Page 42 of Jason's Justice
“Thanks. Anyway, after we left my house for the last time, we immediately drove to the police station.”
“Oh my god, why?”
“My boss knew them. Even though this was in Florida, it was still a small town, and everyone knew everyone. We went there to explain I was eighteen. Oh, I was able to snoop in my parents’ papers and get my birth certificate and social security card. When I had them, I gave them to my boss to hold onto. Anyway, at the police station, we showed them my ID, told them who I was, and explained that after we went to the bank, then the store to pick up some items, I was getting on a bus and heading to North Carolina State University. I was not a runaway, I am not into drugs, or a wild child, stuff my parents told my boss over the years.
“Thankfully, there were several officers there that knew me and my family.” He looked at her with a smirk. “They had been called to the house several times when my older brothers would get drunk and cause a scene. I was either working, or on my makeshift bed. Yes, I had a mattress on the floor to sleep on. I was never in any trouble. After leaving the police, we drove directly to the bank, and we were able to withdraw all the money he had put away over the years. I had to promise not to spend it all in one place. When I saw the amount, I refused to take it, because there was no way in hell the extra raise money could add up to fifty thousand dollars in five years’ time.”
“Damn, do you think he contributed to it?”
“I do, but he denied it. From the bank we went to the local department store and I didn’t know this, but back then, there was still lay-a-way, and when I accepted going to NCU, my boss’s wife contacted them for a list of items I would need for the dorm. She put them on lay-a-way, I only had to pay like ten dollars to get them. I’m talking bedding, toiletries, and some clothes. Wepurchased a suitcase or two, and more clothes for me, oh, and shoes. I was able to wear some of the new clothes out of the store. We then went out to a late breakfast, and then to the bus station. I never looked back. However, I did correspond with them all through college. Now we do the Christmas card.”
Ilsa nodded, and thought of his story, then turned to look at him with her brow furrowed.
“What?”
“How long did it take your family to realize you were gone for good?”
Jason grinned and laughed. “Three months. When the gas and electric was shut off for lack of payment.” He grinned harder. “It was the middle of summer in Florida, the heat wave was days where it was well over one hundred degrees, and they lost the air conditioner.” He shook his head as he chuckled. “Everything was good until my cousin was arrested and he’s the one that contacted my family. They came, not pounding on my door, because they didn’t know where I lived, but they came to my office and tried to demand money from me. Oh, and I don’t know if I said this earlier, but my older brothers still weren’t working, and two of my three sisters were there with their husbands and children. They started crying that I abandoned them and am depriving my nieces and nephews of a good life.”
“Oh, god, what did you say?”
“I told them that they needed to get off their lazy asses and get a job. I was not responsible for their problems. Then Mom and Dad tried to say I owed them because of all the money they spent raising them. That’s when my boss at the prosecutor’s office informed them that parents are financially responsible for their children from conception to eighteen years of age. She also told them that she knew they forced me to get a job at the age of thirteen, and if they would like, she could contact someone in the state of Florida to go after them to pay me back the money theystole from me after forcing me to work. They quickly left after signing those papers to never talk to me again.”
“Oh, wow. Wait,” Ilsa said in confusion. “Where was the other sibling? You said there were a total of seven. You, your three older brothers, and two younger sisters, that’s six. Where was number seven?”
“At the time of that meeting in North Carolina, I had no clue. I didn’t even think about it. After they left, I reached out to my former boss to ask.” He shook his head again and chuckled. “It turns out my parents did the same thing with her as they did with me, forcing her to work at the age of thirteen. She went to him and explained it all. He did the same with her he did with me. Except instead of leaving the state for college, she went down to Miami University. She became a physical therapist, and somehow ended up working for the Miami Dolphins. Whenever she went home, the family tried to get free tickets from her, and she got them tickets one time.” His grin this time about split his face in two. “The highest seats in the nosebleed section behind the opposing team. They arrived in their Dolphin gear, but while in their seats they were surrounded by the opposite team’s fans. The Dolphins lost that game, and my brothers started some shit. Everyone in the family was arrested. The kicker?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. “They were banned from ever stepping foot in the stadium ever again.”
Ilsa looked up at him with a smile, and then sighed contentedly when they settled down and it wasn’t long before they both fell asleep. When Kevin returned, he laid a blanket over them, then went to his own room, leaving them in peace.
CHAPTER 17
Marcia leanedagainst the doorjamb to the bedroom she shared with Lloyd and watched him as he packed. As she studied his face, she saw a tightness around his eyes she hadn’t seen, or noticed before. At least not since arriving at The Broken Wheel, still hurting from his injuries. She walked in and sat on her side of the bed, and continued to watch him pack for the trip out to California with the others to make sure Ilsa, and Jason stayed safe as they gathered the warrants they needed to take out several bad people in the FBI.
“Before you leave,” Marcia started, and watched as Lloyd’s hands froze as he put clothes in his pack, but she didn’t stop. “I need to talk to you.” If she hadn’t been watching him so intently, she never would have seen his look of fear, but it quickly disappeared. “I want to apologize to you for being a clueless twit.”
“Excuse me?” This time, Lloyd tossed what he held in the pack and fully looked at her. He sat down on his side of the bed and stared at her.
“It has been brought to my attention that I’ve been on my phone a lot lately.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Lloyd’s expression was utter sadness.
“I’ve been texting with Jacobs. He’s finally been released from the military and was wondering if there is a job for him here. Erin knows this, and said she would only entertain the idea of interviewing him if you are okay with him being here. And I don’t mean here, at Broken, she said if Jacobs comes to work for her, then he would be over at New Double, and would stay in one of those cabins, or a bunktel.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone thinks there’s something going on between Jacobs and me, and that’s just a hard no. I’ve included you in our text thread, and I would like you to read our exchanges on your drive to California.”
“Why? Why did you include me in your private conversation with another guy?”
“One, because it’s not private. Two, I have nothing to hide. Three, he’s my older younger brother, and anything sexual with him is just eew.”
Lloyd felt a weight lift from his chest, and stared at her with a smirk. “Explain to me again how he is your older younger brother. I don’t quite remember, and I don’t know if I understand.”
“First, you know about the brotherhood of people that serve together. You have it with the men, and I had it with Jacobs. We only served together one weekend a month, and one month a summer, or if the National Guard was called in, but you get it, right?”
“I do.”
Marcia nodded and settled further onto the bed, looking at him. “Jacobs is older than me, chronically in years. I believe it’s three years. He went to college right out of high school, and never joined the National Guard until after he finished college.”
