Chapter 6

The dishwasher was humming softly while Nix stood by Kelly at the counter, putting up the dinner left overs as Ade wiped down the table. The girls were upstairs, squabbling over who was getting their bath first. Kelly smiled at their voices.

“You take forever, Jade!” Jenn complained. “Let me go first, I won’t take forever!”

“No way, sprout, you’ll fart in the tub and then I’ll have to bathe after your homemade bubbles. Go to mom’s room!”

“Jade, it’s my bathroom, too! I want to go first for once!”

“Nope! I was here first, and as the firstborn child, being the most loved and cherished,” Jade called those words loudly, knowing their voices were carrying, “I get to take a bath first and if I want to take three hours, I will!” There was the faint sound of a door slamming as Jade effectively ended the conversation. Ade chuckled as he caught crumbs in his palm, and then dumped them in the trashcan.

“I don’t care what you say, that sure is music to my ears,” he said.

“But they’re arguing, honey,” Kelly said as she handed Nix the last container to put away.

“They complainin’ for sure,” Ade agreed. “But they talkin’, that good. Not serious fightin’ or nothin’, just being sisters.”

“Like us,” Nix smirked.

Ade chuckled as he sat down at the head of the table. “All right, we all gonna have a long talk. Where Jay-boid at?”

“In his room with his cars,” Kelly said.

“Good, good.” Ade patted the tabletop and his wife and brother joined him. “We all gonna talk, not fuss an’ complain’ like them girls upstairs.”

“Sure, Ade,” Nix said as he sat down. He was waiting for this to come. The family meeting. Ade wanted to get some things straight, and he knew Kelly did as well. It was for the best and if it was constructive, and then it would be well worth any chiding he may take for his drug use he owned up to after they got home two nights ago.

“First, Nikki, I wanna tell you how good it is to lay eyes on that pretty mug of yours,” Ade said. “Sure is nice, but sure do hate to see you gettin’ all that ink. You gettin’ a little crazy with it. Keep it up and you’ll be hittin’ one of them old school freak shows.”

“I won’t,” Nix promised. “And what’s on my head can be covered if I grow my hair out.” He smoothed his hands along the stubble next to his mohawk.

“What about the rest of it?”

“I wear clothes, don’t I?”

“You wear them tank tops and people see that crissy-cross running all up you side!”

“It’s a tribal pattern,” Nix corrected him. “And this from a man who wears a tie with his overalls if he wants to dress fancy.” He leaned forward as he wagged his finger at Ade. “This from the man with the air brushed boobs on the front of his t-shirt that he wore to the grocery store. You were walking around with a straight face while people around you would stop and stare in shock.”

Kelly put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. When Ade cocked a brow at her, she let go and let it out. “Honey, it’s true! You had grown men following after you just to get a glance at the front of your shirt! And that little old lady! I didn’t know someone that age and that tiny could suck in that much air when she gasped in shock!” she exclaimed. Soon, the table erupted into a short round of laughter. Ade sighed; it felt good to him, felt good to laugh with his loved ones.

“Okay, first things first,” Ade addressed his brother when their laughter died down. “The drugs are gone. You’re done with ‘em, you won’t be bringing them into my house and if I find any here, you better pray you can run faster than I can, because I’m going to plow you so hard into the ground, you’ll be spittin’ out chunks of the basement floor, am I clear?”

“Crystal,” Nix agreed as he lowered his head and spread his fingers out in submission. “Absolutely.”

Kelly was quiet for a long moment, and then reached over and gently placed her hand over Nix’s wrist. “We started out on a very bad foot,” she said. “I know you feel like I took your brother away from you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“To be honest… yeah, you did steal him away,” Nix said as he lifted his shoulders in a prolonged shrug. He ground his jaw suddenly when he felt a pair of hands rest on them from behind, and then knew which entity it was when a long blond lock of hair fell down and pooled on the table.

“That’s not it at all,” Kelly said. “You know that I was in foster care most of my life, I’ve never had a real family of my own until I was adopted at fourteen. I was excited to finally be able to call someone my brother, but I never for the life of me understood why you hated me so much.”

