Scramble
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 40
I stood in the living room, checking my watch for the third time in five minutes. The reservation was in thirty minutes, and Mom and Josh still hadn’t come downstairs.
“Mom, we need to leave soon,” I called up the stairs.
“I don’t feel good, Blake,” came her voice from the bedroom. “My head is killing me. Can’t we just skip this?”
“Mom, come on. It’s Dad’s birthday. Please.”
“Fine,” she said with a sigh coming out of her room.
I was wearing my Sunday suit and Mom was actually dressed really nicely. I hadn’t seen her dressed up in forever. She used to dress up all the time and if I was being honest, she was something of a clothes fiend, so the last year of mostly jeans and T-shirts had been quite the change for her.
It was good to see her dressing like herself again.
Joshua appeared at the top of the stairs, already dressed but wearing his usual sullen expression. “Do I have to go? This is stupid.”
“Yes, you have to go. It’s Dad’s birthday.”
“So what? He said he didn’t even want to do anything.”
“Blake, really, we don’t need to make a big deal out of this. Your mother doesn’t feel well, and...”
“No.” I cut him off. “This is important to me. You work your butt off for this family. You deserve to be celebrated, and that’s what we’re doing.”
“But...” Josh started to complain again.
“Stop complaining and get in the car,” Dad said firmly. “If your mom can go, you can go.”
We got in the car and Dad asked, “Where is this big surprise?”
“I’m taking you to Miller’s Steakhouse.”
“What? No. That’s too expensive.”
“No, I’ve been saving up and I can afford it. Besides, it’s your birthday, so don’t worry about it.”
I gave him a look ‘cause he knew exactly how much I could afford and why I had the money. It was probably a good thing that Mom’s head hurt, though, otherwise she might start wondering how I could possibly afford to buy the family a steak dinner.
She’d probably be even more interested in the actual surprise part of this, which was much more expensive.
It did eat into the savings that I was doing quite a bit of, but I hadn’t been lying. Dad did a lot for this family, and he was never really celebrated. Things had been so tense at home between him and Mom, and I hadn’t been helping, pushing him to believe that his youngest son was a monster.
I wasn’t planning on stopping that, since something had to happen with Josh sooner or later, but I thought I could maybe soften the blow a little by giving him one good night.
I also still missed him, every time I thought about how things had been in the dream.
No. He deserved a night like tonight.
I managed to corral them all inside and went up to the hostess stand after we got through the small crowd in the front.
“Reservation for Sims, right?” The girl asked.
She was a little older than me and I was pretty sure she went to my school, so she must have recognized me because of that.
“That’s us.”
“Right this way. Your party is already here.”
Dad frowned. “What party?”
I grinned as we followed her toward the back of the restaurant. “Just trust me.”
She led us to the private dining room in the back, and when she opened the door, about twenty people shouted, “Happy Birthday!”
Dad’s face went completely blank. I could see him trying to process what he was seeing. Deputy Martinez was there, along with Deputy Thompson and a few other guys from the department. There were also people from here in town like Coach Palmer.
“Blake,” Dad said quietly. “What did you do?”
“Surprise?”
He shook his head, but he was smiling now. Really smiling. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Believe it, Tom,” Deputy Martinez said, clapping him on the back. “Your boy called everyone personally. Said it was important we show up for you.”
“Because it is important,” I said. “Just remember, you have to pay for your own alcohol.”
That got a laugh out of them.
Mom managed a smile, though I could tell she was putting on an act. Joshua didn’t even bother pretending to be happy. He found a chair in a corner and slumped into it like he was being punished.
They’d kept four seats open for us and we found our places and ordered. I was starved, since I hadn’t eaten much knowing that I was going to have a big meal tonight, and ordered the ribeye. So did Dad.
Josh, who was picky about how much fat was on his meat, ordered a top sirloin and Mom ordered a salad, saying she wasn’t hungry. She hadn’t been eating much over the last few months and was visibly losing weight, but this wasn’t the time or place to try and push her to eat more.
Things started off well enough. People were telling stories about Dad, sharing memories from work and around town. Coach Palmer talked about Dad from their days playing football together and Deputy Martinez told some story about Dad dealing with this drunk guy a month or so ago who puked all over his squad car.
Dad looked so happy. Every time someone complimented him or shared a story, his face lit up a little more.
As these things did, conversation started breaking out in little groups, with people sitting next to each other talking about whatever they had going on, leading to a dozen conversations going on as we all started to eat.
Near us, Martinez and Thompson began talking about work, as they tended to do with Dad.
“Speaking of crazy, have you guys heard anything else about the robbery at B&W?”
My fork stopped halfway to my mouth. “What robbery?”
Dad shot Martinez a look. “That’s not really dinner conversation.”
“Come on, Tom. The kid’s fifteen. Besides, it’s not like it’s classified.” Martinez turned to me. “Craziest thing we’ve seen in years. This gang tried to rob the B&W administrative building in broad daylight. They just ran in with guns, tied everyone up, and took all the cash for payroll.”
“Really?” I tried to keep my voice level. “What happened?”
