The Ties That Bind

[mizziette]

TWENTY

Teagan stood in front of the front door and inhaled deeply. It had been eighteen months since she’d run away from home and the newly turned seventeen year old was feeling quite nervous being back in her home town. Standing there, it felt strange as she knocked on the door of the house that had been her home for six years before.

‘Teagan?’ Cheryl gasped as she opened the door. ‘Where have you been?’

‘That’s not important.’ Teagan smiled politely. ‘Today’s about mum. Can I come in?’

Cheryl let her in. The room was filled with people, all sporting black attire and grey faces. Teagan hated that she was returning home on such a terrible occasion. Tears filled up her eyes as she remembered all the memories she had shared with her mother. She regretted leaving so abruptly; she hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to her mother before she had passed away. Now at her wake, she could only wish she could turn back the clock.

‘Teagan!’ A little boy’s voice halted her back from her thoughts. ‘Hi Teagan, you’re back.’

‘Yeah, Case, I’m back.’ Heath and Casey walked up to her, both looking uncharacteristically smart in their black penguin suits. She looked nervously for Heath’s reaction at her sudden appearance but he didn’t offer one. ‘How’ve you been?’

Casey answered for his brother eagerly, not noticing the discomfort between Heath and Teagan. ‘I’m good. I’m six now and I go to school and my best friend is Rocco and Brax is teaching me how to surf and my this teeth here is wobbly. How about you?’

‘I’m a little sad but I’ll be fine in a little while.’ Teagan tried to smile unsuccessfully. Casey ran off to play outside with the other kids, oblivious to the reason behind the sadness of the adults and teens. ‘Your brother’s friends with Rocco as in Rocco Cooper?’

Heath nodded. ‘Yeah, can’t say any one’s too happy about that, especially Johnny. Who’d have thought a Braxton and a Cooper could be mates. Where’ve you been?’

At that moment the estranged friends were interrupted by the Braxton’s neighbour Mrs Stevens who wanted to pay their respects to Teagan. Heath excused himself and left them to it.

Brax walked up the beach with his new dog Chootsie, who he had been training to protect their crops. Mean, lean and aggressive, he was just the dog to shoo off unwelcome visitors. As the nineteen year old played catch with the eager black mutt, he couldn’t stop thinking about the text he had gotten from Heath just before. After he had left Mrs Callaghan’s wake early, apparently Teagan had rocked up after all these months.

Brax had to admit, getting over Teagan had been a fairly easy task and he had moved on and had one or two relationships in the last eighteen months, but he did miss her. Grant was gone and there was no danger for her, and Brax pitied the poor girl, who had lost so much. His care for her was purely platonic and he was glad to have his fears and worries put aside, knowing that she was finally home and alright.

Later that night, when everyone had left the house, Teagan felt empty. As she sat weeping on the couch in the dark house, she realised that this was it. She was all alone; there was no one else she could ever call family. Her father had abandoned her and Grant was hardly the kind of family she wanted. Secretly, she was glad the cruel brother hadn’t bothered to show up for his mother’s funeral because it meant she wouldn’t have to see him.

Footsteps behind her made Teagan stop crying and turn around warily. ‘Heath, what are you doing here?’ She whispered as her best friend sat next to her and held her closely in his chest.

‘The door was open.’ He stroked her hair as she sobbed over her loss. ‘I’m sorry, Teagan.’

They sat like that for a while in silence just revelling in the embrace. After a while, the grief struck girl calmed down and looked up at heath in the moonlight. ‘You got a tattoo?’ She observed the soccer ball on the side of his neck.

‘Yeah. A few weeks ago. You know, we’ve all been worried about you. Especially your mum. Your idiot brother convinced your mum to let you be but she was worried out of her mind. Especially those last few days, when the cancer had really dug into her.’

‘That’s why I left. Because of Grant. I hitchhiked to Wollongong and ended up being taken in by a family there. They were nice and didn’t ask questions, gave me a job at their ice cream shop. It was refreshing starting over until I heard about mum was sick from a friend of hers who was road tripping down the coast. I came straight home to be with her but now it’s too late.’

She burst into tears again and Heath tried to comfort her. ‘Hush, it’s going to be okay.’

‘Was she in pain?’ Teagan whispered.

‘The docs gave her a lot of drugs to ease her. Me and the boys went to visit her at the hospital nearly every day. She was well taken care of.’

‘Thank you.’ Teagan looked intently at Heath still wrapped in his strong arms and under the moonlight, they kissed.

‘Are you sure?’ Heath pulled away, unsure how to react but Teagan kissed him again more desperately in response. The vulnerable girl revelled in the loving embrace as she lay on top of him on the couch, desperately seeking solace from the grief and pain.

[mizziette]

TWENTY ONE

As Cheryl kissed her youngest goodbye and left, Casey stood in the courtyard and looked for his friends. Going to school was still exciting for him and it was the best; he couldn’t understand why Heath had dropped out and made fun of him for liking school.

‘How’s the little Braxton doing today?’ A smug voice turned him around and he stood facing both Cooper brothers.

‘I’m good.’ He felt a little uncomfortable. There was something about Johnny that gave the little boy a bad feeling. He waved to his little friend. ‘Hi Rocco, I like your cape.’

The teacher, Ms Penny, called from inside for Rocco to go inside and see her. ‘Thanks. See you in a bit.’ The boy ran off, leaving Casey alone with big bad Johnny. He gulped.

Grinning, Johnny sensed the boy’s unease and playfully decided to mess with him. He popped his eyes out as wide as he could and grinned like the Joker. ‘Aah!’

‘Aah?’ Casey took a step back, looking disgusted and scrunching his forehead in a frown, running away not out of fear, but revolt.

Johnny walked backwards out of the school laughing at his own joke. ‘Why so serious?’ He called out in Joker’s creepy voice as he watched Casey walk into his classroom.

