Page 6 of Eclipsed Legacy

I place my hand on his shoulder to show my support and steady myself. “Tha’s pret-ty fucked up, Way, but you know we’re here for you.” My face feels warm, and the effort it takes me to focus on a serious subject makes me wonder if I am as drunk as Ray. Everyone knows he can’t hold his liquor. And I know I can hold mine…Ray also has roughly a hundred pounds on me, so that could be a factor.

Mel clears her throat. “Ricky just texted. He’s on his way.”

Ray grins before rubbing his hands together. “This is gonna get good.”

I take another swig of my beer. So, Ricky’s on his way? This will get interesting, to say the least. He’s Mel's younger brother but is three months older than me. Out of all the grandkids, he and I are the closest in age, and we’ve always competed for Grandma’s attention. Ricky and I used to be close, but we started to drift apart around the time that I first turned. I think he was jealous of the attention I got from Grandma. I stayed at her house so often after that she practically raised me from then on. I was the first of Grandma’s granddaughters to turn, and she was so proud. By the time Ricky turned, nearly two years later, there really wasn’t much excitement around it. Six of the grandsons and two of the granddaughters had already turned. I do like Ricky. He’s fun, masculine not in a chauvinistic kind of way and can be a great support, but he’s also kind of an airhead who can be an asshole. I wonder what he will say about what happened at Grandma’s.

“Oh!” Mel exclaims looking at her phone before excitedly kicking her feet like a small child. “Carlie and Jenette are on their way too!”

For the next twenty minutes, I slow my drinking, so I’m not too wasted before everyone else arrives. If more of us are showing up, it’s bound to get crazy, even if it is a Monday. Mel and Ray proceed to discuss old pastimes, most of which precede me. Mel may be one of my closest friends, but it is easy for me to forget sometimes that she is four years older than me. The family is huge, and it is difficult for people outside of the family to keep track of who belongs to whom, so there are plenty of stories for them to reminisce about.

Mel orders us three shots of Jack Daniels, but Ray shakes his head. “I’ve got work tomorrow. Need to slow down.”

Mel rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, but you told me earlier that it’s a teacher workday. The kids won’t even be there, so what’s the harm?”

Ray narrows his eyes jokingly. “You got me out here. Don’t push it.”

“Fair enough.”

The three shots come anyway. I take one, feeling the burn as the whiskey mixes with the other contents of my stomach. Blinking, I steady myself, only now realizing how wobbly I am. I thought I had slowed down enough. Apparently not. Mel, who has already taken her shot and Ray’s, orders another round. It’s been a while since Mel has loosened up this much, so I am happy she’s allowing herself to enjoy this.

“Hey, hey, hey!” We turn to see Ricky making his grand entrance, Jenette and Carlie filing in behind him. He grabs Mel pulling her into his barreled chest in an aggressive bear hug. “How ya’ doin’, sis?”

“Alright!” she smiles, flushed from the alcohol as she blinks his strawberry blond beard out of her eyes.

He hugs me next in a quick and awkward side hug before turning to Ray and greeting him with a hand slap that turns into a macho bro hug.

Jennette pulls two stools over, so she and Carlie can sit closer to me and Mel.

“Hi!” Carlie says, briefly holding up a hand. She’s dressed as if she’s going to the club. Her chestnut hair is straightened, and it looks like she spent over an hour picking out her outfit. Heels, tight dress, and a full face of make-up, completely overdressed for a place like Chris’s, where everyone wears jeans. She only turned twenty-one two weeks ago, so I decide not to give her too much shit. Of course, she’d think everyone dresses up for the bar.

It doesn’t take long before we’re laughing and carrying on. Even shy Carlie joins in.

“and that’s how my homecoming dress got shredded. After that, I listened to Lizzy.”

We laugh, Mel a little too long. Although Mel and Jennette aren’t wolves, they’ve seen us she-wolves ruin a favorite pair of whatever more than once.

Ricky tsks. “Lizzy doesn’t know shit.”

We all turn.

“What’s your problem with Lizzy?” Mel drunkenly asks what we’re all thinking. Lizzy’s a bit high strung, a perfectionist, but she’s also kind and nurturing. She worries about all of us, even those like Mel who are older than she is.

Ricky shrugs and says a little quieter, “I just don’t think she’s got much experience to be givin’ advice.”

No one says anything, and an awkward silence begins to fall on our group as other barflies make banter around us.

I nod before sipping my latest beer, which I don’t recall ordering. “You could be right,” I say and nod more enthusiastically than necessary, which I realize as I am doing it. “But, seeing how she’s been a wolf a bit longer than you, I don’t think you have much room to talk.”

Mel’s jaw drops, and she giggles before covering her mouth and running to the bathroom.

Ricky sets his mouth in a hard line and glares at me. I meet his stare head on, unwavering as I take another sip of my beer. He can be a dick all he wants; he’s entitled to that. But he’s not entitled to say whatever he wants without being called out on his bullshit.

He loudly exhales before looking off into the distance. “Tha’s fair,” he says, nodding back. That seems to be enough to break the tension, and within a few minutes, our group is shooting the shit and carrying on again. Jennette leaves to check on Mel, who has been gone for a few minutes. I should check on her too. She is my best friend, but I know once I stand the alcohol’ll hit me harder than the Baltimore Orioles get screwed every year.

“I’m probably going to need to leave soon,” Ray says. “It’s nearly ten.”

“Need a ride?” I say immediately. Should I be worried about the time? It really did get away from me. When did Ray stop drinking? He looks almost…sober.