Page 35 of Cosmo

“I wanted to be the one to tell you,” Murphy hurried to clarify. “And now that I have, let me tell you my concerns.”

Haze, the most mature and straight shooting one of the guys, had to break in, “It’s why he’s stand-offish with us. I get it now and can relate. I mean, well, none of us had that happen, but we’ve all had our shit. Everyone here has had some kindof difficulty with their parents. It’s just his is multiplied by a thousand.”

He hated Haze was so calm as he spoke, because he himself was a mess. “Thank you, Haze, but it’s more than problems with his parents.”

“No, he’s right,” Goldie interrupted. “I get what your worries are, Murph. He ain’t into family, and for good reason, and the only reason we work is because we’re a chosen family.”

Haze nodded and added, “And if he doesn’t get close to us, if he doesn’t think of us like brothers, then he’ll be more likely to snitch us out if he gets busted. No one wants to go back inside, and he’s fresh from that.”

Frustrated, exhausted, Murphy sat in his chair and glared out at all of them. “You all know what I’m saying, so discuss it.”

Hippy, the most laid-back of them all, on purpose, said, “We don’t gotta bring him in right off. Let him love us.”

Abs tapped the table with both hands and agreed, “We’re already becoming friends, so why can’t we just wait long enough to see? I don’t want him to go!”

They were all in agreement there, and Murphy had expected it, especially after Eazy had told him that was exactly what would happen.

The guys were all good, right into their fucking souls. Of course, they’d want to help him. The thing was, helping Cosmo might not be a choice they had. He might not want help.

As they discussed the things they could do for him, Murphy laughed to himself. He’d lost them all to their better natures. They would never willingly boot him from the group, and if it came to having to do just that, they’d fight for him.

Abs was the most vocal, but he’d already figured that. “We don’t let on we know, not right away, but we can’t keep it from him forever. I say we tell him about what we do. He’ll know he can’t tell anyone.”

Murphy was surprised that he agreed. “We, uh, can tell him in a few days. Let’s all settle down. We’ll continue to feel him out, continue to help him with the routines for the weekends, and play it normal.” Murphy looked right at Abs and Mims. “That means you two, no fawning over him, treating him any differently than you have been. He’ll know by those looks you have on your faces right now!”

Hippy laughed and said, “Good luck hiding their faces. They ain’t no poker players, Dad.”

“Well, they can learn and learn right now.”

Abs nodded sadly, looking at Mims. “It’s like a play. We’ll act like we just barely met him, but we like him. Deal?”

“Sure. I think I can handle that.”

They left the secret area of the basement after checking to assure no one was working out, but the second they all started filing up the basement stairs, each saw Cosmo standing off to the side at the entrance to the stairs.

Murphy spoke to him, careful to keep his voice light. “Hey! Going to work out?”

Cosmo looked down at himself and waved a hand over his sweats. “I’d hope so.” As he looked back up and scanned over the faces, he asked, “What are you guys doing?”

Never at a loss for words, Murphy suddenly found himself without a thought in his head to voice. Thankfully, Haze took over. “We were just trying out a new move. After we asked Tally and Murphy about it, we were going to work on it a little more, then show you. Gotta get up on board with us.”

“Oh. Yeah, I felt like the odd man out last weekend, but I get it.”

Goldie threw his thumb back over his shoulder. “Can I join you working out? I only got an hour yesterday.”

“Sure, yeah, that would be great. Get me ripped like you and get me some more phone numbers.”

“Like you need it,” Abs said, totally pulling off being nonchalant. Well, that was until he grabbed Mims’s hand and hurried up the stairs.

Smooth, Murphy thought. Then, he decided it was better than stammering more explanations, so he took his leave as well. “Like that routine, guys, I’m all in. Gotta go take the kids so Eazy can go…do whatever he’s doing.”

*****

Liam had the distinct feeling he’d walked in on something that had nothing to do with a new routine, but he knew he was paranoid from prison. He shrugged it off, then he headed to the basement while Goldie told him he had to change.

As he stretched, his eyes kept landing on the books. Those weird bookshelves, just sitting there in the wall, holding a lot of books he’d never read.

Kicking himself for forgetting about them before he’d gone all the way to the library, he went over and browsed through them, seeing a lot of classics.

---