Teagan had been home for a month and it had been so surreal. Everything was different. Because she was seventeen, the state allowed her to live on her own but living in that big house without her mum was lonely. Her mum had left everything to her, the house, with its mortgage fully paid and the little money she had had in her bank account.

‘Hey, how are you?’ She looked up from her spot on the sandy beach and saw Brax coming back in from his morning surf.

‘I’m surviving.’ She smiled as he began to dry himself off with a towel. ‘Listen Brax, I’m sorry about how I left and-‘

Brax waved her off. ‘Don’t worry about it. We do what we have to do. It’s nothing.’ And to him, it really was nothing which made her heart drop a little. Before she could reply, Heath walked up and joined them, still wet from the surf.

He put his board down and grabbed a towel as Brax’ phone rang and he walked away to answer it. ‘Hey Teags, how’re you holding up?’

Teagan rolled her eyes. ‘I’m starting to get a little sick of people asking me that. Maybe I should just wear a big card around my neck that says I’m fine.’

‘It’s only because they worry.’ Heath grinned and then sat down next to her. ‘Listen, I know we agreed that the other night was a mistake but I don’t want things to be weird between us. I want us to be mates again.’

‘It won’t get weird. We won’t let it.’ Teagan elbowed him playfully. ‘Besides, it was just one night. And it wasn’t that great anyway.’

Heath looked scandalised and worried. ‘What’re you talking about?’

‘Would you relax?’ Teagan laughed. ‘I’m joking. You should’ve seen the look on your face when I said that.’

‘When you said what?’ The blonde girl was still laughing when Brax came back from his call.

‘Oh nothing, I’m just messing with your idiot brother here.’

‘Yeah, he is an idiot, isn’t he?’ Brax sat on his towel and made himself comfortable. ‘I think little Casey’s got more brain than this one does.’

‘Who’re you calling an idiot?’ Heath playfully kicked sand onto his brother’s leg. ‘Who’s been taking care of business for you all these months? I set up that deal last week and aced it, didn’t I? Not something an idiot would do.’

‘You only aced it cause you had me looking over your shoulder.’ Brax laughed and Heath scoffed, clearly wanting to prove a point.

Teagan watched heartedly as the two boys in her life engaged in their playful brotherly banter. The Braxtons, including Casey and Cheryl had become like family to her in the last few years and she realised that she wasn’t alone in the world.

Looking back and forth between the two men in her life, she felt confused. She loved Heath; he was her best friend and confidant, always taking care of her and being dependable. On the other hand, she was in love with Brax and always would be; but he wouldn’t give her the time of day. With Heath, she felt what it was like to be loved by someone but with Brax; she felt what it was like be in love. She was torn, and wished her life was less complicated.

Brax stood in front of the school later that day as Casey ran up to him eagerly. ‘Hey, how was your first day of school, mate?’

‘We learnt about God.’ The boy gave his bag to his brother. ‘It was show and tell at school today and Ricky brought his dad who’s a minister and he told us these cool action stories about heroes and fighting and storms from the bible.’

The older brother caught sight of Johnny Cooper picking up his brother while Casey rambled. ‘Brax, are you listening? Brax, Brax, you’re not listening. I asked you a question.’ The boy nagged and pulled his arm.

‘No, I am listening. What were you saying?’ He still had his eyes focussed on Johnny.

‘Brax, you know how we have to honour our mums and dads?’

‘Yeah’

‘Does god say how we should treat our brothers?’

‘Um, thou shalt not kill?’ Brax watched as Johnny made eye contact with him, smugly slicing his open hand across his neck in a playful yet threatening gesture. Gulping, he took Casey by the hand and turned to his car. ‘Come on mate, let’s get out of here.’

[mizziette]

TWENTY TWO

Teagan sat on the edge of the bathtub anxiously waiting for the results. She’d been late before; her cycle had always been erratic so it hadn’t really bothered her until the sickness started. She checked her watch again; only two more minutes to go. Holding the pregnancy test in her hand, she tapped it nervously on her thigh. Seventeen, pregnant and unemployed with no family support was not how she had expected her life.

The clock ticked and ticked each second bellowing in the still bathroom. Teagan felt like she was about to faint from the nerves; the suspense was killing her. Anxiously, she watched the second hand as it moved clockwise past each number and finally struck the twelve. It was time. Looking down fearfully, she saw the two red lines on the display, clear and visible. She was pregnant.

Brax strolled along the beach with is dog a week later and slowed down when he saw Teagan glancing aimlessly into the horizon and sat next to her. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You know, I’ve never even held a baby before. The closest I’ve ever come to knowing a kid is Casey and he’s not that small anymore. I know nothing about diapers, or burping or anything.’

‘It’s really not that hard once you get the hang of it. You don’t need to know that stuff for ages anyway. You got a lifetime to go before you start thinking about that.’

‘More like less than a year.’

‘What are you talking about? Teagan, are you pregnant?’ Teagan nodded and leant her head on Brax’ shoulder as she shed some tears. ‘Who’s baby is it?’

Teagan had been thinking all week long ever since she had taken that test. There was no doubt who was the father; Brax had been the only guy she’d been with before Heath and that had been nearly two years ago. She looked behind her as Brax and Casey mucked around in the kitchen and knew he was what she wanted. Having a baby with his little brother would change the dynamic forever.

‘I was pregnant before I moved back.’ The lie came out harder than she’d thought. The words burnt as they spit out of her mouth. Deep down, she knew she had to tell Heath but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. As sweet and caring as he was, he was also immature and volatile; not the perfect combination for a father.

Heath sat lazing away in front of the TV when Brax got home from walking the dog with Teagan in tow. ‘Hey, you took your time. Mum left for the bar half an hour ago after putting the dinner in the oven. Hey Teags’

‘Hi, Heath.’ Teagan smiled weakly and sat next to him.

‘Who wants lasagne?’ Brax took the pan out of the oven with mitts and began cutting it.

