Yesterday's Gone: Season One

suffered from involuntary spasms, he was pretty sure he made a better match for a woman than Bob.
    But Charlie also had things working against him.
    Aside from not being Brad Pitt, he was also a white guy. A VERY white guy, so pale he would likely be a lobster after an hour in the pool. And he didn’t know if Callie even liked white guys. He wasn’t even sure what she was, if she were light-skinned black or mixed race, which the blue eyes made likely. In either event, white guys might not be her thing. He had never been attracted to a black girl before now. Nothing racial, just not something he’d ever considered, just like he wasn’t attracted to redheads. You like who you like, not much you can do about it. But that also meant Callie liked who she liked, and geeky pale guys might not be on that list.
    And for all he knew, she might like assholes… like Bob.
    Yet, he felt something with Callie. When they spoke, when their eyes met, moments were there, just outside of time, when they seemed to connect on a deeper level. He didn’t know if it was just his brain’s way of lending importance to lust because he was experiencing it, or if it was something real and deep. And maybe Callie was feeling it too?
    He’d been trying to work up the courage to make some sort of move since last night, but each time they were alone and in deep conversation, Bob would show up to cock block Charlie. Either Bob was oblivious as hell or even more evil than Charlie thought.
    Tonight, Charlie decided, as he watched Bob joking with Callie, would be the night he’d make a move.
    It was, after all, the end of the world. Who knew how long they had?  

    **

    Bob got weird at dinner.  
    They were sitting at Derek’s fancy dark wooden table which could have easily seated 10, when Bob set down the burgers on a giant plate, along with a bag of chips. He was bringing a baking dish from outside, which he’d cooked canned chili in, when it slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor.
    “Dammit!” Bob shouted, his eyes quickly targeting Charlie, “Why can’t you clean up when you track water in here?”
    “What?” Charlie said, confused.  
    “Don’t play stupid. You tracked water in here when you got out of the pool. And because you’re too damned lazy to clean it up, I slipped, and dropped our fucking dinner!”
    “No, I didn’t,” Charlie said defensively, “I came in through the bathroom door, and dried off in there.”
    “Are you calling me a liar, boy?” Bob said, his face redder than his bloodshot eyes.
    “No,” Charlie said, confusion turning to panic. “But I swear, I came in through the bathroom.”
    “Oh, so now I’m just imagining some spill on the floor, right? Next you’re gonna say I didn’t even drop the dish, I just threw it down on purpose, right?”
    Charlie looked down at the floor and while a small puddle of water was next to the broken blue baking dish and mess of chili all over the floor, it wasn’t from him, meaning it had to be from Callie. He glanced at her, her tongue tied and eyes frightened, then back at Bob.  
    “Maybe it was me,” he said, lying to protect her.
    “I’m sorry,” Callie said, “Actually, I think I might have come in through the door and forgot to wipe it down.”
    Bob stared at her, then back at Charlie, momentarily defused, and running a hand through his hair, then looked back at Charlie, “Clean this shit up, boy.”
    “What?” Charlie said, “Why me?”
    He regretted the words even as the last one trailed from his mouth.
    “Excuse me?” Bob said, inches from Charlie’s face and reeking of alcohol, “Because I fucking said so. Things are gonna change around here. I worked my ass off so you and your momma could have a decent life. I worked night and day, busting my ass, and all you ever did was suckle on my tit, like a fucking parasite. You never did shit around the house, never contributed in any way, whatso-fucking-ever. But I got news for ya’, boy, your momma ain’t here no more. Time’s are a changin’ and you’re gonna earn your keep if you wanna stay under my roof! It’s time you grow the fuck up and be a man!”
    Charlie’s knee was bouncing as his throat tightened, and he struggled to hold back the tears of rage burning inside him. He couldn’t even look at Callie after being ridiculed like that by Bob.  
    How can he?!
    Charlie snapped.
    “Under YOUR roof?! Your roof?! This is your brother’s house! And the house before this? My