“You don’t know shit about a party anymore. Man, you’re supposed to be our front man. A real front man doesn’t let himself get pussy whipped.”

I’d had enough. I pushed him. “Get the fuck out of here. I’m done with your shit tonight.”

I walked away. At least I tried to, but he had other plans. I didn’t see his fist coming, but it was hard against the back of my head. The oil-covered concrete garage floor dug into my cheek. My ears rang and the world around me shifted for a few seconds. I blinked rapidly and gathered my wits. Once I realized what happened, I was up and on top of him. I’d had enough of Reynolds’s shit.

He blocked and fought back hard. Punches were thrown and words were said. The drums sounded and the cymbals clanged as we tumbled into them, knocking them everywhere.

Once I had him on his back, I continued to hit him. I told myself to stop, but I was so pissed and disoriented from his initial hit that I no longer cared.

Hard fingers dug into my arms and pulled me back. Instead of continuing to fight, I stopped once I saw that Reynolds wasn’t coming back for me.

“Woah! Chill the fuck out, Finn! What happened, man?” I heard Tiny say from behind me.

He was young, but he had a grip on him.

I wiped the blood from my lip and cheek as I tried to catch my breath.

“He started the shit. I’m getting about sick of him getting all fucked up on coke and acting crazy.” I shook Tiny’s hands from my arms and turned to see Kevin and Amanda staring at me from across the garage. “Get him the fuck out of here until he sobers up,” I said to Kevin.

I sat on the couch pressing a cold beer to my lip and watched as Tiny and Kevin helped Reynolds up and dragged him to Kevin’s car. No way would he even remember the fight the next day, but I was done. I fully planned on sitting his ass down and having a long talk with him about his drug problem. If we were serious about Original Malice, then we needed our heads in the right place. Being fucked up all the time wasn’t going to cut it.

Kevin came back in once everyone was settled into the car.

“He’s getting worse,” he said as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

“I know. We’ll go over tomorrow and try to talk some sense into him.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. You’re different, too, you know?” he said as he exhaled smoke through his nose.

I hadn’t expected Kevin to say that. I looked up at him and nodded my head. I knew I was different and that wasn’t a bad thing. “I know.”

“I’ve known you for a long time, Finn. You’re like my brother, man, and since you got Faith, you seem a lot happier. I’m glad to see that. You deserve it.” He stepped over toward me and grabbed my shoulder. “She’s a nice girl. Be good to her.”

Kevin and I weren’t big on heart to heart talks, so I nodded my head, acknowledging what he was saying. “I will. Thanks, man. Be safe getting his crazy ass home. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”

We brought it in for a hug and smacked each other on the back. He really was like my brother and no matter what, he always had my back. I couldn’t have asked for a better sidekick.

After they left, I went inside, got a shower, and crashed. My face hurt like a bitch, and a tiny bit of guilt for kicking Reynolds’s ass was starting to seep in. Needless to say, I slept for shit. It wasn’t long before I heard my mom screaming my name and pounding on my door.

I woke up disoriented and reaching for anything in the darkness. In a panic, I jumped out of my bed and tripped over my shoes. After stubbing my knee on a few things and almost falling and breaking my neck, I managed to make it across my room in the dark.

I swung the door open and flipped on the light at the same time. When I did, my mom fell into my arms crying. I held her close to my bare chest. Her tears dripped from her chin and streamed down my torso. She was saying something over and over again, but it was muffled. I leaned back and looked down at her.

“What is it?” Fear gripped my heart. I’d only ever seen my mom like this once before and it was when Mr. Charles, her husband, had died.

My thoughts went straight to Faith. Panic set in until I remembered Mom didn’t know Faith.

“Oh, thank God you’re here. I thought you were gone. I thought you were with them and I’d lost you.” Her words weren’t making any sense and with her crying so hard, I could barely understand what she was saying.

“I’m here, Mom. What’s going on? Did you have a nightmare or something?”

I held her up and she continued to bawl. “Jimmy, I’m so sorry. God, Jimmy, I’m so sorry, baby,” she said over and over again.