‘I do, I do.’ Casey ran and jumped impatiently and eagerly next to his older brother in the kitchen.

While Casey helped Brax in the kitchen, Heath noticed that Teagan was increasingly quiet. ‘You don’t look so good.’

‘I don’t feel so good.’

‘Did you catch a bug?’ Teagan shook her head.

‘Just a baby.’ She whispered so Casey wouldn’t hear. ‘I’m pregnant.’

‘You’re pregnant?’ Heath put his head in his hands. ‘Oh god, mum’s going to kill me!’

‘No she’s not. I was pregnant before we were together.’ Her throat burnt again as she choked the words out. ‘And really? The first thing that comes into your mind is your mum’s going to get a little upset?’

Teagan watched as Heath’s face went from distress to relief and she knew she had been right in not telling him. There was no way he could’ve handled the responsibilities; it would have destroyed him. Heath Braxton was destined for easy and carefree. She’d feel even more guilty if she had ruined his entire philosophy on life.

Later, after dinner, the four kids started washing up together. ‘Is there really a baby inside Teagan?’ The three teenagers looked down wide eyed at Casey who had been put in charge of drying the forks.

‘Where did that question come from?’ Brax was beyond unprepared.

‘I heard you and Teagan and Heath talking about babies when I went to use the bathroom during dinner. Are you going to answer me or not?’

‘Yeah mate. There’s really a baby inside of me.’ Teagan bit her lip as she washed the dishes.

‘Then how did it fit in there? Is it a really small baby?’

‘Oh god, really?’ She gulped and glanced at the boys but they looked away and pretended to be busy. Teagan rolled her eyes. ‘Cowards. It’s pretty complicated, Case. Why don’t we leave it at that?’

‘I’m a pretty complicated guy. I can handle it. Come on.’ Casey nagged.

‘It’s for big kid’s ears only, mate.’ Brax manned up and decided Teagan needed some help.

‘I’m a big kid!’ Casey sulked.

Heath grinned. ‘Well, we’re bigger.’

Casey scrunched up his face. He hated not knowing things but realised he wasn’t going to get anywhere that night so gave up. He could always ask again tomorrow.

[mizziette]

Thanks for the comments

TWENTY THREE

‘Do you really have to go to Bali?’ Teagan pouted cheekily as she sat with Brax on her back porch. ‘What am I supposed to do without you? What about the boys?’

‘If the boys don’t know how to handle themselves for a few weeks then God help them. And since when have you needed anyone?’

‘You’re right; I probably wouldn’t notice you were gone.’ Teagan joked and stroked her belly which was now the size of a watermelon. The last six months had been tough and new for the young girl, especially on her own. Living off unemployment benefits made her feel worthless and nobody wanted to hire a pregnant teenager who might pop at any second.

‘It’s not that long, eh. Only til I can get a furniture business so our money can go through the system. Then I’m back like that.’ Brax got up and walked into the kitchen, spying a large chocolate mud cake on the island. ‘Did you bake this? I didn’t know you baked.’ He grabbed a plate and helped himself as he spoke through the glass sliding doors.

‘Yeah, mum taught me when I was six. We used to bake something new every Sunday; it was our own little tradition. I guess I’ve stuck to it.’

Brax returned with his plate and sat back next to her. ‘Well, this is the best cake I’ve ever tasted. You were saying you wanted to find work; maybe you work for yourself and start up catering. After the baby’s born, that is. You have a knack for food.’

‘Yeah, maybe. I could do desserts for weddings or something. And self-employment’s better than working for some pig boss.’ Teagan looked at her friend who was looking at her weirdly. ‘What?’

‘I think your water just broke.’ Teagan looked down and noticed the flood of water between her thighs. The weather had been so scorching the last few days she had just explained away the wetness to sweating but now she realised it was something more. It was time.

Brax held her hand in the delivery room as his young friend pushed and pushed and pushed. ‘Just one more.’ The doctor’s voice was strangely calm to Teagan, who was kicking and screaming in agony. The last scream from the agonised woman seemed like it would never end when he Brax heard the wailing of a different kind.

‘Do you want to hold your daughter?’ The doctor smiled as she wrapped up the little girl, offering her to him and Brax realised that she thought he was the father.

‘Oh, I’m not the-‘ He took the little child in his arms anyway and when he did, he forgot all about trying to clear up the misunderstanding. Looking into the baby’s black beady eyes, he found himself becoming increasingly attached. Kissing her gently on the forehead, he handed her over to meet her mother for the first time.

‘I think I’m going to call you Darcy.’ Teagan was completely engrossed in her daughter. ‘She’s so beautiful.’

Heath walked into the maternity ward and was overwhelmed by the pink. Scrunching up his face, he proceeded to Teagan’s room. Having been out camping at Nelson’s Noose with some of the boys, he’d had no contact and couldn’t believe he’d missed the birth. Walking into the room, he found both his brother’s already there.

Casey looked up grinning at his brother as he sat in the chair, holding the little girl in his arms while Brax had his hands close by at the ready inconspicuously wrapped around his little brother, making sure Darcy was being held properly. ‘Heath, have you met Darcy?’

‘I have now. She’s tiny.’ Heath smiled at Teagan and squeezed her hand as she lay weakly on the bed,

‘Yeah, she’s really tiny. Bet you’re sorry you ever called me little now, right? Darcy’s a million gazillion times more littler than me.’

Heath smiled and took the baby out of his hands. Holding Darcy Callaghan in his arms, he felt a strange bond to the cute little mite. Somehow, although he didn’t know how, she seemed familiar and not just because she had Teagan’s gorgeous blonde locks. There was something else, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, almost like intuition.

As Teagan watched Heath’s million dollar smile creep onto his face as he held Darcy, she noticed how much his smile was like her daughter’s. There was the same carefree attitude to both of them that only a father and daughter could share. The little baby opened her eyes dreamily and grabbed her father’s finger, entwining her delicate little fingers around Heath’s large manly one with a fervent possessiveness. It was almost as if she was claiming him all for herself as her own.

