Page 86 of Spark

“When do we meet him?” Melvin probed, turning out onto the highway. “Today?”

“No, graduation. Somewhere nice and public.”

“Why wait? I think we all will get along swimmingly,” Mikey inserted.

“He has to work today; there’s a big job to do.” Her phrasing was not quite right.

“Big job?” Melvin caught on. “What does that mean?”

“Oh.” She swallowed. She could never lie well to her brothers, and they were intently focused on every word she said. “A big collector is coming in today.” She nodded slowly. “Hecomes once a year and has all his cars serviced. It’s an all-day, sometimes two or three-day thing.” She smiled sadly. “I may not even hear from him till Tuesday.”

“Then we will meet on Tuesday,” Melvin said as a matter of fact.

Mia let it rest; there was no point in arguing about it. She would just have to let things play out.

“How’s the diner?” Matty asked, thankfully changing the subject for her.

“Don’t know; David fired me,” she sighed. “I was focusing too much on school he said.”

“Fuck him then. You should be focusing on school. You’re gonna be a doctor, for fuck’s sake.”

“Ugh, not a doctor doctor, just the degree.”

“But if you wanted, you could be Dr. Mia Thorne,” Mikey said, eyebrows waggling.

Or Dr. Mia Valen,Mia thought, smiling.

Mikey took it as her agreement and whooped again.

“Where am I going?” Melvin didn’t know the way to the loft, so Mia focused on directing him there. She didn’t have time to explain about the break-in or her Oliver problems before they pulled into the alley and parked. They all piled out, and when they got to the building, Mia looked at the door with trepidation.

“You okay, bug?” Mikey asked, a hand on her back.

“Yeah,” she assured, deciding to explain it upstairs. “Let’s just go in.” Luckily, the hallway was empty, but her broken mirror was still sitting outside the door.

“Shit, bug,” Melvin muttered, recognizing the vanity’s mirror. “What happened?” He bent over to inspect the broken wood, gently grazing it.

“I’ll explain,” Mia said quietly, unlocking the door and sliding it open. “Just please, come in.”

They gave her a concerned look and moved inside, piling into the open loft.

“Mia.” Melvin crossed his arms over his chest, standing tall and looking like her dad. “What’s going on?” All three of her brothers assumed the same posture as if her dad had been copied and pasted in front of her.

Mia slid the door closed behind them. “Okay,” she breathed out hard. “Let me explain a few things.”

Over the next hour, Mia told them all about Oliver and his exploits. She explained that the cops had come and done a sweep for evidence. Melvin was skeptical; they knew how crooked cops could be, especially when it came to one of their own, but Mia told him she had a feeling Detective Daniels was different. He was good. The boys listened carefully, their faces making the appropriate reactions as she relayed the words Oliver had said to her. She finished by saying she was going to move out after graduation because she no longer felt safe alone.

“Come home,” Melvin insisted as she finished talking, catching her off guard.

“Mel, I can’t do that to you guys. I’ll find another place…”

“No, come home.”

“Mia,” Mikey started. “We paid off the shark.”

Mia placed a hand on her heart, feeling like if she let go, it would beat out of her chest. “You did what?” she said, both shocked and angry. “Why?”

“We miss you; we are sick of you living in exile like this. Dad would never have let it go on like we have.”

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