Chapter Eleven #2
He knew the two had already met several times.
Jenny stopped at the house to deliver groceries and make sure Nathaniel was eating.
She and Hailey had also gone out together for some school shopping, and he couldn’t wait to hear all about it.
How strange and wonderful it was to see those two parts of his life intersecting.
He watched his sister take the hand Hailey held out to her, and said, “I’m not sure I have to. ”
Hailey laughed. It made a sound that reminded him of wind chimes, but when she tried to sit at the table, Eli pulled back the seat, sat down, and pulled her into his lap.
“They’re not going to let you do that,” Nathaniel said.
Eli pushed aside his daughter’s braids to press a kiss to her cheek. “Yes, they will.”
Samuel looked up and saw Alvaro and Carnivore. Not the worst combination, but he had to agree with Nathaniel. The warning would come any second. Except it didn’t. He saw Alvaro’s eyes run over them, but the guard didn’t bark the usual, “No touching!”
Nathaniel saw it too. “How did you manage that?”
“Can’t tell you. HIPAA.”
“What?”
Samuel didn’t have to hear the rest. “He’s been helping out some of the inmates.
They come to him with medical questions.
” He’d thought it was something that happened only occasionally, but either that was changing, or his now constant contact with Eli was revealing how wrong he’d been before.
The man couldn’t go anywhere without someone stopping to ask his opinion on some disgusting bodily fuck-up.
“I guess he’s moved on to COs now. I hope you charged him triple. ”
“That’s not funny. I don’t know what to do with all that stuff.”
“What stuff?” Nathaniel demanded instantly on guard.
“Just stuff from the commissary,” Samuel assured him. “No one likes being in debt.”
“But they’re not in my debt! I’m just answering their questions.”
“Debt is debt,” Samuel disagreed. “And you’d make them feel better if you’d tell them what you wanted. Then they wouldn’t have to guess.”
Most of the time the items Eli received were food, but he’d gotten some unusual things already—like a homemade cock ring and another thong (black lace this time).
Eli had laughed his ass off when he found them, but Samuel hadn’t been amused.
Lucky for the inmates, he’d decided the gifts had been well-meaning (they were supposed to be on their honeymoon, after all) and not the disrespect he refused to tolerate.
Still, he was glad people had begun asking him for his opinion about compensation.
It meant Eli was getting fewer candy bars and porn mags, and more books and skin care products, especially his beloved cocoa butter.
Samuel couldn’t seem to turn his face lately without being visually assaulted by a moisturizing Eli.
“So you’ve finally become a back-alley doctor. Do you—”
Darren slammed his hand down on the table. All eyes turned to him, and Nathaniel put out an instinctive hand, but Darren pushed it aside.
“So you’re all choosing to ignore the elephant in the room?”
Hailey reached for the napkins. Darren’s slam had caused one of the cups to slosh over. “Elephant?”
But Darren didn’t look at Hailey. His eyes had found their target, and with a sharp twist of his gut, Samuel realized he was the elephant.
“Do you really think you can make a decent partner to Nathaniel in here? Or are you so selfish that you just don’t care about that part? ”
He sucked a burning breath into his lungs, but he couldn’t form it into words.
It didn’t seem to matter. Darren had already moved onto his next target.
He grabbed hold of Eli’s jumpsuit and pulled him forward.
“And you. Is this some misguided form of punishing yourself for landing your stupid ass in prison, or just an instance of misplaced confidence?”
Eli reached behind Darren and tucked in the tag on his sweater. “It’s not misplaced.”
Darren released his hold and smacked the hand away with a disgusted snort. “You’re so stupid. All of you. I’m surrounded by morons.”
“Darren—”
But whatever Nathaniel had to say was cut off when Jenny took hold of Darren’s arm and dragged him up out of his seat. The two were of similar heights, but in her heels, she had the advantage. She gave him a tug, and he stumbled forward.
He jumped to his feet. “Jen—”
But he didn’t know what else to say, and she kept going until the visitor door closed behind them.
He couldn’t look either Nathaniel or Eli in the face and found himself speaking to Hailey. “She won’t hurt him. I promise.”
Nathaniel pressed a hand over his eyes. “I had a feeling he was going to do something when he suddenly agreed to come visit today.”
