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“Her boyfriend was DavidStratton. Holy shit.”
“I’m not following.”
“Hold on.” My heart hammered wildly in my chest as Iopened upa new browser window andsearchedhis name.
The accident had happened so many years ago, so I wasn’t sure anything would come up, but there it was. An obituary for David Murphy Stratton.
Survived by his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin, and a younger brother.
“Levi,” I said conclusively, jabbing my finger at the screen before thrusting that hand into my hair. “Ohmy fucking God. He had to be Levi’s brother.”
Ray was speechless as she stared at the screen, clutching her coffeemugand sitting still asstoneon my lap. Her head began to shake from side to side, disbelief settling in to keep the truth from infiltrating her mind.
“No,” she insisted. “That’s … Soldier, no, that’s …”
But she wouldn’t say it was impossible because, clearly, it wasn’t. My mother had been involved with Levi’s brother, David, who died in a car accident when I was six, and now, my mother was with Levi—or at least the last time I had checked.
“That’s so fucked up,” I muttered, wiping my palm over my mouth.
“What?”
“She’s fucking her dead boyfriend’s brother.”
“Your mom iswithLevi?”
I nodded with nausea in my gut and confusion in my head. “The night I got out of prison, I walked in on them going at it on the couch.”
Ray’s eyes widened as she sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. “Wow … I mean, maybe they're not related. Maybe they're … God, I don't even know.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, unsure of what to make of all this new information myself. Unsure if there was anything tomakeof it at all. “Look, Igottaget back to work. Can you do me a favor though?”
Together, we stood from the chair, and she looked up at me, nodding. “Of course. What’s up?”
“If you get a chance, find whatever you can about David Stratton. Print it out and bring it home.”
***
But as it turned out, there wasn’t much tofindabout David Stratton, other than a couple of brief articles mentioning an arrest here and there for drug possession. He had done time, but how much, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was, the guy had had a record, and he had died twenty-five years ago. My mother had been in the car with him, she’d witnessed her boyfriend’s death, and now, she was involved with his drug-peddling brother.
It probably meant nothing, I realized, but the wheels in my brain wouldn’t stop turning. Conspiracy theories and irrational conclusions kept me from enjoying the dinner I was sharing with Ray and Noah. They chatted about his school day and if he had homework and what they were going to do that weekend. I heard it all, but Icouldn’t willmyself to engage when all I could think about was the night Billy had died and how Levi had smiled as I was being driven away.
What if Levi’s problem with me had less to do with me stealing his business and more to do with—
“… Soldier come too?”
The sound of my name pulled me from a thought that already felt wrong and asinine. Noah was looking at me, curious and hopeful, and I bounced my gaze between him and his mom.
“What?” I asked sheepishly, picking up the fork to start eating the meal they’d already finished.
“Um”—Ray rolled her lips between her teeth and eyed me warily—“we were planning on spending Saturday with my family—”
“Do youwannacome?” Noah nearly bounced out of his chair with the question.
I shrugged as I shoveled a heaping forkful of lasagna to my mouth. “Sure. Why not?”
Noah was instantly thrilled while Ray, on the other hand, pursed her lips and eyed me with irritation. Like I’d said the wrong thing.
“I just figured you had stuff to do,” she said, her voice coming out in a hurried huff. “And I mean, I didn’t expect you’d reallywantto head all the way back to our hometown. Because, you know, my parents still live there.”
