by K. Webster
“It’s killing me not to drag you to my tent,” Kayden says, sidling up behind me. “Roan’s not watching. We could run off.”
My skin prickles with anxiety. The last thing I want is for Kayden to piss off Roan. And speaking of… Roan’s eyes lock on Kayden. Hollis is happily sipping his beer, unaware of his husband’s glowering, but Terrence and Cal have also joined in on the tense staring contest.
“Fuck,” Kayden grumbles. “I need to go see Zac anyway. Come by my tent later when those assholes don’t look like they’re ready to beat my ass.”
“See ya,” I murmur.
He gives my ass a squeeze before sauntering off toward his buddy Zac. They slap hands, something passing from Kayden’s to Zac’s.
Crap.
Of course now all the Hoodlums are watching him. It was so obvious he just passed Zac drugs, too. He does it all the time at school. Though he doesn’t come out and tell me he deals, I’m not stupid. It’s just something we don’t talk about.
But doing it in front of the Hoodlums is a bad idea.
It only gives my brother and Jordy more ammunition.
“Oops,” Charlotte says, bumping into me when she stumbles my way. “Tripped over something.”
How about nothing?
I grip her arm to steady her. “You’re wasted, Char. What the hell?”
“I’m not,” she hisses. “I tripped!”
“We should go home,” I murmur. “I’ll get Roan—”
“No,” she snipes, yanking her arm from my grip. “Ryan will get pissed. We can ask Cal or Terrence, but not Roan.”
I grit my teeth together. “He’s my brother.” In case she forgot.
“I know, but—”
“Hey, babe,” Ryan says, stepping up behind Char and wrapping his arms around her. “What are you two up to?”
“She’s drunk and needs to go home.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Unless she needs permission?”
His jaw clenches. “Catching all kinds of attitude, Roux. What the fuck?”
“I’m fine,” Charlotte murmurs.
He roams his palms over her breasts. “See? She’s fine.” He nuzzles her hair. “Right, babe? We’re fine. Want to go to the tent?”
I grab her wrist. “No. She’s going home with me.”
Fire flashes in his gaze. “Nope.”
Before I can yell at him, a flash skates past me, tackling Ryan to the ground. Charlotte gets knocked out of the way, but Hollis is there, steadying her. I stare in horror as Roan pins Ryan to the dirt by his throat.
“Roan!” I cry out, yanking on his hoodie. “Stop it.”
“The girls are going home. Walk away, Cuntingham.” Roan stands up, shaking me off him, and spits on the ground beside Ryan. “Bye, asshole.”
Ryan bounces to his feet, his nostrils flaring. “She’s my girlfriend.”
Hollis steps up beside Roan. “She’s my sister. My underage sister whom you got drunk and are luring to your tent. Best you walk the fuck away, man.”
“It’s not like that,” Ryan growls.
“I’ll be fine with him,” Charlotte whines. “Please don’t do this, guys.”
Kayden joins the fray with Zac, coming to stand behind Ryan. I shoot him a glare. Wrong side, buddy.
“Everything okay here?” Kayden asks, cracking his neck in a threatening way.
What the hell?
Roan’s shoulders tense as he shifts his anger toward Kayden. “Actually, things are not fucking okay around here,” my brother snarls. “Not with you dealing drugs right in front of my face.”
Kayden doesn’t back down. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not fucking blind,” Roan growls.
“While you claw each other’s eyes out like little bitches, Char and I are going to the car,” I snap. “Come on.”
Cal snorts and Terrence smirks at me. I shove past them, dragging my drunk friend behind me. Hollis pulls up the rear, wisely not saying a word. When we reach his Mustang, I fling open the door and help Charlotte into the back seat. Once we’re settled in the back, I hug her to me and stroke her hair. She starts to cry, clinging to my sweater.
“I fucked up,” she whimpers.
“Everyone gets wasted sometimes,” I murmur. “Even perfect Charlotte English. It’s okay.”
“Ryan will be so mad at me.”