[mizziette]

TWENTY FOUR

Teagan woke up from her midday nap and went into Darcy’s room to check on her. The last two months had been strenuous on her body. She hadn’t realised how much work it would take to raise a new born, let alone start her dessert business and live on her own at the same time.

Teagan walked in on Brax as he held the little girl in his arms as she cooed and hummed enthusiastically. She noticed that his arms were tanner from the Indonesian sun and that he had a tattoo on his back just above his butt. ‘Brax, you’re back.’

Brax turned around from his moment with Darcy to find her mother wrapping her arms around his bulky body. She seemed tired and messy, the sunken eyes and untidy hair told the tale of a stressed woman. He hugged her back as she leant against his bare chest, looking up at him dreamily while holding the baby in his other arm.

Teagan got lost in his eyes and him in hers, they hadn’t seen each other in two months. Stroking his face, she went on her tip toes and kissed him softly on the lips before putting her head on his shoulder as her daughter did the same. It seemed like the comfortable and natural thing to do.

The kiss confused Brax. Lost in the moment, he had been overwhelmed by the baby in his arms and lost all rationality. It was like Darcy muddled his thoughts; he couldn’t believe he could love a child so much. The fact that Teagan had brought that little girl into their lives made him vulnerable to her. What he felt for the young woman wasn’t love but strong affection and gratitude. Simply being mother to such a gentle creature was enough to spark his flame.

‘How was Bali?’ Teagan asked while stroking Darcy’s arm.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever surfed waves bigger than the ones in Bali. It was incredible.’

‘You go there on business and all you get out of the trip is the surf. Typical.’

‘Well, I got the business too. It’s all set up. How was business back home anyway. They fall apart without me?’

‘Heath came over last night and mentioned that the boys were starting to harvest so that’s taken care of but that’s not what you have to worry about.’

‘Then what?’ Brax broke apart from her and placed Darcy into her crib before they went into the living room.

‘Johnny Cooper’s been trying to bully Casey again for hanging with Rocco. You’d think people would have boundaries about harassing a kid but no. Heath’s been trying to break them apart but Casey’s being stubborn. I know it seems cruel to keep the kids apart but it’s the safest option, you know.’

Brax nodded defeated, sick of all the gang disputes. ‘How’d we get involved this deep, eh? Who’d have thought we’d end up like this?’

Casey sat in the nook of their second grade classroom as he and Rocco worked on their addition and subtraction. ‘Why do my brothers and your brother not like each other?’

‘I don’t know.’ Rocco carefully wrote his numbers on the work sheet as neatly as he could. ‘Maybe they just don’t know how to play nice. They’re all so angry all the time. Johnny’s always bossing me around and telling me what to do.’

Casey sighed. ‘Yeah, same. Heath says I shouldn’t hang around with you anymore because your brother’s being mean to him. And he’s always saying you have to stick by your mates.’

‘Yeah, Johnny keeps saying that too. We should make a promise.’

‘What kind of promise?’

‘Not to let our brothers boss us around.’ Rocco put out his little finger and held it out to Casey. ‘Pinkie swear?’

The youngest Braxton wrapped his little finger around his in confidence. ‘Pinkie swear.’

Later that day, when school had finished, Casey looked around for Heath or his mum but found an unexpected surprise instead. ‘Brax, it’s you. Are you back from- Where are you back from again?’

Brax smiled as his little brother tilted his head. ‘Bali, mate I went to Bali. And yes, I’m back for good now.’

‘You went to Bali.’ Casey swung his school bag around in joy. ‘Where’s that?’

Before Brax could answer Johnny Cooper and his posse joined them, prompting him to put a defensive arm around the boy. ‘Look who’s showing his face round here again. Been on a little holiday have we?’

‘What’s it to you?’ Brax cautiously clenched his hands into fists.

‘Oh, nothing. But your little bro over here missed you didn’t you mate?’ Johnny grinned menacingly, making Casey retreat into his brother’s shadow. ‘Look, he’s a coward, just like his brothers. That’s what you get for being a Braxton though, right?’

‘Sorry mate, we like our boys tough.’ One of Johnny’s boys sneered at the eight year old.

‘You give us a call, right Case. We’ll teach you how to be a real man. Not like them weak little river boys.’ Johnny snickered and turned to leave, gesturing for Rocco to join him. Before walking away, Rocco whispered sorry to his friend; neither little boy could understand why people just couldn’t get along.

[mizziette]

Pinkie promise Casey will always be cute. Thanks for the comments, i always enjoy reading them.

TWENTY FIVE

‘NO, no, no!’ It was after dinner and Casey screamed in annoyance. Heath and Brax sighed and tried to calm him down.

‘Mate, I know this sucks but it’s for the best. One day you’ll understand.’ Brax spoke as soothingly as he could.

‘NO! You can’t tell me who to be mates with. If I want to be mates with Rocco I can.’

‘Casey, I’m not asking, I’m telling. Don’t get me wrong I like Rocco as much as you but his family isn’t the greatest. You know Johnny’s not very nice.’

Casey folded his arms defensively and pouted stubbornly. ‘That’s just because he doesn’t like you. Lots of people don’t like you. Even y teacher says that you’re trouble.’

Heath scrunched up his face and turned on the TV, his coping mechanism. The seventeen year old had never liked family confrontation and always opted for keeping out of it.

Brax sat on the couch and his youngest brother eyed him spitefully. ‘I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to do this but you don’t have a choice. I want you to stay away from that family.’

Casey stormed out of the living room angrily, determinedly stomping on the hardwood flooring with purpose. Brax sighed as he disappeared into the hallway. He hated doing this but there was no other choice. Cutting ties between the two boys would keep their family safe and if Casey was mad at him for that then so be it. It hurt that Brax’ criminal lifestyle had affected the innocent so much. Brax was determined to keep the little boy out of that life but the prospect looked slimmer and slimmer.

