Page 16 of Otto: The Hawthornes

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Once you find her, you’ll get it.”

“Probably,” I conceded, thinking of Esther. “Haven’t found her yet.”

“Maybe you have,” he replied, lips twitching with humor. “And you were too drunk to remember it.”

“Fuck you,” I grumbled, laughing.

“I mean, I doubt you wereherbest,” he continued, laughter in his voice. “Considerin’ you were so drunk you can’t remember it.”

“Fuck off.”

“Can’t imagine you were all that coordinated,” he mused. “Or hard.”

“I can stay hard when I’m drunk,” I snapped. “You got an issue with that? You need to talk about it, brother? Let’s unpack.”

By that point Micky was laughing so hard he was barely making any noise. “Nah, I’m good, bud. No problems there.”

“You sure? They got little pills for that, you know?”

“Little pills for what?” my baby sister asked from behind me. I jerked in surprise and turned.

“How the fuck did you get here?” I asked, looking over her head for my parents.

“I paid Titus forty bucks,” she replied smugly.

“Fuck, Titus is here too?” Micky barked.

“Nope,” she said happily. “He just dropped me off. He didn’t want to get in trouble.”

“Why the fuck did they even let you through the gate?”

Myla laughed and rolled her eyes. “Like they’d tell me I couldn’t get onto the property.”

“You’re leavin’.”

“I am not,” she said, taking a hasty step backward. “It cost me forty bucks!”

“Not my problem,” I growled. I finally caught sight of my mom across the room. “Ma!”

“Myla Rose,” my mom yelled, her voice cutting through the noise in the room.

“I hate you,” Myla hissed, kicking me in the leg.

“Come on, short stack,” Micky said, dodging her swinging arms as he threw her over his shoulder. “Time to go.”

“I just got here,” Myla bellowed, wiggling like a worm on a hook. “Dammit, Micky!”

“You’re in so much trouble,” my dad barked. He was trying to keep his face straight, but I could see the laughter in his eyes. While he definitely didn’t want Myla in the middle of a club party, I could tell that he admired the balls it had taken for her to sneak her way in.

“How the hell did you get here?” my mom asked. She turned on my dad. “Did you know about this?”

“I’m fifteen,” Myla said in exasperation, still slung over Micky’s shoulder. She let her body go limp and was hanging there like a sack of potatoes. “I’m old enough to go to parties.”

“No you’re not,” Mick snapped. He looked at my parents. “I’m gonna take her ass home.”

“Thanks, baby,” my mom said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. “Happy Myla? Now your brother has to leave to take you home. We’re supposed to be celebrating Otto.”

---