“You have no fucking clue what the last two weeks alone did to me. When I stepped in front of those three guys in the parking lot, it was to shield your mother and sister, who were about to be used as payment for
I paused, looking for any more protest, but they stayed silent. When I continued speaking, my voice surprised even myself a little. It carried the weight of the hatred I felt for Logan over the years, and the others could clearly hear the danger Logan was in at that moment.
“The others seem to have a problem making this clear to you, so I will. I already told you, two years ago, that I was done taking your shit. You should’ve listened and taken the opportunity to fix your attitude. The first day you sat in front of the school, and smiled while watching your friends beat the living daylight out of me, was the day we stopped being brothers. Screw me over again, and I will deal with you like I would with any stranger who comes after me. Do you understand me, Logan?”
“Yes.” he replied in a feeble voice, while Grandpa looked at him in disappointment over what he just heard. “For what it’s worth, Tim ... I am sorry. And just for the record ... the others made it very clear over the last week.”
His words resounded in my head for a few seconds. I would have to see how true they were. Though, at that moment, I was pretty sure it was just more of the same. He didn’t apologize because he was sorry. He apologized because he, too, noticed the way Grandpa was looking at him, and, in his usual calculating ways, determined this would be the best thing to say in order to appease Grandpa.
“Now, my drink is empty and I’m starting to feel it. So, Aaron, if you would please take your wife back, I need to lay down for a bit.”
Hearing me say that I needed to lay down caused Claire to jump up on her own, but, instead of going away, she insisted on helping me up from the sofa and leading me to the door. I stopped when I felt my stomach rumble and knew I would have to put something in there, regardless of having lost my appetite during our little confrontation just now.
“Do me a favor? Order some pizzas. With cheese in the crust!” I said, as I just grabbed whatever cash I had in my pocket and dropped it on the table. I didn’t realize that I had just casually thrown them four-thousand dollars, until I heard a quiet “Holy...” from Grampa when he counted it off.
“Kiddo ... How much did you take from those guys?” Gramps asked, still counting the money.
“Little under two million dollars.” I wearily answered as Claire continued to lead me out of the living room and up the stairs, not missing a step herself while Logan spat his beer all over the table and Aaron dropped his drink.
Her bedroom door was closed when we passed it, but I stopped for a short moment when I could faintly hear the voices of all the women comforting a loudly crying Ava, producing unintelligible words I probably wouldn’t even understand if the door was open. The sounds alone made it clear that my sister was not just engaging in some girly attention seeking, but rather full blown ugly crying. Nonetheless, instead of even thinking about going in there, I couldn’t help but wonder about the difference between her and me. More than once, I was the one crying alone in my room with none of them giving a flying fuck about it, but when the princess was sad, half the family jumped into action.
Me stopping in the hallway seemed to prompt Claire to start her explanation for Ava’s emotional display.
“When you gave her that present, it must ha...”
“I really don’t give a shit.” I interrupted her in a deadpan voice.
I didn’t like the disapproval I saw in her eyes before I continued my way to the bedroom, but I ignored it. The longer I stayed out of bed and argued with them in my current state, the worse this would get. So, I just took my pants off and crawled under my covers while groaning over the pain my movements caused.
“What are you doing?” I asked, as Claire immediately started undressing herself.
“Can’t I stay, Baby? I know you’re angry ... but I want to hold you just a little longer.” Her voice was quiet.
The pleading tone instantly curbed most of my anger. It was sweet, in a way. And it seemed honest. But it also ticked me off a little, because she seemingly had missed my predicament. In my prevailing mindset, this was yet another display of them only thinking about their own needs and wishes.