Nix forced himself to take slow, deep breaths as the hands wandered from his shoulders to gently trail slender fingers along the side of his neck. “It wasn’t hate, it was jealousy, Ade and I used to spend a lot of time…” his voice broke as if he had just hit puberty as the fingers dancing along his skin suddenly trailed along his jawline. He shrugged his shoulders in an effort to dislodge the annoying ghost and continued on after clearing his throat. “We used to spend almost all of our time together, but as soon as he met you, he didn’t want to be with me anymore. Now, all of a sudden, he wanted to be with you. And you didn’t realize…” the hands went back to his shoulders, giving them a soft squeeze, which caused Nix to shift in place. He cleared his throat and continued. “That you were coming in between us.”

“All this time,” Kelly said gently. “We could have been a family. It was your choices, Nick, that made your life what they were. Not mine. Don’t you think that Ade deserved some kind of happiness? I would have accepted you if you had given me the chance.” She paused. “I even forgive you for that bottle of whiskey and condolence card you sent Jade when she was born, apologizing for her mother…”

As soon as Nix opened his mouth for a rebuttal, Billy’s voice whispered in his ear. “Sometimes it’s best to just listen and not argue.” Nix narrowed his eyes and growled, and then covered it up by clearing his throat.

"Nick, I want us to be a family. It may be late, but it’s better than nothing," Kelly said. "We've all changed over the years, for the better I’m hoping for all of us. We're all parents now, and that's helped mold us. Let's let our kids have a chance to grow up together."

“Which swings us around to influence,” Ade said. “Jade sure do look up to you, and I’m worried about how you comin’ off in front of her. She already dressin’ like you were when you were her age.”

"She does?" Nix asked, a little surprised by that. He was as close to his nieces as he could be with over a thousand miles between them, but didn’t realize that she thought that highly of him.

“Yeah, she does,” Ade said. “She also starting to chase older men. One of the reasons why we move so far away from town.”

"I'm gathering that things are trying to get a little out of hand?" Nix asked as he succumbed to his restless habit of looking for his smokes. "How bad is it getting?"

“I caught one boy… excuse me, young man, trying to climb through her window. Ade put him in the hospital,” Kelly answered quietly. “This was last year.”

“Put that guy in traction, I bet he still sprinkles his left shoe when he pees, too!” Ade laughed.

“I think it would have bothered me more, but she was just as shocked as we were,” Kelly continued. “He was one of the men she’d been hanging around with after school, and one night, he got drunk and decided that he would come on up and see her some time. She was fourteen years old! What are those men thinking?” Kelly exclaimed.

"Yeah... that's not good," Nix agreed, feeling Billy squeeze his shoulders gently. "Now I see why you packed up and moved so far out into the middle of nowhere. Have any of her suitors shown their faces here yet?"

“Well, we aren’t too sure. Sometimes a car will drive by real slow, but will usually speed up and head off.”

“Those are the ones looking for me,” Billy whispered in Nix’s ear. He chuckled deeply.

“But we don’t want to take any chances. I just want to protect my daughter,” Kelly said.

“Baby girl don’t need to end up with a little baby of her own,” Ade agreed.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. She's too young to have a kid," Nix said. "That’s why you want me to stay here?"

“No, Nikki, you know why I want you here,” Ade said gently. “You know I love you and I sure do miss you something fierce. But, at the same time, you know work done go and pull me away from my girls an awful lot of the time.”

"Yeah,” Nix agreed.

"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done on this old place. It's got some good bones, but needs some good work; Someone to give it some much needed TLC by hand, treat it like it should be treated. If that could be you, that would be perfect, that way, I always have a part of you in this house. Our kids can get to know each other too, and we can be a real family again for the first time since we boys. And I'll know that you and my girls and Jayce are safe."

“The girls need their father, but he can’t always be here,” Kelly agreed. “So in Ade’s absence, they’ll need a father figure. Can you fill those shoes, Nick?”

"I don’t know." Nix said honestly. "I can’t take care of myself some days, playing dad could be even harder."

“Well,” Ade’s tone grew stern, “I reckon it’s about time you learned, Nikki-boy. Way past time you learn.”

“And just think,” Billy’s voice cooed softly into Nix’s ear as he tugged on the thick braid of the mohawk tail. “You’ll have all the help you can shake your fist at.”

"Yeah, I know," Nix muttered softly. "It’s just right now... nothing seems right, or easy, or how it should be." He rubbed his hand over the top of his Mohawk, and then gripped his braid and shook it loose from the ghostly fingers.

“It never seems to feel that way when you’re on the right path,” Kelly said gently. “You’re not alone anymore.”

