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“Hey, Phoenix.”
“Hey, Big Sis.” He glanced at the TV. “Good timing. The best cartoons are on now.”
I set my bag next to the couch and sat on the arm of it. “Did you finish your project for school?”
He shrugged, his scrawny shoulders reminding me of a bird’s. “I did, but I’m not sure how good it turned out.”
“I’ll check it out. See if I can help you.”
He nodded, laughing at the cartoon on the TV. He was fourteen but still liked watching them.
“Where’s Angelo?” Angelo was the oldest at sixteen.
Phoenix nodded toward the room they shared. “In the room, but…”
I didn’t like the way that but sounded. “But what?”
“See for yourself.” He sighed.
I gave the door a loud knock before I let myself inside. Angelo was in the bed, his back facing me, and I could see his tan skin was dripping with sweat.
The apartment was somewhat stuffy, but it felt much better than it did outside. I set my hand on his head, expecting him to be burning up, but his skin was clammy.
He tried to bat my hand away but cried out instead.
“What’s going on, Angelo? Tell me. Now.”
“Nothing,” he barely got out. His voice sounded pained, like it took everything inside of him to get the one word out.
I looked at Phoenix, who was standing inside the doorway.
“His arm is broken.”
Phoenix and Angelo were total opposites. Angelo would go down for a secret. Phoenix would tell it because he just didn’t care that much to keep it. Angelo was more like our dad, and I could see his traits developing more and more every day in him. It worried me.
Not that I wanted Phoenix to be a snitch, but if it meant keeping Angelo in line and out of trouble, I was glad Phoenix would tell me things.
“How did he break his arm?”
“Fell off my bike,” Angelo breathed out. He shot Phoenix a death glare.
“Why didn’t you tell Linda?”
“Leonora…” Phoenix gave me a duh look.
Duh, because Linda was probably passed out by the time Angelo had snuck out. And she wouldn’t have done anything anyway. She was indifferent to them to the point where they almost didn’t exist to her. They were only there when they ate the last of whatever was in the cabinets.
“That still doesn’t explain why you were out past curfew.” I looked down at Angelo.
Two tears slipped down his cheeks, and he let me run my fingers through his saturated hair.
“Get up.” I helped him to a sitting position. “You need to go to the ER.”
“They might think you’re unfit.”
“Kids break bones all the time.” I kept my voice even, even though the thought made me a little nervous too. I worked nights, and Linda wasn’t exactly present. It didn’t matter, though. I’d do whatever needed to be done. I’d also get the true story out of Phoenix once we got there. I knew Angelo was lying to me. But I wanted to get him out of pain.
Phoenix rushed to get dressed, telling us he’d meet us in the car. Angelo moved away from me when we started to make it down the steps. He didn’t want me to help him.
