Page 66 of Our Blood, Our Pain

“Okay, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I told you, I’m just tired and needed a break.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Kai. I don’t have time this morning. What’s happened? Have you fallen out with Jules? Do you hate the job?”

“I haven’t fallen out with him, but he’s…a lot. Controlling. I don’t know, he and some of the others treat me like a kid and it’s tiring trying to convince them I can do the work.”

“Oh, honey. It’s always hard when you first start a job, it’s not unusual to hate it at first while you try to find your feet. I’m sure Jules is just trying to help. They always say you should never work with family.”

I want to correct that statement as he isn’t family. He’s the love of my fucking life who I hate. Maybe not hate, but really dislike right now. Why hasn’t he called yet? Fucking hell, now I’m upset that he hasn’t called when I up and left in the middle of the night. I’m a mess.

“You’re right. I’ll be fine after a couple of days away.”

“Are you sure? I can have a word with Jules, I don’t mind.”

“No! No, I’m an adult, I can handle it.”

“I know you can. Well, now that you’re home, I’m gonna try and get the afternoon off so we can spend some time together, they owe me after all the extra hours I’ve worked. Then you can tell me about the girl or boy who gave you that nice hickey.”

My hand flies to my neck and I flush like a teenager caught hooking up by their parents.

“Nice try, Mom,” I say as I move over to her and give her a hug. This is exactly what I needed. “An afternoon together sounds perfect.”

This is what it must be like being a sloth. I don’t think I’ve ever just laid around the house doing nothing. I’m bored and I’m hungry, but I want to wait until Mom gets back so we can have lunch together. She texted me earlier to say they were letting her off at lunch for the rest of the day, which will be great for us both to reconnect. Just as I’m about to lay down on my bed, my phone rings and a coldness runs over my flesh. Don’t tell me how, but I know it’s Jules. My hand clenches, desperate to reach out and talk to him, but I’m too stuck in self doubt and fear. It’s better to lose him now than later down the line when he realizes he wasted his time on me. Just as the ringing stops, it starts all over again. The annoying sound grates on my nerves, so I do the most mature thing and rather than facing my problems, I silence them. I silence the call and set my phone into ‘do not disturb’ mode. Ignorance is bliss. Pocketing my phone in my jeans, I leave my room to go grab a drink from the fridge. I need something to do so I don’t call him back. As I’m at the fridge grabbing some orange juice, the front door sounds and I look around the corner, relieved that Mom may have been let go earlier than I thought. As I walk into the living room, I nearly drop the cold glass of juice onto the floor, because standing right in front of me is Jez and Zac, and it doesn’t look like this is a welcome home party. Zac looks like he normally does, unwashed and gunning for a fight. His dull, doped up eyes stare at me with nothing but hatred. Jez looks unfamiliar to me now, he always was friendly and happy to see me, but now his hazel eyes hold just as much resentment as his brother’s. They warned me not to come back, but I honestly didn’t think they’d know, considering I’m driving Jules’s car and I haven’t gone into town.

“Why are you both here?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as level as possible to hide the rising nerves in my gut.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. Didn’t we warn you not to come back?” Zac says as he walks around the room, running his dirty fingers over the back of my mom’s sofa. The whole move makes me uneasy, especially with Jez just standing there, glaring at me and not saying a word. I place my glass down on the table and shove my hands into my pockets, hoping to come across as non threatening.

“I’m only here for a couple of days, and I just thought you were angry. I’m not sure why you’re upset. You don’t need me.”

“You were part of the gang, Kai. Brothers. You can’t just leave with no word. You abandoned your position, which puts us in a bad spot. One man down, one man less bringing in the cash. You’re a deserter,” Zac says as he walks back to the middle of the room to stand next to Jez.

“Deserter? It was hardly a cartel. We were just friends who hung out and did shit,” I say.

“You really are a dumb fuck if you think I’d believe that. I fucking hate guys like you. You always looked down your nose at us, thinking you were better. Complaining when asked to do anything, too weak to follow through on the hard stuff.”

“So why does it matter that I left?” I say, giving that sentence more sass than I should given that it’s two on one.

“It matters because you broke code, and also because I hate you. Look at you in your nice new clothes and expensive car, not giving a shit about the boys who’ve been there for you and giving you everything you needed to survive.”

“I was gonna end up in prison if I continued hanging around you. Hardly providing me with a good life.”

“It was better than nothing. I mean, you were born to a loser teenage mom and a dad who didn’t stick around to meet you. You had to bring in the cash somehow so your mom had a reason to keep you around. I mean, since you left the poor bitch is still struggling to get by. But don’t worry, we’ve been keeping an eye on her.”

“What do you mean you’ve been keeping an eye on her?”

“Just making sure she’s safe at work and that she gets home okay. She seems a little lonely though. I might have to join her one night, help keep her bed nice and warm.”

“Don’t you fucking touch her!”

“Why not? Nobody else wants her. I’d say she’s free game.”

“Get out you sick fuck. I’ll call the police, you can’t just break in here and threaten us,” I say, taking a step back toward the front door.

“The door was unlocked. And I’m not threatening you, that implies I’ll change my mind. Jez.”

Too distracted by having my full focus on Zac, I didn’t notice Jez move before he clocked me in the face, knocking me off balance enough for him to stand behind me, and lock my arms behind my back. Zac walks forward until he is a breath away from me, his stink makes me want to throw up, but I’m stuck, unable to move anywhere.

---