"I ain't got a wife." That was easier than going down the mental road, even for a second, of Karen. Especially Karen in relation to children. "Buddy of mine just dropped his kids on me."
Bobby realised how that sounded and he shrugged. "He's a jackass." At the very least.
He got out of the car to have a look at the other one, mostly to get started attaching what he needed in order to tow it. No use inspecting it right now, better to do that back at the workshop. "I ain't a rental business, no. But I got some fixed up heaps of junk that are road safe and would get you there and back all right, you can have them for less than a rental fee."
He bent down as he attached things, careful not to damage the paint job on that beautiful car. "Don't worry. I know my ways around cars, even nice ones. I ain't gonna scratch up a beaut like that. I know I ain't look it, but you can trust me."
Only people he ruined. Not cars. He was good with those.
"I think despite how you may appear, you're a gentle touch. I like that in a man. Depth, they call it." Michael teased lightly as he watched Bobby attach the tow to his car and secure it. Well, a single redneck who hadn't tried to deck him yet. If it wasn't for the kids, he'd consider his odds of getting laid but in a house like that, no damn chance.
"I have to drive for around 5 hours, I'm not sure if the scrap will have long enough legs but let's see." Hopefully it could be fixed fast. Otherwise, he was genuinely considering trying to get Raphael here by another means. "There's a town or a city nearby, right? Any chance it has a bus stop?"
Whatever he could do to solve this mess, he would. Unlike his brothers, apparently. Once Bobby had his car, he returned to the truck and pulled out his phone to check responses. Nothing.
"Think we got a bus stop, yeah. Ain't sure of the schedule, you'd have to ask around. But you ain't lookin' as if you'd ever ride a bus." Bobby felt the need to say that. And then he felt the need to clarify. "Ain't an insult. More the opposite."
Which he supposed would mean he was complimenting the strange guy that had been flirting with him. Better not to linger on that. Instead he focused on securing everything and then he got back into his truck, starting it. "I got phone chargers back at my place. I can help you out with that, at least."
"I did as a boy, not as an adult. And besides, I wouldn't be the one using it." If anyone was suffering on a bus in this weather, it was the idiot boy that got kicked out of his school, not him. It wasn't his fault his car wasn't built to drive to obscure redneck workcamp schools. "I hope there's at least a hotel around here."
He had no idea where he would stay but hotel was starting to seem unlikely. Motel at best. He was going to strangle Raphael when he saw him. "I'll charge my phone before I go. I need 100% battery, I have a lot of ranting to do."
"Yeah, no. No hotel around here... There's a motel if you go a few miles up the road and they rent out a few rooms above the diner in town. We ain't big with the glamour around here." They weren't big with a lot of stuff. Bobby had never even entered any place they'd call hotel, he had a distinct feeling they'd not let him in.
"Diner ain't that bad. Decent food, especially if you like cloggin' up your arteries." Some days it was what was needed. "Better than the food situation I'm dealin' with. One boy won't eat anythin' green, the other only eats rabbit food."
"I have a teenager who drinks maple syrup right out of the bottle. Trust me, I get it more than you'd think. Teenagers, they're just -- well, they're stupid. I was going to say something deeper but it ain't that deep." They were just dumb, full of hormones and ignorant as hell. "The best you can do is trick then and keep them out of your expensive booze."
So his options tonight were fried food and a questionable motel. Fantastic. He was not having a good day. Not at all. "I hope the motel at least has wifi."
"...wouldn't count on it. You can use mine, if you fancy. I hooked that up a while back." He needed it for the network, keeping people connected. For the huge amount of work he did all day that he didn't get paid for. "They're a bit behind the times back in town."
He slowed down as they reached his place, careful when he parked to get the fancy car a nice and safe spot. "Backwards place with backwards people having dumbass opinions. That's why I live out here. Less idjits to deal with."