The next day, Casey ran around the playground with Rocco Cooper. He knew Brax had told him not to but he had promised Rocco that they wouldn’t get in the way and the little boy knew better than to break a promise. They played catch with some of the other boys oblivious to any danger.

Johnny watched from his car as his little brother conversed with the enemy. Making sure he kept at a well distance from the school, he felt his blood boil and clenched his fists on the wheel. This had gone too far, not only was the Braxton kid trying to brainwash his brother, he just found out that the river boys had been dealing on his turf. Revenge was way overdue.

The phone rang. Johnny picked it up and growled into the phone. ‘I want you to keep the Braxtons away from the primary school for a while. There’s something I got to do.’

He waited until school had finished, knowing exactly what he had to do. He waited and waited, impatiently tapping his hand on the wheel and jolting his foot up and down. Then he saw what he had come for. Casey walked out of the school and looked anxiously around for one of his brothers or his mum but they were nowhere to be found. Johnny smiled; everything was going according to plan.

Getting out of the car, he put on a smile and walked up to the little boy who had now been joined by Rocco. ‘What’s up boys? You two ready to get out of here?’

Casey looked up wearily. ‘What do you mean two?’

‘Oh, don’t you want to hang out with Rocco for a little while? I thought we could all go for a drive.’

‘Brax is going to pick me up, so I shouldn’t. He always picks me up.’

Johnny grinned. ‘Not today mate. Anyway, who do you think asked me to look out for you? Me and your brothers, I know we haven’t always gotten along but we saw how upset you and Rocco were and thought what the hell. A couple of young blokes like us, we can put our differences aside for the sake of our little brothers. So, how about it?’

‘Are you sure Brax knows I’m supposed to go with you?’ Casey still was a little unsure.

‘Of course he did.’ Johnny put his arm around the wary boy and nudged him towards the car, while Rocco followed. ‘You don’t worry about a thing. It’s all sorted. You just get in the car and relax, okay mate.’

Meanwhile, Brax hit the accelerator involuntarily as one of Cooper’s boys tailgated him in a bright red truck. The guy was going so fast that all Brax could do was keep going faster to avoid a collision. The two cars had been swerving and veering in and out of the country roads surrounding the school and Brax couldn’t help but worry about Casey who was probably waiting impatiently at the school for him.

Turning at 120 km/hour in a 80 zone, he found himself on the deserted road of the school and his heart pounded when he saw Casey getting into Johnny’s car, calmly and oblivious to any danger. ‘Casey!’ He called out into the empty street but he couldn’t hear over the loud engines.

Then everything went black. When Brax woke up later, it was dark. He had passed out from the impact. Getting out of the car, he was relieved that he hadn’t had any serious injuries, but his car was totalled. Seeing Casey getting in the car with Johnny had distracted hi and he’d slowed down, making the tailgater collide straight into him.

Looking into the other car, he saw it was empty and began searching frantically. No one would be worried; their mum probably thought Casey was with one of them and wouldn’t suspect a thing. He worriedly reached for his phone and tried to dial Heath or Brody but his phone was broken from the car crash.

A phone rang from within the other car and Brax reached for it and answered it cautiously. ‘Darryl, you wouldn’t believe who I just picked up from the side of the road.’ The voice on the other end of the line smirked.

[mizziette]

TWENTY SIX

‘When’s Brax coming to pick me up?’ Casey looked up from the Cooper’s dingy living room floor where he was playing race cars with Rocco and asked Johnny.

Johnny was beginning to lose his patience. The kid asked way too many questions. ‘Shut up, would you! He won’t come at all if you keep nagging me.’

‘But you said that he’d come pick me up.’ Casey pressed and the older man lost his patience and threw a chair in the opposite direction, making the poor boy flinch.

‘Did you not hear me say SHUT UP? How many times do I have to say it before it sticks in that peanut brain of yours?’

Casey said no more, and scared, he played no more either. Rocco’s sister came in after a while and took the little boy to bed, leaving the young Braxton all alone with big mean Johnny Cooper. He looked outside and saw that there was almost a full moon but not quite. It was really starting to get late.

‘You got the stuff?’ Johnny answered his phone as it rang and smiled wickedly. ‘You don’t have the bags; you don’t get your brother. Do we understand? We’ll meet at the usual place in an hour.’

He put the phone down and turned to face Casey who was now hovering in a corner. ‘That was Darryl. If he’s the brains of your family, mate, I feel for you.’ He laughed hysterically.

An hour later, Casey found himself on a deserted dirt road watching his brothers and Brody pull up in Brody’s car. They took out some backpacks with them. ‘Kid first.’ Brax called out.

Johnny and his mates laughed. ‘That’s not how it works, Darryl, you know that. Hand over the stash first.’

Brax looked at the bags in his hands which contained the livelihood of the river boys. He didn’t want to give up all that money but Casey was his brother. He was the only one innocent in all this. With a sigh, he threw the drugs in front of the Cooper gang, and Heath and Brody reluctantly followed suit.

Johnny gestured for his boys to check the goods. Once, the bags had been put in the car, the gang leader laughed and put his arm around Casey’s shoulders guiding him into the car. ‘Come on, mate. Let’s go back to your new home.’

‘Hey, we had a deal!’ Heath clenched his fists and took a threatening step forward only to halt as Johnny strengthened his hold on the little boy’s shoulders, making him squirm in pain. ‘Let him go. We had a deal.’

‘See, that’s the thing, I don’t feel like it. And if I remember correctly I said you’d get to see your precious little brother if you gave us your stash. And look who’s right in front of you. Now you see him,’ Johnny grinned and pushed Casey into the backseat of the car. ‘Now, you don’t.’

