Porcupines - 5. Chapter 5 "What Kelly Saw"

Chapter 5 – “What Kelly Saw”

“Hey sis!” Chuck said brightly after closing the front door.

Kelli Moran looked up from the kitchen table and grimaced. ‘Oh no,’ she thought. Chuck is going through a manic phase. Her brother has had serious emotional issues for some time and mood swings came with their own telltale patterns. Most of the time, Chuck was in a stable depressed mode. He’d hide in his room, come out rarely and then only to play with his nephew, her son Brandon. At these times he called her “Kelli.” Occasionally, and lately that had been most of the time, he had been very down and he wouldn’t acknowledge her or Brandon at all. These were the times he’d either come in plastered or would sit in his room alone and drink until he passed out. But, those weren’t the worst times.

The worst times were his manic phases scattered throughout his life. In the manic phases, he called her “sis” and would have a wild array of plans for the future. He’d rush around the apartment doing everything and accomplishing nothing. These manic phases usually only lasted a day or so. The manic phase would almost always end in Chuck losing a job, getting completely hysterical, or worse. It was following one of his manic phases he’d taken some pills. Kelli was worried one of these times he’d succeed.

And of course, there were also the ‘scary times,’ as her brother called them. They were the worst.

“How’s it going bro?” she asked nicely.

“Hey Unk,” Brandon, her four year old son piped up.

Chuck tousled Brandon’s wild brown hair and smiled down at him. “It’s going well I think. Got my job back and everything seems fine.”

Kelli practically dropped her spoon into her corn flakes. “Everything’s fine?” she asked.

“Yep. I looked at the schedule and they’ve got me working four ten-hour shifts so I guess they aren’t going to get rid of me after all.” Chuck sat at a chair and took a banana from the bowl. He peeled it and began to eat it slowly. That was another thing Kelli found odd. When Chuck was in a manic phase, he wouldn’t eat. He wolfed down food. Everything was fantastic, great, couldn’t be better. It was a kind of forced high that always led to a steep fall.

Today he seemed, well, almost normal.

“What’ve you got planned today?” Chuck asked in an even tone of voice. Brandon proceeded to tell him about a play date he had that afternoon. Chuck listened and commented appropriately to his nephew. ‘Well, that wasn’t too odd,’ Kelli thought. He usually did have a few words for Brandon. She knew her son helped keep Chuck from going off the deep end more than once.

“Where were you last night?” Kelli asked as casually as she could. She spread jam on a piece of toast and watched Chuck’s reaction.

“I went to a late movie with a friend. It was kinda late so I crashed at his place. Good movie. You’d like it Kel. It was called ‘What Kelly Saw,’ a romantic comedy of sorts. It was worth the eight bucks at least.”

“Who was this friend you went with?” she asked cautiously. Chuck’s friends were bar buddies, not ‘go to movies’ pals.

“Just a friend,” Chuck said taking another measured bite of the banana. “Name’s Dylan. He works at the mall. He’s the guy who got mugged. Wanted to thank me for helping him.”

Kelli stopped eating. “The guy that called here?”

“Yeah. Nice guy. I need more friends,” Chuck said. “I rely on you and Brandon too much. I need to get to know some other people in the Cities.”

“Okaaaaay,” Kelli said waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Was it a date?”

“Kinda. Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“And you’re not madly in love with him and going to spend the rest of your lives together?” Kelli asked pressing the boundaries as much as she could.

“I can’t say it wouldn’t be nice but I wanna take things slow. He’s really nice and everything but I don’t want to ruin it by overthinking it.”

Kelli pushed back her chair. It was almost like the Chuck of the past two years had disappeared and her brother from when they were kids was back. The transformation, seemingly overnight was too good to be true. Either Chuck was in control of his emotions or something else was going on. Kelli hoped, hell she prayed this day would come. His mood swings and the issues that came with them were such a burden. But she loved him and couldn’t just ignore his problems. That was why he lived with her and not alone. The family had made sure he was living with her and not by himself for too long. Not after Dewayne…

“I’m glad to hear that,” she finally said. “So, you’re not ‘in love’ with him?”