"I always think it's easier to just live above them, not among them." He supposed he just had to hope that he could get everything sorted by tonight and not have to deal with the motel but whatever, he had dealt with worse. When he first left the cult, he had nothing. He had to make himself powerful and deal with worse things. He could deal with a motel.
Once he was out of the truck, he eagerly stepped out and went around to his car. He used his key to unlock it and moved inside to grab a few things from his passenger seat. "Please, do work your magic. Do you have a waiting room, by any chance?"
"I got a living room." Bobby unlocked the door and let Aleister inside, showing him where the couch was. And, probably even more importantly, handing him a bunch of phone chargers. Hopefully one of them would do the trick. "I'll have a look at your car. Lemme..."
He could bother Matty again, but he had done it before. Besides, maybe Sam would have better manners. "Sammy!"
The boy came running a few seconds later, hair a mess and, yeah, he actually had a pen behind his ear. Really was a bit of a nerd. "Sammy, get the man something to drink, yeah? Be polite."
Sam nodded and then looked at Aleister, unsure what to make of him. "Do you want a beer?" Wait. Polite. "Sir."
Michael looked at Sam and then eyed up the beaten up couch. Well. Whatever. He was in hick time, he had to embrace it. He took a phone charger that looked like it worked and plugged it into the nearest socket. "A water is fine, thank you." He didn't really day-drinker unless it was good quality liquor and he never really was a beer guy.
Dropping on his couch, he smiled at Bobby before picking up his charging phone and opening up whatsapp so he could send a message to Gabriel.
He opted to hiss/whisper, not wanting to talk too loud when he was here of all places and around teenagers. "Now listen here, you useless bag of puss. Pick up the damn phone and confirm you're taking him because I have a job and a life. You work for me, moron! If you keep ignoring me, I will demote you so hard, you'll be a damn janitor!"
He pulled his thumb off the record and dropped his phone by him on the couch, raising his hand to rub over his eyes. This was not a good day.
While Bobby had walked outside to inspect the car, Sam had headed into the kitchen. The boy returned with a glass of water that he had rinsed first, holding it out to the angrily cursing fancy man. He'd somehow imagined that rich people, especially ones with accents, would curse less. Interesting.
When Aleister stopped yelling into his phone, Sam decided to keep being polite. "We've got a bag of chips, if you want." He frowned and corrected himself. "Crisps." That's what British people said, right?
"I know what you're saying. I spent a lot of years here." They just didn't grow up in America. At first. Then the cult moved in his teenage years. Lucifer assimilated but he never did. He liked his accent. In some ways, it was nice to have it. A distinction. A difference. His mom was British too... not that it mattered.
"But thank you, I appreciate the service. Good luck on your homework." Michael offered idly as he looked back at his phone, trying to google motels but there was no signal in here. "Wait, hang on, what's the wifi password?"
"It's STOPWATCHINGPORNMATTY. All caps. And then a 3 and an exclamation mark." Bobby had gotten sick of the amount of viruses that somehow made their way onto his computer. Sam wasn't sure whether the password helped, although it certainly killed any urge he had to look at porn, knowing that Bobby would somehow find out. Kind of horrifying.
Aleister's phone buzzed with a message. What Gabriel had sent was 🙏😇, which was not overly helpful. It was a message though.
"Thank you. Also please cover your ears and try not to listen when I do use my phone." Michael warned as he put in the wifi password and then quirked an eyebrow in amusement. Heh. It was a good password. He would use this lifeline to berate the hell out of Gabriel and also make some business calls and some school calls.
"Is fancy guy still here?" Matt asked as he came out to get a snack, leaning over to see what Sam had been writing. He was doing science stuff. He reached out to steal a pen so he could draw a penis on his work.
"Yeah," Sam confirmed, while gesturing to where the fancy guy was. He rolled his eyes at the penis and made a mental note to cover that up later. For now he just looked at his big brother, grinning. "Did you see the car, Matty? It's all shiny! It's an Aston Martin, I swear."
