
"Get your hands out of that!" Val exclaimed, swatting his hand away.
"Mom," Vinny hissed in a low tone. "Keep it down. I don't want them knowing I'm here."
"They already know," Val said, placing her hands on her hips. "Your grandmother asked about you as soon as she got here."
Vinny rolled his eyes, taking more food out of the bowl and running away to his room before his mother could swat him again.
"Is Logan outside?" I asked Val, glancing out the window toward the group of people and not seeing my best friend.
"I'm sure he and Dana are trying to hide somewhere," she answered. "I don't blame you if you want to hide out in here."
She picked up two different dishes in each hand, ready to bring them outside. I shook my head at her, grabbing one of the dishes and following her out of the sliding door and into the backyard.
As soon as we made it outside, I could hear the commotion of all the members of the Taylor family speaking at once. Jeff stood in front of the grill, cooking while his mother spoke beside him.
Jeff's three sisters were loud as always, just like their mother. Sometimes it seemed as if Jeff was the only normal one to make it out of this family which was probably why he felt so disconnected from all of them.
"Valerie, you've got Logan's friend doing work," Jeff's sister, Marcy, said when she saw us. "Vincent should be helping you. Where is he?"
Val kept a strained smile on her face, not even bothering to respond to Marcy as we set the dishes down on the table.
"Logan and that girl left a while ago too. Why aren't they helping you?" one of Jeff's other sisters, Carol, added.
I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes at her. That girl was Logan's girlfriend of two years, who he had been friends with for years prior to their relationship. They had all met Dana plenty of times.
"Maybe they got sick of you asking them questions as if you've never met Dana before," Jeff cut in as he walked away from the grill, his mother following him.
"I didn't know they were dating!" Carol defended, earning nods of support from Marcy and the last sister, Ruth.
Jeff didn't even bother answering his sister as he came over to greet me.
"Thanks for coming, Carson," he said. "It's nice to have at least some normal people here."
"No problem," I told him with a small smile. "Mom's sorry she couldn't make it."
"Tell her not to worry about it. She works really hard," Jeff said, patting me on the shoulder. "I have no idea where Logan and Dana went, but I'm sure you'll be able to find them around here somewhere."
I nodded, walking away from the family in search for my two friends. It didn't take me long to find the two of them hiding out in the basement, cuddled together on the couch.
Logan's head turned quickly with a startled look on his face as I opened the basement door. Once he realized it was me, his face softened.
"Thank God it's you," he said with a sigh of relief, relaxing into the couch. "I thought it was gonna be my Aunt Marcy or something."
"You know, she still doesn't know who I am," Dana added as I sat beside her on the couch.
"None of them do apparently," I told her to which she scoffed and shook her head.
"I've been friends with you guys since like sixth grade!" she exclaimed.
"They're purposely ignorant," Logan commented.
We were only sitting in the basement for a little while longer before the rest of our friends showed up, opting for walking through the house to get to us instead of having to walk through the backyard and see the family.
"We miss anything good?" Archie asked, plopping down on the couch beside Logan.
"No, we've been hiding in here," I answered.
"I think we're pushing our luck," Logan added with a sigh. "My dad is going to force us outside eventually."
"I'm okay with that," Isaac said, standing from his seat. "I'm starving and it smells like the food is done. I'll go out there willingly."
"Bring us back some food!" Hadley called after him.
Just as Isaac was about to leave the basement to go outside, Jeff opened the door and poked his head in.
"Come outside," he directed at Logan. "You've hidden in here long enough."
Logan let out a heavy sigh and stood from his spot, the rest of us following him.
"I at least need you out there to distract them from talking about Vinny for a little while," Jeff said to his son in a hushed tone as Logan walked over to him.
"What are they saying?" Logan asked him.
"Same old shit," Jeff replied, turning around to walk back out to the yard.
I went outside with the rest of my friends, following after Jeff. We were immediately being stared at by the family as soon as we were visible, Isaac heading straight to the food without paying them a glance.