"Yeah boo. I know you’re hurting deep inside over the loss of someone you thought of as a brother, but you got a real brother, and a real family here, too. I know you fell off the wagon, and I know that had to be a hard fall for you. You been doing so good over the years, it pains me to hear that. But we're here to catch you. You don’t need that junk clouding up your head, having you talk to people that aren’t there, and shooting off guns at shadows."

Billy draped his long arms over Nix’s shoulders and leaned down so they could make eye contact. “You heard the man, don’t shoot at us.”

Nix fought not to laugh, or grin at Billy's words.

"Beside, you think my woman is going to let you take off with that baby, now that she's got him in her nest?"

“That’s right,” Kelly said. “Like it or not, Nick, you’re home now.”

“You’re home, now,” Billy murmured, and then leaned up. He clapped his hands on Nix’s shoulders, where he gave them a firm squeeze.

"Yeah, I guess so," Nix said with a grin.

"While you’re getting everything fixed up and getting settled in, we’ll keep Jayce in the big house, since the cottage is so small. Plus, you can do whatever it is you need to do out there without worryin’ about him being underfoot,” Ade said. “But I still want you to spend time with him, and he needs to cut down on his smoking. All his clothes reek of it. How much is he smoking?”

"I’m trying to get him to switch to menthol, but he's down to less than a pack a day." Nix chuckled. “Honestly, though, I only smoked around him on the trip home. Maybe I should switch him to chewing tobacco?”

“Okay, now that is just wrong,” Kelly said as she got up to fix a pot of coffee. When she reached the counter, her brow furrowed with confusion. “Where in the world did this come from?” she asked, and then turned around to face the table, the boar bristle brush in her hand. She lifted a brow as Nix shrank down in his chair.

*****

Kevin was twenty-seven years old with an eight-year-old son and a string of girls he had “hit and quit” since his sophomore year in high school. The fact that Jade was fifteen didn't concern him; after all, she would be sixteen in October. He liked her and she liked him, and to his reasoning, that was enough. He wasn’t sure whether or not her father was home, and besides, what could her parents do? Call the cops? Over what? Nothing physical had gone on between them and all they ever did was hang out, drink and chat. No one could prove that he gave Jade liquor and the occasional joint while he tried to get her to relax enough around him so he could put his moves on her. He was just doing what he deemed necessary so she would eventually let him into her pants, which so far, was a big fat bust.

He hated the fact that her mother had moved them over an hour away. It made pursuing her to get what he wanted that much harder. It really pissed him off because she kept changing their home phone number and finally cut it off altogether in favor of cell phones, to which she had extremely tight control over. "Old bat," he grumbled and then took a swig of Beam as he drove on into the night. He had finally gotten the address through a friend of Jade's and was on his way to see her. Maybe she would be so grateful that he went so far out of his way to see her that she would finally give up her virginity to him. Then, he would be off to find another girl.

Aldana road wasn’t easy to find during the day, but during the dark of night, it was nearly impossible to pinpoint unless you knew where to look. The old highway rose slightly on a hilltop and just as it was cresting down, the subtle turn off revealed itself on the left. Kevin slowed down, made a wide turn in the middle of the two lane and soon he was barreling down the narrow country road at better than fifty miles an hour. He had a small baggie of weed to offer her and a case of cheap beer. Jade didn't typically drink the cheap stuff, but he was broke because the court had forced him to pay child support for the eight year old. Hopefully, Jade got his coded text and would be waiting for him. If she did, she'd meet him at the end of the drive.

Kevin slowed down when he had traveled nearly four miles. The old house would be on the right and he felt the nervous fingers of dread travel along his spine. Before he dropped out of high school, he and his buddies would come up this very road at night, trying to dare one another to go into the old house. In fact, the last time Kevin had been on that very road was to drive past the old haunted house during Halloween for a cheap thrill. His companions had been too cowardly to go in, so they decided instead to go down a bit further past the house, to the old bridge and get stoned. He thought it was fate that she would end up living there, after all, he knew where it was. He had cussed Jade’s friend in laughter, telling her she was lying to him, there was just no possible way Jade could be in the old haunted house, but it was true.

As he approached the hill, he could make out a darker form in the moonlit night, standing by one of the trees that lined the drive. It seemed as if the silhouette couldn't decide whether to step out or not, as if it wasn’t exactly sure if the car that was coming up was the one they were waiting for. He eased off the accelerator and pulled up, cutting his lights.