He didn't know as much about cars as Matty did, but they'd spent more than enough time on the road for him to recognise a cool car when he saw one. "Y'think we can sit in it?"
"Hell yeah, we will. I think when everyone is asleep, there's no harm." Matty mumbled, checking to make sure the guy wasn't listening. He could vaguely heard what he was talking about and it sounded boring. Business stuff. He was so fancy, he was all slick and his car was amazing. "He's probably loaded. I hope he pays Bobby properly. It's a Friday at 6pm. That's after hours - I keep telling him, he should charge time and a half."
Matty cracked open his can of coke and took a sip, walking towards the window and watching Bobby work. "That won't be an easy fix, it's such an expensive car. We won't have the parts for it in the scrap yard. I'll probably have to go into town tomorrow and order the part of Bobby."
"Bobby ain't ever charging that much. He always says same price for everyone." And then he kept doing freebies, Sam knew that. Bobby was like that. The crankiest guy he knew and somehow the most generous. Best person. Very different from dad. "Maybe you get to drive him into town. He's gonna need to sleep somewhere and I don't think he'd take the couch."
Didn't seem like the type. "I heard him curse a lot before though. I think he's real angry."
And probably about to be in an even worse mood, judging by Bobby's body language out there.
"Yeah, well, he's probably got places to be and things to do. You don't have money like that unless you're working all the time. Probably missed a board meeting or something." Still, angry older guys put up his defensive mode and he put an arm around Sam without thinking. "I'll drive him into town tonight and I'm sure that shitty motel will make him even pisser tomorrow."
Matty knocked back more of his coke and then smiled at Sam. "If he rages, you tell me and I'll kick his rich ass outta the house. I ain't letting any punk like that bother you or Bobby."
"Yeah, really need your protection from some rich Brit," Sam joked, but he didn't mind Matty holding him and he always had a part of him that felt just a little bit better when his brother got protective. Even when he really didn't think he needed protecting.
Bobby shook his head outside and then walked back toward the house, stepping inside. He waited for Aleister to end his phone call, then shrugged. "Look, the good news is that I know what the problem is and I can fix it. The bad news is that I ain't got the part you need. Not a lot of Aston Martins on my junkyard." Shocking, he was sure.
"I can't say I'm overly shocked. I suppose I will be spending my evening in the lovely motel that has 1 star in amenities but does give a 50 cent voucher at the restaurant beneath." Classy. He knew it was coming so he had time to brace himself, google it to amuse himself and hope for good shower at least.
"A 50 cent voucher? Nice." And Matty genuinely meant that. That was the sad part. Michael stared at him for a while and then looked back at Bobby.
"Any chance I can get a ride up there?" He was hoping he didn't have to take a long trek in the dark. "Not that I'm not excited to wander along the wilderness of the south. Got a big cruising scene in the woods or is that just in movies?"
Bobby snorted and realised, with relief, that neither Matty nor Sam knew what the hell the guy was talking about. "Not that I've ever found, but if you've seen what's on offer around here, you won't want to go lookin'."
He realised that he definitely didn't want Matty alone with this man, for both their sakes, so he looked at the boy. "You heat up the chili for you two, yeah? Eat some bread with it and no whining."
Good, simple food. The women around here dropped food off for him to heat up a lot more ever since he suddenly had the boys. Bless their maternal instincts. He headed out the door and called out to Aleister. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."
"Okay, I'm on it. Can you bring us back pie though? From the diner. They do amazing apple pie." Matty thought it was worth a shot so he pitched his pie desires before heading to the kitchen. If he was good and fed his bro, maybe he'd get pie.
Michael unplugged his phone and followed after Bobby. "Night, boys."
As they exited the room, he realised that perhaps he shouldn't make gay jokes around conservative people's kids but he couldn't help himself. "I knew they didn't know or I wouldn't have joked about it." Michael assured the man with a playful smirk. "I just wasn't sure you'd know about it. So many layers and I'm not just talking about the plaid on plaid."
