His Name Is Kirby Jones

“Damn it!” Zoey cursed, as she shut the front door behind her. As she walked into the living room, all of her brothers were present, spread out all over the room. Drew and Jonah were playing a video game, with Kennedy sitting crossed legged on the floor watching, cheering on Drew, whereas Tommy was throwing insults at Jonah. Luc was just watching quietly.

“Whoa, what happened?” Kennedy asked, seeing his sister’s face and the huge brown stain that covered her shirt and immediately the game was paused and they all turned to her.

“What the fuck?” Tommy said and Zoey glared.

“You do realize you’re meant to drink coffee right…not throw it over yourself?” Jonah teased and Zoey growled slightly.

“Shut up Jonah, this dude bumped into me and split it all over me. I’m lucky it didn’t go on my shoes…” she muttered.

“Did he apologize?” Lucas spoke up for once. Zoey nodded in reply.

“Several times, he even offered me money but I thought better of it. I couldn’t-“

“Wait, you didn’t take his money?” Tommy interrupted, and Zoey shook her head.

“What is wrong with you?!” Tommy drawled out and Zoey ignored him and jogged upstairs.

She was lucky to have her own room, as she pushed open the door and saw it was exactly as she left it. She closed the door behind her, and threw her bag on the bed. She stripped off her soaked clothes, knowing they were ruined for good and threw on some old grey baggy sweatpants and an old football jersey that use to Drew’s. It even had his name on the back.

Sighing softly, she scraped back her brown curls in a high pony tail, letting them spurt out like a fountain. She wiped off her makeup, and put on some gym socks to keep her feet warm. She grabbed her phone, and the DVD and wandered back down to the family room.
Jonah was now mouthing off because he had lost. Kennedy looked up at his sister and smiled sweetly.

“You look pretty Zoey” he said and Zoey looked at him surprised.

“Aw thanks baby, you’re a good liar.” She teased and ruffled his hair and went to go sit in her place. She had her own sofa, that she often shared with Kennedy, while the elder ones sat on the larger sofa and one of them draped over the armchair, and someone usually camped on the floor.

“Kenny, come up” Zoey murmured, as she tucked her feet under legs, and Kennedy got up and sat by her. She motioned him for a cuddle and he did willingly, loving the fact he was getting her attention. Kennedy sighed as he leaned against her and felt her kiss his head.

“How was school?” she asked quietly, as the older ones were still shouting and cheering. Kennedy tensed slightly.

“Um…fine.” He said hoping she’d notice the desperation in his voice.

“What happened?” she immediately asked softly, stroking his hair.

“Some kid took my lunch. He doesn’t like me.” Kennedy admitted and Zoey looked at her baby brother and wondered who would do such a thing.

“What did you do?” she asked worriedly.

“Shane shared his lunch with me.” He said and Zoey’s eyes hardened.

“What’s this punk’s name?” Zoey said, her voice getting dangerous.

“Trevor Martins. His Dad is a cop.” Kennedy said softly, and Zoey looked at him again.

“Kenny, I’ll come pick you up Monday okay?” she said, knowing that the others wouldn’t mind the rota changing. Kennedy didn’t argue, because he was glad his sister was coming to get him.

“How was your day?” he asked, and his eyes flickered to her phone then back to her face. Zoey grimaced slightly.

“Okay, I got homework…and I got bashed into.” She laughed slightly and Kennedy grinned.

“Did you kick his ass?” Kennedy asked and Zoey smirked.

“No Kenny, I didn’t…”

“I should have.” Drew muttered, he had just heard the last second of the conversation. Zoey scoffed.

“Yeah whatever Drew…” she teased, and Drew started a new game, this time with Tommy.

“Why does he get all the lovin’?” Jonah asked abruptly, as he watched Kennedy be fussed over. Zoey giggled.

“Get over yourself Jonah, you’re 18 for god’s sake.” She laughed, as she tucked a curl behind Kennedy’s ear. Jonah responded by sticking his tongue out, making Zoey and Kennedy giggle.

“Kids! I’m home!” Marcus called, and their smiles widened as they saw three large pizza boxes in his hand.

