Page 11 of Loving Justice

The boy’s eyes were as wide as saucers and appeared frozen.

“I should ask you the same question. What’s your name, kid?” Jinx settled his gaze at the boy.

“Billy,” he said in a shaky voice.

“Well, Billy, how much do you value your life?”

“Jinx, what are you doing?” Ilene groaned.

Billy jumped out of bed and awkwardly balanced as he stuffed his feet into dusty boots.

“Don’t bother coming back,” Jinx said to the boy’s back as he ran down the hallway.

“I can’t believe you did that. How embarrassing!” Ilene bounced off the bed, her long blonde hair floating about her shoulders. She had the Weathersby blue eyes, as round as a full moon and as bright as one. She’d recently had her braces removed, and now she looked older, but not old enough to be in her bed with a boy. She wore her itty-bitty cheerleading uniform that, in his opinion, showed too much leg.

She looked just like their mother, and he felt a pang inside his chest.

“What the hell are you doing, Ilene?”

With a roll of her eyes, she pranced past him and took the stairs with him following closely. “I’m late for practice.”

“This isn’t acceptable. You know the rules. No boys in the house when you’re alone.”

“Relax, bruh. We had clothes on,” she said nonchalantly as if they were discussing the weather. At the bottom of the stairs, she turned and faced him, one hand on her tilted hip. “I’m not a child any longer. I’m sixteen next month. Most girls my age have had sex. You should be proud of me.” She spun and disappeared into the kitchen.

He wasn’t sure how any part of that statement was supposed to make him feel better. Taking a slow, deep breath, he exhaled slowly, reminding himself to remain calm. “You were already grounded for not making curfew,” he said when he stepped into the kitchen.

She stuck her head in the refrigerator and came out with a can of Coke. “That’s another thing. What other teen has to be home by eleven? Eleven, Jinx. You know how humiliating it is to have a curfew? We don’t live in the Stone Age any longer. What are you afraid will happen?”

He started to open his mouth to answer when the back door came flying open, and Aunt Ness cursed a blue streak. In each arm, she juggled an overflowing grocery bag. Her hair had come loose from her ponytail, and tendrils were in her eyes. She blew the pieces away and looked at Jinx and then Ilene, squinting. “Okay, what did I miss?”

Jinx grabbed the bags from Ness’ arms and set them on the island. “My little sister thinks she’s thirty,” he muttered.

“You should have seen his face when he saw Billy in my bed. You’d think we were having sex.” Ilene sighed and popped the lid to the can. “Tell him you’re okay with Billy being here when you’re gone.”

Ness shook her head. “I never said that. What I said was, ask for permission before you have company.”

On her way to the door, Ilene grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. “I’m late. You might not want to tell my big brother that you took me to get on birth control.” She pushed through the screen door and her laughter could be heard down the sidewalk.

Ness dug a canister of coffee out of one bag and placed it in the cabinet. “She’s enjoying ruffling your feathers. You know that, right?”

“Birth control?”

Ness leaned a hip against the edge of the counter. Turning fifty within days, his aunt still looked youthful and could easily pass for someone his age. “She’s being responsible.”

“By having her boyfriend in her bedroom?”

“I’m not saying I agree, but she expects you to be upset, and you can’t reach her that way.” Her expression softened. “We’ve all lost your mom, Jinx. Ilene is still grieving even after all these years. You’re not here a lot, and you don’t hear her cry. She’s rebelling because she can’t discuss her feelings.”

“There must be a better way than turning me gray before my time,” he groaned. He dropped down onto one of the cushioned chairs around the table.

“Cup of coffee?”

“Please.” He felt like he was a failure when communicating with his sister. Sometimes, she was a delicate flower who cried when he reprimanded her, and sometimes, she was a fiery jalapeño wrecking ball that would take down anything in her way. He never considered himself a pro with women. Hell, he'd only had two girlfriends, and at thirty, most of his friends in Catskills were already married with a couple of kids.

“Here you go,” Ness handed him a steaming cup and sat across from him. “You look like crud.”

“Thanks,” he said quietly. He didn’t even bother putting cream in his coffee. “She’s defiant.”

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