"Don't gotta worry about those jokes around them. They're just little idjits in the end." He said it fondly and got into his truck, waiting for Aleister to get in as well. Hadn't really occurred to him that Aleister would think he should be careful around the boys. He got it though. So, once he started the car, he actually kept talking. "Their father wouldn't like hearin' you talk that way, but their father would like the earful I'd give him even less, so who the hell cares?"
Certainly not him. He'd have some stern words for that fucker if he ever saw him again.
"I appreciate an open mind. What can I say? Us damn liberals, living in the city, romancing Satan. Not that I'm a liberal, mind. I'm more of an capitalist with lefter leanings." He voted left for the sake of his sanity but he was a business man so the less money the poor people had, the better. He was just rebelling from good old Christian values.
"Though probably best not to talk politics in Dakota." Michael offered a quick smile, just to make sure he hadn't offended. He was happy for this man to hate him personally, as long as he fixed his car. "Are you going to get your boy that pie?"
Bobby mentally counted what money he had and how much he had left for the month, then he nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll get it. He's been a goodun, really. Even told me he'd done his homework without blinkin', so he's gettin' better at lying."
Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to reward, but hey. Bobby saw it as an improvement. He was learning. "You can talk politics all live long day around me, if you fancy. Though I reckon you'd be better off not bringin' it up around folks in town. Ain't got their minds all that open, those idjits."
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Bobby realised how that sounded and he shrugged. "He's a jackass." At the very least.
He got out of the car to have a look at the other one, mostly to get started attaching what he needed in order to tow it. No use inspecting it right now, better to do that back at the workshop. "I ain't a rental business, no. But I got some fixed up heaps of junk that are road safe and would get you there and back all right, you can have them for less than a rental fee."
He bent down as he attached things, careful not to damage the paint job on that beautiful car. "Don't worry. I know my ways around cars, even nice ones. I ain't gonna scratch up a beaut like that. I know I ain't look it, but you can trust me."
Only people he ruined. Not cars. He was good with those.
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"I have to drive for around 5 hours, I'm not sure if the scrap will have long enough legs but let's see." Hopefully it could be fixed fast. Otherwise, he was genuinely considering trying to get Raphael here by another means. "There's a town or a city nearby, right? Any chance it has a bus stop?"
Whatever he could do to solve this mess, he would. Unlike his brothers, apparently. Once Bobby had his car, he returned to the truck and pulled out his phone to check responses. Nothing.
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Which he supposed would mean he was complimenting the strange guy that had been flirting with him. Better not to linger on that. Instead he focused on securing everything and then he got back into his truck, starting it. "I got phone chargers back at my place. I can help you out with that, at least."
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He had no idea where he would stay but hotel was starting to seem unlikely. Motel at best. He was going to strangle Raphael when he saw him. "I'll charge my phone before I go. I need 100% battery, I have a lot of ranting to do."
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"Diner ain't that bad. Decent food, especially if you like cloggin' up your arteries." Some days it was what was needed. "Better than the food situation I'm dealin' with. One boy won't eat anythin' green, the other only eats rabbit food."
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So his options tonight were fried food and a questionable motel. Fantastic. He was not having a good day. Not at all. "I hope the motel at least has wifi."
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He slowed down as they reached his place, careful when he parked to get the fancy car a nice and safe spot. "Backwards place with backwards people having dumbass opinions. That's why I live out here. Less idjits to deal with."
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Once he was out of the truck, he eagerly stepped out and went around to his car. He used his key to unlock it and moved inside to grab a few things from his passenger seat. "Please, do work your magic. Do you have a waiting room, by any chance?"
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He could bother Matty again, but he had done it before. Besides, maybe Sam would have better manners. "Sammy!"
The boy came running a few seconds later, hair a mess and, yeah, he actually had a pen behind his ear. Really was a bit of a nerd. "Sammy, get the man something to drink, yeah? Be polite."
Sam nodded and then looked at Aleister, unsure what to make of him. "Do you want a beer?" Wait. Polite. "Sir."
