Page 36 of A Brother's Secret

“Yeah, and I am taking myself and these guns away from this conversation…” he said and trudged through the tall, dry grass back towards the building.

I rolled my eyes. “Please, it’s not like I expect that Kyle was celibate for seventeen years.” He couldn’t be and fuck like we did last night.

“Eh, let’s just say it was his regular choice in club girl before she got snatched up…” Reaver said, and dare I say, actually looked pretty embarrassed.

I crossed my arms and debated on whether to sweat him or not, finally deciding to, but just a little.

“Just tell me,” Isaid.

“Ahhhhh…” he bounced in place looking from left to right but Trig was gone and wasn’t going to save him. Not from thisone.

“Seriously, I promise not to be mad, but I’m curious.”

He let out an explosive breath and said, “My cousin Shelly.”

I raised an eyebrow, and asked, “You let your cousin whore around with your guy-pals?”

“Uh, no, Shelly does whatever the fuck Shelly wants to do. Leastways when it came to it, I knew who she was doin’ it with and if any of ‘em laid a hand onher…”

I nodded slowly, “all right, fair enough, I can seeit.”

“Anyways, it’s been a couple of years. Shelly is Ghost’s ol’ lady now and off limits.”

I stopped my head from its slow and steady bouncing and looked at him, “I get it,” I told him. “And I am probably the last person to throw stones, living in a glass house.” Still, I’d be lying if I said the potential of meeting someone that’d been intimate with Kyle wasn’t weirding me out a little, but it was true… I understood he had a past. I had one, too. I could either accept it or let it eat me alive so I chose to acceptit.

“Come on,” he said looking me over and nodding himself. “It’s hot as fuck outhere.”

“I know that’s right. I’m not much of a fan of the daystar.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Worked mostly on a sort of swing shift so I could avoidit.”

He dragged open the back door and held it for me, “Oh yeah, what does someone on the lam do for a living?”

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a tattooist.”

“Oh yeah? No shit?” Trigger asked, looking up from his phone.

“Got any of your stuff with you?” Reaver asked. “Like your drawings andshit?”

“I suppose it’s as good a way as any to pass the time.” I went for my messengerbag.

The two men circled almost like sharks, grabbing and setting up a dusty card table and planting a couple of folding chairs around it. I pulled the rolling desk chair across the cracked cement floor and parked it before up ending my bag on the table, letting them pick out a sketchbook to thumb through. I set about folding the clothes Kyle had bought me and decided that if I were going to be staying a while, I might as well unpack a little. I took the neatly folded garments with their price tags still attached over to one of the workbenches.

“When did you do this one?” Reaver asked and I shrugged without looking.

“I dunno, look at thedate.”

“There isn’tone.”

“Then it’s probably the first book you’ve got, does it have the Nine Inch Nails sticker on the front ofit?”

“Yeah.”

“Then it was done in high school. Probably ’98 through 2001 orso.”

“Good likeness,” Trigger commented and I turned around to see Reaver holding the book out to him. I blinked and realized it was the book I thought it was and, of course, realized too late the sentiment attached to some of those early drawings.

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