Page 323 of The Long Way Home

“Trust is earned, BJ,” she tells me quietly, nose in the air.

“And I’ll earn it! I’ve been earning it.” Lick my bottom lip, shake my head. “Fuck — I’ve held you and protected you since I was a kid. I’ve fought a fucking gang lord for you. What do you need for you to trust me again?”

“A magic eraser?” She offers me a sad smile.

I sigh. Shove my hands through my hair. Nod my chin at her. “What do you do? When I come home after that accidental late night?”

“Why are you late?” She squints.

“Jonah… He fell on a table in a bar and split his chin open.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” she asks, suspicious.

“Because he broke my phone as he fell.” I shrug.

Her eyes pinch. “Why didn’t you call me on someone else’s phone?”

“Because I don’t know your number by heart.”

“Why not?” She scowls.

“Fuck!” I snort a laugh. “Because I’m normal. Magnolia, I need you to trust me. I need you to trust me more than I need you to forgive me.”

She nods.

“I trust you,” she tells me in a quiet voice.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She frowns, nodding once as she tries to convince both of us that she means it.

Jo

17:38pm

Hey

Just letting you know, Mum’s in the hospital

Shit man. Is she ok?

I don’t know. Heading there now.

What happened?

Accident.

Fuck.

Want me to come

Nah

Update you soon

So sorry man.

Love you

if you need anything

xx

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