Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Julius
“The hardest thing is not talking to someone when you used to talk to them every day.” –Positive Inspirational Quotes
Four months later.
I stood by Kraven’s door, leaning against it. “I need a favor.”
He turned to face me, eyeing me skeptically. “Sounds like a personal problem.”
Isla was at the library. It was just the two of us, so I was taking the opportunity to ask him without her around.
“Why are you asking me?” he snidely asked. “You must be desperate.”
“Kraven…” I tensed, completely hating this, and I hadn’t even asked him yet.
“Are you sure this isn’t an order?” he griped, encouraging my impatience.
“Since when do you ever listen to me? A favor is my only option.”
“Then why don’t you just ask your stray?”
In a snapped tone, I bit, “Stop calling her that.”
He smirked, shrugging. “How about a pain in the ass instead?”
“You know what?” I pushed off the door. “Forget it.”
To my surprise, he stopped me. “Say what you need, Julius. Just say it quickly so you don’t choke on your words.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered under my breath. “Can you not be so condescending for a minute?”
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
I reluctantly leaned against the door again, folding my arms over my chest. Internally counting to ten. “I have to leave town this weekend.”
“So?”
“So,” I emphasized, “I need you to watch Isla while I’m gone.”
He jerked back, confused. “Watch her? I thought you were her guard dog. What?” he mocked. “You scared she’s going to run away while you’re gone?”
“No,” I firmly stated.
“Then why do I have to babysit?”
“Because I can’t be in two places at once.”
“She’s by herself when you’re not here. What’s the difference?”
“The difference is I’ll be unavailable from Friday to Sunday.”
“Unavailable,” he argued, cocking his head to the side. “What the fuck does that mean? Since when are you unavailable?”
I changed the subject. “Will you do this for me or not?”
“Once again,” he stressed, “why is this my problem?”
“It’s going to be your problem if I don’t pay the property taxes.”
His gaze tapered, and his eyebrows pinched together. “Weren’t they due last month?”
“Exactly my point. Now, are you going to help me?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On what I get out of it.”
“What do you want?”
He smiled, and it reached his eyes. “I want my own street bike.”
In one breath, I snipped, “Hell no.”
“Well…” He paused for effect. “I guess she’s on her own then. I’ll make sure to leave the door wide open for her. Hopefully, she’ll get the hint and run far away.”
I hated that I had to succumb to his threats, but I didn’t have another choice in the matter. It wasn’t that I thought she’d run. I just didn’t want to worry about her while I was gone, and at the end of the day, I knew Kraven would look out for her if I asked him to.
“You’re a real asshole,” I firmly reminded. “You know that, right?”
He beamed. “It’s just part of my charm.”
“Then you’ll do this for me?”
“I’m surprised you trust me with your little pet project.” With a challenging expression, he added, “What if she likes me more than you?”
I didn’t hesitate, simply speaking the truth, “It’s not a competition, little brother.”
Kraven
The black cat walked into the room, and I immediately wondered how much she heard or if she was eavesdropping. I owed her one, and it was the only reason I was going to do this favor, but Julius didn’t need to know that. At least now we’d be even.
She’d been here for half a year, and the only thing we knew about her was her name, and I say we because Julius didn’t know shit either. He would have told me. Besides, Kitty didn’t speak. Still. After all this time. And my dumbass brother didn’t bat an eye about it.
Since what I imagined was their first kiss at the park, I kept my distance. If Julius wanted to date Satan’s familiar, it was on him. Not me.
I chuckled at the thought. I was kidding. Maybe.
“You’re back early,” Julius announced, looking over at her.
She was once again dressed as if she were going to a funeral.
She nodded at me, and I nodded back at her.
This was usually the extent of our encounters, and now my brother was literally asking me to babysit her. How the hell was I supposed to pull this off when she didn’t talk? It would be a struggle I’d have no tolerance for, of that much I was aware.
