Page 98 of Just Neighbors

Trey is sittingin my living room, throwing a football in the air and catching it, when I walk in after putting Gloria to bed.

He sets the ball aside. “So, uh … the mayor is my dad?”

I tighten my sweater around my chest and slump down on the couch.

I called Trey after he hung up earlier. He’s young and confused. He didn’t answer my call, but he did text, saying he was okay but needed time to clear his head and had a test to study for. I told him okay, but I’m still not prepared to have this conversation.

“Yes,” I reply.

He slowly shakes his head in disbelief. “How? I don’t understand. He’s …him… and Mom isMom.”

“Trust me; you’re not the only one confused.”

When I was sixteen, Claudia got drunk and opened up about her relationship with Michael. They’d met at a job fair. Claudia’s probation officer had forced her to go look for a job. Instead, she sat in the back parking lot and smoked. That was where she met Michael, who was sneaking out to do the same. They’d talked, hit it off, and exchanged numbers.

He hesitates before asking his next question. “Is it true you made him pay you money not to tell anyone?”

I grimace. “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation for a teenager.”

He appears annoyed at my response. “I already know you did.”

“It sounds worse than what it was. We didn’t hold a gun to his head. He’d offered. He wanted to make sure you were taken care of.”

That’s the truth. Michael paid Claudia from the beginning, but she took it upon herself to demand more with the threats. With how much money he’s given her, I’m surprised he hasn’t gone bankrupt.

His face scrunches up. “Is Kyle mad that I’m his brother?”

“Of course not,” I assure with a soothing voice. “Everyone was just taken by surprise.”

“Did you break up because of it?”

I suck in my cheeks and tilt my head toward his book bag on the floor. “You need to do your homework, and we’ll talk about this another time. It’s been a long night.”

“Kyle was a good dude. Too bad he couldn’t be my big brother when I was growing up.”

I clutch my sweater around myself tighter, nearly ripping it. “I’m sorry for keeping it from you.”

He only nods, grabs his book bag, and pulls out a notebook. “What happens next … with the whole Mom situation?”

Ease pumps through me for him not asking more Michael-related questions.

“You’ll stay here until we figure something out,” I state.

His face brightens and then falls. “Roger said Mom told him we could only stay with you if you paid her bail and got Kyle to drop the charges on her.”

“I can’t convince anyone to drop drug-possession charges.”

A flicker of a smile passes over his lips, but he attempts to hide it. “Maybe, we can stay with you now.”

22

Kyle

So much has happened in the past few days.

The town is torn on their thoughts about my father. His scandal is nothing out of the ordinary with politics, so him having an affair and illegitimate son won’t affect him professionally, but those secrets will alter his public image—our family’s public image.

My father left townfor a conferenceand won’t be back for a few days. He hasn’t answered my calls but did take Sierra’s. She was a daddy’s girl growing up, and I think his affair has hurt her more than the rest of us children. He apologized profusely.

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