July seventh:

Mykel was smiling as he walked through the door to his tattoo parlor. He was surprised to see his next appointment so early, and before his smile could widen he heard Mattie gasp just under his breath. She had yet to notice him as she stood smiling. "Hi. I know I'm early so if you..." Her eyes shifted just slightly to the right as she noticed to whom she was face to face with. "Mattie bear?"

Mykel felt Mattie's fist in his back, gripping onto his shirt as if for balance. The venomous tone as he spoke made the hairs on Mykel's neck stand on end. "You don't get to call me that anymore. That died when you left me in that fucking closet." Before he had a chance to respond to Mattie or even process the onslaught of information he'd just received from this short exchange, Mattie bolted. In his haste to chase after him, Mykel didn't realize the glass to the door slightly cracked at the bottom. He wouldn't notice until the next week and wonder briefly how it happened before emotion will sweep him up in its current and nearly drown him in the undertow.

He called for Mattie to stop! please stop! but his cries once again fell on deaf ears as he watched the distance between them grow. He didn't realize until that moment how fast his lover was. When Mykel rounded the next corner he stopped, bent over at the waist, hands resting on his knees, he searched the thin crowd that filled the sidewalks. There was no sign of him. Standing there the span of one hundred and twenty heartbeats he searched and, coming up empty, turned and walked dejectedly back to the shop. When he returned she was still there waiting, her eyes red and cheeks puffy, but her eyes for the moment dry. She was sitting but stood as he entered. He eyed her carefully, his mind racing in twenty-five directions at once. He felt dizzy and nauseous. "I, uh...wasn't expecting that." Mykel wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or him. He didn't reply. Finally, she looked up at him before breaking eye contact and looking at her surroundings, her eyes finally settling back on him. "Is there somewhere we can go to talk?"

Mykel frowned and crossed his arms defensively across his chest. "About what exactly?" Mykel noticed Lilly sitting quietly at her desk, trying not to be noticed and very much invested on the scene playing out in front of her.

"My brother. Please."

Mykel eyed her eyes that so closely resembled Mattie's, only with more golden flecks spattering the pattern.

"Lilly," his voice was calmer as he spoke to her, "cancel and reschedule my appointments today please." His eyes hardened slightly as he looked back to this stranger's face that looked so much like the one he'd just kissed. "We can talk back here." He led her into a back room where he pulled up a stool and motioned her to take a seat. "What exactly do you want with him? And why now...almost nine years later...why do you want him in your life now?"

"He's my little brother...I've always wanted him in my life," she said with a small shake of her head as she downcast her glance.

"Oh, really? Is that what you told him when you abandoned him? When you just left him in that fucking closet like he was less to you than the dog shit you stamped over in your haste to get out..." Mykel pursed his lips together and took a deep breath knowing that his anger would get him nowhere. He took a step backward when he realized he was frightening her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, this whole thing has kinda thrown me for a loop. Mattie...shit, Mattie." He pulled out his phone from his pocket and hastily dialed. "Pick up, mon bonheur. Pick up, Mattie. Pick-fuck." He hit the end button and scrubbed a hand over his face, took a deep breath, and looked at the woman a few feet away from him. "O'Neill wasn't on the registry. Change your name?"

She glanced up at him with a look so familiar he had to sit before he fell. "How do you know I'm just not married?"

Mykel shrugged and dug around for a cigarette. He didn't smoke them often but the nicotine calmed his nerves. He offered one to her but she declined. "I suppose I don't, but since you're not wearing a ring, there's no indention from a ring on your finger...I just took a shot in the dark."

"I changed my name entirely when I was nineteen. However, despite the lack of a ring, I am married."

"Gillian Rabb."

She shrugged. "It wasn't anything close." She paused. "He hates me."

"Does he have a reason not to?" He couldn't hide the coldness in his voice at the question.

"I think I will take that cigarette." She watched him as he reached into that pack and took it with a smile of gratitude. "He...he doesn't know everything."

Mykel took a long drag from the cigarette and studied her closely. "What he knows is the one person who he loved and trusted most in the world left him in that hole to be repeatedly beaten and nearly drowned for another two years alone, with absolutely no one. You know that they starved him? A week without food at a time, minus a few slices of bread. That's what he knows. He knows you left him to the very people you escaped from. From the very people that you always promised to take him away from." He lit another cigarette, thankful that the pack was full. He leaned against the wall, enjoying the feeling of the cold brick at his back, his head reclined as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.

