In Too Deep

Jackie stepped off the train, grasping her single suitcase in one hand and her bottle of cranberry juice in the other. The air in Albany was cold, so she paused and set down her suitcase to pull her green knit hat farther over her ears.

Max appeared beside her, zipping up his jacket to fight the cold. “It would be freezing the week of spring break,” he muttered. “Come on. Dad said there would be a taxi waiting outside.”

“They’re not even here to pick you up?” Jackie asked as they made their way to the pickup area.

Max gave a cold laugh. “Funny. Really funny.”

It took them several minutes to find their taxi, as there were many lined up along the street. When they finally relaxed in the back seat, they were disappointed to find the heater broken.

“That’s okay,” Jackie said lightly, clutching her coat even closer.

Max rolled his eyes. “Jackie, your cranberry juice is becoming cranberry ice.”

The taxi driver looked at Max through his rear view mirror. “The guy who called this morning said you’d be a whiner.”

Max sighed. “Of course,” he mumbled.

“It’s weird, though,” the driver continued. “He said there’d just be one of you. A boy. He didn’t mention a girlfriend.”

“Oh, I’m not his—” Jackie began, but stopped. She slowly turned to Max, who was avoiding her eyes by looking out the window. “This morning? He said there’d be one boy… this morning?”

Max finally gave in. “Look, I know I said–”

“You told me you called them last night and said I was coming!” Jackie screeched. The taxi driver almost swerved into the next lane at her explosion. “You promised me you would call!”

“I know, I know,” Max said hurriedly, as the driver muttered a series of expletives under his breath. “But… I couldn’t! I don’t want to give them the satisfaction that I have to ask them permission, or that they have power over me! You told me to stand up to them.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Well, great. Now your mother will probably throw me out on the streets, just to smite you.”

“And then I’ll beat her up,” Max said simply. “Look, Jackie. I’m not going to let my parents hurt you the way they torture me. Trust me.”

Jackie eyed him wearily. “Okay,” she said after a few moments of silence.

“Good,” Max said. “Oh, by the way, I like your hat. Looks good on you.”

Jackie reached up and gently touched her hat. “Oh… thanks…” she said slowly, her cheeks turning pink.

“Yeah, uh, you’re welcome,” Max replied, nodding.

The taxi driver snorted in the front seat. “Freaks,” he muttered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Leopold home was big, and it was located in a neighborhood of similarly large houses, but Jackie was pleased to see that it wasn’t showy or extravagant. It was white with dark blue shutters on the windows, a bright red door, and a colorful garden in the front. Jackie smiled as the taxi pulled up.

“I know it’s not some mansion,” Max said, opening the door. “Not like your big house in Nashville, but it fit the six of us when we all lived here.”

Jackie shook her head at him. “I was expecting some sort of dark castle by the way you described your parents. This house makes me think of… nice people.”

“That’s because nice people take care of it,” Max explained as they gathered their bags out of the trunk. “The maid, the gardeners, the pool boy…”

“There’s a pool?”

“In the back. I don’t know if anyone would want to swim in this temperature though. Carter keeps it clean since it’s just my parents in this house now, and they never use it.”

“Carter?” Jackie asked as they walked up the path to the front door.

“The pool boy,” Max answered. “Not much of a boy anymore, though. He must be in his early twenties now. He’s been working here for years—he used to come after school. He and I were friends.”

“So, not everything about your life here was terrible,” Jackie said pointedly.

Max glanced at her and smiled. “Okay, fine. Not everything. Why do you always have to be right?”

Jackie shrugged. “You’re just always wrong.”

They now stood at the front door, and Max stopped and stared at it for a few moments. Jackie waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Maxi-pad…”

“If you call me that, I will allow my mother to do horrible things to you,” Max said, glaring at the front door.

Jackie dropped her arm. “Point taken,” she muttered.

Max took a deep breath, raised his fist, and knocked several times, loud and clear. “Let’s see how long it takes them to answer,” he mumbled under his breath.

Sure enough, Max and Jackie stood at the front door in the freezing cold for a good five minutes with no answer. Max refused to knock again, insisting that they knew he was here and that they would yell at him for being impatient if he so much as tapped the door again.

Finally, the door opened, and a stout woman with graying hair appeared. She had a motherly look about her, intensified by her flowered apron, and Jackie was shocked that anyone so pleasant-looking could be as evil as Max described his mother.

“Mom, hi,” Max said, as the woman took in the sight of the two of them. Her eyes locked on Jackie.

“Are you selling something?” she asked sharply, ignoring her son.

Max shook his head. “Mom, this is my friend Jackie. She… she needs to stay with us this week.”

Mrs. Leopold raised her eyebrows. “I beg your pardon, young man?”

