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“No, it’s understandable…I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Sawyer Masterson.”
“Thank you, Sawyer, but I want to say be careful around my daughter. I think she’s got her first crush now.”
“Funny, my brother said the same thing when I mentioned Frank to him at work today. Well, like I told him, I’ll be graduating from college before she’s old enough to date. Have a good night.” I wave him off and head into my house. I’m tired and shake off the silly notion that a little girl could have a crush on me. I’m four years older than her. As much as I worry about her, there’s no way I’ll ever see her as anything more than little Jilly Bean.
Six Years Later
Sawyer
“Hey, Sawyer, where are you going?” Lennox says, adjusting his tie. We have a busy day in the office, but it’s early and I have a pit stop to make before going in. We’re twenty-two, and our firm is just getting off the ground. It’s a massive undertaking that we pride ourselves on. We managed to save the starting capital since our first job in high school. It’s one of the major lessons we learned from having financially unstable parents and something we took with us after they were buried.
“I’m going to check on Jilly Bean,” I confess.
He tilts his head and asks, dragging out the one syllable, “Why?” We’re four years older than her, and we haven’t actually spent any quality time with her in the years since we moved out when we were eighteen.
“Because I check on her every damn week since I graduated.” Yes, that’s only been two months, but I worry about her and I’m not even sure why.
“You know she has parents to do that,” he reminds me. Yes, a mother who is a full-time nurse and a father who is a dedicated homicide detective in a city riddled with murders.
“You know damn well they work as much as we do, but she’s getting to the age now where men are noticing her.”
“They’ve been noticing her since we lived next to her.” Yes, that is a sick, twisted danger, especially the Johnson siblings who still live there, although Frank is in and out of jail for domestic violence against his live-in girlfriend.
“Yeah, and she’s been as clueless as ever about the danger.”
“So have you. Jillian has a crush on you, and you walk right into her trap.”
“She’s not interested in me. I’m like a big brother to her, so there is no trap.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Fine. I’ll go with you and say hi to the little brat before we head into the office.”
We drive over to our vacant house where our parents had an epic fight that ended up in a murder-suicide last year. My brother and I refuse to have a true heart to heart about it because it’s too much. We always knew that it would end that way one day, but it still feels surreal and the damage is too great.
My mood sours just thinking about them. Long gone are any of the wonderful memories. All I have is the tortured truth of how they fought over money all the time, and how their lives ended. As it is, I won’t even consider dating anyone now. We’re not wealthy yet, and I want to be financially stable before settling down. “What’s on your mind?”
“Mom and Dad.” He nods. There isn’t much we need to say.
“Damn, yeah. It’s been a long time since I’ve been over here. Have you considered selling the house?”
“Yes, but seeing as it’s a murder scene, it’s a little hard to sell.”
“Given our area, it’s pretty damn common.” Our neighborhood wasn’t great when we first moved here, and it’s only gotten worse since we left.
“True, but…”
“But nothing. You haven’t wanted to sell it because it gives you a reason to stay close to Jillian.”
“I’m not interested in her like that.”
“I never said you were. However, have you seen Jillian lately? She’s definitely grown up.”
“I haven’t noticed.” I’m lying because I have noticed, even though I shouldn’t be paying any attention to her. She’s just the little girl who looked to me to protect her. Now she’s seventeen, almost eighteen in a week, and it’s painful the way she’s changed. Gone is the innocent little girl I helped with homework and made sure got home safe. Now, when I come around, I see a beauty who shouldn’t be around men for all sorts of different reasons than before.
We pull up to the curb in front of our house and there she is, bounding down the steps, tits bouncing with each hop.
