Goddess Ch. 13

"Sorry 'bout the regular food. Tom didn't tell us he was comin' back up, I'da gotten a nice steak." said Eddie.

"Oh no that's quite cough alright Mr. Vernor [cough cough]" said Sydney, fanning away some of the smoke that had gotten around to her end of the small table.

"Ah shit, where're my manners?" he said embarrassed. He got up and put the cigar down on a tray situated on a small wood counter near the couch in the living room.

The four sat down to eat. Tom was largely quiet, answering with one or two words whenever his father asked him questions. Sydney couldn't help but feel confused. His father had shown him nothing but love since they got here, and was largely gracious. What was about him that Tom disliked so much?

"So Sydney," Eddie asked "What is it 'cha study?".

"Oh, I'm a film history major." she said.

"Ah! That's a good thing to study. Probably quite a bitta money in that. Not to mention immigration proof." said Eddie, chomping down some of the pork roast.

Tom started gulping down the scotch.

"Here we go." he muttered beneath his breath.

"And I mean look, obviously I'm no fan a the Republican Party, but at least they look out for the common American worker and their job security n' all." said Eddie.

"And there it is!" bellowed Tom. "That wretched bootlickery!".

"Oh don't be so uptight, son. I'm only sayin' what's true."

"There's no truth in it! It's just vicious racist bootlicking!"

"Hey, hey, don't call me racist! I don't care for that at all!"

"Well maybe if you quit scapegoating brown people for the lack of job security I wouldn't be inclined to!"

"Well sorry that the average American worker ain't like one ah yer weird socialist fantasies. We live in the real world son, not that commonwealth of toil dreamland. I swear, you get it from yer mother in the worst way sometimes."

"It's not a fantasy it's called solidarity. Y'know, that thing that the AFL pretends to care about when they're not jerking off the Democratic Party?!"

The two continued to argue loudly, pounding back the scotch on the table. Kathy leaned over to Sydney, who was now visibly uncomfortable.

"You wanna join me outside?" she whispered "I can get the fire pit going to keep the flies off us." Sydney nodded quietly and the two women made their way to the right end of the lawn, wherein sat a small fire pit surrounded by dirt alongside two fold-out chairs. Sergei ran outside with them and snuggled up to Kathy as she lit the fire. The two sat down, enjoying their food as the men of the Vernor family continued to yell inside.

"So... that's what Tom was nervous about." said Sydney.

"Yeah, Dad and Tom haven't gotten along much recently," said Kathy "It's a real shame, I miss my baby bro a lot."

"Wow. I guess Tom really hates him, huh?"

"Tom? Oh no. He yells at Dad because he cares. Those two were close as magnets when he was growing up. I think deep down he wants to get Dad's crappier views out of him."

"You think so?"

"Sydney, you've dated my baby brother. If that racist crap came out of anyone else's mouth, what would he do?"

"Punch them dead on in the mouth?"

"Exactly. He yells at Dad because he cares."

"Speaking of your Dad, if you don't mind my asking, what's up with accent?"

"Hm? Oh, Dad's from Georgia originally. Me and Tom used to have the same thing, but over the years we both got it out of us. Comes out of Tom when he's real upset. Or drunk."

"Fun, I get to see both."

Kathy started bursting out laughing again.

"Why?" Sydney thought to herself. Kathy caught her breath, then wiped a small tear from her eye.

"Hoooo... Sydney, I tell you, Mom would've loved you" Kathy said, exhaling calmly.

"Would've?" Sydney asked.

Kathy blushed. "F-Forget I said that. Tom'll probably wanna talk about that in person. Him and Mom were real close." The two sat in an awkward silence, eating their food, when suddenly, a slamming sound came from inside, followed by a roar from Tom's voice. Sergei went running inside, and the girls followed.

Tom stood at the dinner table, inexplicably shirtless, holding the scotch in his right hand. Eddie meanwhile, had passed out.

"F-F-Fuhh yeah!" Tom exclaimed "Cah hol' yer' liquor ol' man!".

He started wobbling around a bit, then turned to face the girls.

"Hey baby bro." said Kathy calmly.

"H-Haddy Kathy." said Tom, waving to his sister. He threw back some of the scotch. "I.. I wub".

"Tom... where's your shirt?" asked Sydney. Tom turned to her.

"S-Sydney!" he said, stumbling over to hug her. "L-Listen. I hick I'm sarry if I both-hick-ered y'all. Yer hick the love ah mah life an' I would never wanna hick inconven... incon... incandescent ya. Yeah, 's the word."

Sydney gently broke the hug, holding him parallel to her by the arms. He was grinning a huge, silly smile.

"Baby, how drunk are you?" she asked.

"Whaaaaa... S-Sydney I swear to thank ah'm not as drunk as you God I am". Kathy walked over to the dinner table, picking up half a dozen empty fifths.

"Yep... That'd be a drinking contest between these two alright," she said, slinging her father over her shoulder. "I'm gonna put Dad down to bed, can you take care of my baby bro?"

"Sure. Are they gonna be alright? That's a hell of a lot of whiskey." asked Sydney.

"Them? Oh yeah, they probably won't even feel this come morning. The men of the Vernor family have steel livers." said Kathy, walking her Dad off to his room. Sydney took Tom by the hand, gently leading him to the bedroom. Tom wobbled a bit before collapsing onto the bed, then rolling over to make room for Sydney. She snuggled up to him, enjoying the feel of his warm body against hers. The two fell asleep peacefully, blissfully wrapped in each other's embrace.