Page 76 of True Honey
“Was,” he corrected, “before she ruined her life with drugs.”
“Beforeyouruined her life with drugs,” I said, staring him down. His joyful mood dissipated and his jaw tightened.
“I didn’t buy her drugs, Silas.”
“You put the money in her hand, once a month to keep her quiet and the only way she managed to do that was by filling the void with drugs that made her feel less broken,” Arlo interjected. Playing the bad cop without skipping a beat. He leaned over the table and demanded my father’s attention. “You don’t feel guilty at all do you?”
“All I did was send her money to support my child, Arlo.” He rebutted.
“You sent her money to shut her mouth,” he sighed.
“Who are you to judge? You would benothingwithout our money.” Charles snapped, slamming his hand down on the table. One of the guards stepped forward, warning him to behave.
“What was the point in sending her money, did you know she was killing herself with it?” Arlo asked him, allowing me to stay innocent in his eyes while he took the blunt of the aggressive behavior from my father. Arlo didn’t care what insults Charles flung at him, he had worked hard to get where he was and while his journey might have been fostered by my family. His skill was not. Baseball had been coursing through his veins the second he was born, if we hadn’t poached his father in high school, Arlo could have played anywhere.
The legacy he carried around wasn’t a blessing, it was a curse.
“I didn’t give a shit if she was killing herself, that was her choice. She knew why the money was coming and she never once said no to it.” Charles defended his actions venomously.
“So you had no idea that in between cheques she was using Josh to make money to support the drug habit. The habit that you created when you drilled into her head that she was disposable?” Arlo kept pushing and I could see my father starting to crack.
“You’ll end up just like your daddy, drunk and dead to the world in a dusty recliner,” Charles snapped.
Arlo smiled, knowing that the argument had worked and we had won. He had admitted out loud to the two of us what he had been doing. Arlo scratched his chest over his heart with two fingers and I knew that if push came to shove, he’d get up on the stand.
“At least I won’t be dead in jail, forgotten by the world,” he added just to drive it home.
“Get out, this visit is over.” Charles shot from the table and a few guards yelled at him causing him to raise his hands in the air only to get restricted by the shackles around his wrists.
“Orange isn’t your color, Mr. Shore,” Arlo chittered, pushing from the table with a grin. Never happier than when he was insulting horrible people or starting fights.
We were ushered from the visiting room as they took him back to his cell.
“You didn’t tell me he was that fucking delusional,” Arlo said on the way back to the car.
“He genuinely doesn’t believe he’s in the wrong on this and that’s why I’m working so hard to keep him in that orange jumpsuit. He’s all sunshine and butterflies in there for show. If he gets out…” I wet my bottom lip.
“He’ll go straight for Josh.” Arlo finished, understanding the dangers.
“I have to protect him,” I said.
“We will.” Arlo tapped the top of the fastback. “Together.”
By the time we got back to the hospital, I had about six meetings I needed to be across town at the stadium for. I was so exhausted I barely noticed the sun going down or my stomach screaming for food. It was nearly seven when I parked my bike in the garage and found the Nest virtually empty.
I had been back and forth on whether or not I was going to tell Josh about what was happening with our father. There was a good chance they asked him to take the stand in a few months and if that happened, I would have to prepare him for the fake bullshit that Charles was peddling to everyone that would listen.
But I found him and Dean at the island smiling, picking over a container of french fries and I couldn’t bring myself to ruin their mood. Dean was eating, he was healthy. Josh was smiling and his hand was knotted into the back of Dean’s sweater like he never knew anything but stable, loving relationships.
I couldn’t let my father ruin something Josh had been working so hard for.
“Stop hovering,” Josh said before I could announce myself, he was the only person on the team or perhaps in Harbor that could always feel my presence. It was like he had a radar for it and it went off whenever I got within twenty feet.
“How was your appointment with Ella?” I asked Josh, hand out to look at his elbow like it was a natural routine between us now.
“Fine, muscle is good, no signs of stress. I’ll be good to go for the next series,” he confirmed and I believed him. There was no bruising or swelling in the normal areas and he had full range of motion. “Doesn’t hurt, I promise.”
“Mm,” I hummed. “Last idiot that made that promise broke it.”
