Page 24 of Roses and Skulls

“I think she’s giving it to you.” Raffe says quietly.

I put my fingers to my mouth and then pull them away, signing thank you. I don’t use sign language much, but I’ve picked up a few small things over the past few years. She flaps her wings in response and then flies up to the tree to perch beside the other bird. It’s bigger than she is. I wonder if it’s a male. He caws a few times and then they both fly away.

The bead catches the light as I pick it up, rolling it around in my palm.

Raffe sits back down beside me, his eyes sliding over my face. I try with all my might to keep my expression schooled.

“I met your mom when she was just a girl, maybe a few years younger than you. I ignored all the signs that she was in trouble. I’m not going to overlook them with you. Something bad is happening. I feel it. She feels it too. That’s why she asked me to tell you her story.”

After I put the bead in my pocket, I respond.Why can’t she just tell me herself?

He leans in close to me, taking my hand in his. “The same reason you have kept quiet for the past few years.” I bite my lip and try to look away, but he grabs my chin. “Some things are hard to talk about.”

He then begins to weave a tale so horrific, so unbelievable that I’m glad I don’t have to speak because I feel sick.

I sit there as the forest grows dark, but the clarity of who my parents are comes into focus. The light is being shined on my mom’s childhood. He doesn’t give details. He doesn’t need to. I get the gist. My mom was hurt by not one but many people throughout her young life. A man named Crow being the worst one of all.

Draven said my mom killed his dad. Was Crow his dad?

Raffe finishes, tears in his eyes. “You see why this might be hard for her to talk about?”

I nod as he leans over to wipe away the tears running down my cheeks.

“Oh, baby, we wanted to shelter you from all the ugly in the world, from this, but I think we’re realizing that wasn’t the way we should have handled things.”

I busy myself, rearranging the keys on the table.Is Draven, Lanie’s boyfriend, is he related to him? To this Crow guy.

“Is that where you got the bird?” he asks.

My uncle is one of the kindest men I’ve ever known. He’s funny and he flirts with everyone, but we all know who holds his heart. My Aunt Rachel. She helped him rehabilitate after he’d been shot. I know this because he loves to tell the story of how they fell in love.

And that is where the first piece of the puzzle falls into place.Was Crow the man who shot you?

He leans back, studying me. “Goddamn, you’re just like your mom. Ignoring my question to ask one of your own.” He chuckles lightly.

So, everyone keeps telling me.I roll my eyes and go back to working on my chime. I grab my needle nose pliers and pinch a ring closed around the top of one of the keys, focusing on what I’m doing. But I decide to answer him, laying my tools down for a moment.Draven had the crow on his desk when I went to take a final look at the bar. I couldn’t leave her there in that cage.

He sighs in relief. “Draven is trying to rattle our cages. He wants to start up a chapter of the Devils in our backyard and that means he wants to push drugs here. He’s trying to distract us with all this crow shit.”

You’re the reason mom killed him. She wouldn’t have done it for herself, but for you, for you she would live or die.

The shocked look on his face tells me everything I need to know. And my heart hardens a little more. My fate is sealed. I’m going to become a whole lot more like my mom. I just need to figure out how to get away with murder like she did.

“How did you get so smart?” he asks, realizing I’ve been thinking about all of this more than they thought.

I’m not but don’t worry, I’ll stay away from Draven,my phone easily lies for me.

“Good.” He smacks his hands down on his knees. “I’m glad we got this all out of the way. Maybe things can start to get back to normal around here.”

I shake my head mindlessly. Normal? Nothing’s been normal since grandpa died.

“Can I stay until you finish?” he asks.

Again, I nod.

“I think that little crow was thanking you for letting her out of that cage,” he continues.

Maybe,I type. It’s then I notice I have a message from an unknown number.

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