Laughing sadistically, he proceeded to get into the car only to be stopped by a deafening thunder. Looking back with a frown, he saw Brax holding a gun towards him. ‘Next one goes in you.’ Brax gestured at the loaded gun in his hand.

Johnny frowned, he had always thought that the river boys were too mellow to carry guns around, and hadn’t thought it was necessary to go armed to the exchange. ‘Finally caught up with the big boys have you?’ He grabbed Casey by the collar and threw him on the ground between them, making the poor boy yelp in pain as his arm got scratched. Quickly getting up, he ran behind Heath.

As Johnny got into the car and drove away, Brax remained with his gun raised. When the car had left sight, he found that his hand had been shaking. It was the first time he had ever held a loaded gun at someone and it hadn’t felt good at all. While Heath tried to calm down a hysterical Casey on the drive home, Brax found himself thinking about how the gun had doubled back when he shot into the air. He wondered if he would have been capable of killing Johnny. He would do anything for his family, but how far did anything extend to?

The three brothers walked into their dark house and turned on the light to find their mother drunk and angry. Heath looked at the clock. It was two am, way past Casey’s bed time.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Cheryl shouted in a drunken slur and staggered towards them. ‘How dare you worry me like that? I’ve been worried sick about the kid and you- you’ve had him all this time. Why the HELL would you put me through that?’

Brax scrunched his nose at the smell of beer and saw the mountains of bottles on the coffee table. ‘Yeah, I can see you’ve been plenty worried alright.’ He said disappointedly.

Cheryl pointed a threatening finger at them and Heath made his excuses and left quietly like he always did when there was a fight. He hated it when mum got mad, especially when she was drunk off her face. ‘What the hell’s that supposed to mean?’

‘You know exactly what I mean, mum. And don’t give me crap about drinking to calm your nerves or whatever it is you come up with because I’m sick of your excuses.’ Brax rolled his eyes and nudged Casey towards his room. ‘Go to bed, Casey. I’ll be there to fix up your arm in a minute.’

‘NO!’ Cheryl’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls as Casey tried to go past her to his room. She turned around, staggering from the booze as she did so and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back to her. ‘Not until you tell me where you’ve been at for half the night!’

Casey winced as he got pulled back and was abruptly let go by his mum, causing him to lose balance and fall onto the coffee table, hitting his head on the corner. He felt numb by the pain and could barely work out what Cheryl yelled. ‘Get up, you useless brat! Get off that dirty floor!’

Cheryl reached her arm down to yank the boy up but a large arm grabbed onto her skinny wrist and held on. Brax had tried to be calm before but now he just felt menacing and furious. ‘Don’t!’ His voice was threatening and low. ‘You don’t hit Casey, you hear?’

Cheryl winced in pain and nodded. Brax let go and she staggered off in a huff, obviously annoyed that her son had got the better of her. Brax leant down and picked up Casey who was crying from the pain on his head and arm, and put him on the kitchen counter. Holding him, he got the first aid kit and spoke soothingly as he fixed him up. ‘It’s okay, mate. Nothing to cry about, just a little scratch. Hush, now.’

As he comforted his traumatised baby brother, he remembered how much worse it had been for him and Heath when they were younger and didn’t have any one to protect them from Cheryl’s whims. Silently, he vowed that if he was ever lucky enough to have kids, he would give them nothing less than unconditional love.

[mizziette]

NB: This chapter's skips to seven years into the future. Thanks for the comments and reading as always.

TWENTY SEVEN

Brax drove along the highway back to Mangrove River. It had been a long morning at the national park harvesting the pot and he was exhausted. What he really needed was nice relaxing surf in the cold sea water to cool him down. The phone rang and he pulled in on the side of the road to answer it.

‘Mr Braxton, I’m the principal of Reefton Lakes High. I tried to reach your mother but she was unavailable. I’m calling about your little brother Casey Braxton. Would it be possible for you come down to the school?’

Brax rolled his eyes. ‘Right-O. What’s he done now?’

‘I’d rather discuss this with you in person.’ The two men exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

As Brax put the phone back in his jeans pocket he saw a young scraggy couple strolling down the highway up to his car so he waited. ‘Hey mate, how’s it going?’ The guy with the scruffy blonde hair leant into the window as his curly brunette friend stood next to him. Both carried rucksacks.

‘Can I help you with something?’

‘Yeah, mate. I’m Pat and this here’s my gorgeous girl Ruby.’ The brunette waved unenthusiastically. ‘You wouldn’t by any chance happen to know the road to Summer Bay would you? We were heading to visit Rubes’ old man and sister.’

‘You’re way off, eh. You have to go through Yabee Creek Road to get there. Pretty far to walk though. You need a ride?’

Ruby and Pat grinned at the offer. ‘You’d do that? We wouldn’t want to put you off or anything.’

‘Nah, it’s no problem. It’s only a ten minute drive. Hop in.’

Later that day, after Brax had dropped off the hitch hikers at the diner and gone to the high school, he followed a sulky Casey into the Braxton house. ‘Where are you going?’

Casey grunted in response and slung his school bag onto the floor. ‘To my room.’

As his youngest brother sulked off, Brax sighed. He wasn’t sure if Casey’s moody behaviour was due to puberty or if him and Heath had an influence on him but he hoped for the former.

This hadn’t been the first time the boy had acted out in school. He seemed to have inherited the Braxton’s anger management issues from Heath. Ever since that night when he had been kidnapped by Johnny, it was almost like it had changed him; toughened him up to the dangerous realities of the world.

Turning the TV on, he settled into the couch. It was too late for a surf now; the tide will be too low. Sitting like that for a while, Brax soon fell asleep.

‘Brax, wake up!’ A refreshing young voice chirped and little hands nudged at him. The oldest Braxton opened his eyes to find Darcy badgering him awake on the sofa with Teagan closely behind. ‘Did you miss me, Brax? Did you? Did you?’