“Yes!” Tommy cheered, and Marcus lowered one in front of Lucas and Jonah, another in front of Drew and Tommy and opened it to Kennedy and Zoey, who took a slice each.

“So get the movie baby girl?” Marcus asked, as he loosened his tie and grabbed a slice. Zoey nodded while chewing and Tommy smirked.

“She also got soaked with coffee…” he laughed and Zoey glared.

“Should I ask?” Marcus questioned and Zoey chewed and shook her head.

The rest of the night went according to plan, all of the Titian family laid out in the living room, eating pizza and other junk food while watching the film Zoey had sacrificed herself for. It was their tradition, and nobody could change that.
-
When Zoey went to bed that night, she didn’t expect Kennedy to be nudging her, mainly because he was eleven years old and he should stop needing someone in the night and secondly because the film wasn’t scary so he had no reason to be awake and currently be waking her up.

“Mm” Zoey mumbled, as she was nudged harder.

“Zoey, wake up!” he hissed quietly, desperation in his voice.

“What’s wrong?” Zoey asked abruptly, she heard that tone clearly. She propped up on her elbows, rubbing her eyes to try and see properly. She saw Kennedy’s worried face, well she saw his outline.

“Move over” he whispered. Zoey did as he asked, and watched as he clambered in, shaking.

“What’s happened Kenny?” Zoey whispered as she hugged him close, as he began to cry softly.

“I had a bad dream…” he said, gulping for air.
“What was it about?” Zoey cooed. Kennedy controlled himself as he spoke:

“You left us, just like Mom” he confessed and Zoey couldn’t help but freeze slightly. Kennedy was only five when their mother died. Zoey was eleven and naturally, the whole family was distraught.

Their mother, Carmen Titian was possibly the sweetest, warmest, most beautiful woman they would ever have the privilege to know and she when she died, it was a travesty to the whole family, and the local community.

Zoey knew she shouldn’t tell Kennedy that she’d never die, but his young naïve mind shouldn’t have to cope with these fears so instead she said:

“Kenny, I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time.” She whispered and kissed his head as he got out his emotion.

“I love you sis” he murmured as he snuggled closer.

“I love you too bro” she murmured back and kept a warm, tight grip on him, leaning her head on top of his.
--

Tommy Titian shifted uncomfortable under his quilt. He used to despise the fact that he shared a room with his two younger brothers, but nowadays it rarely bothered him. In fact, in a way that protective instinct in him was glad that he could keep an eye on Jonah and Kennedy seeing as Jonah was sleeping above him and Kennedy’s car styled bed was in the far corner. They had a large room, expectantly as three boys lived in it. However it had to be said that bringing girls back was always difficult, and rarely happened due to the fact he shared a room.

Drew and Lucas shared another room and luckily Zoey, being the only girl had her own and obviously his father had their own room.

Deciding that he needed to urinate, Tommy pulled back the quilt, and the cool breeze caught him. He got out of bed lazily, feeling slightly disorientated as he hadn’t slept well, and had been continuously turning. As Tommy made his way to the door, scratching his crotch along the way and yawning at the same time silently, he automatically looked to where Kennedy should be sleeping, but wasn’t.

Knowing not to panic just yet, Tommy opened the rest of his half-opened door and winced as it creaked and it padded across the landing, passing by Drew/Lucas’s room where the door was firmly shut but Lucas’s horrendous, chain-saw snoring could be heard still and went to the bathroom, his bladder couldn’t wait. Doing his business and washing his hands, Tommy automatically examined himself in the mirror under the harsh bathroom light.

He looked exhausted and pale, his hair was all messy and he had a pimple near his chin about to surface. After flushing the chain finally, he left the bathroom and remembered that his youngest brother was missing.

He knew exactly where he could be, moving six small strides to the left was Zoey’s room and to the left of that was his Dad’s room. He could hear voices in Zoey’s room, hushed tones and he knew Kennedy was in there. The door was half open and as he quickly peeked in, trying to focus his eyes in the dark, he saw Kennedy’s small figure and Zoey cuddling him.

“I had a bad dream” Kennedy cried, and Tommy couldn’t help roll his eyes. He felt bad for Zoey as she usually was the one to deal with, or Dad….and sometimes, only rarely Lucas. But he was terrible to wake up.

