AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We don’t have to go into detail about that–”
“Jack?”
“Shit. Okay. He called you a fat club whore, and mentioned how fun it’d be if I moved in with them.”
Explosions snap in my brain, and my vision turns a murderous red.Those fucking assholes!Those fuckers are doing their best to screw me legally, but since it’s costing them money in lawyer’s too, they figure they can just cut corners and go straight to Jack.
I’ll kill them, I swear to God, I’ll cut them just to get them out of my damn way.
I want to run them down with my car. I want to hear them squeal like pigs and beg for mercy. But of course, I don’t. I don’t have impulse control issues like my fifteen-year-old brother. Instead, I make plans to call my lawyer as soon as I sit down at my desk. Or better yet, I’ll email. That way it’s all in writing, and I can edit out all the curse words before I hit send.
Goddamit! It costs me money every single damn time my lawyers read and reply to emails.
“I told Chris to leave the school grounds,” Jack continues, even as I imagine my aunt’s stupid head popping like a pimple under my car tires. “He wanted to make trouble, but I wasn’t biting, then he called you… what he called you, so I decked him.”
“Shit, Jack.” I turn the corner near the gym and slow down. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I’m sorry you had to stand up for me to him. I know that wouldn’t have been easy.”
“It was plenty easy,” he scoffs. “Prick knows not to come around saying shit like that about you again.” When our gazes meet, he takes a deep breath as innocent warmth floods his cheeks. “I know we’ve had a shitty time so far, but that’s on me. I promise to be better, Kit. I get it now; no chick in her twenties wants a teenage kid, so I appreciate what you do for me, even when I’m a dick and forget to tell you.”
“Oh, well.” My heart throbs dangerously as my little brother heals just about every wound he’s ever inflicted on me with one single sentence. “I appreciate that, Jack. Really, I do.” When the color in his cheeks rises, I stop with the mush. “But listen, there’s some stuff you need to know…” I pull into the gym parking lot and turn off the ignition. Resigned to being late for work, I turn to him. “Uh, so I probably should’ve told you this sooner. Aunt Renee, for some reason, is having her lawyer fight mine. For you.”
His eyes narrow. “For me?”
“For custody.”
His eyes grow wide. “Why? I’m not five. Pretty sure I’m old enough to make those choices myself.”
“Yeah well, I’m not sure what her game is. I’m confused, too. I don’t know why they’re fighting so hard, but they are. In the meantime, I’m still working on finalizing Dad’s estate. Maybe after that, they’ll piss off.”
“Jesus.” He scrubs his hands over his face in frustration. “I’m sorry for being an asshole all the time. Especially…” He nods. “You know. I’m sorry for being a prick.”
“It’s okay. I appreciate the apology, though.” I smile shyly over at him. “Hopefully we can be better from now on? Less meanness, more friendship.”
He chuckles and unsnaps his seatbelt. “Ha yeah, we’ll work on that.” He opens his door. “I’m not five, but my sister can still ground me. It’s weird.”
“Wait.” I grab his arm before he jumps out. “I got mad at you the other day without even asking your side of the story. So, I’m sorry.”
“This is getting weird, all this ‘I’m sorry, you’re sorry’ stuff. It’s giving me the creeps.” He climbs out of the car with a laugh. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”
I smile and nod, and I don’t even tell him I love him out loud. I can’t blame him for getting weird and running away. He got his stealthy avoidance skills from me.
Turning on the ignition as soon as he jogs through the gym doors, I pull out of the lot and head for work. Throwing myself into my desk chair thirty minutes late, I power up the computer and summon all the rage I was feeling and bottling up in the car.
I loathe my family. Absolutely fucking loathe them. They don’t give a shit that they’re terrorizing a couple kids whose daddy died not so long ago. A couple kids who are just trying to survive their new orphaned reality. They’re grown ass adults who seem to get off on wreaking havoc in our lives, when all we want to do is forget they exist.
Why can’t they leave us be?
What did I ever do to them?
I open up an email window and furiously type everything Jack told me, word for word. I ask them to look into it, I ask them to make it stop, then I add my signature at the bottom and hit send. Typing out the anger was cathartic, and sending the email tosses that ball of stress into my lawyer’s lap for now.
Breathe out, let those assholes go.
My phone dings by my arm, and swiping it open to the unknown sender’s text, I frown.
Unknown:What did I do wrong this time?
Me:Depends.Who’s this?
