I run off to take the call in private.
“Mom,” I mutter as I close the door to the bathroom behind me. “How are you?”
“I’m doing good. I just wanted to call and ask if you’ve been taking care of Rory.”
“Of course,” I reply. “But it wasn’t easy.”
“Don’t let them get to her, you hear me?” she grits. “I cannot lose my little girl to those sons of bitches.”
“Mom, I’m trying, okay?”
“Try harder!”
“Is that why you’re calling me? To badger me? I’m already taking care of it; don’t fucking worry about it.”
“Yes, no, my point is, take care of her because she’s all you got.”
I frown, clutching the phone tightly. “What do you mean?”
“We’re not getting out.”
I swallow away the lump in my throat. “How long?”
“Life.”
The phone cracks.
“Without parole.”
It feels like I got struck by lightning just now.
“That has to be a mistake,” I say. “There’s no way—”
“They know about everything, Nathan. All the money, it’s gone. They took it. And since our businesses got hounded by that Bones Brotherhood, the feds assumed we were part of them too.”
“What? That’s bullshit!”
“I know, but you have to stay away from them,” she says.
“I’m trying, but you left us with a giant fucking debt they wanted paid,” I say through gritted teeth.
“I know, and I’m sorry, Nathan. I wish I could undo what we did, but I can’t.”
“Why did you do it?” I yell.
“Because we wanted to give you two a good life!”
My fists ball so hard my nails dig into my skin.
“A good life doesn’t mean shit when Ro has to live the rest of her life without her parents,” I grit. “Because ofyou, I’m all she has left.”
“Nathan, I—”
I disconnect the call.
I’m done with them.
I’m done talking with them for the rest of our lives.