"You're in love with him. He seemed happy when he walked in behind you."

"What difference does it matter to you?" His voice was calm, low, cold.

She looked away from him a moment before looking back at him. Her eyes were shining as she did so. "Not that I really feel I owe you any kind of explanation...explaining to you might...allow me to see him again. I've tried searching for him but I couldn't ever track him down. He doesn't keep a Facebook or anything. His number is unlisted. I looked into it but I couldn't afford a private eye. I'm sorry I left him...I know that that means shit, probably less, but I...I never told him...but my father would come after me..." She didn't say the word but Mykel knew very well what she meant. "When I ran away I was pregnant. He..." She wiped her eyes and calmed herself before speaking again. "I didn't want to leave him there. I had no way of getting him out of that closet. They had it padlocked. There were three locks. Each with a different key. I didn't know where they kept them. I know he'll never forgive me...and he'll probably never want to see or have anything to do with me. And I don't blame him. But tell him he has a family...I have a husband and three wonderful kids. He has two nephews and a niece that would one day like to meet their uncle. Please will you tell him?"

Mykel looked at her unsure if it would be such a wise idea, and he knew he was playing the devil's advocate, but sighed and stamped out the cigarette. "I'll see what I can do."

She stood. "Thank you." She looked at him for what felt to Mykel like years. "You must love him very much. Please take care of him. Take care of him like I never could."

Mykel nodded. "What about the art?"

She smiled slightly. "I've already paid the deposit. Can I call and set up another day? This has been...trying."

Once she was gone Mykel pulled out his cell phone and called Mattie again. And again. And again. Each time with no response. Finally, he called another number. "Liz! Have you talked to Mattie? Please tell me Mattie called you. Something happened and he took off running and I couldn't catch him.  He won't answer me. Please tell me he called you, Lizzy, please."

"He called. I'm on my way to go pick him up. He's on the other line, actually. What happened? He's in hysterics."

Mykel laughed in relief that he'd at least gotten a hold of Liz because if he didn't laugh he'd dissolve into hysterics himself. He gripped the phone tighter lest the shaking in his hands and body make him drop it. "Okay. Okay. I've got Lilly canceling and rescheduling what she can for today. I'll figure it out, but I can't not come home to him after this. Lizzy, please take care of him. It was his sister Liz. I didn't know, but she was my next appointment after lunch. God, Liz, you should have seen the look on his face."

"I will, baby. Don't worry too much, he'll be alright. I'm almost to him, alright. I'm gonna switch back over. I'll let you know when we get home. Just breathe, Mykee."

When he hung up he didn't feel much better about the situation. Gently he set his phone upon a shelf of storage items and hung his head in an attempt to calm himself down. It wasn't working. In sudden ferocity, he had to escape the confines of the building, though with a quick look to his wristwatch knew he didn't have time before the next appointment appeared through the door. He wiped his eyes and took several deep breaths before walking back to the front of the building where Lilly sat chatting with a customer. "Boss, I've done the impossible. Everything is rescheduled after him. You're not gonna have much time to do anything else for a while, though."

"Thank you, Lilly. I owe you. After this one, I've got to take care of some things." He looked at the young man who had been talking with Lilly. "Can you give me five minutes?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, dude, do what you do."

Mykel nodded his thanks and returned to the backroom to call Mattie one more time. As he unlocked the screen a text came through that made his chest ache.

Hi. I'm sorry. I'm with Liz now. She came and picked me up. Please don't be mad at me.

Mykel answered immediately: I'm not mad at you, mon bonheur. There's nothing to forgive, baby, I just wanted to know you were okay, or at least safe. Listen, I canceled the last half of my appointments...I can't concentrate right now. I've already gotten Lilly to reschedule everything. I've got one more because they're already here and I'm coming home okay. If you need Liz instead of me right now, I understand, but I wanna be home with you in case you do need me. Is that okay?

I do need you, Mykel. I always need you, I'm sorry I ran.

Hush now, baby. I'll be home soon. I love you, Mattie.

I love you, too.

As he walked back out to get this last one over with he began to wonder if maybe Mattie and his sister should get together and talk things out. He just hoped that things wouldn't backfire once he got home.