After giving it a little thought, I was going to use this opportunity to do everything in my power to get her to talk to me. This couldn’t go on any longer. It was ridiculous that he allowed it to go this far. If I had to do this, then I was going to get something out of it.
Answers for one.
I knew I wasn’t the only person out of us expecting the cops to show up at the door any day now, and they wouldn’t be there for me.
Julius asked, “Did you finish your test early?” He was like a lovestruck puppy, waiting for her affection.
All she did was smile, and his face lit up as if he were a damn Christmas tree. It truly was pathetic. At this point, I swear they were telepathic. This was how they always communicated, and it blew my mind every single time, further pissing me off.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the pitiful scene unfolding in front of me. How this was enough for him was beyond me.
I’d reached my bullshit meter for the day, so I stated, “I’d love to stick around and play your guys’ warped version of charades, but I have better things to do.”
A guy could only take so much. Julius’s stare let me know he was still waiting for an answer. I glared at him, half-heartedly agreeing with my expression. After I surrendered to what could simply be described as the weekend from hell, our fates were sealed.
I was still trying to keep my life separate from Julius and his sidekick. It was none of their business what I was up to. It was blatantly obvious to me that Julius was basically pussy-whipped with no pussy. They hadn’t had sex. I lived under the same roof, so I’d know.
That was surprising because Julius usually had more pull with girls. He never had a problem getting laid, but it was becoming apparent that whatever he felt for her was something I couldn’t understand, and it had nothing to do with sex.
Trust was sacred to me, and Julius handed it to her like it was nothing. Most days, it felt like he didn’t even trust me. He took on everything: the good, the bad, and the ugly. He was persistent in handling it on his own, and that frustrated me more than anything.
At this crossroads, who knew what the future held? I sure as shit didn’t.
Regardless, there was no defining our relationship, let alone our brotherly dynamic. I’d be seventeen soon, and he wasn’t far off from becoming a legal adult. It was crazy how fast time flew by, yet so damn slow.
It’d been almost six years since our mom left and never came back. Every time my mind went there, every time I allowed the unanswered questions to fester inside me, just waiting to blow up and take over, I’d remind myself that I didn’t need answers in order to survive and keep going.
Nothing made sense, and as the years carried on, it became crystal clear that nothing would.
I could go on with the uncertainty of what the future held for us, but not when it came down to Isla.
I needed to know who this chick was, or I was going to burst from the inside out.
She’d talk to me until I got the truth out of her if it was the last thing I did.
I wasn’t my brother, and she’d learn quickly who she answered to.
I hitched a ride with my friend Brian. I’d known him since grade school.
Despite knowing a lot of people, I didn’t have many friends.
They were more like acquaintances. We went to a party in the woods at Steve’s house.
It was the same old thing. He lived in the boonies, and his parents were never home.
Their huge house was on acres of land. He was constantly throwing some sort of festivity every day of the week. Since they lived in the middle of nowhere, the cops weren’t called, and we were able to do whatever we wanted, and that we did.
I spent most of the night smoking weed while drinking beer and keeping to myself. Watching everyone else get wasted was what I did best. I wasn’t much for small talk, and unless I wanted to get lost in a girl, I stayed in a corner observing instead. I found it just as entertaining.
I’d get fucked up sometimes, but it wasn’t my MO. I found that getting intoxicated didn’t help my mind from betraying me. It made it so much worse, and it was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow for the most part. At least when it came to this stuff.
Tomorrow would be a new day indeed, one where I had to play babysitter, and I’d never done that before with anyone. However, I refused to let her get under my skin. This was a test I didn’t ask for, and I wouldn’t be playing by my brother’s rules.
I never did.
I made my own…
There was too much at stake if I failed this, and I didn’t understand until later that losing was the consequence I was trying to run away from. Though when that finally occurred, it was too late. The damage was already done.
There was no turning back, nor was there any moving forward. We were all stuck in this triangle, where destiny captured us together.
Whether we wanted it to… or not.