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Finally, when I had already accepted there was no way he was going to agree, he did. Seeing him reacting to my parents was surreal. He acted as though the concept of parents was as alien as a foreign language, making it clear that whatever happened with his adoptive family hadn’t been remotely good.
For the first few days at my house, he barely spoke a word, simply observed from a safe distance. My dad had asked me in secret if Chris was a bit slow in the head, and I couldn’t blame him for thinking that. Then, gradually, Chris opened up, allowing his wit and sharpness to shine through. He won my parents over with ease and made my little sister obsessed with him. For years after that, there hadn’t been a question of whether I’d be coming home with Chris or not. He was family.
My phone rang as I got back to my truck after delivering a package. Jay’s name appeared on my screen. I let out a tight breath and answered. “Hi, man.”
“How’s it going?” He sounded happy.
“Fine. Working.”
“Cool. Ready for some good news?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I got the cabin. This weekend. Friday night and most of Saturday.”
I rubbed my face, realizing that wasn’t the news I was hoping to hear. “Hmm… that’s cool.”
“Come on, you can sound more excited than that.”
“Listen, I’m not sure about this. It feels different this morning.”
“Because you had time to second guess yourself like you usually do. How you felt last night was therealyou, before all those doubts got a chance to eat at your brain.”
I shrugged, although he wasn’t there to see. “Maybe it would help to know what exactly you had in mind for us to do in the cabin.”
“We’re going to kill Chris.”
My body froze. “What?”
Jay burst out laughing. “Fuck, man, I’m just messing with you. It’s just going to be some harmless fun, getting even with that bastard.”
“Getting even can mean many things. I think it would be best for you two to meet and talk this over.”
“Once we’re even, I’ll speak with whoever you want me to. But now is not the time. Don’t you trust me?”
I had seen the fire in Jay’s eyes when he spoke about his prison time and Chris’s involvement, so, no, I didn’t fully trust him. “Don’t make it about that.”
“But it is about that, and that’s why I need to know you’ll have my back when the time comes.”
“You’re still not telling me what the plan is.”
“I’ll give you more information in the coming days. Right now, you need to make a call to Chris and get him to agree.”
“He might have already made plans.”
“Then I’ll change the reservation.”
That made sense. “Okay,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll call him now.”
“Remember to say I’m not coming.”
“I remember.”
We hung up and I stared at the road ahead. It was the middle of the day, but the cumulonimbus clouds made it feel like evening. I held my phone in my hand but couldn’t bring myself to make the call. A row of dominos was about to start falling, with me holding the power to tumble the first piece.
He deserves it. He got Jay put in prison. He used Anthony.
And I would be there to make sure nothing gets too crazy.