"Logan, why would you invite so many people?" his grandmother asked, he hands on her hips. "This is supposed to be a family day."
"We told him to invite his friends, Ma," Jeff interjected before Logan said anything.
All I wanted was to get some food and sit as far away from the family as possible. They all had a way of prying into your life and making you as uncomfortable as possible with no remorse. I wanted no part of it.
I took after Isaac and headed over to the food, leaving Logan to deal with his grandmother's criticisms. Isaac and I sat down as far away from the family as we could once we got our meals, Logan and Dana glaring at us as the grandmother spoke in front of them. Hadley and Archie stood off to the side, seemingly bickering about something.
"What time do you think they'll leave?" Isaac asked me, taking a bite out of his burger.
I shrugged, briefly glancing over at him.
"Not for a while," I replied. "You know how it usually goes."
Isaac hummed in agreement but didn't say anything else.
A motion in the house caught my attention. I squinted my eyes, trying to see through the window. I didn't have to squint for long when Vinny opened the sliding door and Luna came barreling out of the house, running around to everyone to greet them.
Jeff's sisters had looks of discomfort on their faces as Luna sniffed them and ran away.
"Vincent!" his grandmother shouted when she saw him standing in the doorway. She left Logan and Dana, causing them to sprint over to where Isaac and I sat.
The grandmother stood in front of a bored looking Vinny like she was chastising him. I noticed Logan watched the two closely like he was about to get up and join their conversation.
Archie and Hadley joined us a moment later with their plates of food.
"I might have to go back there and save him," Logan said with a groan as he continued watching his brother and grandmother.
"You're going by yourself," Dana added, taking a bite of her food. "We've only been out here for a few minutes and I already need a break from them."
I couldn't help but chuckle at the serious look on Dana's face.
Eventually Jeff made his way over to his son and mother, somehow convincing Vinny to stay outside with everyone. He went over to Luna and started throwing a frisbee for her while the rest of the family continued to mingle.
Eventually, it started getting dark out, the sun beginning to set behind the trees. Jeff gave us all a look that basically said we had to go interact with the family, so that was what we did. We stood around a fire, listening to Jeff's sister Marcy talk about her last minute wedding with her husband earlier in the year.
I leaned up against the porch next to Vinny who looked bored out of his mind. Just as I was about to say something to him, Marcy beat me to it.
"Vincent, do you ever go see your father?" she asked him, taking a sip out of her wine glass.
Vinny raised his eyebrows at her. "I see him right now," he replied, pointing to Jeff on his other side.
"I mean your real father," she clarified as if he didn't know what she was saying.
"Marcy," Jeff snapped, a look of anger on his face.
It was strange to see Jeff angry. I was at the house all the time and I rarely ever saw him look like that. Logan looked uncomfortable as he stood across from me.
"Don't get angry at me, Jeff," Marcy snapped back. "You probably don't let the boy see his father. Lord knows you haven't spoken to Robbie in years."
"I'm his father," Jeff told her.
"I just think if he was with his real family, he wouldn't be like this," Marcy continued, causing Jeff's face to turn beat red.
All I wanted to do was walk away from this uncomfortable conversation, but I felt stuck.
"Come on, Marcy," Vinny started with a chuckle, gaining everyone's attention. "Not you lecturing us about real family when you're on husband number five."
Marcy let out a loud gasp while Jeff boomed with laughter, grasping onto his son's shoulder.
"You're going to let him talk to me like that?" Marcy exclaimed, directing angry eyes at Jeff.
"Yes," he instantly responded with another laugh.
It was surprising to see Vinny look over at his father with a slight smile on his face, chuckling a bit as he did. It was enough to bring on a smile of my own.
"This is why he's like this!" Marcy exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "You let him get away with everything and you don't let Robbie be his father!"
This sobered Jeff up quickly, and again, I felt like I wanted to leave. I looked at the rest of my friends to see that they seemed as shocked as me at Marcy's outburst. Jeff's family was always intrusive and giving unsolicited advice, but to be talking about Vinny this way in front of everyone, and to his face, was too far. And Jeff was about to let her know that.
