Radioman (A 2/19th Spinoff) - Complete

Vultures

Gail and Dave stood outside the door for only a moment until they both stepped into the house. Gail had a set of car keys in her hand that I recognized as belonging to the GTO and... and... him. She started moving toward me, smiling, and I noticed she still looked the same. Built like a supermodel with a movie star's face, hips swaying back and forth and long legs moving enough to expose generous amounts of her well toned legs. Dave looked the same, a high school quarterback from a well to do family, his blond hair teased and feathered in the same styles I'd seen on TV.

Anger welled up for a moment before that emptiness swallowed it up.

Hannah walked briskly into the room, stopping next to me, her hand seeking out mine, her fingers interlacing with mine, and the emptiness was pushed back by warmth.

"Like, I totally didn't know you were back, Paulie," Gail smiled. She stepped toward me again, obviously intending on hugging me, and the thought of her arms wrapping around me made my stomach twist and churn.

"Paul, who are these people," Hannah asked. The inflection told me everything I needed to know about her opinion of Gail and Dave, although I doubted either of the two in front of me heard the inflection. Hannah's accent was thick enough to make her words sound musical but not too thick to understand her.

Gail made a face when she realized I wasn't going to let her hug me, stepping back next to Dave, who had shut the door.

I noticed that the two of them had tracked rain onto the clean carpet and that Dave's boots left small thin outlines in mud on the cream colored shag carpet.

Fury licked at me for a moment before the emptiness devoured it.

"Like, I'm Gail, and this is, like, Dave," Gail said, frowning at Hannah. She looked at me, "Paulie, like, who is this?"

"My girlfriend," I told her, feeling a small bit of pleasure at the hurt that filled Gail's eyes, "I need her with me."

"So I arrived as soon as I was able," Hannah said, her voice full of something I couldn't really identify.

Gail made a small wave with her hand, "It doesn't, like, matter, this doesn't involve her," Gail's voice was dismissive, "I'm here, I'll, like, totally take care of it all with you and junk, she can just go back to wherever she, like, came from."

"I go nowhere," Hannah said, venom filling her words. The burning feeling started where her skin touched mine and I knew she was angry. "You have no hold over one such as I, nor do you have a hold over Paul Foster."

I squeezed her hand, turning and looking at her, "Hannah, sweety?" Aine looked at me, her green eyes luminous, as I kept talking, "How about some coffee for our guests and a cup of tea for you, I'll handle this."

Hannah nodded, letting go of my hand and hurrying into the kitchen.

"They aren't your parents any more, Gail," I said, standing between Gale and Dave to keep them from coming any further into the house.

"We were married, Paulie, they'll always be..." Gail started.

"Dead," I said, my voice flat. "They're dead. We're divorced. This is my home now, not yours."

Gail stared at me, and her eyes opened wide as she finally saw past her preconceptions and saw me. "Paulie, what happened to your face?" She reached for me and I brushed her hand aside, unwilling to have her touch me. She looked at my arms, at my chest, and I realized the T-shirt I'd grabbed was too tight. It had been fine when it was just Hannah and me, it showed off my pecs and biceps, but I suddenly felt dirty as Gail stared at me. "What happened to you?"