Chapter 31: Rolling Thunder

Sunday morning when Cade woke up, he knew it was time to get rid of his houseguests. He walked downstairs. Seth was asleep, and Cade woke him up and suggested it was time for him to leave. "I'm not going anywhere." Seth said in a tired voice.

Cade resented Seth's arrogance. He realized that he didn't want to go to work on Monday and leave Seth, Annie, and Quinn home with Callie and the children. Thinking about it made his flesh crawl. "It's time for you to go," Cade said.

"We have no place else to go Cade," Annie said, as she rolled over and opened her eyes.

"We're staying," Seth said emphatically.

Cade was confused, "What do you mean you have no place else to go?"

"We can't go back to the city," Annie said quietly, and then looked at Seth for a reaction.

Seth frowned at his wife. "We'll be here for awhile."

Cade knew at that moment that whatever happened in the city to drive them out must have been something serious. He knew Seth wasn't about to tell him what was going on, and that he would have to grill his mother for answers. Somehow, Cade sensed their departure might have something to do with Quinn. Cade and his other siblings had left home by the time they were Quinn's age. In Cade's mind, sixteen was old enough for Quinn to be on his own. Cade recalled the morning he woke Ashley up to take her away. She shared a bedroom with Quinn, and the scared look on her face when he woke her, told him everything he needed to know.

"You can't stay," Cade said bluntly.

"Watch us," Seth said, and rolled over to go back to sleep.

Cade stared at Seth and then slowly stood up and went into the kitchen. Callie had just entered the kitchen, and she was making coffee. Cade sat at the table and felt warm inside as he watched Callie make the coffee. He loved her, despite her recent affair, and despite everything else. She was good to him. He stood up, walked up behind her, and held her. She turned around in his arms and looked up at him curiously. He planted a kiss on her lips before she could speak. It wasn't just a kiss, it was long and meaningful, and when he was finished, he lightly swatted her bottom and sat back down at the table.

Her face flushed red, but she wasn't about to ask him what had brought on his sudden show of affection. She loved him as much as he loved her, and she would do anything for him. She poured them both some coffee and sat down beside him at the table. In a hushed whisper she asked, "When are they leaving?"

Cade shook his head and she could see the frustration in his eyes. "I don't know," he said quietly.

Suddenly it occurred to Callie that she would be alone with them tomorrow while Cade went to work. "Cade—"

He reached up and put a finger to her lips to silence her. "Don't worry," he hissed quietly. "I'll think of something to get rid of them." However, he didn't know what that something would be.

Seth seldom bathed and he always looked greasy and dirty. He was beginning to smell, and as the children gathered around the table along with Seth and Annie, Cade noticed Jessica scrunch up her nose in disdain, but Cade was relieved she had the good sense not to say anything about how smelly Seth was.

"So, are you going back to the city today Grandma?" Harley asked hopefully.

"No Har, we're not," Annie smiled at her grandson. "We're going to stay here awhile."

Harley's countenance dropped, and Cade noticed the blood drain from Ashley's face. Having Seth around was deeply affecting everyone. Cade wished he had a way to evict Seth from his house, but he didn't know how to do something like that. Other than physically attacking Seth, he wasn't sure how to get rid of him.

Quinn began to stare at Ashley, and she began to tremble. "So how have you been Ash?" He asked in a subtle tone.

Ashley's eyes filled with tears. She wanted to stand up and scream at Quinn to shut up, but instead she sat motionless, trying to block everything out. Quinn enjoyed watching her squirm.

"Answer your uncle," Seth commanded. "Have you already forgotten the manners I tried to teach you?"

Ashley looked at Quinn and Seth and choked back her tears. "I'm fine," she managed.

Cade was about ready to explode. "You kids go upstairs," he said in an angry voice.

Cade's children immediately left the table and rushed up the stairs, lingering near the top of the stairs so they could hear what was going on in the kitchen below. They feared for Cade's safety.

Cade glared at Seth. "Get out of my house," he said.

Seth returned Cade's glare. "I raised you boy, and I raised your kids. I also took care of your good for nothing wife." Seth gritted his teeth. "You owe me a place to stay."

"I owe you nothing," Cade said angrily.

"You need to respect me!" Seth said and he stood up and pounded his fist against the table, making everyone but Cade jump. Quinn slid out of his chair and made his way upstairs with the other children.

"Why did you come here?" Cade demanded.

"Because you owe me boy," Seth said, and they both stood face to face, glaring at one another.

Cade stayed strong. "If you aren't welcome to be in the neighborhood back home, then why would you be welcome here?"

Annie wished she had some drugs to take in order to escape.

"You owe me," Seth barked.

"Why are you not allowed in the neighborhood?" Cade glared at Seth. "You aren't a dealer, because you never had the brains for it," Cade reasoned, and he continued staring at Seth. Seth's jaw tightened in response. "You didn't get evicted," Cade reasoned, "Since you have lived there forever and never once gotten the boot." Seth didn't like where this was heading. "That just leaves one other thing that I can think of," Cade said.

"Oh yeah," Seth asked, "What's that?"

"One of you committed a crime against the neighborhood, and the neighborhood ousted you for it," Cade said.

Seth was not good at bluffing, and it was obvious that Cade had hit the nail on the head. "What they are saying about Quinn isn't true," Seth scoffed.

"What are they saying?" Cade asked.

Annie could not keep still, "They say Quinn was doing things to the neighborhood kids," she blurted.

Seth lost it. "I told you to shut up woman," he attempted to strike her, but she ducked out of the way.

Cade was furious. He grabbed Seth's arm and wrestled him until Seth was pinned against the wall. Seth glared at Annie. "None of what they say is true," Seth protested.

Annie began to sob, and Callie put her arm around her for comfort.

Cade looked at Seth. "You don't know how many times I wanted to stop you from hitting my mom when I was a kid," he continued to hold Seth tight in his grasp. "You don't know how many times I wanted to strike back at you for hitting me, and the other kids," Cade said.

Seth became less resistant because his strength was weakening. Deep down inside he knew how Cade must feel, since he had similar feelings for his own stepfather. "I did the best I knew how when I raised you," Seth said.

Cade let him go, "How dare you bring Quinn here, around my children?"

"Quinn didn't do anything," Seth said, rubbing his arm and neck where Cade had restrained him.

Jessica screamed from the top of the stairs, "Dad!"

Cade rushed up the stairs as fast as he could. Jessica pointed toward her closed bedroom door. Cade rushed to open the door and found Quinn inside with Ashley. Ashley was sobbing and Quinn was laughing. When Cade entered the room, Quinn ran out of the room and down the stairs. Cade walked over and held Ashley. "What did he do to you?"

"H-he w-wouldn't let me out," she sobbed. "H-he..." she was sobbing so hard she couldn't say any more. Cade looked around, "Where is Harley?"