Page 74 of True Honey
“I’m going to go take a shower and then we can run through the subs for the week?” He asked me but I was still stuck on my mother flirting with one of my friends…
“Yeah,” I said, eyebrows pinched together tightly as he threw a couple pieces of bacon between his teeth and left the room. “What the fuck was that and why were you just sitting here letting it happen?”
“She was in here when I got here.” He shrugged, “she brought me jello she stole off one of the carts in the hallway to ignore their very private conversation. So I did.”
“You disloyal rat,” I swore at him.
“I’m not a snitch and it was blue… that’s the best flavor.” Arlo wasn’t going to budge and I hated that cocky grin on his face. The fact that he knew something I didn’t, was making his whole morning.
“Fuck you! If he’s fucking my mom I swear—” I threw my hat at Arlo who just laughed at me.
“You fucked his sister, asshole,” Arlo countered, his laughter only growing.
“Quit fucking laughing, prick!”
“Lower your voice, Grandpa, some of us are trying to sleep,” Cael’s sleepy, scratchy voice interrupted my panic attack. “Did Arlo just say you stuck your east coast foot long in my Aunt?” He asked next and Arlo practically fell out of his chair.
“No,” I said at the exact moment Arlo said yes.
“Bold move considering her ex is the size of a fucking grizzly bear,” Cael weakly laughed and shifted in the bed with his eyes still closed.
“Yeah Silas, bold move.” Arlo snorted, enjoying the situation a little too much.
“I will make sure you end up in one of these beds if you don’t shut the hell up.” I flipped him off and wandered over to Cael to take a look at his arm.
“As much as I love seeing you two fistfight, I have a raging headache and if I don’t get my hands on my Clementine in the next twenty minutes. I’m performing a half-cocked jailbreak and going to find her,” Cael’s words were strung together in a slurred string. The pain no doubt making it very hard to stay awake.
“Van is on his way with her and Zoey,” Arlo answered his question, “and stay in bed you aren’t wearing pants, no one needs to see your ass.”
Cael scoffed, “everyoneneeds to see my ass.”
“Respectfully disagree, Loverboy.” Cael practically popped up from death at the sound of Clementine’s voice. “Keep that perfect ass in your bed, I’m not fighting any handsy nurses today.”
“That’s my cue to take my leave,” Arlo scowled, pushing from his chair and disappearing into the hallway.
Clementine was successful in calming Cael down and it made me feel a little better about everything that was going on. I opened my mouth to say something when my phone vibrated in my pocket, I pulled it out hoping to see her name flicker across the screen but instead it’s a reminder that despite how I felt today, nothing was going right in the rest of my life.
“Tobias,” I answered, leaving the room to chat with my lawyer.
“I hate doing this so early on a Monday, Silas but your father is withholding sensitive information that we need if we want a shot at winning this trial.” Tobias explained. Winning for us meant keeping my father in prison, something that not a single member of my family understood. If Grandpa knew I was working with the prosecutors on Dad’s case I’d be shunned; but they needed an inside man. Someone who could get information legally out of my dad.
“What do you want me to do about it, Tobias?” I sighed, stepping into the hallway. Arlo pushed off the wall at the sound of my annoyance and stepped closer to listen as I put Tobias on speakerphone.
“I need you to go to the prison, I need more information on his relationship with DeeDee Logan.” The line went quiet at the sound of her name and I swore under my breath. “It would have been a lot easier to convict him with her alive but now all I have is conversations through illegible high texts and word of mouth from your brother. We need more, I need your father to admit to funneling money to more than just DeeDee. It’ll prove that he held no regard emotionally for any of the people he was ‘supporting.’ I need you to talk to him.”
Arlo grimaced. This was bad.
“There’s no way I can get him to talk about that, he’s been buttoned up since she died. He’s terrified to get slapped with charges related to her death.” I said, and it was a reasonable fear because it was exactly what they were trying to do. He was all but a drug runner for her, supplying her with enough cash monthly to keep her high enough that she didn’t go to the press or the cops.
“I think it’s time you consider taking Joshua down there for a conversation, it might be the cracking—”
“Find a new route.” I cut him off. “I’m not subjecting Josh to that and you know it,stopasking.”
“If you can think of a better way to get that information Silas, I trust you but from where I’m standing our time is running out and if you want to keep him in jail as much as I think you do, Josh might be the only answer.” Tobias's explanation was diplomatic and well worded but it didn’t matter.
Even Arlo shook his head no at the mention of putting Josh through something like that, worse, Josh would do it if I asked. But I couldn’t do that to him,he was finally starting to have a healthy life with the Hornets, at the Nest. With Dean. I couldn’t undo all the hard work he had been doing to feel normal for the first time in his entire life.
I wouldn’t.
