BRAYDEN
THREE
“Trouble, you are truly terrible at this,” Parker said as Lailah cheered after she killed Jay again. The problem was, he was on her team.
She stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the game. “I can’t help it! I see someone and I just get so excited I forget to check who it is.”
“That doesn’t bode well for us on a mission,” Micah grumbled. “If you fucking shoot me, I will burn all your hair off while you sleep.”
Cami chucked a pillow right in his face. “Shut the fuck up, asshole.”
“God damn it, Cami, look what you made me do,” Micah yelled as he blew himself up walking over the landmine that he just placed.
“Serves you right for being a dick to my Lala.”
I smiled to myself, watching the chaos before me.
Little did Lailah know, us all hanging out like this hadn’t happened in years.
Typically, we all did our own thing, and if we did hang out, it was just two or three of us—never all five.
Cami had grown up around us, and she was the annoying little sister who always wanted to play with us.
Now she was going toe to toe with Micah, and I wasn’t sure who was going to win if they really had it out.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I looked down to see it was one of my little sisters. I frowned. She never called me. I answered it as I walked into my bedroom, away from all the noise.
“Kayley, what’s wrong?”
“Why would anything be wrong?”
“Kayley.”
“Fine, I need you to come get me, but our parents cannot find out about this.”
I scowled. Kayley was always the wild child, but she’d never called me to bail her out of a problem. “Where are you?”
“Jail . . .”
“What the fuck, Kayley, what happened?”
“Look, I can’t explain it over the phone. I was only given five minutes. I’m only three hours away from you, in Enderton. When you come get me, I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
“Know that if what you tell me isn’t a good enough reason, I will tell our parents,” I threatened.
“Whatever you say, big bro. See you soon.”
I looked down to see she’d hung up on me. “Fuck!” I said, running my hands through my hair.
Things with my family had been strained after my brother died three years ago.
Before that, we'd always been a very close-knit unit, always together. Now I was lucky if I saw them all at the holidays, which wasn’t helped by the fact I avoided going home if I could help it.
My mother didn’t take Michael's death well; it changed her into a hollow shell of a woman.
A soft knock sounded on my door, and I looked up to see Lailah poking her head in. “Hey, you okay?”
I didn’t even know how to answer that, so I just shrugged my shoulders. Lailah slipped in, shut the door, and walked over to me, her crystal eyes filled with concern.
“I don’t mean to intrude, but I’ve noticed that unlike the rest, you're not one to swear unless you're mad about something.”
I blinked at that, surprised she’d picked up something so subtle about me. “I got a call from my little sister. It seems she has found herself in trouble and wants me to go get her.”
“Oh no, is she okay?” she asked, resting a hand on my arm. “I think I would react the same way if my little brother called me in trouble. Do you need to head out right away?”
“Yeah, she’s about three hours away, so I should get going if I want to get back at a reasonable time.”
“Are you going to bring her back here?”
I shook my head. “No, her boarding school isn’t too far from where she’s at. If it’s not serious, then I’ll just get her back in time for school.”
“Drive safe. Will you text me when you get back?” Lailah asked, her cheeks blushing as she looked down at her hands. “Just so I know you're safe.”
I smiled, loving that she didn’t even question me needing to go.
After my brother died because of me, I shied away from having a deep connection with anyone outside the four guys.
Even in that, we failed at having any kind of meaningful relationships like most of the Elementi Warriors before us did.
I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Of course. I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
I made good time, since it was a Saturday and there was hardly any traffic. When I pulled up to the police station, I sighed and headed in. What could Kayley have possibly done to end up here?
“Hello, how can I help you?” the officer at the front desk asked.
“My name is Brayden Dolton, I believe my sister, Kayley Dolton, is here.”
The officer typed something into the computer and scanned the screen.
“Looks like she was detained for starting a fight and assaulting another female while in a clothing store. Because she’s still a minor and this is her first offense, we’re letting her out on bail in the amount of ten thousand dollars. ”
“Wait, you said this was her first offense, why is the bail so high? She isn’t a flight risk, and like you said, she’s a minor,” I challenged, frowning.
The officer just gave me a bored look. “Look, if you don’t want to pay, then I can file this paperwork here and she will have a record. As of right now, we’ve held off putting anything in permanently. The choice is yours. How much is it worth to you not to have this arrest in her file forever?”
“Can I pay with this, or do I need to get cash?” I asked, holding out my card.
“This will do fine,” the officer said, swiping the card without hesitation. “It will take us a few minutes to process her out; there’s a waiting area over there where you can take a seat.”
“Do I need to sign anything?” I asked.
“Your family owns Dolton Plant Sciences, right?” I nodded, seeing where this was going. “Then we thank your family for this donation to our department. It was lovely having your sister stay with us. Did you want the official story to go differently?”
“No, that won’t be necessary, officer. I’m sure my sister was in the best care,” I said, trying to keep from rolling my eyes.
I sent Beth a text letting her know what Kayley was in trouble for and what happened with the cops.
She agreed with Kayley about not letting my parents know, since I could handle the situation.
Who knew what would cause my mother to spiral, or what drastic measures she would use toward my sister.
I found out that she once ran away from home when she was twelve, and when they found her, Mother locked her in her room for weeks to make sure she stayed safe.
The thought of my mother possibly losing another child made her react irrationally, so my dad and I worked to get Kayley out of the house and into boarding school.
“What up, big bro? Long time no see,” Kayley said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I looked up to see her in her school uniform, which was torn and wrinkled with a little blood splatter on a sleeve.
The little girl I’d seen at Christmas two years ago was long gone.
Now stood a young woman of fifteen, with the same stubborn jaw as our father.
Clearly, she had taken after him in more ways than one if her temper was anything to go off of.
“Kayley,” I replied as I stood, wanting to give her a hug but knowing she wouldn’t want one. “Come on, let's get you back to school.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the girl I beat the shit out of goes to school with me. I’m sure she’s informed the headmistress about what happened, and fighting is grounds for expulsion.”
“Of course. Why did I think you would make this easy?” sighing I rubbed a hand across my forehead before deciding the next step.
“Looks like you're going to have to come back with me, and we can ask Beth where we can get you into another school this late in the year. But we’ll at least have to go back and get your things if you don’t want Dad to notice you spending money. ”
Kayley punched me in the shoulder and grinned at me. “Whatever. Come on, big bro, this is going to be fun. Some good old sibling bonding time.”
I sighed as we got into my car, trying to remind myself that I was the oldest and it was my job to look after her. “Care to share why you beat up the girl?”
“No.”
“Well, isn’t that a great start to our bonding time,” I huffed, pulling out of the parking lot.