“Hey!” Jade said breathlessly as she opened the door and hopped in. She shut it quickly to kill the interior light. Kevin leaned over and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, and then leaned back quickly. “Girl, you lookin' good!” He said as he patted her upper thigh warmly before putting the car in gear and turning left, into the old worn out driveway that used to go to Gregg's house.

“Where are you going?” Jade asked with a frown.

“There's an old house in the trees.” He said. “I figure that would give us some privacy. I brought some beer.”

“Great! I haven't had a drink since we moved and Mom grounded me from going out!”

“Hey, baby, don't I always take care of you?”

Jade smiled softly, her face illuminated by the moonlight and the dashboard instruments. “Yeah, you do,” She said. The car bumped and rolled through tall weeds that had over grown the gravel years ago, and they went as far as they could until trees took over. Kevin cut the engine, and then got out. “I got a blanket.”

“Why?”

“You know.”

“So we can have somewhere clean to sit while we drink?”

He paused after he got out of the car, wondering if tonight was going to be a repeat of previous dates, where he spent too much time begging for more than a kiss, only to be put on the back burner. However, a girl like Jade didn’t come along every day, so he felt his efforts were worth it. “Sure,” he said. “I got us a dime of weed, too.”

“Bring it on!” Jade cheered quietly as she got out and shut the door. The metallic thump echoed in the trees and she paused, looking around to see if anyone would shout, cry out, or magically appear next to them due to the out of place noise. When she realized the coast was clear, she moved around the front of the car to join Kevin.

Gregg was on his side in the ethereal world, sitting in the living room by the fireplace. He had curled up in a comfortable chair he had pulled in with him after the last people to live in his house had moved away. He was lost in a book, one he had quietly borrowed from Kelly, when the sound of the car door brought him to the here and now. Unfolding his legs from beneath him, he set the book aside and rose, walking to the window and peering out. His brow furrowed as he watched the two figures ducking their way through the thick underbrush to come uninvited and unwelcomed into his home.

On the physical side, the door they opened was warped; the glass broken and hinges stubborn, but inside, he watched his pristine oak door swing open into the living room. While he was on his side, to Gregg, the living were the ghosts, spirits of the living haunting his quaint little home. Unlike the living, however, he had no fear of them. He stood with his hands on his hips, watching as the man, the much older man, spread a blanket by the fireplace and take Jade's hand, helping her to sit down. She smiled up to him and then the man left the house, leaving her alone. Gregg shook his head, and then moved past her as he slipped into her world.

“Billy!”

Billy paused on his patrol of the backyard and turned his face to the faint sound of his name. He was just getting ready to head down to the creek that bordered his property at the very back. “Over here!” He answered. Gregg never called his name with such alarm unless there was good reason. He levitated a few inches off the ground and glided along the side of the house to meet his friend.

“Jade is in my house with a strange man. A man, not a kid.”

Billy gave a brief shrug. “Alright, we’ll just send her back home. What time is it?”

Gregg pulled out his antique pocket watch. Two decades ago, he had scrounged through the decaying remains of the old train depot, one that still ran on their side, and rescued the watch from a metal locker lying in a pile of debris. Seeing the opportunity for boredom to be alleviated, he took it home with him, and over time, gathered up the components he needed to restore it. It was his pride and joy. His thumb toggled the button on the top and the cover popped open to expose the face. “A little after one.” he said.

“Sneaky, sneaky girl.” Billy frowned, thinking about what to do. “Okay, we have a few options. We can go over there, shake things up and send them running. She'll come home and her mother will be none the wiser. We can get her mother's attention, and she'll realize Jade is gone, but how do we draw her mother to your house to catch her in the act?” Billy folded his arms across his chest. “Or, we can let Uncle Nikki come to the rescue, and whether or not he tells her mom, that's up to him.”

“Plan C,” Gregg said quickly. “But we have to hurry, he's got drugs and booze.”

“Stupid girl,” Billy snarled as they turned to head to the servants quarters. “Stupid… stupid girl. I hope Nix doesn't sit down between them and ask to pass the joint.”

