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Henry blinks rapidly, looking for some sign of encouragement from me. I don’t give him one. Did he think our friendship could be restored with a measly stab at Dare and a walk down memory lane?
“I know guys like Sullivan. The only language they speak is money. But with my gran’s situation… I couldn’t do anything at all. I felt helpless.”
The reminder of his grandmother is a stab to the heart.
“I wanted to help you, but I thought begging your sister for cash was too much. It had to be on my own terms.”
“So you took money from a trash company like Ru-Carpsel?” I sign. It ticks me off to hear his excuses. “To compete with a rich guy?”
“Of course not!”
“Why Ru-Carpsel, Henry? Even if you’d gone with another company, I wouldn’t have been so upset.”
“Your channel was growing, but it wasn’t at the place where we could leverage your followers for cash yet. You know that. We were so focused on building a brand and going the long route that we didn’t have anything of value. But Ru-Carpsel saw the potential in you. They offered the biggest paycheck.”
“That’s because no one wants to work with them. All they have to offer is bad products and a ruined reputation.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Henry signs. “I was too desperate.”
“To do what?”
“Save you.”
“Saveme?”
“I didn’t use the money for my grandmother’s surgery, Yaya. I didn’t spend it on a new car or a new house or anything like that.” He keeps his eyes on Dare. “I put it in a trust so I could pay him off and cancel your contract.”
Shock splits me in two. Did he just sign what I think he did?
I twist to face Dare. The wind ruffles his dark hair and makes his tweed jacket flap back and forth. Despite the movement of his clothes, his body is a statue. Stately. Rigid. His jaw is tight and his eyes are hard as granite.
Waiting until he fixes his attention on me, I lean my head slightly forward and jut my chin at Henry.Is he telling the truth?
Dare hesitates as if the last thing he wants is to admit anything. His eyes dart to me and back to Henry, weighing the cost. A true businessman.
Given how he’s acting, I know immediately that Henry is telling the truth.
Dare finally confirms it with a sharp nod.
So that’s it then. Henry didn’t take care of his grandmother with that money. He was doing it for me.
Well, that’s even worse.
Why would he ruin everything and not even get his grandmother the help she needed? It was easier to wrap my brain around his betrayal when I thought that someone we both loved was getting help. It didn’t excuse the treachery, but at least it wasn’t for nothing.
But now…
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
“You…” I falter, my head spinning. “Save me? I never asked you to do that! I never asked you to be my hero, Henry. I just wanted you to be someone I could trust. Someone I could lean on. Just like when we were newbies at the agency and everyone thought we were diversity hires. I wanted you to be my best friend.”
He flinches with every sign. Anyone would think I was lashing him with a whip. Impaling him with poisoned darts. Ripping off his toenails.
I keep going even though I see he’s in turmoil.
“Why couldn’t you have been my best friend to the end?”
“Because I didn’t want to be!”