“What was it about?” he heard his sister ask gently.

“You left us, just like Mom” Kennedy replied sadly and Tommy felt the piercing sting in his heart, under the flesh of his chest. His Momma was always a touchy subject; in fact Tommy was the worst about it.

He hated talking about their mother, mainly the fact that she was dead and had been for six years now. Tommy was thirteen, just turned a teenage and he remembered how proud his Momma was of him. He’d never thought his Momma would die that way.

“Kenny I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time” Zoey whispered and Tommy listened closer as they both said ‘Love you’ to one another. He nodded, satisfied that their siblings were safe and slowly crept back to his room. As Tommy tumbled into bed, bringing the quilt to his shoulders and closing his eyes tightly, he felt sick actually. He was that tired.

He felt envious of Kennedy sometimes, of his naivety and oddly his relationship with their only sister, Zoey. It was a rather unusual thing but all the older boys were actually jealous of their youngest sibling, merely because he got more attention off their sister. Call it what you will, Tommy would never understand it. In normal circumstances, a family of this size and this unbalanced male/female ratio, wouldn’t be so close knit to one another. Then again, the Titian household were never normal.
---

Drew yawned as he shuffled into the kitchen that Saturday. Kennedy was helping Zoey with breakfast, and Lucas seemed to the only other one up. It appeared Jonah and Tommy was still asleep.

“Hasn’t Tommy got work today?” Drew asked. Zoey glanced up and nodded.

“I’ll go awake him in a minute.” She added as she scolded Kennedy quickly for putting his hand too close to the hot flame.

“Where’s Dad?” he asked Lucas, who as per usual was reading.

“Still in bed.” He mumbled, not really paying attention.

“By the way, tell Dad I’m not in for dinner, I have a date.” Drew said quickly and watched as
Zoey rolled her eyes and Kennedy smirked.

“Drew, watch Kenny, keep his hands away…” she warned and disappeared out the room.

“Luc, what you doing today?” Kenny asked curiously as he helped himself to a drink.

“I’m going to return the film, get some books…want to come?” Luc asked bored, he knew exactly what Kennedy was hinting at.

“I might do, depends what Zoey is doing…” he said casually, and Luc rolled his eyes in response. Zoey reappeared and smiled cheerfully at them.

“I’m going swimming with Elena today…want to come?” she asked Kennedy, who immediately nodded.

“Yes please!” he grinned, he adored swimming.

“Cool, right on….Drew, you in?” she asked and Drew had actually gone back to sleep, as he laid his head on the table.

“DREW!” Zoey snapped and he popped up instantly, rubbing his eyes. “Umm…what time you going till?” he asked.

“Probably leave here at 11, then come back about 2…I’m staying at Elena’s tonight. We’re going to a party…” Zoey said all nonchalantly.
It took three seconds for them to understand.

“WHAT!” all three of them screeched.

“You’re staying at Elena’s?” was Kennedy’s reply in utter despair.

“A party?” was Lucas’s and Drew’s response. Zoey chuckled and smiled sweetly at her baby brother.

“Kenny, baby c’mon…its one night. You’ll be fine…” Zoey said, slightly worried as how Kennedy was so clingy to her.

“No, back up. You are not going to a party….you’re 12 for god sake!” Drew said furiously, he wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Drew, correction I’m seventeen and I am going…Dad said I could.” Zoey said, almost triumphantly

“When did you ask him?” Lucas asked, curiously. He was surprised his father had even allowed her to go.

“Last night when I went and said goodnight…” she said.

“That’s not fair! Dad was exhausted, he probably didn’t even know what he was saying!” Drew argued. Zoey shrugged and continued to put plates of food out.

“Why do you even want to go?” Lucas asked reasonably.
“Because, it’s going to be fun. The last party I went too, Drew crashed it and embarrassed me and I was fifteen. Please…just relax and let me go.” Zoey said and Drew scoffed.

“Yeah, whatever.” He said, almost smirking.

“Where is it?” Lucas asked again. Always the one for questions.

“Ron G’s house.” She replied simply.

“Ron Gink, the 19 year old drop out whose friends with Tommy?” Drew asked in disbelief.