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Dropping on his couch, he smiled at Bobby before picking up his charging phone and opening up whatsapp so he could send a message to Gabriel.
He opted to hiss/whisper, not wanting to talk too loud when he was here of all places and around teenagers. "Now listen here, you useless bag of puss. Pick up the damn phone and confirm you're taking him because I have a job and a life. You work for me, moron! If you keep ignoring me, I will demote you so hard, you'll be a damn janitor!"
He pulled his thumb off the record and dropped his phone by him on the couch, raising his hand to rub over his eyes. This was not a good day.
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When Aleister stopped yelling into his phone, Sam decided to keep being polite. "We've got a bag of chips, if you want." He frowned and corrected himself. "Crisps." That's what British people said, right?
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"But thank you, I appreciate the service. Good luck on your homework." Michael offered idly as he looked back at his phone, trying to google motels but there was no signal in here. "Wait, hang on, what's the wifi password?"
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Aleister's phone buzzed with a message. What Gabriel had sent was 🙏😇, which was not overly helpful. It was a message though.
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"Is fancy guy still here?" Matt asked as he came out to get a snack, leaning over to see what Sam had been writing. He was doing science stuff. He reached out to steal a pen so he could draw a penis on his work.
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He didn't know as much about cars as Matty did, but they'd spent more than enough time on the road for him to recognise a cool car when he saw one. "Y'think we can sit in it?"
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Matty cracked open his can of coke and took a sip, walking towards the window and watching Bobby work. "That won't be an easy fix, it's such an expensive car. We won't have the parts for it in the scrap yard. I'll probably have to go into town tomorrow and order the part of Bobby."
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Didn't seem like the type. "I heard him curse a lot before though. I think he's real angry."
And probably about to be in an even worse mood, judging by Bobby's body language out there.
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Matty knocked back more of his coke and then smiled at Sam. "If he rages, you tell me and I'll kick his rich ass outta the house. I ain't letting any punk like that bother you or Bobby."
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Bobby shook his head outside and then walked back toward the house, stepping inside. He waited for Aleister to end his phone call, then shrugged. "Look, the good news is that I know what the problem is and I can fix it. The bad news is that I ain't got the part you need. Not a lot of Aston Martins on my junkyard." Shocking, he was sure.
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"A 50 cent voucher? Nice." And Matty genuinely meant that. That was the sad part. Michael stared at him for a while and then looked back at Bobby.
"Any chance I can get a ride up there?" He was hoping he didn't have to take a long trek in the dark. "Not that I'm not excited to wander along the wilderness of the south. Got a big cruising scene in the woods or is that just in movies?"
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He realised that he definitely didn't want Matty alone with this man, for both their sakes, so he looked at the boy. "You heat up the chili for you two, yeah? Eat some bread with it and no whining."
Good, simple food. The women around here dropped food off for him to heat up a lot more ever since he suddenly had the boys. Bless their maternal instincts. He headed out the door and called out to Aleister. "Come on, I'll give you a ride."
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Michael unplugged his phone and followed after Bobby. "Night, boys."
As they exited the room, he realised that perhaps he shouldn't make gay jokes around conservative people's kids but he couldn't help himself. "I knew they didn't know or I wouldn't have joked about it." Michael assured the man with a playful smirk. "I just wasn't sure you'd know about it. So many layers and I'm not just talking about the plaid on plaid."
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Certainly not him. He'd have some stern words for that fucker if he ever saw him again.
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"Though probably best not to talk politics in Dakota." Michael offered a quick smile, just to make sure he hadn't offended. He was happy for this man to hate him personally, as long as he fixed his car. "Are you going to get your boy that pie?"
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Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to reward, but hey. Bobby saw it as an improvement. He was learning. "You can talk politics all live long day around me, if you fancy. Though I reckon you'd be better off not bringin' it up around folks in town. Ain't got their minds all that open, those idjits."
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