“Her parents are out of the country for work. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I… uh… I forgot to ask you about it. But I figured we have room…”

“Maxwell Richard Leopold!” his mother said harshly. “All three of your brothers and their families are here! You expect us to just randomly take in one of your school friends too?”

Max looked angry. “Steven, Jason, and David’s wives are staying with them in their own bedrooms,” he said. “The guest room’s open.”

“And what about your nieces?” Mrs. Leopold asked. “Have you forgotten about them? Where do you propose Annie and Emma will sleep?”

“I can sleep on the couch,” Jackie piped up. She certainly didn’t need her own guest room.

Max kept his eyes on his mom. “No need, Jackie, because Annie and Emma always sleep on the futon in the playroom in the basement. You can have the guest room.”

Mrs. Leopold visibly glared at her son. “We’ll talk about your behavior later,” she said, opening the door wider. “Get inside, both of you.”

As soon as Max and Jackie entered the house, Mrs. Leopold bustled off muttering under her breath. Max sighed loudly, and Jackie turned to him. “That wasn’t… so bad…” she said to him.

Max gave her a look. “Just wait.”

He led her through the entry room into a family room area, where two young girls were napping on the leather couches. “Those are Steven’s daughters, Annie and Emma. They’re almost five, I think,” Max said softly.

“They’re cute,” Jackie commented.

“Actually, they’re demonic little brats,” Max said. “But that’s not surprising given who their mother is. Steven’s wife is Jessica… just wait until you meet her.”

“LITTLE BRO!” Three voices shouted simultaneously from behind them.

Max barely had time to groan before he was tackled to the ground by three older and much larger men. Jackie moved out of the way quickly, shocked by the men’s sudden appearance.

“Get off!” Max’s muffled voice called out.

The three men all laughed and stood up, pulling Max up by his shoulder. Jackie had to resist the urge to laugh when she saw Max’s hair looking so ruffled and his face so irritated.

One of the men looked at Jackie confusedly. “And who’s this?”

“This is Jackie, one of my friends from school,” Max grumbled, trying to fix his hair. “These are my brothers, Steven, Jason, and David.”

“Um… hi,” Jackie said, giving an awkward wave.

David, the youngest-looking brother, chuckled and ruffled Max’s hair, messing it up again. “She’s cute, little bro.”

At that moment, a woman with long blonde hair stormed into the family room. “My girls are sleeping!” she whisper-yelled, gesturing to the couches. “Come back into the kitchen!”

As they followed her, Max leaned over to Jackie. “That was Jessica,” he said. “That was pretty pleasant for her, actually.”

In the kitchen, there were two other women. Max pointed to a short one with cropped black hair and said quietly, “That’s Jason’s wife, Melody. She’s halfway normal, but I question her sanity simply because she married Jason.”

The woman next to Melody was incredibly tall with extremely straight brown hair. Her teeth were dazzlingly white. “And that is David’s wife, Nikki. They eloped in November.”

“She reminds me of your ex-girlfriend,” Jackie muttered, and Max groaned.

“Let’s not bring her up,” he mumbled, and Jackie giggled.

“Hello!” Melody said pleasantly, upon seeing Jackie and Max in the room. “Good to see you again Max. Who’s your friend?”

“This is Jackie,” Max said for the third time that day. “She’s staying with us this week.”

Jessica looked at Jackie sharply. “Where is she going to sleep?”

David snorted. “Is she going to stay in your room, little bro?” All three of Max’s brother cracked up at this, as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

“Ignore them,” Melody said, rolling her eyes playfully. “I usually do. It’s nice to meet you Jackie.”

“Uh, thanks,” Jackie said, surprised by the fact that someone in the house other than Max was being kind to her. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Max, you might want to fix yourself up before your father gets home,” Mrs. Leopold said. “You look like you’ve been trampled. Go. Take your friend upstairs.”

“Her name’s Jackie,” Max said, already leading Jackie out the kitchen door. “And I look like I’ve been trampled because I was attacked by your other sons when I got here.”

“Maybe you could fight back if you ever tried as hard at football or wrestling as them,” Mrs. Leopold said harshly.

Max pulled Jackie out of the room. She could see that he was fuming, and he gripped her coat sleeve tightly as they made their way up the stairs. “Fucking hate football,” he muttered under his breath.

“Max,” Jackie said, turning him around roughly to face her.

“What?” he snapped, avoiding her eyes. He was breathing deeply.

Jackie reached up and patted his hair down, as it was still sticking up at odd angles from when David ruffled it. “Would it make you feel better if I told you that you’re cuter than all three of your brothers?” she asked, smiling at him.

Max stared at her. That was a very un-Jackie-like comment. “Much better,” he said slowly.