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My buddy was never one to have, well, emotional intelligence. In fact, out of all of us, he was probably the one with the least amount. He spent a lot of time fawning over his own ass, so needless to say him coming to bat for Sloane and supporting her potential reasons for taking off was surprising the shit out of me.
With all eyes on him, Thatcher’s jaw shifted. “Maybe we just need to give her time. She might come back on her own is all I’m saying.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” Wells dropped an arm over Thatcher’s chair. “It’s been a week, bro.”
“Yeah, and she still might come back.” He opened his hands. “She might if we give her time.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t sound like Wolf’s going to be giving that to her. He’s not, and I won’t.” I pushed the rest of the food toward him. He could have that shit. “I’ll get at y’all later.”
I got up, grabbing my jacket. Thatcher had his hands laced behind his head, and Wells was frowning at him. He socked Thatch in his arm before he got up too, joining me. If Sloane needed time, she would have been back by now, and I’m not just going to sit on my hands. I would work on things that weren’t in my control.
But not today.
Chapter Nine
From: [email protected]
Subject: Brielle
Your mother’s name is Brielle Mallick. Her name was Brielle Whitman-Quintero before that. She’s mayor of our town and like a mom to me. I have a few of those outside of my own, but out of all my god dad’s wives she’s the most scary.
You’ll see why in a second.
I had a nightmare once. Long story short, I’d gotten high off some shit I should have stayed the fuck away from. I’d only done it once, and that night I’d done it was the only one I touched the stuff.
Again, you’ll see why.
Honestly, I think the nightmare was because I was just scared. I was scared I tried that bullshit. I was scared even more I liked it, but what scared me the most ended up happening after I had the nightmare.
I stayed at Wolf’s house that night. I didn’t want to go back to my own house after getting so high. I snuck in through his window and tiptoed across the hall to my own room. I told you I have a room at his house, and he’s got one at mine too. Speeding up, after the nightmare I wandered the house. I was freaked the fuck out and just needed to mellow out.
I ran into your mom.
She knew right away something was wrong with me, and because I can’t keep shit from her, I ended up telling her exactly what I did that night. I’d been at a party, and things had gotten crazy. The only reason Wolf hadn’t been there was because he had a huge test the next day.
(Your brother is a genius by the way.)
I’ll tell you more about him later, because now, you’re about to see why your mom is so badass. She not only got me to admit what I took but is the sole reason why I never ended up taking what I did again. You see, she had this stash of the stuff I took. She had it right in her home office and showed it to me.
I was shocked. I mean, what I’d taken was some pretty hard shit, and she just had it there, you know? It was fucking weird, but she said she was saving it for a day like that night. A day where she caught her son on that shit, and she could have this come-to-Jesus moment with him.
It ended up being with me.
Brielle told me she’d never taken the stuff, but it was there for the two of us to take together now and in that moment. She said she would take it with me and even offered me the first hit.
I told her no, of course. That was crazy, and the very thought of her taking something like that made me sick. It was one thing for me to do it, but she couldn’t. It was so addictive. Anyway, after refusing, she put it away, then looked at me from across her desk. She looked at me like a mother and told me to remember that if I thought about doing that dangerous shit again. She told me to remember that feeling of helplessness.
She told me to see her face.
I did after that moment, and I have been introduced to the stuff on more than one occasion. Those times probably won’t be the last, but I know with more confidence than shit I won’t be touching the stuff in the future. I did see your mom’s face during those other times. I saw it every time, and I didn’t like the powerlessness.
It made me sick just like that night.
So that’s your mom, little fighter. Basically, as cool as shit, and she’s here in Maywood Heights waiting for you. She’s actually tearing up the city trying to find you. Don’t make her get to the point where she’s got to burn it down because she will.
Because that’s Brielle Mallick.