“Jeez,” Chuck said with a little grunt. “I’m not that much of a basket case am I?”

“No, of course not. I’m glad to hear you have a new friend,” and she really was. She wanted to meet this Dylan. Oh Gawd, hopefully he is nothing like Him. She blamed that asswipe for making her brother this manic-depressive mess Chuck had been for the last couple of years. The number that guy did on Chuck’s head had been devastating. If she could wring that guy’s neck…

Meanwhile, across town…

Kelly McMahon saw his phone flashing and Dylan’s name came on the screen. He was driving his four year-old daughter to one of her friend’s house and was just parking the car. Kelly picked up the phone and said, “Just a minute. I am dropping Susie off for a birthday party. Can I call you back in a minute?”

“Sure,” Dylan said. “I’m just about to head off to the laundry room. I’ll take my phone with me.”

“Come on sweetie,” Kelly said to his daughter unbuckling her from the car seat. “I’ll grab Amber’s present but you need to carry it in to her.”

“K’ Daddy,” she said and jumped out of the car. He handed her the gaily wrapped gift and led her up to the door. One knock later and Susie ran into the house. Amber’s mother stood at the door and invited Kelly inside.

“I just need to call my brother back. I’ll be back in a minute,” Kelly promised. He turned and hit Dylan’s number on his phone.

“What’s up bro?” Dylan answered. ‘Uh oh,’ thought Kelly. ‘Who is it this time?’

Kelly and Dylan had always been close brothers. For the past year though, Dylan had been especially needy and desperate. Ever since Ron, well, since that terrible day, Dylan had become a little “man mad” as Kelly thought of it. Dylan had taken Ron’s absence very, very hard and he was always calling his brother about his love life. Kelly didn’t mind except he worried Dylan would end up hurt, diseased, or just plain crazy over the parade of guys he’d hooked up with since that day. Kelly cared enough to listen but it was really hard sometimes to watch his brother’s obsession with finding “his type.”

“I’m at Susie’s friend Amber’s birthday party. What’s new with you?” Kelly winced in anticipation of the forthcoming answer to that.

“Not much. Well, something did happen to me,” Dylan began. “I got mugged outside the mall after work two nights ago.”

“You what?” Kelly shouted into the phone. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine. I got a black eye and a couple of bruises but overall I’m fine. I just thought we could get together tonight for dinner. My boss doesn’t want a waiter who looks like he lost a UFC fight so I got a couple nights off.”

Kelly paused, waiting for the guy’s name. For the past year, whenever Dylan proposed having dinner together it was to introduce his newest catch. Usually the guy was a mess or creepy or didn’t even show up, but Dylan dragged Kelly and Susie into his madness anyway. When the name didn’t come within a few seconds, Kelly ventured his question.

“So what’s his name?”

“What’s whose name?” Dylan answered suspiciously. “I just want to get together with my brother and niece for dinner.”

“Oh, sure. That would be great,” Kelly said quickly. Maybe Dylan was getting past his “man mad” phase and onto a new era. Gawd, he hoped so, no he prayed so every night. He just wanted the best for his brother, for him to be happy and not a serial man-whore.

“Why did you assume it was to meet a guy?” Dylan asked, a little hurt leaking into his voice. “I know I’ve introduced you to a couple of guys I’d met but I’m not a psycho.”

“No,” Kelly retreated. “Of course not. Come over and I’ll cook up mom’s pot roast and some mashed potatoes. Susie will love to hear her Uncle Dylan is coming over. Just don’t buy her another dress. She’s got too many already.”

“If I want to dress my beautiful niece up, I’m going to do so,” Dylan said. Obviously Kelly’s distraction worked. “I love seeing her face light up when she does a fashion show for us.”

“I do too but it isn’t necessary,” Kelly said. “Come over at six and we’ll eat at seven o’clock.”