“Maybe it’s time you break up with his broody ass,” I suggest.
She sniffles. “Maybe.”
“I guess we don’t have to worry about our boyfriends much longer,” I tease. “Roan probably already killed him and Kayden both. Terrence and Cal might be helping to bury the bodies as we speak.”
We both giggle.
“Boys are so annoying,” Char says.
“Sooo annoying.”
She hugs me tight. “Love you, Roux.”
“Love you too.”
Jordy
Two Months Later…
I stare at the only letter I ever received from Roux. Guilt claws up inside of me. She was so pissed when she finally wrote me. My thumb rubs the tear smudge. I hate that I can’t be there right now with Roan and her. It doesn’t feel right. Never has. I did all this to keep them together, but who’s there to protect them now? Hollis the rat sure as fuck can’t. If anything, Roan has his hands even fuller taking care of him too.
Samantha says I’ll be out of here soon.
Not soon enough.
My eyes skim over her letter, grazing over the furious words to her name at the bottom.
Love, Roux
I don’t think she meant to put that, but she did. Or maybe she meant to. Who the fuck knows? It gives me hope that she’ll still see me as another big brother when this all blows over. I want to be back in their lives. I want to cart Roux all over the damn place, taking her from school to tutoring or wherever. Always keeping my eye on her. I want things to go back to normal.
Then she can date someone normal. Someone I can personally shake the shit out of and threaten within an inch of their life. I just want her to be safe. Kayden is anything but safe. Roan told me all about his cocky ass dealing fucking drugs in front of the Hoodlums at Campfire Chaos. He nearly beat his ass, but Cal and Terrence ended up dragging him away.
If I were there…
The truth is, I’m not.
I can’t do shit here.
I make a mental note to contact Samantha for an update. Until then, I watch the clock, waiting for my visitation with Roan. He’s supposed to update me on everything. Now that we’ve gone to regularly seeing one another, I miss the fuck out of him. I look forward to our meeting all damn month.
“Martinez,” Dave says. “Let’s go.”
I fold the letter up and tuck it in my front pocket before standing from my cot. Dave ushers me out of my cell and down the hallways. My mind is on a million other things, so when I’m seated in the visiting stall, I’m confused at first as I take in the woman in front of me.
The only woman I’ve been up close with in years is Samantha. So when I see the full, dark pink lips on the brunette, my cock thickens.
“Wrong stall…” I trail off, dropping my gaze to her perky tits and then back up to her lips. “Yo, Dave. Wrong stall.”
The woman bites on her juicy lip. I dart my gaze up to her eyes. Amber eyes filled with fire and fury.
Wait.
“Little Hoodlum?”
She swallows and nods at the phone. I’m too transfixed by how she looks now. Her dark brown hair lies just past her shoulders, silky smooth, accentuating the fact she has tits now. I reluctantly tear my gaze from them.
I pick up the phone receiver and clear my throat. “Where’s Roan?”
“Don’t be a dick,” she snaps, her voice a throaty purr that goes right to my cock. What the fuck. I need to get a hold of myself.
“I thought I was seeing Roan.”
“He decided to visit Dad instead. To see if it was safe for me to visit him next time.” She gives me a bitchy smile that does no
thing to calm the state of my dick. “Guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Roux…”
She shakes her head. “Don’t. I’ve had three years to think about what I wanted to say to you. Then…” Her bottom lip wobbles. “Then you pull all this shit with your letters and making my brother do your dirty work. I have a lot to say to you now, Jordy, and you’re going to hear every bit of it.”
Since when did she get a mouth on her?
She licks her lips, drawing my gaze there. “You broke our hearts.”
The breath is sucked straight from my chest. Images of that night flash inside my mind. The way those motherfuckers tried to rape her. She was just a young teen. That shit still gives me nightmares. I’d kill them all over again if I had to. I’d take pleasure in that shit.
“You were family,” she whispers, a tear racing down her cheek. “Family doesn’t abandon family.”
