Pt. 15 Stay With Me - Third Wheel

As nice as Brittany was her continued presence at the house drained any sense of enthusiasm William had for visiting Shane.  She was strange to him and he worried about saying or doing the wrong thing.  Any comment he made seemed to be noted but uninteresting to them as they talked and he couldn’t integrate himself to their conversation so he fell quiet an hour after being there.  He was at the end of his patience, slowly taping his shoe against the coffee table leg, ready to leave on an impulse when Shane’s mother Anne entered the room.

“I’m going to be getting the plates for dinner.  Who all is staying?  You’re all welcome.”

William and Shane caught each other’s eyes.

“Sorry Mrs. Farmer,” Brittany said, “I have to get going.  I’ve been here too long actually.  I have homework and things I need to do.”

“Oh, well, how about you William?”

He gulped as Shane stared back at him.  He wanted to say he had to leave but he knew it wasn’t the truth.  He wanted to prove something to Shane, or maybe just anger him but his parents wouldn’t mind him missing dinner, much less driving back home before curfew.  He could tell that Shane wanted him to stick around so he decided to give in to the unspoken request.

“Yeah, if it’s not a problem,” William said.

“The more the merrier,” she said before leaving the room.

Brittany let out a grunt of disappointment before she stood and pulled Shane to his feet then embraced him in a tight hug.  She rocked him on his feet then kissed him on his cheek and stepped back with her hands still on his shoulders.

“You be safe from now on,” she said.  “I don’t want to hear about you getting injured.  We used to play board games together and sneak into your father’s study.”  Her words resinated in William’s chest because he realized it was a connection he didn’t have, could never have.  He bit his lip as he watched her hug him again then push away, collect her things, and walk from the room in a casual manner that made William fear she would bump into something.  She said goodbye to Anne as she passed through the kitchen and then they heard the house door open and close.  William forced a smile.

Shane grunted through his teeth and signaled that they should head for the kitchen.  William got to his feet and walked into the kitchen where he decided to follow Shane’s actions.  He washed his hands at the sink like Shane did then dried them with the same towel, followed him to the dining room where he decided to sit at the chair next to Shane.

“Shane would you go get your father in his study?”

William looked up to Anne and furrowed his eyebrows.  He had not yet met Shane’s father and the sudden idea that he had been there the whole time was perplexing.  He didn’t want to meet him like this.  He didn’t want to meet him, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.  It was going to happen.  Shane got up from the table and began to walk from the room.  William watched him leave then looked to the table that was empty and he remembered he should call his mother.

“Uh, I have to call my mother,” he said.  As he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.  He got up from the table and began to walk from the room as he dialed his home number.  It rang three times.

“Kyle, get in here and set the table,” Anne called down the hallway to Shane’s younger brother.

“Hello,” his mother said.

“Hey mom,” William said.  “I uh, am at a friend’s place and he asked me to stay for dinner.”  His heart sunk because it felt like he was asking permission.  Eighteen, and he was asking for permission.

“Who’s the friend?” she asked.

“Just a friend from school,” he said.  He stepped away farther into the living room and lowered his voice before he said, “I’m at Josh’s.”

“Okay, well, I wish you would have told me sooner.  Though I guess it doesn’t matter much since we’re ordering pizza.  Well, be safe driving home and don’t be out too late.”

“Okay, love you mom,” he said.

“Love you too,” she said.

He hung up the phone and felt guilty about saying where he was but he knew that she knew Shane was the boy that had been beaten up, or at least she knew of him, it wouldn’t take much to know his name.  Then where would they be?  He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back to the dining room.

Kyle had already set out the plates and he had a handful of knives and forks as he walked around setting them down one at a time on the place mats that had been put down under the dishes.  Shane stood against the wall with his hands on his hips.  Anne was busy finishing the food on the stove.  William felt happy for a moment before he saw the large head of a Saint Bernard enter the room then he looked to the archway where he saw a man slightly taller than Shane enter the room.  It was easy to see the familial similarity between the man and his two sons, though he was slightly disheveled looking as if he had just been woken up.

“Oh hey there,” he said.  “I’m Martin.  You must be William.”

Martin crossed the room to where William stood and extended his hand.  William brushed his hand on his jeans to make sure it wasn’t sweaty then shook Martin’s hand as firmly as he could.

“Good grip,” Martin said, “Shane tells us you are a basketball player.”

“I was,” William said.  “Season is over, no more games.”

“Well...” Martin added before he clapped his hands and turned to the table.

“Anything we can do?” he asked.

“Just have a seat,” Anne said.

William moved to the chair where he had been sitting in but was shocked when Kyle moved to the one next to him instead of Shane who shrugged his shoulders and sat across from him.  Martin sat at the head of the table and Anne made quick work to put the food in the center of the table: breaded chicken breast, salad, brussels sprouts, and rice.  William looked at the food and smirked as it was the type of food he usually ate during game season but when it was over he liked to go back to cheese burgers and fries.  He looked to Anne and wondered how she was overweight with this kind of diet but then Martin cleared his throat and bowed his head.

Everyone else bowed their head and William did so politely.  His family wasn’t religious, at least not this religious, enough to pray before dinner, only holidays.  He watched out of the corners of his eyes as they crossed themselves, Martin said the prayer, and then crossed themselves again.  He looked up as everyone else did then waited for someone else to start before he served himself food.

In all of the confusion he hadn’t noticed that Shane didn’t have a plate and he stopped for a moment when Anne spoke up.

“He’ll eat later.  I have to blend his food and he’s embarrassed to eat in front of you.”

“Oh,” William said.  He looked to Shane who was clearly bothered but not going to respond.