“Sounds good,” Dylan said. “See you later. I’ve got a dress to buy.”

Kelly closed his phone, shaking his head. Boy, he hoped Dylan had moved on. Maybe he’d be more like the Dylan he knew before Ron, well, before that day at least.

Later, that very afternoon…

Kelli and Chuck had just finished watching the movie, “What Kelly Saw” and she hadn’t heard her brother laugh that much since, HIM, grrr, Dewayne. After the movie, Chuck suggested they eat at a restaurant she’d never been to before. Some place in the mall called “Sweet Nora’s.” They went in, were seated and she looked over the menu.

“This looks quite good,” Kelli said to her brother. “Lots of good homey stuff. They’ve got stuffed chicken breast with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. Look at this. They make their own pies from scratch.”

“Yeah,” Chuck said, more animated than she’d seen in a while. “I’ve eaten here a couple of times. Really good pie and the burgers are fantastic.” Their waiter, some cute little blond guy named Isaac, took their order and brought their drinks. Chuck had a beer and Kelli was watching him carefully. Would this signal the beginning of a bender? She hoped not. Chuck took a judicious sip of his Stella. She did the same with her White Russian.

“So, tell me about this guy you met. Is he nice?” she asked as casually as she could. Kelli hoped Chuck’s equilibrium wouldn’t get jolted by getting dumped by some predator.

“Yeah, he’s really nice. He works here actually.”

Kelli looked around wildly. “Is he here now? Point him out.”

“Naw, he’s got a couple of days off because he got mugged. He has quite the black eye and the owner wanted him to heal up before having him wait tables again,” Chuck said tracing some letters in the condensate on his beer glass. “Besides, I’m not ready for him to meet my nosy sister quite yet. Too new.”

“Interesting,” Kelli said looking closely at her brother. “But you brought me here. Why?”

“Good food. Nice ambience. I thought you might like it,” Chuck said grinning at her.

“Did you sleep with him?” Kelli asked him leaning closer. Chuck wasn’t the type to sleep around. She knew he had dated only two guys previously. Chuck had introduced her to them both. He just wasn’t the kind of person who could topple into bed with someone he didn’t know. He had to get comfortable with them first. And of course, there was The Vow…

Chuck smirked and squirmed in his chair for a minute. He didn’t say anything but his grin grew wider.

“You did,” Kelli exclaimed. “You already slept with him didn’t you? But, you don’t…”

“No I don’t. I’m not that kind of guy and then there’s The Vow. We just had a great time at the movies and he asked me up to his apartment and we just played around. It was late so I spent the night. He’s really nice and I like him. He makes me feel, I don’t know, comfortable or something. It’s strange. He makes me feel good.”

“Sex tends to make you feel good,” Kelli chuckled.

“No. Not the playing around. That was fun and all. No. He made me feel good. He made me feel, I don’t know, normal? I’ve been thinking and I guess I make him feel good too and that makes me feel good. I don’t know. That sounds silly I know.”

Kelli carefully weighed her words. “No. That’s not silly. You should want to make someone else feel special. That is what makes a relationship work. That’s why Curt and I parted ways. We didn’t make each other happy. He was only concerned about making himself happy and I was sick of being taken for granted.”

“Yeah,” Chuck nodded. “Makes sense.”

At the same time, back across town…

“Dylan, take a picture of me,” his niece Susie said twirling in her new purple chiffon dress. “Take a picture and put me up on The Facebox.”

“You mean Facebook?” Dylan laughed.

“Yeah, the Facebook. I’m a princess,” his little niece twirled and posed.

“Yes you are,” Dylan said and took a couple more photos with his phone. His brother Kelly was cleaning up the dishes from dinner. They ate till they could have burst and that surprised Kelly. Usually his brother was so worried about his weight he ate like a bird. Tonight, Kelly couldn’t believe Dylan chowed as much as he had. It was a new, well more like the old Dylan, back from wherever he’d been. Now, he was just relaxing and talking with Susie. There was no sense of urgency in him. Dylan wasn’t checking his phone every minute and racing to get out of there. He was content just sitting on the couch talking and laughing. It felt right.

