Page 6 of Forever Always

My brother didn’t hear me. “I’m gonna kill that fucker. How dare he steal that money. Fuck!”

“How?” I managed to get out, that weight on my chest heavier by the moment. I tried to keep the growing panic out of my voice, otherwise Beckett would come here.

“How’d he get his hands on it?”

“Yeah, we were so careful.”

There was a loud sound, like a fist landing on something metal. I really fuckin’ hoped that wasn’t some heavy machinery or something. I was going to kill him if he broke his hand.

“I don’t know, Ri, but I’ll find out. I’ll fix this. How long do we have?”

“10 days, but Beckett, it’s okay. Please don’t do anything crazy. If I have to take a semester off, it’s not a big deal.”

Then I could go full-time and finally help out the way I should have been from the start. But Beckett refused to let me work more than part-time while I was in school, no matter how much we fought about it.

“No.” Yeah, why was I not surprised?

“Beckett . . . ,” I started.

“I said no. I’ll fix this. You’re not quittin’ school.”

I banged my head against the wall. The stubborn ass. “I didn’t say that, asshole. Just takin’ a semester off. I’ll start workin’ full-time . . .”

“You don’t think I know how this goes? One semester becomes a full year, and then another, and then next thing you know, you’re standin’ here right next to me, pressin’ the same fuckin’ lever thousands of times a day until you die. You deserve more than that. We’re not fuckin’ with your education, Riley. Do not argue with me on this.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I kept quiet. I would absolutely argue with him over this, but not on the phone in the middle of the hallway where I was already being watched like I was a freak. I didn’t understand the judgement though. This whole county was a shithole. I wasn’t the first kid to have a meltdown in front of the financial office and I wouldn’t be the last.

“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath, as I resorted to being a petulant brat. I hated fighting with Beckett, and we rarely did. The only time, honestly, was when it came to me contributing more financially or school. It just seemed unfair to me that Beckett had to work two, three, sometimes four fuckin’ jobs, plus whatever shady side hustle he could find, while I worked 20 hours tops at the gas station. He kept telling me I was destined for more, but I didn’t fuckin’ get it. I wasn’t any better than him.

Beckett sighed again, and I knew some of his initial anger started to lessen. “Listen, we’ll talk more about it tonight, okay? Just don’t do anything yet. We have ten days. Who knows, maybe we can even get it back from the old bastard.”

I laughed dryly. “Yeah, okay. What’re we gonna do? Extract it from his veins?” We both fuckin’ knew Michael Cooks, aka dear old Dad, already had whatever he stole the money for running through his blood, or maybe up his nose. He wasn’t picky.

Beckett laughed, and some of that tightness eased. We would get through this. “Alright, little shit, you gotta point. Regardless, we’ll try to figure something out, okay? Please try not to worry about it for now, and we’ll talk more tonight.”

Of course I was gonna worry about it. Beckett didn’t think I knew some of the shit he had to do for us as kids to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads, as shitty as it was. But I’m not fuckin’ stupid. I knew. I was terrified of the lengths he would go to for me.

This wasn’t the time to bring that up though. “I’ll try.”

“Thanks, butterfly. We’ll be okay.”

“I know. We always are.”

“I gotta go. Will you be alright gettin' home? I can send Jay over there to get you.”

Jay had been Beckett’s best friend since we were kids. We moved around a lot, so neither of us really had anyone outside each other. But Jay was like a barnacle: he latched onto us and never let go. It probably didn’t help that his home life was just as shitty as ours. It was a sad state when bunking at whatever cheap apartment or motel room we were staying at was better than his house, but it was what it was. And even though Jay and Becks were both 25 now, he was still around all the time.

“No, I’m fine. Go back to work, Becks. I can get home on my own.”

“As long as you’re sure?”

“I am. Go. I’ll talk to you tonight.”

“Okay. Keep your eyes open.”

He’d been telling me that every time he wasn’t with me since I was little. I smiled at the reminder. “You too. Love you, Becks.”

“Love you too, Ri. Forever.”

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