"Like what?" Jeff spat, causing Vinny to jump a bit and bump into my side.
"Isolating himself from the family, being disrespectful, changing his sexuality..." she listed off.
"Hold up, Marcy," Logan stopped her, holding up his hand. "That's enough."
"And he is almost the same way!" Marcy cut him off.
"You're not going to come here and say shit about my kids, Marcy," Jeff seethed. "You want me to start saying shit about yours? Because I could say a lot."
Vinny chuckled at my side, slowly moving closer to me like he was trying to leave the group unnoticed.
"He's not your kid, Jeff," Marcy pointed out and that was when Jeff started screaming at her and Vinny made it out of the group.
I watched as Vinny walked over to the cooler by one of the tables and take out a couple beers before heading toward an area of trees in the yard.
Logan stood next to his father, looking as if he had no idea what to do with the man currently having a screaming match with his sister. I took the opportunity to sneak away from the group as well and follow Vinny to the trees.
It didn't take me long to find him. He was sitting up against the trunk, sipping on his beer and finishing the can before I even made my way to him.
"You finished that fast," I commented, startling him. He let out a deep breath and set his glare on me.
"What the fuck is up with you and scaring me all the time?" he asked me, shaking his head and cracking open another can.
I chuckled, sitting down beside him. "I don't mean to."
He just let out a grunt in response and began drinking out of the newly opened can.
"Your Aunt Marcy is uh..."
Vinny laughed. "She's a fucking bitch."
"To put it plainly, yeah," I agreed with a laugh of my own.
Vinny just shrugged. "I don't expect anything less when I see her. I will give her props though, she's being particularly entertaining tonight."
I shook my head at him. "That wasn't entertaining, Vinny. It was bullshit."
He shrugged again. "Look, I don't need you to come give me some pep talk or whatever the fuck you're doing right now."
"I just want to make sure you're okay."
Because for some reason that really mattered to me.
He gave me a strange look, his sharp features pinching together as his eyebrows furrowed. He really was handsome, and looking at him under the moonlight made that even more obvious.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Vinny asked.
"Because she said some really messed up stuff," I told him. "Anyone would be upset by that."
"Well, I'm not," he retorted with a sigh. "I don't give a shit what Marcy has to say. She's a dumbass."
I just stared at him silently as he continued drinking out of the can. Part of me wanted to say something about his drinking, but I kept it to myself. Vinny didn't need me lecturing him, and if I did, he would make that very clear.
"Do you ever want to see your dad?" I asked him after we sat in silence for a while, Vinny now being on his third beer.
He let out a humorless laugh, resting his head back on the trunk and turning to look at me.
"I live with my dad. I see him every day," he reminded me.
"Right, yeah, I meant Robbie," I corrected myself, feeling a little embarrassed at my slip up. Vinny had always referred to Jeff as his dad, even when he used to see Robbie when he was younger.
"No," he answered plainly. "I don't know him, never see him, don't care to."
"But don't you ever wonder about him?" I asked, Vinny shaking his head. "I wonder about mine all the time," I admitted, though I didn't know why I did. Especially to him.
"Our situations are different," he said. "Can't really compare them."
He was right, but I couldn't help but want to have some sort of commonality with him. Other than the obvious.
My eyes stayed locked on the side of his face, focusing on his sharp features. I couldn't explain to myself why I was suddenly looking at him differently. His face was etched into a frown and his eyes were glossy from the effects of the alcohol, but under the night sky with the stars over us, he looked beautiful.
Maybe it was the way his rough exterior cracked a little when it was just him and I under the tree, Vinny staring up at the sky while I stared at him. The little bit of himself that he showed me only made me want to know him more.
I didn't know how long Vinny and I sat under the stars but it still didn't seem long enough.
**
Hi everyone! Thanks for reading.
What did you think of the chapter? What about the rest of the Taylor family? What about Carson and Vinny's interactions?
Let me know!