They chatted and played with Susie for a couple of hours. Kelly went into his daughter’s bedroom to clean it up a bit. He tried to get her to go to bed but she wanted to put on just one more dress for her uncle. Kelly agreed and left her to dress up one last time. He returned to the living room and again, surprise, Dylan was still sitting there. He was talking on the phone though.

“Yeah, my niece is playing dress up for us,” Dylan said. Silence for a few moments.

“I’m sure Susie’s going to bed soon. We can, hold on a minute,” Dylan covered the phone and walked to the bathroom. He carefully closed to door after him and Kelly wondered who was on the other end of that call.

“Who was that?” Kelly asked when Dylan came out of the bathroom.

“Just a friend. He wanted to see if we could get together later tonight.”

“Is this a ‘girl’ friend or a ‘boy’ friend?” Kelly asked looking intently at his fingernails.

“It’s a guy friend.” Dylan said no more.

“Are you dating him?” Kelly probed.

“I guess you could say that. I just don’t know. He’s not really my type,” Dylan answered.

Oh no. Here it goes. Well, at least I didn’t have to meet this guy. He’ll be toast before the weekend.

“But, there is something about him,” Dylan said. He sat back on the couch. “I’ve been thinking about it and he reminds me of Ron, a little.”

Kelly was thrown by that. Dylan didn’t speak of Ron. He didn’t mention Ron. He most certainly didn’t say someone reminded him of Ron. What was going on with his brother? Kelly was more curious than ever.

“How does he remind you of Ron?”

“Chuck, that’s his name, makes me smile and when I do he seems so happy. It’s weird. When I’m happy, he’s happy. When I frown, he frowns. But then, Ron did everything he could for me too. Maybe that’s why he reminds me so much of him.” Dylan was starting to tear up. Kelly moved closer to him.

“Bro, it’s okay. You really loved Ron. I’m sorry about how much this hurt you. It’s okay to be sad he’s gone.”

“I miss Ron so much,” Dylan said quietly. “I hurt so much when I think of him. Chuck seems to make that go away. I don’t know. Maybe I’m going crazy.”

“No,” Kelly said with his arm around Dylan’s neck. “I think you just might be healing.”

Dylan thought about that. Maybe he was starting to get over it. He thought he’d already dealt with Ron’s loss but every time he heard his name or saw something that reminded him, his gut hurt. He’d feel like something, someone was missing and he needed to find that piece. It drove him crazy from time to time, but it was starting to get better. Hopefully?

Last night, after he and Chuck played around, he didn’t feel guilt. He always felt bad, like he was cheating on Ron or something. How could he be cheating? But that’s what it felt like.

Then again this morning, he felt fine, normal. He didn’t feel either nuts in love or like he’d betrayed a trust. Dylan just felt warm and comfortable. There wasn’t a need for any specific emotion except fondness as he looked at that happy grin on Chuck’s face.

“Maybe I’m feeling better because it’s been a year,” Dylan said to his brother finally. “It was just so hard not being able to say goodbye.”

“I know. I’m sorry you had to go through that but it sounds like you are feeling better,” Kelly said hopefully carefully gauging Dylan’s reaction.

“I think I am feeling better,” and the two men looked up as Susie came back out of her bedroom in another dress. Dylan playfully took her picture again and put it on his Facebook page. She really was so cute. He wondered if Chuck was on Facebook. He wondered if he should ‘friend’ him.

They’d certainly ‘friended’ last night. The thought of it made Dylan blush but he shook it off.

“Now put on the purple one and I’ll take your picture again,” he said to his niece. Kelly thoughtfully watched his brother. He was different tonight, and in such a good way. He nodded his assent to his eager daughter who happily ran back into her bedroom.