AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Concern roared to life inside of me when I saw my sister’s name flashing on the screen. Her calls had come less frequently since the arrival of Mister Rugby, and she never called during school hours anymore. The fact that she was calling me now assured me that something was very wrong.
“Shan?” I demanded, putting the phone to my ear. “What’s going on?”
“Joey,” she cried down the line. I could hardly make out her voice from the sheer volume of crying. Instantly, my back was up and the blood in my veins had turned to lava. “I n-need you to come g-get me.”
97
Boyfriends, Brothers, and Battle-Ax Bitches
AOIFE
One minute Joey was thrown down on the footpath, looking like death warmed up, and the next, he was on his feet. Whatever his sister had said on the other line of the phone had caused a switch to flip in his brain. With his inner turmoil momentarily forgotten, and fury coming off him in waves, he threw his head back and roared, sounding genuinely feral as he stormed off in the direction of the car park, demanding my car keys.
“Joe, just hold up a second, will you?” I called out, struggling to keep up with his feet and his mood swings. “Talk to me, will you?”
“She was attacked,” he roared over his shoulder. “My sister was motherfucking attacked, Molloy.” His voice got louder with every word that tore from his lips. “Again!”
My heart plummeted into my ass. “No.”
“Keys,” he demanded when we reached my car, holding his hand out. “She needs me to come get her.”
“You’re not driving to Tommen in your condition,” I flat out told him. “Put that notion out of your head.”
“Fine, then you drive,” he conceded, stalking around to the passenger side of the car. “I don’t care how I get there as long as I get there.”
“Okay, but—”
“Please, Molloy,” he choked out. “We can talk on the way. Just drive, baby. Drive!”
Knowing this was a terrible idea but unwilling to leave Shannon at Tommen after being attacked, I unlocked the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Promise me, Joe.” Cranking the engine, I chugged out of my parking spot, slipping gears before finding my groove. “Promise me that you’ll ask questions first.”
“What’s to ask?” he spat out, knees bopping restlessly as he gnawed on his knuckles anxiously. “My sister was attacked. I’m going to make it right.”
Jesus.
“Just keep the head,” I instructed, pulling onto the main road in the direction of Tommen College. “No fighting, Joe.”
“Yeah, fuck that.”
“No,” I argued. “No, not fuck that. You need to not go in there all guns blazing, baby.”
“My sister phones me up hysterical, saying someone attacked her at school, after all the shit she’s been through this year, and you expect me not to retaliate?” he demanded and then shook his head in blatant frustration. “It’s not happening, Molloy. It’s not fucking happening, ya hear? I’m done with this shit. I’m through with letting people stomp all over my siblings.”
Meaning his father. He wasn’t thinking logically. This was more about his father than anything else. He was looking for redemption for something he didn’t need to feel guilt for.
“Joey, this isn’t the same thing,” I tried to placate. “What happened to Shannon in the kitchen that day—”
“I couldn’t stop it,” he filled in for me. “But I can stop this, Molloy, and I will.”
“I don’t want to go,” I blurted out, slowing the car when the gates of Tommen College came into view. “This is a bad idea.”
“Molloy! Drive the car.”
“No.” Shaking my head, I flicked on my indicator and pulled onto the side of the road before killing the engine. “I’m not taking you. Not while you’re this worked up. You need to calm down and breathe, Joe.”
“Fine.” Releasing a furious growl, he unfastened his seatbelt and flung the door open. “I’ll walk the rest of the way.”
“No, wait!” I tried to call after him, but it was too late. He was already sprinting at full speed in the direction of his sister’s prestigious private school.