‘Yeah.’ Brax sat up and rolled his eyes when he saw Teagan. The last time he’d seen her was a year ago when she had run off to the Gold Coast with some rich real estate bloke after their last fight. ‘What brings you back?’

‘You!’ Darcy answered for her mum. ‘Mummy and Gavin stopped kissing because they broke up and we didn’t have anywhere else to go. Well, but if you ask mummy she’ll say it’s because she missed you. I missed you too.’ She hugged Brax who smiled.

‘I really did miss you.’ Teagan slid onto the couch so close to Brax she was almost on his lap. Over the last seven years since Darcy was born, the couple’s relationship had been volatile at best. Teagan and Brax always got together but the young woman’s possessiveness or boredom or whatever else had caused them to break up at least three times. The association had over previous years developed into more of a Friends-with-benefits sort of relationship although she still liked to kid herself that they were meant to be.

‘Have you ever been to Disney land, Brax?’ Brax shook his head as the little girl chattered on. ‘It’s the coolest place ever. There are so many rollercoasters and fun stuff but mummy was too chicken to go on any of them.’

Brax spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Darcy’s stories and catching up with his ‘good friend’ Teagan. After a while, Heath came in with Brett Collins and the four adults’ grabbed beers while Darcy went to nag Casey in his room.

Brett, who was one of the newer additions to the river boy clan, was on somewhat of a rant. ‘Some idiots down on the charters were going on about my sister being a dyke but I showed them.’ He smirked as he showed the boys and Teagan the scratches on his knuckles. ‘It’s not Joey’s fault men aren’t flocking up to her. I mean, you lads would date her, right?’

If Brax hadn’t been red from the intense heat of the summer already, his blush would’ve been obvious. He knew all too well of Joey Collins’ sexual preferences but didn’t say a word. He had promised her he wouldn’t, and after all, she was his friend. It annoyed him that the young girl was gay, however, not because he was a homophobe like Brett, because he wasn’t but because that minor detail made her completely and utterly unavailable.

Heath smirked as he noticed Brax blushing at the dating comment. He knew about Joey’s secret too and couldn’t help but laugh at his big brother’s predicament. Brax had a crush on the one woman who would never be romantically interested in him but it was no surprise he had always had a thing for unattainable women.

Who knows, Heath thought, next thing you know he would be crushing on a cop, which, given his day job, would be as unattainable as they get.

[mizziette]

Brax is about 26/27 yrs old, Casey's 14 and Heath's somewhere in between at this point in the story. Thanks for the comments.

TWENTY EIGHT

Teagan tried to put her arms around Brax to kiss him but he seemed distracted. Looking out into the distance, he gently averted the woman’s advances with his hands. ‘Later.’

Teagan pouted. ‘Why not now?’

Brax walked off his eyes never leaving his target. ‘Because, I’m busy.’ As his on again girlfriend sulked confusedly, he strolled along the beach straight towards the old man in the white tunic and wrap around scarf that was walking over to them.

‘Darryl, it’s good to see you.’ The old man held out his hand, speaking in his usual sing song voice.

‘You must be Keith.’ Brax shook his hand. When Heath had mentioned the new business associate he had not anticipated to meet the new age hippie in front of him. Then again, he had had stranger clients over the past thirteen years he’d been in business.

‘Your brother’s made it known to you about our business arrangement, I suppose.’ Keith gestured for the younger man to walk with him. ‘I have a farm that you may use for storage on occasion, in return for seedlings for my personal use. And of course, you will consider donating some of your earnings to the homeless shelter I work in regularly.’

‘Of course.’ Brax wondered where Heath had found this guy. ‘What exactly is it you do, Keith?’

‘Oh, I’m a professional massage therapist.’

The river boy was confused. ‘You massage homeless people?’

Keith laughed. ‘Oh goodness, no. I only volunteer in the shelter, giving back to the community. My vocation is in the massage industry. Good money in that. I would be more than delighted to give you a complementary massage if you’d like. It’s the least I can do.’

‘Oh no. Thanks but I think I’ll pass.’ Was the unnerved response. ‘It’s not really my thing.’

That night, the boys went to the Braxton house to hang out. ‘It’s all sorted for the harvest now we can celebrate.’ Brody put his beer in the air in a toast and they all cheered on.

Heath sat on the couch and leant his elbows on his thighs. His large arms now carried the swirling design of his newest tattoo and it made him look almost like a different man. They joked and laughed and joked some more but eventually it got boring.

‘Boys, who wants to go for a surf?’ Brax tried to shake the slump.

Mick looked outside confused. ‘It’s midnight.’

‘You got a point there Mick?’

Heath agreed with his brother. ‘You blokes never surfed at night you’re missing out big time. There’s a clean break out in Summer Bay beach. We should head out there.’

Brody grinned eagerly. ‘Yeah, let’s head out. Unless of course, Mick’s chicken?’

That was all the encouragement Mick needed to go. The boys piled into their cars with their surfboards strapped onto the top and headed towards Summer Bay. Brax drove his new Holden ute with Heath in the passenger seat and Brody and Mick in the back. The anticipation was fuming the air.

As Brax sped along the highway, he barely noticed the patrol car on the side of the road, being manned by a new hot brunette and a weird looking Italian cop. He barely noticed the hot female cop questioning the blonde city girl who was probably underage, driving her young blonde drunken mother home in her bright yellow mini cooper convertible.

The boys had a great time at the beach mucking around and having fun. Thankfully, there were no neighbours around, so nobody made complaints about the noise. When Brax got in his car to drive his friends home after a drunken night at the beach, it was three in the morning.

They drove mostly in silence, which was unusual for the river boys. All were either fairly drunk, passed out or just plain tired. Brax was one of the tired ones and eager to go home to his comfy bed, he hit the accelerator until he was going ten km above the speed limit.

