Page 36 of Like An Animal
Ilean against the wall, watching the door, waiting for it to open. He’s only been in there for a few minutes, but a short conversation can’t take that long, right?
I tap my foot, counting the seconds, but when my grandfather walks out of the room, he smirks at me.
“Well?”
“Are you sure this girl framed you?”
I don’t answer. I wasn’t the one with the bright idea to call him in to deal with this. No, that was introduced by Xavi. Granted, I only spent a few hours in custody and the charges were dropped the second he walked in the building, but I was trying to deal with shit without bringing him in. I can handle my problems on my own.
“Do you know how I’ve gotten as far in life as I have, syn?” he asks and I shrug.
“By being the smartest man in the room?” I don’t know why he would expect me to know the answer to that.
“No. Because I know how to read people. I can see what everyone's thinking and can predict what they can do. Now, I went in there and took one look at her and…well, she was not what I was expecting. I expected her to throw you underthe bus and point all fingers at you, but from the moment I went in there, she was trying to come up with ways to lessen your charges without admitting guilt.” He’s silent for a moment before he clears his throat. “Is it true that your aunt married a fucking kiddie diddler?” he asks.
It takes me a moment to fully understand how he would know that, but there’s only one person who could tell him about David’s crimes–Bronwyn.
“She told you about that?”
He hums his response as if I gave him all the answers he needed without openly admitting to anything.
“Jeremy.” I lift my gaze to his as his eyes narrow. “I don’t know why this girl framed you. Considering you care for her, I can let it slide, but without a good reason for killing your aunt, I can’t let this go. That was my daughter who was butchered, okay?”
I thin my lips as I stare at the door, wishing I could see through the wood and see for myself that she’s actually in there and is okay. A part of me wants to be pissed at her for what she did. This was planned. She conned me out of the house so she could kill them and pin it on me.
How did she know they would be there though? They were gone.
I’m not mad though. She had a reason. I know she did. Even if she didn’t, I’d rather be the person locked up and spend the rest of my days behind bars than her to spend a day in that cage.
“You gotta give me something, syn,” he adds.
If I don’t say something, he’ll kill Bron. I know that. He is one person I know that I can’t defeat when it comes to protecting her. He’s too powerful.
“Jeremy,” he groans my name and I open my mouth.
“You can’t condemn David for what he did to Bronwyn if you wouldn’t do the same to Kathy for what she did to me.” It’s thetruth. Both crimes are equal, but he looks pissed that David hurt Bron, but where was that anger for me? Instead, he sent me off with that bitch after she killed my parents.
His eyes widen in shock before they narrow into slits, enhancing the wrinkles around his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
I return the look. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“No, I don’t. What is it that you think I’m aware of that my daughter did to you?”
“That she was hurting me and you still sent me away with her after she tried to kill me and killed my real parents.”
He looks like I just punched him in the gut as he staggers back before hitting the wall behind him. He looks off into the distance. “No. No, she didn’t…”
Wait. Why is he acting like he didn’t already know this? It’s most likely that he didn’t know that she had my parents killed, but the rest of it he definitely knew about. My mom said she was going to tell him. The details have blurred the older I’ve gotten, but I remember her saying that.
I stay silent as I cross my arms over my chest. He can choose not to believe the truth if that’s what he wants to do. I don’t give a fuck. His disbelief doesn’t change its validity.
His hand lands on my shoulder and his fingers clench before his emotion filled eyes meet mine.
“Okay.” He takes a deep breath before giving a curt nod. “You don’t need to say anything else, syn. Let’s get out of here.” He starts to walk down the hall, but I don’t move. My gaze moves back to the door.
I can’t just leave. Bron thinks I was arrested. I promised to take her with me to New Jersey. It was a part of our plan.
“Jeremy?” My grandfather calls me from the end of the hall and I rub my temple in irritation.