I shouldn’t have refused to see them, but it felt like the safest for all of our hearts.
I was wrong.
My throat is hoarse with emotion. I want to look away so I don’t have to see her pain, but it’s fucking impossible. “Roux.”
“I was devastated. We were so lonely without you.” She sobs, breaking what’s left of my heart. “You cut us off like we were a limb that was diseased. Like you didn’t need us anymore.”
“I n-needed you,” I choke out. “I still do.”
More tears roll down her pretty apple cheeks. I fist my hand, wishing I could swipe them away for her. “Why?”
I scrub my palm down my face. “Because I had to. You know I had to.”
“You didn’t have to shut us out, though,” she snaps. “You didn’t have to deny us visitation. It was cruel.” A pained whimper escapes her, obliterating the last bits of my soul.
I’d only recently reinstated visitation for everyone, only expecting Roan to ever show.
“Roux, honey, listen,” I utter, my voice tight with emotion. “I’m sorry.”
Her lip wobbles wildly. “I missed you.” She presses her fingertips to the glass. “We both did.”
My hand mimics hers, and I wish like hell I could touch her. “I missed you too.”
“When are you coming home?”
“Soon.”
She smiles. Small. Sweet. So fucking innocent. It’s in this moment I’m reminded this is Little Hoodlum. Roan’s little sister. His seventeen-year-old sister. I pull my hand from the glass. As much as she looks like a woman, she’s not. I’ve been locked up in here too long without female interaction. It’s natural I’d be attracted to one of the first ones I see.
“Stay away from Kayden.”
All progress is lost and her smile fades.
“Fuck you, Jordy.”
She slams the phone into the receiver and stands. My eyes rake down her body, drinking in all of her new curves. Her hips have flared out and she has an ass now. Fuck, she has an ass. As she walks away, she looks over her shoulder at me. All sadness is gone as she glowers at me. She flips me the bird before stalking off.
I watch her ass the whole way.
Oh, Little Hoodlum. Everything’s so fucked up now. You’ve turned into this beautiful woman and if you don’t think I’ll move heaven and earth to keep you safe from every motherfucker in this world, you’re sadly mistaken.
“Martinez.”
I yawn, rising from my cot, and nod at Dave. “Hey, man.”
“Act a little excited,” he grumbles. “You could be leaving this shithole.”
“Trying not to get my hopes up.”
He smirks. “I’m pretty sure that attorney of yours has blown her way through the entire parole board. I think you’re safe to get those hopes up.”
I follow him through the halls. Jace sees me and whistles.
“Get the fuck outta here, One-Up!” He grins and then flips me off. “Take care of my baby girl and son.”
With newfound purpose, I straighten my spine and nod at him. “We’ll see. I might get laughed at.”
Jace shakes his head. “Naw, kid. They’re gonna let you out. I know how this shit works. They know you don’t belong here. Come visit your ol’ buddy, though. Don’t forget about me.”
Dave snorts. “Keep moving, Martinez. Don’t let Hirsch distract you from getting the hell out of here.”
I give Jace a two-finger salute before turning down another hall with Dave. He takes us to a room and ushers me inside. Four people sit at a table, all wearing stern expressions. Samantha sits nearby, her pencil skirt riding up her creamy thighs, a shit-eating grin on her face.
“Please sit,” an older man with a white mustache says.
I take a seat and straighten my back, bracing myself for whatever it is they’re going to say to me.
“Miss Livingston has been working hard on your behalf,” the man says. “Gathering all sorts of testimony, even going as far as securing you a job on the outside.” He nods at Dave. “And the people who see you every day here have also provided us insight into the kind of man you are.”
I give him a solemn bow of my head.
“But this file?” He thumps it with his finger. “Says otherwise.”
“I understand that, sir.”
He frowns. “Mr. Williams.” He sighs. “I see what you were convicted for, and it’s one helluva crime. But I also had a chat with the judge who presided over your case. You know what I’ve come to determine?”
“No, sir.”
