2. Kieran
Chapter 2
Kieran
My brother was too soft-hearted for his own good. Even before Shane won the lottery, he was one of those people who would go out of his way to help others. Just like our mom. It was something I loved about them both, even if it made them do stupid things sometimes.
Archer Kinsman had been good for my brother. He made him happy, but he also came with baggage. And it was because Shane had a gigantic, generous heart that I was now arguing with him.
It was his money. I was well aware of the fact that it wasn’t my winning ticket, but sometimes Shane wanted to do too much for too many people and I had to rein him in. Shane’s big heart now came with deep pockets, and he’d long ago asked me to be the one to help him manage his money. Mostly he did things with it that everyone said they’d do if they won the lottery.
He bought mom a new house and helped her turn it into a women’s shelter, which he helped with when he could. We both did. Our mom had broken her back to look after us kids when the bottom fell out from under her world. Growing up, we’d all been told we had college funds. A windfall from our dad’s parents when they passed that had been placed in trust. Only Dad blew it all before we saw a dime. He lost the house too, and that’s when Mom moved us three boys into a single bedroom apartment she could barely afford. On her own with three kids, she worked her ass off to make ends meet .
With his winnings, Shane bought her a nice house with a white picket fence and set her up with an income so she wouldn’t have to worry about food or bills. She kept working as a receptionist for a while, but everything changed when a coworker needed a place to stay to escape an abusive situation. Opening the shelter had breathed new life back into Mom. It was good to see her happy again. Helping those women gave her a purpose.
After that, Shane sent Brodie money that allowed him to keep travelling. Brodie had been making use of different programs that needed people to volunteer in foreign countries in exchange for room and board. But with money available to him, Brodie’s travel plans expanded. Sometimes I think Shane regretted funding so much of that because Brodie was hardly ever home now.
I’d argued with Shane about doing anything for me, but he paid off my student loans. I’d tried to stop him there, but then my dream car showed up in my driveway with a gigantic bow on top.
He bought the bar and contributed to charities around town, and in general was a far better human being than I was. Because his newest project was Archer’s former best friend, Clayton Cross, who should’ve been locked up for theft or something for the way he ripped Archer off and sank their business.
“What am I even doing here?” Just looking at Clayton had me angry on Archer’s behalf and I barely knew him. I felt no sympathy for him, even though his actions had finally caught up with him.
Shane put his arm around my shoulders and steered me away from Clayton’s hospital room. Archer was down the hall in the waiting room, eating chips he got from the vending machine.
“You’re helping me. I won’t bring him into my house, but he has nowhere to go. I’ve paid his bookie, but he can’t return to where he was or he’ll just fall back into the same patterns and end up dead next time.”
I cut Shane a scathing look. “How is that your problem?”
He glanced at Archer. “I love him, Kieran. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Again, how does that make Clayton your problem?”
Shane sighed and wiped a hand down his face. “Archer might never forgive Clayton, but he also might never forgive himself if he feels like he let something bad happen to him.”
“You hired me to be the voice of reason. So here’s a reality check. Clayton is a gambling addict who got the shit kicked out of him by his bookie. I know you think you can just bring him home and feed him soup and make it all better, but you can’t throw money at this and make it go away, Shane.”
He scowled at me. “I know all that, okay. I might be idealistic, but I’m not stupid. That’s why I’ve attached conditions to my assistance. He gets a place to stay, but he can only have a flip phone, one of those ones that doesn’t do anything but call people. You know, old school tech. He gave Archer the keys to his place and Archer packed his shit for him. And confiscated his computer. He’s going to therapy and joining a support group.”
“And you’re paying for all of it.” A sigh ripped out of me. “This has bad idea written all over it.”
“You’re really going to hate this next part.”
Shane looked like he was bracing himself. A feeling of impending doom sat in my stomach like a stone.
“Mom’s taking him.”
“You’re fucking joking. ”
“I didn’t ask her—she offered. She called and asked if I could fix something and I said I’d do it when I was back in town, and then she just got the whole story out of me. You know Mom.”
The truth was I did. There was no keeping a secret from her. She’d ply you with sweetness and understanding and, before you knew it, you were spilling your guts to her. It was magic. Sometimes I thought it was black magic.
“Is that safe?”
“The debt is paid, Kieran. No one is after him anymore. He’s got a busted leg, a busted arm, and a busted face. His whole life is in the shitter. Archer is worried that he’s going to end up dead if he walks away.”
“So Clayton gets to rip him off and gets a free pass?”
“It’s not a free pass. Archer won’t talk to him.”
“Then why is he helping him?”
“Because he’s a good person. He might hate what Clayton did, and he might hate Clayton, but he wants to know that no matter what happens to him down the road, that he did what he could.”
“The two of you give me indigestion. I swear to God, Shane, if Clayton so much as blinks wrong, I’m evicting him myself. The two of you—no, three of you, because Mom is just as bad. You’re all too nice for your own good sometimes. So, fine, I’ll be the bad guy. I’m serious, Shane. He stays in line or he’s out. And why can’t he stay here in his apartment and go to therapy?”