When Nix's front door suddenly exploded open, he rolled out of his chair as if he were being shot at. With great speed, he crawled over the floor on his elbows and knees until he got to the kitchen, where he sprang up suddenly from behind the island holding a large butchers knife. There was no fear coming off him, however, as Billy stood in the door. Nix's eyes were hard, nearly wild with anger as he wielded the knife at the intrusive apparition.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Nix asked, relaxing when he saw who it was. Then he realized he was holding a knife, and dropped it onto the marble counter top.

“You've got to go across the road and protect your niece.” It took the words a few seconds to sink in. “My niece? Which one?”

“Jade,” Gregg spoke up from behind him. Nix wheeled around, his arm involuntarily sweeping the counter and brushing the knife to the floor. When the tip embedded into the old wood floor, Billy hissed and came forward, the door slamming with a crisp bang behind him.

"Piss off, Billy," Nix groused before he could be lectured on any damage that could have been done to the wood, and he meant it. “I’m still pretty mad about that stunt you pulled tonight on me in front of Ade and Kelly! You know how that could have looked on me? I almost burst out laughing at your antics and that would have had them thinking I’m either losing my mind, or back on drugs. Or drunk!”

“So you don’t have a decent sense of humor,” Billy frowned. “Excuse me while I go lie down and die.” He walked towards Nix, his fists jutted against his hips. “We’re not here to talk about you, your niece is getting up to mischief.”

"What kind of mischief is she getting into?" Nix asked, keeping an eye on the blond.

“She’s across the road, in Gregg’s house, with some guy who brought booze and drugs. That kind of mischief,” Billy was quickly losing patience at having to repeat himself.

“Why should I believe you?” Nix's cut his eyes to the side where he heard the gentle voice speak.

“Please, you've got to do something. Now. Before he does something that will impact your family for the rest of your lives,” Gregg answered in a soft, yet urgent tone.

“If you're lying to me...” Nix said. He slowly made his way to the door, all the while giving the room a mistrustful expression. Well, it wouldn't hurt to have a little look. He wasn't scared of the dark. Besides, Gregg had never done anything to cause Nix any sort of embarrassment. “There better not be someone in that house waiting to shoot the first trespasser who crosses into their yard,” he snapped, but there was no answer. Gregg had already left to stand outside with Billy, who was standing with his back against the big oak tree, waiting to see what was going to happen. When Nix opened the door to his home and stepped out, they watched him in rapt silence.

“He'll see,” Gregg said softly as Billy rose up to his full height when Nix continued to hold eye contact with him. “Do you think we should follow?” Gregg asked.

“Yeah,” Billy said. “I want to see this.”

“Me too.”

Nix always carried a small sjambok clipped to his belt. Being a con, he couldn’t legally carry a gun on his person, and being a father, he felt a gun was best left out of fate’s temptation with Jayce in the house. It wasn't the smallest model produced, but it was authentic, made out of hippo hide and was almost the length of his leg. The handle was wrapped in rawhide and the clip was easy to fumble off his belt loop should he need it in an emergency. He didn't like the thought of barging down there with a gun, anyway, which was something Ade would likely do. Taking a gun into an unknown situation almost always ended up as front-page news the next day and if Jade really was in the house, he was taking no chance at all with her safety. Using the moonlight to guide him down the driveway, he quietly crossed the road once he reached it, and then immediately spotted the signs that a car had indeed pulled up through the tall grass.

“Damn,” he murmured quietly. “Guess they were right.” A flicker of movement further down the old path and he watched as Gregg manifested, turn his back to him and float through the overgrown weeds, heading deeper into the dense growth of trees towards the house who's roof could barely be spotted from the road. Nix took in a deep breath, put his hand on the hilt of the sjambok and followed after the faint glow of the apparition. He didn't hear the tall blond as he moved behind him, but he could feel him. He took a quick moment to feel the gratitude to know that at least they had his back. As he drew closer to the house, he could see eerie light in one of the old broken windows. He paused, head canted for the slightest sound, and then Jade laughed.

Gregg appeared on the porch as if he were a slide show picture suddenly switched on a screen. Nix felt his chest tighten in an adrenaline-fueled cramp, but the solemn expression heralded no ill will or intent. The young apparition turned his face to the window, and then pointed. Nix paused again, thinking of how to go about this situation. It would be better to draw them out, but he began to walk. He had to see what was going on in the house first. How late was he to this party? Creeping as quietly as he could through the underbrush, he realized that he didn't have to be that careful. As soon as he peered into the window, he realized that Kevin was leaning over Jade, who was holding a smoldering blunt. He watched as she blew smoke into his face.