Samuel sat up straighter. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. If I did or said anything inappropriate—”
A small hand slipped into his, and he abruptly stopped speaking. Hailey was looking at him with tight eyes. “Is Jenny okay?”
Jenny. When was the last time someone other than himself had worried about his sister ?
The little hand in his gave him a squeeze.
It was very warm and a little clammy in the way kids' hands often were. It wasn’t big enough or strong enough to protect him, or at least, it shouldn’t have been.
But the lump that came to his throat was so large and painful he couldn’t swallow it down.
“No,” he said. “For a long time, she hasn’t been, and it’s all my fault. ”
Bigger hands, even warmer, came up around him and pulled him into muscle that smelled like cocoa butter. Eli didn’t say, “No, it’s not your fault.” or “It’s okay.” He said, “We’re going to take care of her.”
“That’s right,” Hailey said. She still had his hand in hers. “She can stay in my room, and I’ll make her good food. Don’t cry, Samuel.”
He wasn’t crying, but he could understand why she said it. He felt like he was crying, even though his eyes were dry.
“That’s a sweet offer, but we need to think of her privacy,” Eli said.
But Hailey shook her head. “No more privacy. She needs Samuel, and I can’t give that to her, but I can be a sister instead.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Samuel’s cheek. “Is that okay?”
He was so overwhelmed he couldn’t say anything. Not even thank you. So he nodded and was rewarded with Hailey’s smile. “I’ll be back,” she said, and let go of his hand. “Right back.” She slid out of her seat and left them.
“I would love to have Jenny with us,” Nathaniel said once Hailey was out of earshot, “but I’m not sure we can be much in the way of support. Hailey is only with us half the time, and Darren and I are poisonous to be around these days.”
Eli frowned. “No, you aren’t.”
Samuel shook his head. “Hailey’s right. Jenny—I think she needs someone to take care of right now. So if it isn’t too much trouble… ”
“Of course not, now stop worrying and eat something,” Nathaniel said. “And tell me anything else you can remember about this Android bastard. I don’t know what might turn out to be important, but I do know I’m going to make him wish he’d never set eyes on you.”
“No,” Eli said. “If he feels any pressure, he could make Samuel’s life a living hell in here.”
“It’s already a living hell. Jenny’s right. He looks awful.” But Nathaniel did agree to proceed with caution.
Samuel felt weird sharing the rumors. Prison was a place where conspiracies were as common as spring rain, but it was only in telling the stories over to Nathaniel, a non-inmate, that he realized how truly crazy the stories were.
But Nathaniel didn’t show his doubts. He only listened, occasionally taking down a note, until the door opened and Hailey came back inside, dragging in Darren and Jenny who were both wearing interesting expressions on their faces, as if they’d just been told that Santa was, in fact, real after all.
“It’s all settled,” Hailey announced. “When time’s up, I’ll go back with Jenny to help her pack.”
“I’m coming,” Darren said. He’d gone straight to Nathaniel to drape himself around his brother like a blanket, but he was looking at Samuel. “That okay with you?”
He had no idea why he was being asked permission.
Darren still very much seemed to hate him.
The contempt radiating out of him was like the smell of fish at a wet market.
Nevertheless, he was waiting, so he gave him a nod.
He was doing a lot of nodding, making him feel about as useful as a bobblehead.
He wasn’t sure what went on for the rest of the visit.
He was mostly focused on trying not to stare too much at any one person.
Especially Nathaniel, whom he couldn’t look at without his chest tightening in shame.
It seemed neither Nathaniel nor Eli had given any more meaning to it than a younger brother’s anger toward unwelcome change, but he couldn’t help but be shaken.
It didn’t help that he’d lately been wondering about Nathaniel’s significance in his life.
He’d labeled him a friend, and even a mentor of sorts, but felt tied to him in a way that neither of those words explained.
It felt like he and Nathaniel were in a contract—one that invested itself in the caring and protection of Eli.
And if so, what did that make them? Partners maybe, as Darren had said.
But that left all the connotations that the word “partners” signified.
And what did it mean to be partners? Did they only need to accomplish their objective of protection?
Or did that leave them with a duty to each other?
Did protecting Eli also mean protecting Nathaniel?
And how did he go about protecting Nathaniel anyway, trapped as he was in prison?
He couldn’t even protect himself. The Android had proven that.
Eli’s hand on his shoulder signaled the end of the visit. “Come, puppy.”