“He lives on the fourth floor. No elevator. And he’s being evicted for not paying his rent. You have two guesses to figure out where his rent money went. There was no food in his place, Kieran. It looks like he sold everything he could except for his laptop. Archer booted it up and snooped around in it. He thinks the online gambling got him first, and then it snowballed and got out of control. ”
“I still think you’re stupid and when this blows up in your face, and it will, I won’t refrain from saying I told you so.” Taking a deep breath, I pushed my anger and frustration aside. Truthfully, it was mostly frustration. Shane had inherited our mom’s must-fix-it gene and it could be a lot to watch. They both wanted to help everyone, even to their own detriment apparently.
“I suppose that’s fair.”
“Fair or not, it’s what’s going to happen. Now, what’s the plan?”
“Archer and I are going to take care of his stuff, but Archer can’t stand to be in the same place as him. So we need you to drive Clayton back and get him settled at Mom’s.”
“Mom runs a women’s shelter.”
“Mom has two girls staying with her, but they’ve agreed that it’s okay to give it a shot. He’ll take the small bedroom on the ground floor, and the girls will stay upstairs. Clayton will be brought up to speed on the safety rules and if he makes the girls uncomfortable, I’ll put him in a hotel and he can fend for himself, busted up or not. It’s all arranged.”
“Of course it is. I swear you’re going to give me a fucking ulcer. Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll take Clayton the Con Man to stay with our mother.”
“Be nice,” Shane scolded.
“I am nice. I’m here, aren’t I? Nowhere in your little spiel did you mention that I had to be happy about your stupid decisions. And I’m not, for the record. I think this is a horrible idea and it’s only going to end badly. But sure. Okay. We’ll do it your way.”
Shane released another exasperated sigh. “Glad to have you on my side.”
“I am on your side. Sometimes your passion for helping people makes you do unrealistic shit. Not everything will turn out as well as things did with you and Archer. Eventually you’re going to help the wrong person.”
“And you think Clayton is the wrong person?”
“You paid his fucking bookie, Shane,” I said through grit teeth, determined to keep my voice down despite wanting to throttle him. “He already stole from Archer and now he’s conned his way into Archer’s life again—and yours by default. Mark my words, this won’t end well.”
I stepped away from Shane before I did something stupid. Digging my card from my wallet, I used it to pay for a drink and a snack from the vending machine. I felt Archer creep up on me while I waited for the machine to deliver my candy bar.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Archer.” I didn’t dislike Archer. He made my brother happy, but also stupid.
“I just—thank you. I don’t know if Shane managed to tell you that yet.”
Bending over, I retrieved my candy bar. “He didn’t. But I don’t think I gave him much of a chance.”
I tore the wrapper open and took a bite, savoring the milk chocolate and nougat flavors that exploded on my tongue.
“I don’t know how much you’ve been told about what happened…” Archer trailed off and I turned to look at him. I’d seen him before, but only in passing. This was our first official meeting and I was spending it being a jackass.
Forcing a deep breath into my lungs, I made myself relax as much as I could.
“He told me the general gist of it. You were best friends until he ripped off your mutually-owned business. Gambling problem. Bookie. Assault. The highlights.”
“I want you to know that I tried to talk Shane out of this, but—”
“But Shane gets what Shane wants. He’s persuasive.” I exhaled, knowing exactly how Shane had gotten to Archer. The same way he got to me all the time.
“It’s his puppy eyes. He’s such a golden retriever sometimes.”
“And I’m the big, mean, guard dog.”
Archer smiled at that. “Better than a shaking, angry, yappy Chihuahua like me.”
Despite how annoyed I’d been, I let out a chuckle.
“Don’t let Shane give Clayton more money. I don’t care what kind of situation he gets in next. Shane has done more than enough.”
“Are you okay with what he’s doing? If you’re not, you should tell him.”
Archer sighed and fished another chip out of his bag. “We talked about it. He got my okay before setting anything in motion. He thinks I’ll regret it if I walk away and he’s probably right. It’s just hard to know that if Clayton had come to me sooner, I could’ve helped him sooner. But then I wouldn’t have met Shane. It’s a Catch 22. If Clayton hadn’t messed up, I’d be without Shane. But because he did, our friendship is toast.”
Archer upturned the chip bag and dumped the crumbs into his palm, then transferred them to his mouth.
Shane appeared out of nowhere and wrapped his arm around Archer’s waist.
“They’re going to discharge Clayton in the morning.” Shane told us.
“Then I’ll be back in the morning.” I turned away from Shane and Archer and strode toward the elevator. I needed to find dinner. Something deep fried. And a beer. Or maybe a tequila. Though, on second thought, getting blackout drunk was probably a bad idea. It wasn’t as bad of an idea as Shane letting that con man into our lives. But between him and our mom, I didn’t stand a chance. All I could do was stick around and try to mitigate the damage.