“Hurry,” a soft voice whispered in his ear, causing him to jump. Nix backed away from the window, and then headed back to the car he had passed at the tree line. When he reached in through the open window, he gave the horn a tap and waited. When no one came out a few moments later, he tapped it again, louder this time. That gave him the result he wanted, as well as the mindset of the man Jade was with. The man seemed more worried about his car (and himself) than he was of the girl of whose life he was trying so desperately to ruin.

Kevin blundered through the thick trees cursing loudly. “Better not be no punk messing with my car!” He shouted.

Nix smirked as he leaned against the door, his arms folded against his chest, the unclipped sjambok leaning against the door behind him. When Kevin made out the form, he staggered in place, and then grew angry. “Get off my car before I kill you!” He shouted. Nix smirked again as he reached in and brazenly tapped the horn once more. Kevin's rage grew as he lurched forward. “I told you to get off my car!”

“I wouldn't come any closer,” Nix warned. “You'll regret it.”

“No, you’ll regret it when I stomp you into the mud!” Kevin yelled as he surged forward, his arm lifted and ready to strike. The stranger standing against his precious heap swung his arm out, and then put it back across his chest. It looked like he was holding something thin, like a switch, but the pain that began to blossom across his stomach felt as if it could have been a sword in his hand. Kevin's eyes grew wide, suddenly sure that he had indeed been sliced nearly in two, perhaps by a Katana. He let out a scream and covered his stomach with both hands as images of his intestines pouring out onto the ground flooded his mind. He began to gibber as he hit his knees, sure he had just been eviscerated horizontally.

“I believe you have something of mine,” Nix said. “That girl in there?”

Kevin, his miserable and tear soaked face lifted to Nix, began to cry pitifully. He reached one hand out to Nix for help, and then quickly pressed it back to his belly, lest any organ try to escape.

“Oh grow up,” Nix snarled. “I hit you with a sjambok. I told you not to come any closer.” He lowered his arm holding the weapon and tapped it against the front tire. When Kevin realized what had happened and that he wasn't going to die, he rose slowly to his feet. The pain was incredible, and he wasn't exactly sure if he was being lied to.

“That's my niece in there,” Nix said as he put the sjambok over his shoulder and approached the man. “The niece you've been told to stay away from, right? You got in her in there drinking, doing a little pot? Don't shake your head at me, I looked in the window. I saw her shotgun you. Now. We're going to have a little bit of a hard lesson. You see, I'm not her Daddy. You better kiss my feet over that, because if I was her Daddy, you'd be dead now and what they found of you wouldn't feed a fly.”

“Kevin?” Jade's voice floated through the trees. “What's going on?”

“Go home, Jade,” Nix said, his amber eyes burning hotly on the man.

“Uncle Nikki?” Fear flooded her voice and she paused. Jade pressed her hands to the tree next to her, gripping it as panic began to overwhelm her. Her father was home, what would he do if he found out about this little rendezvous?

“Yup. Go back to my place, Jade. We'll talk after I send Kevin home. Now.” It was a tone he had never used on her and it worked. Jade weaved carefully through the trees, slipping away into the night.

“Now,” Nix smiled as his voice grew almost gentle. “It looks like your plans have been shot.”

“I'm going to kill you, man,” Kevin said, though he was still sniffling. He let out a scream as the 'bok streaked through the air, meeting him at the side of the knee. He gripped his injured flesh and staggered to the side, trying to move out of reach of that horrible thing.

“You don't threaten to kill me,” Nix warned. “If you’re going to do it, try and do it, none of this pissing around. And forget about Jade. She's history.”

“You're that faggot uncle of hers, aren't you?” Kevin spat and another lightning strike of white-hot pain flashed in his field of vision. Nix had struck him mere millimeters above the first blow. Kevin squealed and hopped away.

“Be thankful you're not my type, or I'd really give you something to cry about,” Nix said, and then moved away from the car. “You need to leave. You pull any stunt like trying to run me over, and you're dead. In fact, I think I'll have me a little head start.” He reached in, pulled the keys out of the ignition, and then threw them into the woods, much to Kevin's dismay. “Now. I'm going home. You're going to forget Jade and the happy times you two have together or I will make you sorry.” And with that, he turned and headed along the dense foliage towards the road. Kevin was cursing him fluidly, some things Nix hadn't heard in a long time. By the time he got back to his home, he was openly laughing, but knew he had to sober up quickly before he woke the rest of the house. When he came in, Jade was sitting on the edge of the couch, looking like a rocket ready for lift off. Her face was etched in stress as Nix shut the door behind him.