“That you’re a scared little boy.”
I bristle and clench my jaw. “Why’s that, sir?”
“Because you did what you had to do to protect the ones you loved and then shut down for fear of what came after. Just took the punishment rather than letting people in to help you. Assumed the worst of the system. Let it swallow you whole.”
“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”
Mr. Williams scoffs. “That line of bullshit is what got you in here in the first place. If you have any hope to get out of here, I need to know that you’ve grown up, son. That you’re ready to face real life like a man. You’re not a boy anymore.”
I meet his stare. “What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
“It doesn’t affect my sentencing. Why does it matter?” I ask. Then, I glance over at Samantha. “This doesn’t reopen the case, does it?”
She shakes her head. “They just want to know what happened. To understand you. They’re trying to determine if you’re even able to merge back into society. It’s okay to be honest,” she says gently. “Let them understand you.”
I frown, letting my mind go back to that night. The words flow from my mouth as I explain the absolute terror I felt when I learned Roux was in trouble. How all I could think about was getting to her. I recount how I walked in on them brutalizing my best friend and stripping the clothes off his little sister. The rest was a blur. My overwhelming need to protect my family at all costs. There were threats and I was to stand before them. When I finish, my cheeks are wet and my hands are trembling.
“I see,” Mr. Williams says, his voice hoarse. “Where’s your family now?”
I smile. “Roux’s being a typical teenager giving her brother hell.” Everyone chuckles. “Roan is a firefighter.” I swipe at my wet lashes. “They turned out okay.”
“They must miss you,” Mr. Williams says.
“Yeah,” I reply. “They’re probably both gonna kick my ass when they see me next. Neither one of them was exactly happy with me over how all this went down.”
“You were scared,” Mr. Williams tells me, his voice gentle. “We all do things out of the norm when we’re scared. It sounds like they’re tough kids, though. Maybe you don’t have to be the one always taking care of them. Maybe they can take care of you too.”
I smile at that thought. “Nah, they both kinda suck at it.”
The parole board chuckles.
“We’ll be in touch, Mr. Martinez. There are some parameters I’d like to discuss with the board, but you’ll
be notified once we’ve sorted it all out.”
He’s smiling at me.
Smiling is good.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t make me regret this.”
“I absolutely won’t, sir.”
Roux
August 7th
The sun bakes down on me, heating my flesh and warming me to my soul. Lying out on the banks of Hood River with my best friend is my favorite place to be. It’s peaceful and quiet aside from Spotify playing “NFWMB” by Hozier. Penny is on the other side of me, chomping loudly on her gum.
“You sound pissed,” I say, shielding my eyes from the sun and craning my neck to look at her.
“Not pissed,” she clips out. “Hot.”
“The river’s over there,” I say with a laugh. “Go cool off.”
“Pass.”
“Penny’s just mad that Mom made her come with us,” Charlotte sasses from my other side. “Apparently we’re not cool enough for her.”
“Oh please,” Penny groans. “Like I give two shits about cool.”
Testy.
“You could be cool if you’d smile and stop being a bitch to everyone,” Charlotte grumbles. “I mean, I’ve practically handed popularity to you on a platter. You’re willingly starving yourself of it.”
“I don’t want minions,” Penny snipes, waving in my direction.
“Hey now,” I chime in. “I’m not a minion.”
“No, but everyone else worships the ground Charlotte walks on. It’s nauseating.”
“It’s better to be cool than to be a nobody.” Charlotte sits up and sprays more suntan lotion on.
These two can go on for hours like this.
“I miss Dad.” Penny clears her throat and then huffs. “I guess I’m the only one.” With those words, she stands up and stomps off toward the river.
Charlotte sighs. “Ugh. I guess I need to go console her and remind her that I miss Daddy too.”
“Big sister duties,” I agree. “Just don’t try to hug her. She might bite.”
We both giggle as Charlotte runs off after her sister. I close my eyes, singing along to “Trouble” by Halsey. A shadow blocks the sun over me.
