Chapter 5.
Raven
The first thing I notice when I turn my sleek black motorcycle into the driveway of the house, is AJ's black Mazda parked there. I walk my bike into the space beside it and turn the loud ignition off, pulling my helmet off my head and allowing my dark hair to cascade down my leather jacket.
When I walk up the steps to the front door and reach for my keys, I startle slightly when it gets thrown open from the inside, a twelve-year-old boy with dark hair and blue eyes standing in the doorway ahead of me.
"He picked us up in a mood," is the greeting my little brother gives me.
"I know, I'm sorry about that." I sigh and push past him inside the house, letting him close the door behind me as I throw my keys into the bowl on a nearby table and place my helmet beside it. "Where's Will?"
"Homework."
True enough, as I walk further into the open plan house, to my left I see Will, my youngest brother, sitting at the dining table doing homework. There are books scattered across the table in front of him and I watch as Mason sits down again to finish his work. The tv is on in the living room just ahead of them, a kid's cartoon show playing on the screen that the boys listen to as background noise while they work.
"Hey, bud," I place a hand on Will's head as I pass him. Unlike the rest of us, his hair is lighter than ours, a mousy brown, but still has our striking blue eyes.
"Hey." He smiles up me and turns to watch me move across to the empty kitchen behind him. I place my bag onto the island and turn back to the boys with a small frown.
"Where's AJ?"
Will suddenly looks at me with wide eyes and turns to Mason, who wears a similar expression. Clearly they had both either forgotten that their eldest brother isn't in the house, or are thinking of an excuse to cover for him.
"Uhm ... "
"Mason," I say lowly, my eyes hardening as I step towards them both.
"He went for a run," Mason sighs, knowing it's best not to lie to me.
"And he left you alone?!" I snap, causing Will to startle in his chair. I glance at him, my eyes softening before I shake my head and turn away, resting my hands against a tall chair at the kitchen island.
"He only left a little while ago," Mason says hurriedly. "He knew you'd be home soon."
I close my eyes and breathe deeply, mentally cursing AJ with every single word I know. He's been all over the place lately, that's not hard to miss, but that doesn't give him reason to leave our little brothers at home by themselves whilst he blows off steam.
After a few moments, I sigh and stand up straight to face the boys. They both watch me carefully, their homework momentarily forgotten.
"Okay." I nod, "You guys hungry? Let's ditch the homework and go to Benny's instead."
"Seriously?" Will's face lights up at the idea, completely disregarding my quick change in attitude, and it makes my heart swell and my temper deflate considerably.
"Yeah," I nod with a small smile. "I've had a long day and I'm seriously craving an Oreo shake right now."
"No way—the peanut butter cups is way better!" Mason argues as he quickly shuts all of his books but leaves them on the table for later.
"But...what about AJ?" Will asks me when he gets off the chair.
"We'll bring him back a burger," I wave off as I retrieve my phone from my bag. "Go put your shoes on. And turn off the tv!"
I type a text to AJ as the boys run out into the hallway, cursing at him for leaving the boys alone and telling him we're going out for dinner, and that I'll bring him something back.
I tap send and shove my phone back into my bag as I grab it off the counter. He may be a complete dick sometimes, but he's still my brother and also a lousy cook, I can't just let him starve—no matter how tempting it may be.
Mason hands me the keys to AJ's car and runs out the door with Will hot on his heels. As they climb into the backseat I lock the front door, hoping that AJ had the sense to take his house keys with him, or else he'll be stuck waiting outside until we get back. To be honest, that would kind of serve him right, not only would he miss out on fresh burgers and shakes, but he'll be sitting outside of his own house like a loser.
The drive to Benny's Burgers is about thirty minutes, and consists of the three of us singing along really loudly and extremely badly to the radio, trying to ease some tension. By the time I pull into the parking lot of the diner it's not even five o'clock, which is rather early for dinner, but knowing my boys, they're hungry.
The bell above the door chimes to alert our entry, and the black and white tiles, red booths and juke box machine, combined with the classic rock music sounding through the speakers, gives the place a retro vibe.
"How's it going, Benny?" I greet the cook behind the counter with a nod. He isn't the Benny that opened this place up about sixty years ago, just a Benny that bought it from the original owner's daughter to keep it running when her father passed away.
"Evenin' Raven," he greets with a warm smile. "Boys."
"Hey Benny!" Will and Mason chime with bright smiles as I quickly scan the diner, my eyes falling onto two guys that first make me frown, then relax and smile.
"We'll be with the guys," I tell Benny who nods at me.
"What guys?" Will frowns as I start to guide them further into the diner and when we get closer to Connor and Jonah, they spot us coming and grin widely at the sight of the boys.
"Munchkins!" Jonah grins and stands out of the booth so that Will and Mason can tackle him back into it with loud laughs.
"Hey, Rem." Connor says to me when I slide in next to him and he leans across to the table to give the boys high-fives. "How you guys doing?"
"I didn't know you guys were coming here," I say to them once everyone has settled down.
"Ditto to you," Jonah ruffles Mason's hair before lounging his arm across the back of the booth.
"Hey, get off!"
"Where's AJ?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." I hand the boys menus to distract them from the conversation, even though they probably already know what they want and will listen in anyway. "I came home to find out he went on a run and left the boys alone."
Connor frowns. "Seriously? That isn't like him."
"I know," I nod, "but that doesn't make me any less mad at him. I bought the boys out as a treat."
"Well, I don't really blame him for acting out." Jonah says. "After who we saw today."
I shake my head with a small sigh as I open up a menu. "Yeah, but let's not talk about it. What are you guys doing here?"
"Just hanging," Connor shrugs. "Talking about this weekend."
"What about it?"
"My dad's going out of town with his new girlfriend," Jonah says. "Something about their anniversary of when they first kissed or whatever, but either way I have the house to myself."
"You're not throwing a party." I say and shake my head at him.
"What?" He genuinely looks disappointed at me. "Why not?"
"Do you not remember the last party we had at your place?"
"No." He shakes his head with a small frown.
"Exactly," I quirk an eyebrow at him as Connor starts laughing.
"Dude, to be fair, she's got a point. You were in a rage that this girl you liked hooked up with someone else, so text the group saying you were going home."
"We found you wandering around your neighbourhood looking for your house, for an hour." I add.
"Okay, fair point. But if you think about it," Jonah raises his eyebrows at the pair of us, "that's on you guys for not paying proper attention to me."
"If only you were that easy to ignore, dude. I would've done so a long time ago."