“Yeah,” he said. “You’re right to look scared.”

“Are you going to tell Daddy?” Her voice quivered. Nix stood in the doorway as he looked at her for a long moment, and then came into the living room. He sat down in his recliner with a low groan, and then patted his front pocket for his smokes. He let a long moment pass as he lit one while watching her intently. It was best to let silence put weight to this serious situation. He did it so she would start to squirm, that way, he knew he had her complete and utter attention.

“I could,” he finally answered, and then crossed one leg over his knee. “But I figure I don't have to tell your parents.” She reminded him of someone holding an untied balloon who eased their fingers off its neck to deflate it as she immediately relaxed. “But your Dad, on the other hand…”

Tears sprang to Jade's eyes as her spine went bolt upright again. Nix watched as she gripped her knees tightly until there was white around her fingertips.

“But then again, I don’t have to tell your Dad, either.” She deflated and he gave her a moment of relief. “But, then again, I did give them a solemn vow to let them know if I saw anything I shouldn’t.” He smirked inwardly as she stiffened again. “But I don't think this should go any further than us,” he said, finally allowing her to settle on relief, rather than fear. He and his brother were raised by a Grandmother who didn't love them and ruled them with an iron fist. He wouldn't do that to Jade, Jenn or Jayce.

Leaning forward, Nix made her give him eye contact. “Baby girl,” he said softly. “You're going down the same path I went down at your age. You know what's happened to me. Drugs, jail, pulled some petty crimes.”

“I won't do that.” Jade's voice was barely a whisper as it shook with emotion.

“You don't know that,” Nix said softly, feeling compassion for her. “You could have been living in a mansion by now instead of this dump, if your dad hadn't paid my tab on all those rehab places for me. He's still paying on them, he won't let me help because he wants me to get my feet back up under me. That hurts me the most,” Nix said, and then added. “Do you know how hard it is to shake an addiction? It's never really gone, baby. You put a monkey on your back, it stays there. Don't do it. Don't follow in my steps.”

Jade lifted a shaking hand and wiped the tears from beneath her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered, not knowing for sure if she could keep that promise or not. Nix nodded, and then smiled. “Hey, go wash your face, if your mom wakes up and sees that make up, she'll know.”

Jade nodded, and then rose up quickly to head into Nix's bathroom to do as he said. Nix sighed as he leaned back in his chair. When Jade came out, he pointed to the couch, where she sat down once again.

“Ade was a huge influence to me,” he said. “Huge. If he did something, I wanted to do it twice as hard. I idolized him. All little siblings idolize their older ones. Do you understand?”

“Jenn doesn’t idolize me,” Jade sniffed back the last of her tears. She had taken a bit of extra time in the bathroom to get rid of the crying jag that had tried to surface when her uncle had her on the tightrope.

“Oh, but she does,” Nix said. “I see you trying to push her away, and I wish you wouldn’t. You have no idea of the bond you two could really have if you’d just open up and let her in. She’s crazy about you, kid.”

Jade snorted and turned her face away. “She’s just an annoying kid. I try to get close to her, but she won’t let me.”

“Some people are hard to get close to, but once you do, it’s worth it,” Nix said. “So I understand where the both of you are coming from. I also understand how it can be when you’ve got each other to lean on, too. It’s one of the best friendships you could ever have.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice, but we don’t have anything in common.”

“How much do you think Ade and I have in common?”

“Everything?”

“Hardly anything.”

“Really?” Jade blinked at that realization.

“It’s true,” Nix said. “The only thing we really have in common is our love of bikes. That’s not what keeps us friends, differences can be a good thing. But start with her, find what she likes that you like and maybe you can use that to make a bridge with.”

“Okay,” Jade said softly as she rose. “I will Uncle Nikki.”

He put his arms out for a huge and Jade fell into his chest, hugging him tightly.

“That’s a good girl,” Nix said as he gave her a kiss on the temple. “Now, go to bed and let’s put this ugly night behind us.”

“Thank you,” she said in gratitude.