“Elena’s friends with him on Facebook and he’s also friends with Zack…” she explained. Mentioning her other best friend Zackary Briars, they weren’t as close as Elena and her, but
Zack was like another brother….unfortunately.

“No way in hell-” Drew began.

“What’s happening peeps?” Tommy said brightly, Jonah following and soon Marcus appeared seconds after, looking tired. He kissed Zoey and Kennedy’s head and helped himself to a cup of coffee.

“What’s the mentioning of hell?” he asked tiredly.

Drew, Zoey, Kennedy all started shouting at once:

“Drew’s being a jackass!”

“Zoey’s leaving me!”

“She’s going to get pregnant!”

“Shut the hell up!”

“Zoey’s sleeping at Elena’s!”

“The guy is 19, it’ll end in disaster…”

“Dad, don’t listen!”

“Can we have pizza tonight?”

“She’ll get drunk!”

“OKAY, EVERYONE!” Marcus yelled, and immediately out of respect, everyone silenced. The sound of sizzling bacon was only left in the air.

“What on earth is going on….Zoey, you first.” Marcus ordered.

“I asked you about the party last night with Elena, Drew’s being stupid and won’t let me go!” Zoey whined slightly.

Marcus tried to sort out his thoughts logically. “Did I say you could go?” he asked confused, he did have a faint memory of saying yes to something last night.

“Yes, I asked you and you said yes as long as I text you when I got in, which would be 1am….c’mon Dad!” Zoey begged. No one spoke, as their father made the decision.

“Where is this party?” Marcus asked.

“Ronnie Gink’s….” Zoey mumbled. That caught Tommy’s attention.

“Whoa! Hold on….my friend Ronnie?” he asked confused. Zoey nodded and Tommy glared at her.

“He’s 19 Zoey.” He warned, and Zoey rolled her eyes.

“I know, but I have other friends there. Please?” she pleaded softly.

“I don’t know baby girl….” Marcus said worriedly. He hated confrontation like this, because
he knew that everyone was ganging up against her, and she looked so fragile….

“Daddy! I’m 17 now! I won’t drink, I’m literally going to have fun with my friends and have a dance…” Zoey reasoned.

Drew was gritting his teeth; he didn’t want his baby sister anywhere near Ronnie Gink, the ultimate fuck-up and was known for his drug usage. Zoey glanced at Jonah, who was looking at her blankly, he blinked and suddenly spoke up.

“Hey Dad?” he said, grabbing his father’s attention. Marcus looked at his son, to show he was listening.

“What if I went to the party too? I won’t hang out with you Zoey….but I’ll be around in case anything went wrong.” He offered, and Zoey beamed brightly, she wasn’t going to deny that despite the fact she’d still have to be looked after, and Marcus’s features relaxed.

“That sounds okay….that alright with you baby girl?” Marcus asked his daughter who squealed with delight, in synch as Drew, Tommy and Kennedy groaned in frustration. Luc just chuckled and smiled at his dancing sister.

“Thank you so much!” she said victoriously, and hugged her father. She hugged Jonah too, thanking him continuously.

“There better be hot girls there…” he mumbled, but smiled slightly. He wouldn’t mind going to a party, he needed a drink and he could smoke freely without his Dad and sister on his back about the disgusting facts about smoking. Even Kennedy was beginning to nag.

“I’ll grab you a girl….oh you’re the best!” Zoey cheered, and went and hugged Kennedy from behind, her arms hugging his neck, she kissed his head.

“I’m going to a party!” she cheered, and Kennedy rolled his eyes. He didn’t like this.

“Right, go get ready….we’re leaving in half hour.” She told him and he sulked off. Shrugging it off, Zoey finished her breakfast.

“Who’s coming then?” Zoey asked. Kennedy raised his hand, and no one else took notice.

“Just me and Kenny then?” she asked unsure.

“I’ll come” Drew muttered bitterly, and he too got up to go get some trunks on. Zoey smiled slightly, and smirked at Luc who was rolling his eyes as usual. Then Tommy swore as he caught his hip on the table as he stormed into the kitchen, annoyed that Zoey would be anywhere near Ronnie Gink.