Red and blue lights flashed; he had forgotten about the patrol car on the road in and out of Summer Bay. Sighing, he pulled over onto the side of the road. The cops pulled in behind him and the scrawny Italian cop got out of the car while his partner stayed inside the vehicle.

‘Evening gents, you realise what speed you were going at?’ Angelo Rosetta leaned into the open driver’s window and saw that its passengers were now in all stages of waking up.

Brax smiled his most winning grin. ‘I have a feeling you’re about to tell me. Haven’t seen you around before though, eh. Must be a rookie.’

‘I’m Constable Rosetta. I just moved here but that’s unimportant. Licence and registration?’

‘Where’s your partner? She seemed like a real looker when we were driving past before. You tell her to give me a call when she wants a real man, eh?’ Heath sneakily remarked as Brax cheekily handed the cop his driver’s licence. His older brother may not have noticed the easy looking new cop but he certainly had.

‘Constable Buckton’s in the car.’ Angelo hated guys like him who always seemed to try and charm themselves out of sticky situations. ‘Alright, then, Darryl Braxton, I’m going have to give you a ticket for speeding.’

‘Nah, come on mate. Do you have to? You know how much that’s going to cost me?’

‘Should’ve thought of that before you speeded.’ Angelo rolled his eyes and walked back to the patrol car where Charlie still sat probably day dreaming about Roman. Both cops were by then bored and tired by the night shift, so the young woman hardly paying any attention to her partner and who he had pulled over in the black Holden.

[mizziette]

TWENTY NINE

Brax walked past his neighbour’s house and into his car, vaguely noticing the newspaper hadn’t been picked up that morning but didn’t pay any attention to it. Joey’s car had broken down an hour outside of town and he needed to get there to pick her up.

‘Why didn’t you just call Brett?’ Brax asked the 23 year old when they were in the car heading back into town.

Joey looked at him from the passenger seat as they drove. ‘He doesn’t know where I went. If I told him I’ve been in the city the last three days visiting my girlfriend, he’d freak.’

Joey smiled sweetly and the poor man’s heart pounded, making him feel stupid. He really needed to get over his little crush; it was extremely unproductive. ‘Yeah, he probably would, wouldn’t he?’ He tried to concentrate on the road.

‘I hate living with him. I know he’s your mate and my brother and all but he’s just so suffocating sometimes. He still treats me like a little kid.’

‘It’s a big brother thing. I baby Heath and Casey sometimes too.’ Brax was now pushing himself to concentrate on his driving even more but he kept getting distracted by his present company.

‘You’re nothing like Brett though. You actually care about your brothers. I feel like Brett just wants to control me.’ A phone beeped in the back seat indicating that there was a message. ‘Hang on, that’s mine. I’ll get that.’

Joey took off her seatbelt and leaned back from her seat in the front to the back seat. As she did, Brax couldn’t help but notice her close proximity to him and gulped. He shook himself slightly and averted his eyes as she crawled back to reach for the phone. Gripping the wheel tightly, he willed himself to stop all the crazy thinking and get a grip.

They got back to the Braxton house and Joey went home. As Brax walked into his driveway, he noticed that Mrs Stevens still hadn’t turned the houselights on and it was past sunset. However, before he could ponder over it anymore, the unfortunate man was ambushed by Teagan as he walked into his house. ‘Baby, where’ve you been? We were supposed to go out tonight.’

‘Yeah mate.’ Heath called out from the couch where he was playing with Darcy as Brax walked inside. ‘She even made me promise to baby sit Darcy and everything.’

‘Something came up.’

Teagan was still upset. ‘It better be important for you to stand me up.’

‘It was.’ Brax was being vague, not really caring that she was throwing a tantrum. He was used to it her moods.

Heath grinned and teased his older brother. ‘Yeah, he was out saving the day. Playing knight in shining armour to damsels in distress is hard work, isn’t it Brax?’

‘Shut up.’

‘Who the hell is this chick and why don’t I know about her?’ Teagan was now insecure.

Heath paused the play station game he was playing with Darcy and took a sip of his beer. ‘Brett’s sister.’

Teagan smirked. ‘You stood me up for her? That’d be right.’ She stormed off to use the bathroom.

Brax and Heath noticed that Teagan was now in full jealous mode and gave each other a secretive knowing look. They had been back together for a few months now and it was about time for the usual Teagan style break up that always ensured after the jealousy boils over.

The next morning, Brax woke up newly single. Walking out into the foggy morning, he looked over at Mrs Stevens’ house next door and began to get worried. There was something uneasy about everything. His elderly neighbour usually woke up well before the sun rose. Walking over to next door, he knocked on the door. No answer. ‘Mrs Stevens?’ There was still no answer. Brax picked up the newspaper on the porch from the day before and that morning and taking the spare key from under the mat, he opened the door.

Walking in, Brax found the house, unusually quiet. Walking through the house, he felt like he was intruding but he was worried and wanted to make sure his former baby sitter was okay. Seeing the old lady sitting on her couch, he sighed. ‘Mrs Stevens, are you alright?’

Mrs Stevens looked up, startled. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in.’ Brax apologized. ‘You haven’t collected your mail in a while and you weren’t answering the door, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright.’ He noticed that her hand was trembling. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes. Yes. I’m fine.’

He wasn’t convinced. ‘Have you taken your medication Mrs Stevens?’ He picked up the pill bottle and found it empty. ‘Do you need a new prescription?’

Mrs Stevens seemed discontented by the fuss. Weakly shaking, she tried to get up. ‘No, it’s fine, really. I don’t need any help.’

The poor woman could barely support herself on her feet and Brax had to help her back into the chair. In her old age, her bones were frail and weak.

‘Sit down, Mrs Stevens, before you hurt yourself. You stay here and I’ll go to the pharmacy to get you your medication.’

As he left to get dressed, he felt sorry for his neighbour who had no family to look after her. She needed the company and the extra pair of hands and Brax promised to be there for her like she had for him when he had been growing up.