“I don’t know how they did it, but their timing was incredible,” Thompson chimed in. “Most of the department was in for this mandatory training, and no one was really on patrol. If they’d been less brazen, instead of walking in carrying shotguns and whatever, they probably would have gotten away with it. But people on the street saw them and called it in when the guys started going inside, giving us just enough time to get a squad car there as they were coming out. Thirty seconds later, and they would have been gone and gotten away with it.”
“Want to talk about crazy...” Dad started to say.
“What’s even wilder was they were mostly car thieves before this,” Martinez continued, ignoring Dad’s attempts to change the subject. “Chop shop guys, you know? But this was way more ambitious. Went in with guns, took hostages, the whole thing.”
“Did they get caught?” I asked.
I knew the answer, of course, but I wanted to make it look good.
“Oh yeah. Two of them got shot but it looks like they’ll both pull through. They’re in the hospital right now. Rest of them are sitting in county jail. They’re all going down, but those two will get longer sentences for sure.”
“Martinez,” Dad said firmly. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Sure, sure. Actually, why don’t we all raise a glass to the man of the hour here? To Tom, a hell of a guy.”
Everyone raised their glasses. Dad was smiling from ear to ear, which was exactly what I was hoping for. He was really happy. Even Mom managed a smile, although it still looked pained.
I was half distracted, though. Raf had survived. I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad about that. I mean, he pointed a shotgun at police officers after robbing a business. He was going to jail for a really long time.
But he would still be out there. I had been thinking lately about fate, after Raf had found someone new to initiate. Was fate entwined with all of this? Would he come back out and endanger my dad’s life again?
Or was I overthinking it, and this change was enough to take him off the board?
All questions I’d never get answers to, or at least not for a long time. Short of going into the hospital and shooting him myself, I’d have to leave it to the police to keep him in jail for the next twenty years.
Eduardo would be happy, though. He’d been very upset that he might have caused the death of his cousin. Even if he knew his cousin was a bad guy.
As dinner wrapped up, I pulled out the small wrapped box I’d been carrying.
“This is for you,” I said, handing it to him.
“Blake, you didn’t need to get me anything,” Dad said. “This whole dinner is more than enough.”
“Just open it.”
He unwrapped it carefully, and when he saw what was inside, he sucked in a breath. He lifted out the pocket watch slowly, turning it over in his hands.
“Blake, this is my father’s watch. How did you...”
“I took it out of that box on your dresser a few weeks ago. I knew Grandpa left it for you, but that it didn’t work, and I figured it would be even better if it did, so I had it restored. Took them a few weeks, but they got it running perfectly.”
“Blake,” he said, his voice rough. “This is ... I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. You’re a good dad. You deserve to have something of his.”
He pulled me into a tight hug that lasted almost a full minute. “Thank you, Son. This means everything to me.”
Around the table, people were watching and smiling. Well, almost everyone. For whatever reason, Josh looked annoyed more than anything.
“Well hell, Tom,” Deputy Martinez said. “Now the rest of us look bad. Kid’s got us all beat.”
“He’s got a good heart,” Dad said, messing up my hair and looking at the watch.
“Gets it from his old man,” Coach Palmer added.
Everyone else handed over presents. Books, pins, a shirt. The sort of presents given by friends that had a meaning that didn’t translate to people outside their friendship.
Finally, about an hour into dinner, Mom said. “Tom, my head is really hurting. I think I need to go home.”
“Of course. Blake, we should probably wrap this up.”
I nodded, even though I was disappointed the evening was ending so early.
“I’ll say goodbye to everyone first,” I said and then stood up. “I’m sorry everyone, but with two kids at the table, we’re going to force Dad to go home early. The food is paid for and we have this room for another thirty minutes, so you guys take your time and have fun.”
We went around the table, with Dad shaking hands and accepting more birthday wishes. People were already talking about doing this again next year, which made Dad smile even more.
“This was perfect, Blake,” he said as we headed outside. “I can’t believe you did all this.”
“You deserve it.”
Mom was leaning heavily on Dad’s arm as we walked toward the exit, and Joshua was already halfway to the car. The evening had been everything I’d hoped for Dad, even if Mom and Josh didn’t want to be here.
It had been worth every penny and then some.
The next morning was the day we headed to College Station for the seven-on-seven tournament. The first game was Saturday morning and considering how far away College Station was from Wheaton, it didn’t make sense to have us get up super early, spend hours on a bus, and then try to compete. As part of the fee, they were giving us housing in some of the A&M dorms, which I was actually excited about. I was rooming with Mickey, and I thought it was going to be pretty fun.
“Blake!” As I got on the bus, Mickey waved me toward the back where he’d saved a seat.
I made my way down the narrow aisle, nodding to teammates as I passed. The bus was already half full with our seven-on-seven squad, everyone looking somewhere between pumped and terrified. Miguel was sketching in his notebook again, probably drawing trying to keep his hands busy.
“You nervous?” Mickey asked as I dropped into the seat next to him.
“Always.” I shoved my bag under the seat in front of us. “But the good kind.”
Across the aisle were Elijah and his crew. Every few minutes one of them would turn around to glare at me. He’d been acting like I’d personally ruined his life ever since Coach Holloway made it clear Hunter was keeping his starting spot. The guy just couldn’t accept that talent didn’t automatically trump character.
“He’s still giving you the death stare,” Mickey muttered.
“Let him. We’ve got bigger things to worry about than Elijah’s hurt feelings.”
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