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This again.
I sigh.
He doesn’t take his eyes off me until I look at him and say the magic words. “Family first …” I mumble.
“Exactly.” He places his hand on top of my head and messes up my hair, then pinches my cheek. I try to swat him away, but it’s useless.
“I’m not a little girl anymore, Dad.”
“I know, which is why I’m going to teach you some new stuff on the farm today.” He beckons me as he walks out the shed. “C’mon.”
“What new stuff?” I ask.
He smashes his lips together. “You’ll find out soon enough.” The added wink is all I need to know that he means business.
Fuck yeah. Finally, something exciting.
I hop off my stool and run after him, ready to help.
Maybe, once I’ve done what he wants, and he’s happy, he’ll give me back my stuff, and I’ll be able to finish my gift for Mom. I have to get it done. There’s no way I’ll have my shit locked away like that. I have to finish what I started.
After all, I received the hardware for free. No way I’m going to waste such a nice thing Brandon did for me.
No fucking way.
Chapter Four
Brandon
Age 17
“Why would anyone do this?” I grab a sponge and dip it in the bucket of soap. Someone painted the words “Get out, Indians!” across the shop windows.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t me,” Hanson says, scrubbing the windows hard.
I snort. “Who said I was blaming you?”
“I dunno. I feel like I always have to apologize for shit.” He shrugs. “Your papa doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
“Gah, don’t worry about him. He’ll get over it,” I say, cocking my head. “He literally hates everyone from the reserve. I’m surprised he doesn’t hate me too.”
Hanson laughs. “Who says he doesn’t?”
I make a face, dunk my sponge into the water, and throw some at him. “Asshole.”
“Says the other asshole,” he retorts.
Now we’re in a water fight, and before we know it, we’re drenched. The glass is far from being clean, but at least we’re having fun. It’s better than moping around all day like my papa does. He wasn’t too happy when he saw what some vandals had done to the shop overnight. I swear, if I’d caught them in the act, I would have chased them with his gun.
Fucking rednecks, always trying to get on our backs. I don’t get why they want us out of here so badly. We don’t harm anyone. We’re just trying to make a life of our own here, and people are always making it difficult for us. I doubt anyone would ever do this on the reserve.
“Cleaning off the stank?”
I look over my shoulder at the obvious taunt. It’s the twins, Ben and Danny Burrell. Fuckers can’t even get good grades, yet they come here to belittle me. No fucking way. Not on my watch.
“Shut your fucking pie holes,” I reply.
They both burst out into laughter.
“What is that on the windows? Blood of a fucking pig?” Danny asks, laughing at the text written on the glass. “Good luck cleaning that off, Indian.”
Hanson throws his sponge at them, but they dodge it right away. “Get the fuck out of here!”
“It’s a free town, bitch. We can go wherever we want,” Ben says, throwing the sponge right back at Hanson.
I’m pretty fucking sure they did this. And then came back to admire their fucking work.
“Motherfuckers,” I spit. I’ve had enough of them and Derek’s shit. They’ve been hounding me at school and now here too. I’m done.
“What’d you want, huh?” Ben taunts, both of them approaching us with dirty looks.
I raise my fists. “Come at me,” I hiss. “I dare you. I fucking dare you.”
“What? You wanna get your ass beaten, boy?” Danny spits. “You’re nothing but a piece of Native trash.”
“Take that back,” I bark. “Or I swear to God, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?”
A voice from behind them makes them turn their heads. I look up. It’s my uncle Josiah Locklear. I haven’t seen him in years, not since we left the reserve. I almost didn’t recognize him, it’s been so long. But the moment I do, a smile appears on my face.
“You weren’t going to fight out here on the streets, were you?” Uncle Josiah asks. One stern look at the two boys has them backing off.
“No, sir, we were just fooling around.”
“Go play somewhere else then,” he says, cocking his head at them a couple of times. “Go on.”
“Yes, sir.” Both boys immediately run off.
I guess my uncle’s influence even spans to this town and beyond. And all that because he’s part of the council that oversees the reserve. People respect him, and the rednecks fear his power. That, or he just has loads of cash and can literally buy anything he sets his eyes on, including the Burrell farm. I don’t think the twins can afford to anger my uncle.
